Northern Liberties Debuts New Mural Hunt Starting Memorial Day Weekend

Northern Liberties Business Improvement District announces the debut of a brand-new, self-guided Philadelphia Mural Art Crawl just in time for summer. Northern Liberties Mural Hunt: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Street Art will debut on Friday, May 28th and run through Monday, July 5th. Participants in the scavenger hunt can participate by downloading the free Let’s Roam app from Google Play or the Apple store, then locate the mural hunt on the app’s regional map. Once activated, participants can go at their own pace to find 20+ pieces of street art and murals, while learning about the art pieces' history and significance. Participants are then asked to complete fun challenges and enter to win weekly prizes. One lucky winner on July 5th will win the drawing for the grand prize, a bowling party for four at North Bowl. Free yourself from your home office, jailbreak the kids from Zoom school, and join forces with family and friends to find the hidden artistic gems in one of Philadelphia’s most unique neighborhoods. While you get your art crawl on don’t forget to stop, shop and stroll through Northern Liberties’ top retailers and restaurants. For more information about the Northern Liberties Mural Hunt, visit the NLBID website at explorenorthernliberties.org.

“We invite neighbors and visitors to come out and explore Northern Liberties this summer,” said NLBID Executive Director Kris Kennedy. “As we all head back out into the world and figure out what the new normal looks like, we wanted to showcase our neighborhood through programming that was fun, relaxing and no pressure. We designed this to help people ease the transition of staying at home and learning to get back out again. The idea was inspired by our Artists at Work art crawl held on Second Saturdays. They were such a hit we wanted to celebrate Northern Liberties’ artistic roots and get people moving through the neighborhood again. It is a win-win with hours of free summer enjoyment, plus you can win some pretty cool prizes from our restaurants, retail shops and local attractions. Come as you are, bring the family, make it a date night or organize a group. It is a win-win for the neighborhood, for our local businesses, and for those looking to get out of the house.”

Northern Liberties Mural Hunt goes live starting Friday, May 28th and runs through Monday, July 5th. Participants in the Mural Hunt must first download the free Let's Roam app from Google Play or the Apple Store, then locate the Northern Liberties Mural Hunt on the app’s regional map. From there, they create a profile, make plans, get out there and start exploring. Participants can take a selfie with street art and answer trivia to rack up points.

For first-time users of the app, and for those new to art crawls and hunts, Northern Liberties Business Improvement District offered these four tips for success:

* Huddle Up - Meet player’s group in the Northern Liberties neighborhood. Then, decide if the group will split into teams or work together. It is recommended that large groups split up into teams of 2-10. Players can make it even more fun with food and drink from a local restaurant before, during or after the hunt.

* Unlock the Fun - Each player will download the Let’s Roam: Scavenger Hunt App from the iOS App or Google Play store. Multiple people can play on one device if desired.

* Navigate the Home Screen - Players should select “Join A Hunt” on the lower right corner of the home screen, and enter their private voucher code: NLiberties. Once they choose a team leader, they will enter a team name. Each person will click on the team name to enter the hunt. Alternatively, teammates can select “Custom Events & Team Building” and enter the team’s join code (provided by the team leader).

* Try It Out - Players should play-test the hunt by naming the team Testers, so the results do not show up on the leaderboard until everyone is comfortable using the app. This will not affect the hunt. When the hunt is over, everyone can view all the photos and the leaderboard using this custom link: bit.ly/letsroamnolibs

Once players set-off through the neighborhood, they will find over 20 pieces of street art that include works by noted local artists, Paul Santoleri, Frank Hyder and Dennis Haugh, as well as images of famous Philadelphians such as Edgar Allan Poe, Ben Franklin and Gritty. One of Philadelphia’s largest and most memorable pieces of public art finds its home in Northern Liberties. BeBot, created by London-based artist Andrea Greenlees, is ready with a big smile and wave at the East side of the Piazza. The wireframe sculpture is 33 feet tall and weighs 13,000 pounds. The artwork is literally the heart of the neighborhood, with a literal giant copper heart at its core. A complete list of street art and murals in the hunt include:

Bell’s Pond by Frank Hyder

Stay Rad by Jesse Wolfrom

Urban Village Brewing by Tom Rivelli and Marcos Monteiro

Bebot by Andrea Greenlees

Two Birds and a Turtle by Unknown

Cohocksik: Stand in the Place Where You Live by Dennis Haugh

Kobe and Gritty by JesPaints

2nd & Poplar Collection by Claudio Ethos, Ru8icon1, and Juanjo Surace

Jerry’s Car by Unknown

Freedom Apothecary by Dora Cuenca

Open Spaces and Underground Rivers by Paul Santoleri

Green Bench by Leo Razzi

Advocates for Advocacy by Brett Cook-Dizney

Pedal Thru (Biking in the Ozone) by Paul Santoleri

The Value of Family by Eric Okdeh

Silk City by J Roberts Metalworks

Edgar Allan Poe Portrait by Peter Pagast

Through the Cracks by Paul Santoleri

Philos Adelphos by Saner Edgar

Reading the Flow by Eurhi Jones

On top of the list above, players can also enjoy bonus art pieces inside businesses, such as Madison K Cookies, Anejo Philadelphia, SET NoLibs, El Camino and North 3rd.

“Northern Liberties has a long history as one of Philly’s most creative districts.Now, in current times, we are left with a growing wealth of artistic riches that are perfect for a summer of exploration. During the pandemic we saw a big increase in walking traffic exploring these brilliant, colorful and creative murals on our Northern Liberties streets. We wanted to continue that energy and foster continued interest in our creative culture.”

For prizes, NLBID and neighborhood businesses are offering a bonus to add to the excitement. On top of getting a lesson in the neighborhood’s artistic offerings, players will compete for weekly prizes and a grand prize at the end of the program. Every Monday, one winner will be selected who completed the hunt and has the highest score for the week. At the end of the hunt on July 5th, one grand prize winner will win a bowling party for four to the recently reopened North Bowl. The grand prize winner will be selected from those who finished the challenge and had the single highest score for the entire season.

While on the hunt, players can share and tag @northliberties on Instagram and Instagram stories. For more about Northern Liberties Business Improvement District and the Northern Liberties Mural Hunt, visit: /www.explorenorthernliberties.org. For more about the Let’s Roam app, please call support at 1-833-202-ROAM (7626)

ABOUT NORTHERN LIBERTIES BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

Northern Liberties Business Improvement District was formed in 2018 to provide supplements to the municipal services of the City of Philadelphia; maintain a safe, clean and vibrant commercial district for the benefit of the residents, users, and owners within the district, and to citizens of Philadelphia and the region; to create opportunities for the business and residential communities to come together to make improvements to the district; and develop and implement programs and services that ensure that Northern Liberties continues to be a desirable place to live, work, shop, invest and visit. For more information, see explorenorthernliberties.org.