Mural Dedication at Pennell School

Posted by on June 11, 2007

MURAL DEDICATION AT PENNELL SCHOOL

TITLED ?EDUCATE TO LIBERATE?
HONORING COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN, FLORENCE COHEN,
AARON MCKIE AND JOSEPH PENNELL

FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2007, AT 9:00 A.M.
1800 NEDRO AVENUE, AT OGONTZ AVENUE, IN AUDITORIUM

Florence Cohen and the late Councilman David Cohen, who fought for quality public education at Pennell School from the early 1960?s to the present, to be honored.

This Friday, June 15, at 9:00 A.M., the Joseph Pennell Elementary School, in conjunction with the Mural Arts Program, will unveil its outdoor mural, titled ?Educate to Liberate,? to students, families, and members of the surrounding Ogontz community in Northwest Philadelphia. The mural reflects the school?s culture and student body, and features portraits of Councilman David Cohen, Florence Cohen, Aaron McKie and Joseph Pennell. A Mural Dedication ceremony, led by principal Gina Kaplan, will follow the unveiling of the mural.

Councilman David Cohen and Florence Cohen are featured in the mural as a result of their work for quality public education at Pennell School, beginning in the early 1960?s when their children attended the school. Through the Ogontz Area Neighbors Association (OANA), a grassroots community organization co-founded and led by longtime president Florence Cohen, the Cohens campaigned for a comprehensive desegregation plan for the entire school system, equitable funding of education, and improvement of the schools. They lobbied school officials persistently, testified before the Board of Education and City Council, and organized an extensive grassroots mobilization, including many demonstrations. OANA sought the hiring of additional staff at Pennell, the creation of an after-school enrichment program and renovation of the building, and urged some students be transferred to neighboring schools from Pennell, a mostly African-American school, in order to relieve Pennell?s overcrowding and achieve integrated schools in the area. By 1967, OANA had established a Family Center and a boys gym program at Pennell, opened the nearby Girl?s High for evening adult classes, and awarded scholarships to area high school students entering Temple University.

The Cohens? support for Pennell has continued to the present. Following David Cohen?s death in 2005, Florence Cohen established the Councilman David and Florence Cohen Award for Academic Achievement and Good Citizenship. This annual Award, which will be presented for the second year at Pennell?s Graduation this Monday, June 18, at 9 A.M. in the Auditorium, includes gifts of $500 bonds. Students must complete an essay to be considered for the Award. The Award is presented to two graduating students chosen on the basis of their academic achievement and participation in the school community.

In addition to the Cohens, Aaron McKie, a Pennell graduate and now a professional basketball player with the NBA, is also featured on the Mural. McKie, who spent over 7 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and currently plays with the Los Angeles Lakers, has formed a foundation to support the development of Philadelphia children and has been a generous donor to Pennell?s Library. Also appearing on the mural is Joseph Pennell (1857 ? 1926), the school?s namesake. Pennell was born in Philadelphia, attended art school in the city, and became one of the leading sketch artists and book illustrators of his time.

The Pennell Mural was designed by painter and mural artist, Eliseo Silva. Silva, who calls himself a ?weaver of history and heritage,? started drawing at age 4 in the Phillipines, and has a BFA from Otis College of Art and Design and an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has painted more than twenty murals in Seattle, California, Philadelphia, Maine and the Philippines. Silva?s work has been said to ?capture the indomitable spirit of social justice.?

The Pennell Mural is a project of a five-year partnership, entitled ?Beautifying Schools, Transforming Lives,? between the Philadelphia School District and the Mural Arts Program to create and/or restore 100 murals at school sites.

Through this project, now completing its third year, artists have worked with students in 67 Philadelphia schools to paint beautiful murals that depict the schools? cultures and student bodies. Artists work with 30-50 students over a 16 week period. A comment made most frequently by the students is that ?working together as a team to create a work of art has been the most important thing? they learned in the Mural Arts Class.

The mural-making project has become so popular that nearly every school in the city is on the waiting list for murals. Yet, tragically, it is among the programs axed in next year?s school budget, even as the number of full-time art and music teachers in the district continues to dwindle. Members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, state legislators and the media must hear a continuing public outcry against the elimination of the ?Beautifying Schools, Transforming Lives? project and other cuts made to next year?s school budget, and for increased funding to the district.

For more information about Friday?s Mural Dedication at Pennell, please contact Deborah Zuchman, Project Manager, at 215-685-0739.