Grayson students are proud to have helped King Saladeen bring his creative vision to life in his first Philadelphia mural unveiled at 601 Spring Garden Street in June! Collaborative projects with working practitioners offer a unique opportunity for our students to work together through authentic experiences, and create something truly special as a community.

The King Saladeen mural was commissioned by Mural Arts Philadelphia, a local arts center founded in 1984 that works with artists from around the world to create murals while working alongside members of the community. “I would see these murals everyday when I was a kid and I’d wonder, how do you get to do that?” says King Saladeen. “And now I’m working with Mural Arts, which is the largest mural society in the country, to create my first mural in Philadelphia.”

King Saladeen grew up in West Philadelphia, which, he says, was a hard place to live, despite the town’s slogan of “Brotherly Love.” It was his best friend JP who pushed him to pursue art. When JP sadly passed away from cancer in 2013, Saladeen knew that he had to follow through on his friend’s wishes. He created his now iconic Money Bear logo to honor JP, and threw all of his energy behind art. A decade later, Saladeen is now a bona fide art world star, and he’s returned to where it all started to create his biggest work yet, his mural. The imagery in the mural is a representation of King Saladeen and JP on what Saladeen calls the best day of his life. The mural will be on 6th and Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia, a former club that King Saladeen used to go to with JP.

King Saladeen has been a friend of The Grayson School since 2020. In spring 2021, King Saladeen mentored a team of students in planning, designing, and organizing the full school participation in painting our own 3-Dimensional, 25-ft. mural for our hallways. The mural depicts a message of resilience and to always DREAM BIG! as King Saladeen and JP inspire. “I was most impressed with the fact that The Grayson School recognizes that giftedness and talent are not limited to a zip code or a socioeconomic factor. There is an obvious commitment, both at the school and in their outreach efforts, to close the equity gap in gifted education. As a personal mentor of mine made a huge mark on my life, It is very fulfilling for me to pass that forward as a role model to Grayson students.”

Using mural paint on parachute cloth, Grayson students helped in painting King Saladeen‘s iconic DREAM BIG! logo for his mural —just as our students collaborated with him a few years ago on their own DREAM BIG! mural. This time our students are excited to have a small part in transforming a Philly neighborhood through King Saladeen‘s art for the next 20 years!

Read more about Grayson’s commitment to a collaborative and respectful culture and community.