Saturday: See GSI Being Made and Contribute to Art in Hestonville

Hestonville residents and representatives from Philadelphia Water break ground on a Green City, Clean Waters project at 55th and Hunter streets. Volunteers will gather for a community paint day to begin a mural planned for the wall seen in the background. Credit: Philadelphia Water.

This Saturday, volunteers will join Mural Arts, Philadelphia Water and members of the Hestonville neighborhood in West Philadelphia for a community paint day that will help artists Eurhi Jones and Michael Reali complete a new mural titled “Your Hands Shimmering on the Legs of Rain.”

Set for completion in spring 2016, the mural will overlook and highlight a Green City, Clean Waters project that will bring a rain garden and storage trench to a vacant lot at 55th and Hunter Streets. The mural was designed with input from neighbors who requested that art be included in the project during community meetings about plans for the site. "Your Hands Shimmering" is also part of the citywide Philly Water Art program, which uses creative works of public art to engage residents and connect them to green infrastructure projects that tend to blend into city streets or are hidden beneath the pavement.

The Hestonville Civic Association, Philadelphia Water, Mural Arts, Parks & Recreation and other partners held a groundbreaking ceremony in September for the green stormwater tools currently being built at the former vacant lot site—now called Heston Gardens by neighbors who have cared for the space for decades.

Mural Arts and Philadelphia Water are inviting volunteers to join the community paint day (no fine arts degree or experience required!), but it’s also a cool chance to see what a rain garden and storage trench look like during construction. If you head out to Heston Elementary to join the painting party, swing by the lot at 55th and Hunter streets and check out this unique neighborhood green space. The mural will be on the wall facing 55th Street.

To view a map of the planned improvements and more on the Heston green infrastructure project, read our Oct. 2 blog post by clicking here. Check out the flyer below for details on the community paint day, and please share this, come out, and bring a few friends!