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Roberts Wesleyan College Presents

Bethany J. Welch, Ph.D.

Beautiful Walls: Mural Making and Operational Citizenship

Bethany J. Welch, Ph.D. is the founding director of Aquinas Center located in Philadelphia, PA. She is an honors graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College, Class of 2000, with a double major in art and communication. After graduating from Roberts, Welch went to work for Foodlink in graphic design and development. She was afforded many opportunities to explore questions pertaining to hunger and food security, resulting in a greater interest in anti-poverty efforts. Convinced that the real opportunity for social change lay at the intersection of policy and practice, she moved to Philadelphia to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, and then later completed a doctorate in urban studies and public policy at the University of Delaware.

In this talk, Dr. Welch discusses how disinvestment and outward migration from America’s cities yielded affordable housing and a growing service economy beneficial to immigrants and refugees. These new residents then intentionally and unintentionally rework how these formerly depleted spaces are being used, experienced, owned, navigated, and understood. Dr. Welch notes that the city of Philadelphia has become a proving ground for the powerful place-making effects of community murals. She demonstrates how co-creating these beautiful walls - expansive canvases of brick and stucco - can be the impetus for defining a new social consciousness in contested urban spaces. With the aid of photographs, she discusses a series of murals that depict aspects of the immigrant experience and delves deeper into an explanation of the process of mural making. The talk concludes with a discussion on the growth of mural making as an increasingly desirable public expression that leads to self-actualization and efficacy for both the individuals involved and the communities that engage with the physical space in which the mural is created.

This event is sponsored by the Roberts Wesleyan College Cultural Enrichment Committee.

Contact Dr. Matthew Moore for further information by calling 585.594.6786 or e-mail MooreM@roberts.edu