Committee hosts program on mural art

The First Methodist Church’s Equity and Social Justice Committee hosted a program on Mural Arts Philadelphia, the nation’s largest public arts program, at the library last month.

Nadia Malik, director of the Porch Light program at Mural Arts Philadelphia, was the event’s featured speaker.

“Often when people have gone through traumatic events, they might not necessarily be able to talk about it right away because they’re not able to talk about what they’re going through, so art is a great avenue because if something is difficult to talk about, you can still express yourself through art making,” Malik said.

The Porch Light program’s work focuses on refugee and immigrant communities, unhoused participants, those affected by substance use and others impacted by trauma. Porch Light offers participants opportunities to use artistic outlets to find creative solutions to systemic concerns.

“Even for people who have not been through a major trauma, (art) is a good mindfulness technique, it can help you sort your thoughts, and if you’re not good at expressing your emotions, you can express them through color,” Malik noted. “I think as a society in general, we’re not taught to express what we’re feeling and a lot of us don’t have the language to express what we’re feeling.

“It’s an easy way to get aggression out or to express what’s going on, even if you’re not an amazing artist, you can just get the stuff out that’s been stirring inside.”

The Porch Light program, according to Mural Arts, is a joint collaboration with Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. All Porch Light projects are driven by issues that have tangible effects on local communities, such as mental health, substance use, spirituality, unhoused populations, trauma, immigration, war and neighborhood safety.

The targeted outcomes of any Porch Light project include improvements to the physical environment; new opportunities for social connections; positive changes within a community, such as enhanced unity and empathy among neighbors; and beneficial effects for participants who have encountered hardship related to the addressed issues.

Murals and transformed public spaces throughout Philadelphia are the final products of year-round Porch Light workshops, community meetings and health forums. A finished Porch Light artwork shines a light on the people who helped bring the project to life and challenges social stigmas around mental and behavioral health, offering a fresh window of opportunity for continued progress and community growth.

“When you see a mural on a wall, when you see any piece of art, there’s so much that goes on in it, and I think that the transformation of people is really amazing,” Malik explained. “We see so much empowerment of people through art … All of the background work, the stories are really amazing, and it’s amazing that you get to see both.

“You get to see a beautiful art piece but if you dig deeper, if you’re part of the work, you get to see the background, and that shift in people is really amazing.”