GRID Magazine – The Griddle

One of the greatest things about Philadelphia is its abundance of public art— manifesting itself in a number of ways, the most obvious being community-painted murals and outdoor sculptures. In fact, our city has more outdoor sculptures than any other American city (as for the murals, they seem so infinite, there may not even be a concrete number). And, beginning on June 10, the Fairmount Park Art Association will be taking public art access to a whole new level with its new Museum Without Walls program.

The audio program will allow art lovers to listen to professionally produced, three-minute audio segments that reveal the untold histories of 51 outdoor sculptures at 35 stops along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Kelly Drive. The audio recordings are available for free on the street by cell phone, audio download or streaming audio on the official program website.

The Fairmount Park Art Association will launch the program in LOVE Park on June 10. The event will allow participants the chance to experience and learn more about the Museum Without Walls and to meet some of the audio segments’ voices, who will be stationed at various sculptures along the parkway from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

If you can’t wait until then, listen to up to 9 sample audio segments here. Dudley Talcott’s Kopernik is my favorite.

11:00 a.m. Thursday, June 10 at LOVE Park. Free and open to the public.