Mural Arts’ Color Me Back (CMB) program is seeking artists to apply for a project to take place over the Fall ‘24 - Spring ‘25 (October 2024 - April 2025).

The goal of this project is to engage the CMB program, HACE and the surrounding community in a series of artistic enhancements for the North 5th Street business corridor between Lehigh and Somerset Avenue. This corridor, known as El Bloque de Oro (the Golden Block) is a vital hub for Philadelphia’s Latino community. Mural Arts will select a lead artist to partner with 6+ businesses (TBD) along the block and design enhancements for their storefronts. The artist may use paint, custom signage, mosaic, and other methods to activate the business storefronts. This project will help El Bloque de Oro shine as a welcoming, safe, and vibrant anchor for the wider community.

As part of the application, artists should write a short statement of no more than 500 words about their interest in this project. While applicants are welcome to use this section to suggest possible projects, it is not required and a proposal will be requested of artists who are selected for Phase II of the application process (see below of details).  Applicants are encouraged to discuss why this project is of interest to them, and how it may fit with their work.

The project will take place for 6-7 months and will be based out of the Kensington Storefront Color Me Back Studio with the opportunity to work on site at the businesses as weather permits.