Mural brings colorful images to Lanning Square neighborhood in Camden
CAMDEN - Someone's colored on the wall at a daycare center here, but this is no childish scrawl.
It's the city's newest piece of public art - a brightly hued mural on a three-story building in the Lanning Square area.
The artwork's already enriched the lives of preschoolers at El Centro, a childcare facility in the building at South 5th Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.
"From the children's perspective it was a great experience for them going outside and observing (muralist Cesar Viveros) doing the painting," said Sonia Plaza, El Centro's executive director.
More: Demolition dooms downtown mural Big change expected for downtown scene in Camden
The children then would come into their classroom to make pictures "with the colors they saw outside," she said.
What does the mural show?
The mural includes images of Camden's people, as well as elements of natural beauty like butterflies and flowers.
In one part of the mural, a group of young marchers take part in the annual San Juan Bautista parade. Elsewhere, a young girl sits at a school desk and a boy straddles a tricycle.
Diagonal lines add bold splashes of color, interrupted by the building's windows.
The Rowan University/Rutgers Camden board of governors commissioned the $30,000 project after community members asked for "increased vibrancy" in the area, part of the "Meds and Eds" corridor, said Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen.
"The entire project took almost two years from inception to installation," Keashen said.
He noted Viveros needed about two months to paint and install the mural.
Viveros has spent more than 25 years creating public art and has worked since 2000 with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.
Officials celebrated the artwork at a ceremony on Thursday, July 27.
The mural “is a testament to how valuable investing in public art is for a city like Camden," said Jeffrey Nash, the joint board's CEO.
Plaza predicted the investment would provide continuing dividends for her students.
"Going forward it is a teaching instrument for them," she said.
"Maybe one day, after get older, they will visit the mural with their families and talk about their picture in the mural and their memories when they attended the center."
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Reach him at jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden mural rises next to El Centro daycare center in Lanning Square
