"There is a sadness when we have to replace murals. We don't do that lightly," said Jane Golden, director of MAP.
Until this year, the staff had identified murals for renovation in an "ad hoc" fashion, she said. All mural-arts employees consider it part of their job to keep an eye out as they travel through the city, checking for murals that have been defaced or battered by nature.
The original 6,500-square-foot nursing mural, created by Sam Donovan, was dedicated the year of the American Nurses Association biennial convention in Philadelphia. That project involved collaboration from numerous city agencies and 16 area nursing schools.
Both the artists and the communities become attached to their murals and often do not welcome change.
"We went back to Sam and asked if he would like to redo the mural or create a new one with a similar theme," said Johnston. "That's what he did with the Harriet Tubman mural."
The Tubman mural, which had been on the I. Goldberg flagship store on Chestnut Street, lasted only two years before the building was taken down for a parking garage. Donovan redesigned it for a location in North Philadelphia.
He was asked last fall if he wanted to repaint or re-create the mural, but was not available. So his friend Meg Saligman, a well-known mural artist who has done more than 50 works in Philadelphia, volunteered.
Major funding for the $250,000 mural was provided by the Independence Foundation, and again more than a dozen area nursing schools contributed money and creative advice.
"The older one was a tribute to nursing's heritage," said Saligman. "This time, the nursing community was more interested in looking to the future."
