Art Outside (WHYY)

Why do we create on the walls around us? From French cave paintings created some 17,000 years ago to political graffiti on the streets of Pompeii, humanity has always longed to make art for everyone to see. Whether commissioned or not, the art we share is essential to who we are.

There’s no better place to see this in practice than in Philadelphia. It’s the birthplace of the modern-day graffiti movement, home to the largest public arts program in the nation, and is often called the “Mural Capital of the World.” Join host Conrad Benner, founder of the Streets Dept blog, as he speaks with some of the most prolific street artists in the city about why their work is so vital to their lives, and ours.

We speak with Kid Hazo — an anonymous artist who’s basically Philly’s own Banksy. We’ll talk about how he got into street art and developed his unique style, his playful pranks on the PPA and PAFA, and why he keeps his identity a secret.

Show Notes

• Kid Hazo Instagram Page
• Streets Dept. Interview with Kid Hazo
• KH Queen Village Installation
• The Inquirer covers the PPA prank
• PAFA and the Poop Emoji

We’re talking with El Toro, a muralist and one of the founders of Philadelphia’s hand-drawn sticker scene. We’ll learn what it was like moving from the Philippines to the U.S. as a kid, why he recently came out of anonymity, and hear the origin story of his namesake character.

Show Notes

• El Toro Instagram Feed
• Streets Dept INTV with El Toro
• 10 Year Retrospective
• INTV with Owner’s Magazine

We’re wheatpasting with Symone Salib. We talk to one of Philly’s most well-known street artists about how she landed multiple projects with national brands, and how her creative work helps her heal.

SHOW NOTES

• Symone Salib Instagram Feed.
• Streets Dept profile of Symone’s That’s Gay series installation.
• Limited edition Skittles designs.
• Philly Mag Q&A.
• PHL Airport Exhibition.

We’re talking to prolific Philadelphia muralist Nilé Livingston. We learn about Philly’s famous ballroom scene, and their most recent project that pays tribute to it. Nilé shows us that their practice is more than just putting paint on a wall. Making a mural takes a commitment to the community.

SHOW NOTES

• Nilé Livingston website
• PGN story on the ‘Finally on 13th’ mural
• Streets Dept interview with Nilé
• Ballroom hall of famer Jacen Bowman shares his story
• William Way Community Center
• Finally on 13th assisting artists Ernel Martinez, Donna Grace Kroh, Yuliya Sermenova, Jingle Masters, Rosie Morales, and De’von Downes

In the season finale of Art Outside, we’re talking to the graffiti artist, BUSTA. We learn how he took his craft from a sketchbook in Colombia, to art school, then into the streets of Philly, and why he thinks non-commissioned public art is actually healthy for cities.

SHOW NOTES

• Chía, Colombia
• Busta’s Instagram
• BUSTA’s website
• Streets Dept. Oral History with Busta

Art Outside is back for season 2. In this episode we’re yarnbombing with crochet artist Nicole Nikolich, who goes by the name Lace in the Moon. We joined her in October of 2024 to put up a 7 foot tall drag queen in Love Park for her recent project for To the Polls. We’ll talk about their journey with art and mental health, the realities of an artist slump and what it all has to do with Taylor Swift.

We’re back with Season 2 of Art Outside, a podcast from WHYY about the art of our public spaces and the people who create it. We’re taking you around Philly to learn about all kinds of art outside. From commissioned works in Love Park and the 9th Street Market. To more ephemeral works like wheatpasting on a shuttered UArts building. As multiple art institutions around the city close, the state of Philly’s famed arts world feels particularly fragile. On this season of Art Outside we’re thinking about where Philly goes from here as we explore this dynamic world.

We meet artist Michelle Angela Ortiz. Michelle’s mural in honor of LGBTQ+ and worker’s rights icon Gloria Casarez in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood was destroyed by developers. We hear the story of Michelle’s efforts to create a new memorial to Casarez and we tour South Philly’s 9th Street Market in September of 2024 to learn about her “Our Market” project.

Painter Athena Scott’s winding path as an artist has brought her through many of Philly’s famous arts schools and institutions – Temple’s Tyler School of Art, the University of the Arts, PAFA, and more.

We’re wheatpasting on the side of an abandoned UArts building in broad daylight with Sean 9 Lugo in late September of 2024. His “Clones of Illadelph” series places animal heads on lifesize paintings of Philadelphians like Black Thought of the Roots, Kobe Bryant and our very own Conrad Benner. We’ll talk about his battle with mental health, where the 9 in his name comes from, and the importance of community.

In October 2024, we’re walking around the Philadelphia Zoo with Daryl “Cornbread” McCray, the world’s first modern day graffiti writer. It’s the first time he’s been back since he famously graffitied an elephant in 1971. This act, along with tagging the Jackson 5 jet, skyrocketed his career and helped spark the modern-day graffiti movement. We talk about how his rough childhood growing up in Brewerytown led him to graffiti writing, how he got the name Cornbread, and what it really takes to become a legend.