Aside from being visual feasts, three new Germantown Avenue murals stand as neighborhood biographies and towering testaments to creativity. They also offer observant viewers — in at least one case — glimpses of inspiring embedded messages. Plus, they offer an excellent excuse to get outside and enjoy a summer stroll down the Avenue.

The murals include “We Got the Jazz,” by Alloyius McIlwaine, at 6330 Germantown Ave.; “Mount Airy Way,” by Natalie Flor Negrón, at 6703 Germantown Ave.; and “Clash Power II,” by Femi Olatunji, at 7236 Germantown Ave.

Mural Arts Philadelphia played a key role in the artwork’s creation. Since its founding in 1984 by painter and current Executive Director Jane Golden, Mural Arts Philadelphia has commissioned some 4,500 works, making the city a public-art destination. "The Mount Airy Walls Project celebrates the neighborhood’s rich cultural fabric through three distinct murals that reflect its creativity, diversity, and deep sense of community,” Golden said. “It’s a powerful example of how public art can beautify a corridor while honoring the stories and spirit of the people who live there."

Mural Arts partnered on the project with the City of Philadelphia, Mt. Airy Business Improvement District, Mount Airy CDC, Mount Airy Real Estate, and Wawa.

While McIlwaine, Negron, and Olatunji either grew up or now live in Northwest Philly, each brings a unique perspective to their mural.

Alloyius McIlwaine

McIlwaine, a North Philadelphia native, began drawing at age 3. While his father worked long hours, McIlwaine’s mother channeled his boundless energy by urging him to copy his favorite comic book characters. He had scant formal training in visual arts. “I took art classes in school, but in college I majored first in biochemistry then business,” he said. “I wanted to know how to run an arts business.”

The timing clicked for this new image on Mount Airy Real Estate’s wall. “I’d been working with silhouettes when Mural Arts approached me,” said McIlwaine, who lives in Germantown. He considered neighbors’ comments about what they wanted in the design, but said, “I also did research about the area, the history, the music schools.” 

McIlwaine’s family history also influenced the image, which shows a man playing a horn. “My grandfather was a jazz saxophonist who played with musicians like Chubby Checker,” he said. 

McIlwaine worked a few Easter eggs into the mural. “There are kudo glyphs, things that encourage a positive outlook,” he said. “People feel positive energy just by looking at the mural.”

Philadelphians can see McIlwaine’s art not only in his 400 murals, but also in the designs of his Cultures Clothing Company (culturesclothing.com).

“I’ve painted murals in 22 states and 17 countries,” McIlwaine said, “but I remember when I was living in North Philly and had to sleep beside the stove for heat. It keeps me humble.”

To learn more, visit alloyiusmcilwaineart.com.

Natalie Flor Negrón

Natalie Flor Negrón grew up in the Northwest steeped in art. “I took classes at the Allens Lane Art Center and a mosaic workshop in Roxborough.” She also attended workshops at the Moore College of Art, from which she later graduated. Mostly Negrón worked in Gran Design Printing and Graphic Solution, her father Domingo’s shop in North Philly.

Negrón faced challenges with the mural. Circumstances, including a pregnancy, gave the project a stop-start rhythm. In addition, the space for the mural was tall. “I wanted the design to fill the space in a way that didn’t feel condensed,” she said. “I wanted it to feel like you’re going on a journey just by standing still.”           

Negrón wove in her love of the Wissahickon. “I’d go to the woods a lot, climb mossy stones,” she said. “I put plants and animals from those woods — squirrels, birch, American elm — in the mural.” At the same time, one sees the vibrant colors of her Puerto Rican heritage in the design.

The mural also honors the Northwest’s architecture, “…from the French village at Elbow Lane to the art deco style of the Sedgwick Theatre.”

Negrón painted the mural on parachute cloth in her Bok Building studio — not far from her South Philly home — then transported it in strips to Mt. Airy. “It was adhered to the wall with gel medium,” she said. The gel gets rolled onto the wall with paint rollers and then the panels get put on top and the gel gets squeegeed out from the center to create a thin layer with no air pockets.” Most Mural Arts projects are created using this process.

This was only Negrón’s second project requiring an assistant. “It was my husband Lance,” she said. “He’s an architect and interior designer.”

In the future her dad, who just retired, hopes to help her with projects. Her son Cormac, 18 months, may also participate. “This is a special moment for me,” Negrón said. 

To learn more, visit natalieflornegron.com.

Femi Olatunji

Femi Olatunji, born in London, moved at a young age with his parents to Yorubaland, his family’s homeland in southwestern Nigeria.

“I grew up with art all around me,” Olatunji said. “My mom owned a store that made hand-tailored clothes. I worked there. I would offer to go with her to the massive market in Lagos [Nigeria’s capital] to buy fabric. There were big stalls, little stalls. Stall owners would spread out fabric for my mother to inspect until it covered the whole floor. The haggling was incessant.”

Olatunji once took a design class but learned drawing with informal help from accomplished artists. “I never took a drawing class, but I had people around me who could draw,” he said. “They noticed my work and encouraged me.” 

When he came to the U.S. at 17, he brought the visual memory of “perhaps a million bolts of cloth” with him. A DJ as well as an artist working in painting, drawing, anime, and more, Olatunji began to seek connections in these mediums. “It wasn’t until after a few years that it hit me that there were patterns in my work,” he said. 

“That’s how I view my neighborhood: a lot of people from different cultures and classes,” said Olatunji, who lives in Northwest Philadelphia. “All these people coexist in the same space. The new mural, ‘Clash Power II,’ celebrates the diversity of his community. It’s the idea of being able to combine patterns that otherwise shouldn’t fit together.” (“Clash Power I,” with eye-popping patterns stretches for 95 feet at 4560 Germantown Ave.)

Olatunji wouldn’t hazard a guess as to how people will respond to the mural. “The truth is that people bring their own experiences [to a work of art],” he said. “But I believe that [making and viewing art] is a unique form of healing.” 

To learn more, visit @olwfm on Instagram.