Touring the city

Last week I went on a bus tour with other Pearl S. Buck volunteers. Our main purpose was to view the murals in Philadelphia. The city has over 3,000 public murals which are all pretty amazing. This was started over 10 years ago as a way to combat graffiti. It is a wonderful story. Now other cities look to Philadelphia as an example. 

 The pictures don't do them justice but I hope they can give you a taste of what is there.

This mural was bigger than life size and fascinating to view.

I really wished I could have gotten a better picture of this one. I hope you can see the quilter working. On the wall opposite this were children holding the same quilt as it was spread across the area.

 To the left in this mural was a painting of an Alex's Lemonade Stand. Beautiful. The butterflies seemed to fly off the wall.

More quilts!

 The best part was the way the murals popped up out of nowhere. As you walk or drive through the city, you never know where one will appear.

 This mural was on the side of a flower shop.

More flowers!

In Clark Park, there is this lovely statue of Charles Dickens and Little Nell from The Old Curiosity Shoppe. We also stopped at the Free Library to view their Dickens collection in the Rare Book section. Pearl Buck credited Charles Dickens as her inspiration for her writing.

More color!

Just can't even envision painting these. 

This is called the Magic Garden. One man used all manner of items to create this fascinating area. Need to go back and walk through here.

Our final stop was the Edgar Allen Poe house. We were all impressed with the docents who lead our tours of the house. This mural/portrait was on a building in the area.

If you are in the Philadelphia area, I recommend going on one of the mural tours. Well worth seeing! You can get more information at the  Mural Arts website.