Garden Wall Series
The Garden Wall series is an ongoing mural project that is collaborative in both design and implementation. Participants are invited to contribute to an artwork that is greater than the sum of its parts. Each composition is made up of hundreds of colorful depictions of vegetation including flowers and grasses. Each triangle is painted by an individual collaborator who was encouraged to create their own interpretation of the imagery and leave their unique mark on the mural. Just as each seedling grows into a unique representative of a particular plant based on its environment, circumstances, and chance; each painting represents the unique talents, vision, and expression of the person who paints it.
While the system and method remains the same, the content of each mural in the series is unique and ever-changing. As participants learn the process, they are invited to contribute to the imagery, adding to the templates that are used for each composition.
The Garden Wall series has been developed by Mat Tomezsko and the Color Me Back: Same Day Work and Pay Program through Mural Arts in Kensington over several projects from 2021 to present.
Garden Wall (Tessera) (2024)
Tessera is a part of the Garden Wall mural series, a project that is collaborative in both design and implementation.
This iteration was designed and painted by Color Me Back participants recruited directly through Mother of Mercy House in Kensington. All new flower imagery has been derived from the community engagement on site. The flowers were selected for their personal significance, comfort, and sense of home: Azaleas, Peonies, Daisies, and the Bayahibe Rose, the national flower of the Dominican Republic.
In addition, participants made collage mosaics from repurposed paintings, revisiting imagery from the Garden Wall series in a totally new way. The mosaics, made of discarded paintings, contain the markings from past participants and often have been arranged by more than one person. This process effectively increases significantly the number of collaborators on this mural.
The mural is installed on custom aluminum panels cut exactly to the dimensions of the composition. They are removable–so the mural can move with the building’s tenant–and it can be reconfigured to make a new arrangement to fit a new space.
The design includes highly realistic, highly stylized, totally abstract, and collaged imagery. All of these ways of seeing and means of expression are connected and reflect the wide array of experiences and interests of the many people who participated in making it.
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Located at 720 E Allegheny Ave, in Kensington, Philadelphia, PA
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Garden Wall (Flowering Dogwood / Rose) (2023)
Garden Wall (Flowering Dogwood / Rose) is the fourth mural designed and painted collaboratively with participants of Color Me Back.
Two triangles, three times the size of the others in the grid, are central to the composition. One is a graffiti-style Rose, and the other is a Flowering Dogwood depicted in a brushy, painterly manner. The Rose element was created by assistant artist Hector Luis Alicea III. The flat colors and outlines reflect his interest and background in street-art / graffiti. Hector was raised in Kensington and joined the CMB team during the Emerald Street mural process. The Flowering Dogwood element was taken from the original Garden mural in the Emerald Street Underpass. Brushy, subtle, and containing a lot of depth, this template was considered by participants to be one of the most beautiful and difficult to achieve.
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The juxtaposition of two flower motifs, similar in imagery and palette but significantly different in style and handling, demonstrates the core concept behind the Garden Wall series. Each piece is interrelated, but also unique.
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Located at 4450 Paul St, in Frankford, Philadelphia, PA
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Garden Wall (2023)
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Garden Wall is a mural that is collaborative in both design and implementation. Featuring imagery designed by participants of Color Me Back, the composition is made up of hundreds of colorful depictions of vegetation including flowers and grasses. Each triangle was painted by a participant of the program who was encouraged to create their own interpretation of the imagery and leave their unique mark on the mural. Just as each seedling grows into a unique representative of a particular plant based on its environment, circumstances, and chance; each painting represents the unique talents, vision, and expression of the person who paints it.
This is one mural in a series. As an individual mural, Garden Wall is designed and made by the Kensington community. As a part of a series, it showcases the community’s efforts and reflects their ideas and voices.
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Located at 3027 Kensington Ave, Philadelphia, PA
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Community Garden (2022)
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Community Garden is a dynamic arrangement of hundreds of colorful images of local vegetation including flowers, fruit, vegetables, trees, and grasses. Each triangle was painted by a participant of Color Me Back or by a participant of a community paint day held at the TaconyLAB Art Center. It is a collaboration between two neighborhoods and hundreds of people.
The imagery combines the concept of how the mural is made with what it represents: Just as each seedling grows into a unique representative of a particular plant based on its environment, circumstances, and chance; each painting represents the unique talents, vision, and expression of the person who paints it. No two people will paint the same plant the same way. The composition gains its power and strength when all of these different voices are harnessed together.
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Located at 4823 Longshore Dr, Tacony, Philadelphia, PA
Garden Painting: Ruth Bennett Community Farm (2022)
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Envisioned as a tribute to the flowers and fresh produce grown by the Ruth Bennett Community Farm, the mural design features hundreds of individual sections of repeating imagery painted by participants of the Chester community. Tracing from stencils and working from templates, each participant was encouraged to create their own interpretation of the imagery and leave their unique mark on the mural, resulting in a vibrant array of visions and voices expressed throughout the composition.
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The mural was made throughout Fall 2022. Participants were paid for their contribution. This project was supported by The TD Charitable Foundation, Widener University, and the Chester Housing Authority.
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Located at 1318 Carla's Ln, Chester, PA
Garden of Rare and Resilient Plants (2021-22)
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Garden Of Rare And Resilient Plants is a mural featuring hundreds of individual sections of imagery painted by participants of the Mural Arts’ Color Me Back: Same Day Work and Pay Program, an initiative that combines participatory art-making and access to social services in a unique model offering individuals who are experiencing economic insecurity an opportunity to earn wages. Working from stencils, each participant was encouraged to create their own interpretation of the imagery and leave their unique mark on the mural, resulting in a vibrant array of diverse voices expressed throughout the composition.
Located in the Emerald Street Underpass in Kensington, the mural weaves together different aspects of the neighborhood. It draws inspiration and input from the residents, the program participants, and the setting itself. It is intended to recognize the individuality of the contributors while celebrating the strength, resilience, and distinct character of the community as a whole.
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Located at 2738-2700 Emerald Street, Kensington, Philadelphia, PA