Artists Pitch Ideas For Beautifying Part Of West Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The West Philadelphia community is getting to help decide what public artwork they want to see displayed in the coming months.

The group Lola 38 called on artists to present their ideas Thursday night on lower Lancaster Avenue....the same area they are hoping to improve.

James Wright is with the People's emergency Center...one of the partners in this Lola 38 project...whose goal is to find ways to improve Lower Lancaster Avenue...

"We have several different artists doing a pitch for installations along 38th and Lancaster," explains James Wright with the People's Emergency Center, one of Lola 38's partners on the project.

One of the artists was Gabrielle Patterson:

"My idea was to weave the history of this area of West Philly into an abstract piece on a fence outside of what used to be University City High School using Plexiglas that's colored, clear and mirrored to create this kind of dazzling piece."

Another artists, John Schlesinger, has been living in the area for 20 years. His idea...

"Construct a sculpture out of neon and project onto it images of buildings coming down. Also have live cameras that will allow the audience to see themselves projected into the video."

Anyone on hand for the presentations got to vote for their favorite.

• Community
• Philadelphia