by Drew Amorosi | The Spirit

The Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts is celebrating its 50th season and established itself as one of Philadelphia’s cultural landmarks. On Friday, July 31, the outdoor amphitheater in West Fairmont Park unveiled a new art installation symbolizing its place as part of the surrounding Parkside neighborhood as the latest addition to its renovated campus.

Along with the artists — Nile Livingston and De’von Downes – representatives from the Center and Mural Arts Philadelphia helped dedicate Echoes Beyond the Stage, a 12-panel display on vinyl panels, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The panels will be at the entrance gate to the Mann Center campus and will be one of the first things to greet visitors to the venue.

Livingston is a fourth-generation Philadelphian and founder of a graphic design agency who has contributed to numerous Mural Arts projects. Perhaps her most notable creation is Philly Rising, a digital mosaic comprising photos, art, and poems submitted by city residents that coalesce to form the city’s skyline. Downes is a native of Glassboro, NJ, and has made his mark as a contemporary portrait artist and art educator in South Jersey.

The Center has hosted many famous musical acts and cultural events, ranging from Marian Anderson to Itzhak Perlman, to Phish. But the new pieces by Livingston and Downes depict just a few actual performances in the Mann’s halfcentury history. Instead, most of the panels are the result of conversations the artists had with individuals in the surrounding neighborhood and staff at the venue who shared how what took place here shaped their lives and memories.

“As both an artist and a founder of a branding agency, I’ve learned that the strongest creative work begins by understanding,” Livingston said prior to the official dedication. “These conversations revealed that the Mann is much more than a performing arts center. It’s a place that has become woven into the memories of everyday experiences for generations of Philadelphians.”

The stories shared with them are what inspired each of the 12 pieces of art that resulted, she added.

“Each artwork tells its own story, but together they celebrate memory, community, imagination and the relationship the (Center) has had among the neighborhood for the past 50 years,” she said. “My hope is that every visitor who walks through these gates discovers something that resonates with them, and I especially hope that the people who call this place their neighborhood and their home see pieces of their own story reflected here.

The artists gave The SPIRIT a panel-by-panel tour of their work after the official dedication. Although each panel is unique, all 12 contain flowing lines that represent three bars on a music sheet, while the color palette transitions from the “cooler colors to warmer colors” as they move from right to left, according to Livingston.

“The lightning bug one is my own personal story, I grew up in West Philly, and I just remember catching lightning bugs in Fairmount Park,” she said. “It also reminds me of people [who] hold up their cell phones or in retro hold up your lighters at a live concert.”

Only two of the panels depict real-life performers. One is of Aretha Franklin, who gave one of her last public performances at the Center in August 2017. The other is Na’Zir McFadden, a Philadelphia native who is quickly establishing himself as one of the world’s most prominent young conductors.

Downes, who created the panel, said it was important that most of the content in the panels represent what can be found in the local neighborhood, right down to the cherry blossoms in Fairmount Park.

“Most of my work is community based, so I think it’s important to have the people who live here in the project,” they said. “Both Nile and I agreed that it was important to feel like it was part of the neighborhood.”

Jane Golden, founder and former executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, thanked the staff and Center leadership for their support of the public art project. She also expressed her gratitude to the two artists.

“The two of you represent everything that is wonderful about artwork in public spaces,” she said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope that your work (makes] our city a better place.”

(via The Spirit)