City Hall Banners

In spring 1982, the City of Philadephia invited local artists to contribute ideas for a series of banners celebrating Phillie culture. The brief called for a series of 48, to be displayed in the central courtyard at City Hall from a suspended grid. I developed a series based on icons of communities who had settled the city from earliest days, colonial flag fragments – and a big pink heart representing the City of Brotherly Love. Just for throwback value, the scaled patterns were created with mechanical pencil, T-square and triangles, and flexible curve. #oldschool

My series was selected, and constructed in the second-floor workroom of National Flag & Banner, overlooking Arch Street. My slides are from installation day, when I hitched a ride in the bucket truck for a better view. Massed up together, billowing like so many spinnakers at once, the banner series lifted the mood of this formal courtyard for the summer they flew.

#philadelphia #howphillyseesphilly