With 3,553 murals Philadelphia boasts the largest public art program in the United States and is a model for other cities around the world seeking to transform urban landscapes. While its historic charms, such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, are confined to the Old City, the massive art works that depict local heroes, national legends and community pleasures are dotted throughout the center of a region of more than 5 million people.
費城有3553面壁畫，以擁有美國最大量公共藝術計畫自詡，並成為世界各地其他城市更新都市景觀的樣板。雖然其迷人的歷史遺跡，像自由鐘和獨立廳，多半局限於老城區；大量描繪當地英雄、民族傳說和社區和樂的藝術作品，則散見這個有500多萬居民的市中心區。
The art works have also earned it international praise as the “City of Murals.” “It's like the autobiography of a city,” says Jane Golden, the executive director of the Mural Arts Program as she oversees the painting of “How Philly Moves” which will be one of the largest murals in America. When it is completed in a few months it will feature 27 dancers, in various poses and costumes, symbolizing the movement theme. It will stretch for half a mile long, reach about 75 feet high and cover the side of contiguous parking garages at the Philadelphia International Airport. “We have the largest program in the world,” Golden said, adding it is an example for cities such as Rome, Paris, London, Dublin, Hanoi, Bosnia, Fiji and Auckland. “I think we have raised Philadelphia's international standing,” she added.
這些藝術作品也使費城被國際間讚譽為「壁畫之都」。「壁畫藝術計畫」總監珍．高登說：「這有如一個城市的自傳。」她正在監督〈費城如何進化〉這幅畫的繪製工作，這也將是美國史最大的壁畫之一。當這幅壁畫在數月內完成時，畫中將有27名舞者，秀出各種不同的姿勢和服飾，象徵城市進化的主題。畫將有半英里長，75英尺高，覆蓋緊鄰費城國際機場停車塔樓一整面牆。高登說：「這項計畫之大舉世無敵。」這已成為羅馬、巴黎、倫敦、都柏林、河內、波士尼亞、斐濟和奧克蘭等城市取經的典範。「我想我們已經提升費城的國際地位。」
The murals, which first started appearing in 1984 when the city was trying to combat graffiti, began with an organization called the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network. But it soon morphed into the city mural program. The Mural Arts Program creates as many as 150 new murals a year; that's one almost every other day. When director Jane Golden started 26 years ago it was all about putting paint on walls. “It was essentially me and 100 kids and we had so much enthusiasm. Every day was spent on scaffolding, or talking about the mural. And it was great,” she said.
壁畫最早在1984年費城試圖反擊街頭塗鴉時開始出現，一開始是和一個名為「費城反塗鴉網路」的組織合作，但它很快演變成一項全市的壁畫計畫行動。「壁畫藝術計畫」每年創作多達150幅新壁畫，也就是幾乎每隔1天增加1幅。當計畫總監高登26年前開始畫時，只是把油漆塗在牆壁上。她說：「基本上，是我和100個孩子通力合作，我們有滿腔的熱情。我們每天耗在鷹架上，開口閉口談的都是壁畫，感覺很棒。」
In addition to beautifying the city and raising its international status, the murals have helped troubled youths and prisoners who have worked on them. The murals are painted on parachute paper, which is applied to buildings like wallpaper and then sealed. The program has helped young people through education and training, and prisoners, who are paid for their work, to break the cycle of crime and violence in communities.
除了美化市容和提高國際地位，這些壁畫也幫助陷入困境的青少年和受刑人，他們都曾參與壁畫繪圖工作。壁畫先畫在降落傘紙上，這可像壁紙一樣貼在建築物上再加以密封。這項方案也透過教育和培訓來幫助年輕人和受刑人，以切斷他們在社會上犯罪和暴力的惡性循環。
In the traditionally Italian-American neighborhood of South Philadelphia murals of singer Frank Sinatra and former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo are a popular sight. For visitors to the city, the Mural Arts Program offers different types of guided mural tours by trolley, train and bicycle, and a self-guided walking tour of the “Mural Mile” in Center City. Visitors can download a map or call a number on their cellphone and punch in a code for the site to get some history and context about what they are viewing. Last year about 15,000 people visiting Philadelphia took the tours.
在傳統義大利裔美國人聚居的費城南部社區，以歌手法蘭克辛納屈和前費城市長雷佐的壁畫最受歡迎。「壁畫藝術計畫」也針對費城遊客提供各種不同形式的導遊，既可以坐電車、火車和自行車參觀各處壁畫，也可自行徒步，參觀市中心的「一哩壁畫之旅」。網友則可下載地圖或打手機電話，再按網站代碼，就可對他們正在看的壁畫歷史和背景有些了解。去年約有1.5萬名費城遊客參加這項導覽。
As Philadelphia's public murals are part of the city's identity, they've also become a maintenance headache. The Mural Arts Program has spent more energy making new work than keeping up the old. It has begun redouble its efforts to monitor and repair murals for the past over 26 years. Some murals age better than others. “This is in bad shape. Water has degraded it,” said Seth Turner, part of his job is to cruise around neighborhoods to see what murals could use some touch-ups. Turner has a tape measure and a laptop. He logs notes and measurements of every mural he sees into a computer database the Mural Arts Program has recently installed. It tracks the condition of the more than 3,000 piece collection.
費城公共壁畫是為該市定位的一環，但維修也是一大頭痛問題。「壁畫藝術計畫」投入新壁畫的精力遠比更新舊壁畫要多。過去26年來，該計畫不斷努力監測和修復壁畫。有些壁畫遠比其他壁畫快速老舊。特納說：「受到水侵蝕，情況不佳。」他部分任務是在社區到處巡視，看看有什麼壁畫需要修飾潤色。他只有一捲皮尺和一台筆記型電腦，透過「壁畫藝術計畫」最近裝的電腦資料庫，記下筆記並偵測每一幅壁畫，這個軟體可追蹤這3000多幅作品的情況。
Before the tracking system, repainting or structural repairs were done whenever somebody happened to notice, but often nobody would. “They are not in a gallery. They are not in a climate-controlled environment with guards saying, ‘don't touch.’ They live outdoors. Birds poop on the murals, the sun damages the murals, water, smog, soot, the whole shebang.” Seth Turner says the mission of the Mural Arts Program is to make empty walls look good. “After 26 years of getting good at that – now we're going to have to get used to maintaining these walls.”
在追蹤系統尚未開發完成之前，唯有靠有人發現有問題，再重新粉刷或修補結構，但往往沒有人會注意到。「這些壁畫不在畫廊裡，也不在氣候受到控制的環境裡，也沒有警衛可以嚇阻說：『不要碰。』它們暴露在戶外，鳥在壁畫上拉屎，太陽日照也會毀損壁畫，而水、煙霧、煙塵等等這一切都是禍首。」特納說：「壁畫藝術計畫」的任務是美化光禿禿的牆壁。「經過26年努力後，現在我們已經習慣維護這些牆壁了。」
Photos show volunteer painters Leslie King and Abigail Milder applying paints onto canvas for the Philadelphia International Airport gateway mural March 12, 2011.
圖為義工畫家萊絲利．金恩（圖1）和艾碧蓋兒．麥爾德（圖2）今年3月12日正在繪製費城國際機場正門的壁畫。圖／路透