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Point Breeze
(Philadelphia County) PA
The new garden in front
of the Kieth Haring mural in South Philadelphia, designed by Landscape Architect Michael LoFurno of Composite Inc., and installed by the firm with assistance from Bartlett Tree Experts, complements the striking mural in ways the previous garden never did. A fluid path and boldly colored flowering shrubs and perennials captures the exuberanceof the pop artist's painting entitled "We the Youth." The mural was completed in 1987 by Haring and local children in celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution. The garden, which predated the mural, was of a traditional design and, by the year 2000, had deteriorated badly. Many plants were overgrown and obscured large portions of the artwork.
When LoFurno learned that the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Project would be restoring the paint on the mural, he approached the MAP with an offer to assist in the development of the landscape in front of it. He learned that the garden is owned by the Neighborhood Gardens Association, a nonprofit land trust in the city. LoFurno put together a meeting between Jane Golden (MAP) and Terry Mushovic (NGA) to discuss the fate of the garden in the spring of 2000. LoFurno offered to create a plan for the garden probono. Mushovic arranged neighborhood meetings to discuss programming and maintenance and within a short time the new plan was created and the garden began to take shape.
Local nurseries contributed some of
Michael LoFurno and Mark Paronish in front of their work. |
Jane Golden (MAP) speaks at the dedication of the mural. |
the plants and money from the Paul Wolfinger Memorial Fund was used to purchase the rest. Although the garden is essentially complete, there is still some work to be done. Boldly colored plantings of purple sage, red and yellow daylilies, blue lilyturf, and red azaleas will be augmented in Spring 2001 with red cannas and yellow daffodils. These colorful plants were chosen to match the bold colors of the wall painting. Funds still need to be raised for contemporary benches and a picnic table and a modern fence to replace the chain link. Contributions can be made to the Paul Wolfinger Memorial Fund through NGA at 215-988-8797 or www.ngalandtrust.org.
LoFurno is especially excited because he has long been a fan of Haring's artwork and because Composite's office is located just a few blocks from the mural in South Philadelphia.
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