No More Ugly Murals

The recent proliferation of crudely painted murals is an embarrasment to the city of Philadelphia. The Mural arts program, originally concieved to combat graffiti, is more destructive than the supposed malady it seeks to correct. Littering the inner city with bad paintings as a cure for urban blight is the aesthetic equivalent of ameilorating insomnia with crack cocaine. When the themes are appropiate to the neighborhood, the designs are clearly standard. With very few exceptions, the artistic quality is amateurish,despite the fact that we have an extremly high concentration of artist in this city. THis odd disparity between poor quality and abundant talent is not an indicment of the arts community. It reflects the lack of discernment our city goverment invaribly exhibits toward the arts.