A new light art installation — part of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Kensington Verse program — will be unveiled on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021 in Kensington.

As part of the Kensington-based poetry project, the new installation is intended to be a “beacon of strength, hope and healing through poetry in the Kensington Community.”

The new art installation’s unveiling will showcase the poem “Our Story of Us,” and the poem will be presented via a neon sign, displayed on a 2400 Kensington Ave rooftop.

At the unveiling, posters featuring several poems will be present. Attendees are encouraged to take these posters home and hang them in windows all throughout the Philly neighborhood.

These poems were submitted throughout the year by various writers, some of whom will be present at the unveiling. A collection of these poets will also recite their work.

Throughout the past year, Philadelphia Poet Laureate Trapeta B. Mayson held poetry workshops with East and West Kensington residents alongside project curator Ryan Strand Greenberg.

The workshops catered towards elementary school students and other individuals who have been impacted by substance use and housing insecurity. Poetry was utilized in the workshops as a way to reimagine new methods of healing.  

After the art installation’s unveiling, a new website will launch. The new site will allow community members to submit their own poetry and read the work of others. 

At the unveiling, a paper submission station will be present under the art installation.

This has been a massively impactful year for Mural Arts Philadelphia, following a successful Mural Arts Month and other numerous new mural installations throughout the year. A large amount of those installations are in and around neighborhoods most adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and all it brought.

The efforts of the long-standing and historic city public art program will only continue into the new year.

Mural Arts Philadelphia’s latest light art installation unveiling will take place at 2400 Kensington Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125 on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021.

The event will take place from 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm.