Heart of Kensington Creates Art Crawl

Join us for a community-wide art crawl and celebration of public art in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. All spring and summer, local artists and community members have been busy creating public art that aims to shift the conversation in Kensington—uplifting each community and building on shared Kensington pride. This event is the first chance to see all of the newly installed artwork and connect with the artists who made it.

The crawl will begin at Harrowgate Park, before proceeding along Kensington Avenue with stops at McPherson Square Library and local galleries. We’ll dedicate 11 brand new murals and the massive Gusset Plate Art Project at McPherson Square Library with family friendly art activities, food from local vendors, live music, and more!

A partnership between Mural Arts, Councilperson Quetcy Lozada’s Office, and Impact Services, Heart of Kensington Creates features work by BUSTA, DISTORT, Iris Bonner, Kilia Llano, KNOMAD & Magdalena Rieders, Linda Fernandez & Martha O’Connell, Manuela Guillén, Paolo Morales, Raelis Vasquez, Symone Salib, Vanessa Vega, and Zerbe.

Accessibility Note: This is an outdoor event, with limited access to bathrooms and air conditioning at the McPherson Square Library and Harrowgate Recreation Center. You will have the option to take a walking tour (approximately one mile at a slow to medium pace) or take a trolley that will be leaving at set times. Please check the forecast and plan accordingly for outdoor conditions.

Gallery Activations

VIZION Gallery, 3312 Kensington Avenue — Private Practice art exhibition featuring work by Heart of Kensington Creates and other community artists, on view through October 11, 2026 (11 am-2 pm)

UV Space, 2731 Kensington Avenue — opening reception for photo exhibition by Heart of Kensington Creates artist Paolo Morales, with music, food, and art activities (2-4 pm).

Bridge Studio, 2550 Kensington Avenue — Rhythm & Bloom, featuring live music, refreshments, and a create-your-own-bouquet activity supported by Kensington Community Alliance (2-5:30 pm).

The Apologues, 2037 E. Lehigh Avenue — Mobile Museum reveal and celebration with live music, mural painting, food, raffles, and more (2-6 pm).

About Heart of Kensington Creates

Heart of Kensington Creates is a cross-sector, community-centered arts initiative focused on collective impact—lifting each neighborhood to celebrate its identity while building on its shared Kensington pride. The initiative, in collaboration with Councilperson Quetcy Lozada’s Office and Impact Services, aims to create a series of murals, art installations, and activations along Kensington Avenue between the Huntingdon Street Station and the Tioga Street Station, culminating in August 2026.

The public art component of the project includes six large-scale murals, six smaller-scale murals/art installations, three local gallery activations, a community wide paint activity displayed on the Septa L line (the Gusset Plate Art Project), and the inclusion of the Afromation Avenue series, a collection of curated positive affirmation street signs personalized by predominantly Black/African American communities throughout Philadelphia.

For more information, visit the Heart of Kensington Creates Hub.

Photo credit: Heart of Kensington Creates: Gussett Plate Art Project © 2026 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Various Artists led by Mat Tomeszco, Market Frankford Line Lehigh to Tioga. Photo by Steve Weinik.

Note: This event has been rescheduled from August 29, 2026 to October 10, 2026.