Mikel Elam

Maya Zarate-Ramirez

(she/her)

Mural Arts Institute Administrator

was born and raised in Philadelphia and has also spent time studying in Amherst, Massachusetts. Maya has worked closely with local organizations such as SEAMAAC, Fleisher Art Memorial, and Philadelphia Contemporary. Maya is passionate about supporting community-based public programming and enjoys ceramics in her free time .

Accra Zuberi

(they/them)

Initiative Manager

Accra supports the third iteration of an Art & Environmental Justice Initiative called “Strength Through Solidarity''. This initiative partners with BIPOC-led environmental justice organizations, rooted in frontline communities, to support artistic and cultural processes that improve their communities’ health, well-being, and resilience in service of a more regenerative and just future. Accra has accomplished these goals through accessible program design, festivals, artist collaborations, and maintaining sustainable partnerships. Zuberi received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006. They hold certificates in Arts and Healthcare from Temple University (2009), Design for Print and Web from Moore College of Art and Design (2012), and Trauma Informed Practices for Art Administrators from the Bartol Foundation (2020). Zuberi has completed artist residencies for numerous organizations including the Mural Arts Philadelphia, The Clay Studio, and the Philadelphia Department of Recreation. Accra takes pride in transforming individuals' perceptions of how art can change one's life.

Cathy Harris

(she/her)

Senior Project Manager

During her tenure, she has managed 1000+ projects throughout the city and Philadelphia region. A graduate of Penn State University’s College of Fine Art, with a degree in Illustration and Ceramics, Cathy has also worked for several other prominent local arts organizations including the Painted Bride Art Center, Bushfire Theatre of Performing Art, and the Philadelphia Folklore Project. The Painted Bride provided opportunities for Cathy to work with artists whose art challenged the mainstream and she became a strong advocate for the rights and support of the individual artists. As Executive Director of the Women’s Theatre Festival, Cathy had the pleasure of presenting the largely underserved community of women artists locally and nationally. During her tenure, Cathy produced five festivals and presented over 120 works by women in music, dance, poetry, theater, and performance. The Philadelphia Folklore Project introduced Cathy to an even more marginalized community of folk and traditional artists. In her two years at the Folklore Project, Cathy raised over $180,000 for individual folk and traditional artists. Cathy maintained relationships with many of the artists she collaborated with at the Folklore Project and was able to continue working with them as an organizational consultant through the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ Preserving Diverse Cultures Program and the National Endowment for the Arts’ Heritage and Preservation program. At Mural Arts, Cathy has learned the complexities of working with communities to create public art and has had the opportunity to return to her visual arts roots in the management of over 30 projects annually. She has worked with a diverse array of communities; some defined by geographic parameters, others brought by shared goals or concerns. Her most interesting projects have been the many public health-themed projects created in partnership with the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilities. She worked with these agencies to tackle challenging topics including HIV/AIDS, smoking cessation, addiction and recovery, homelessness, and suicide prevention awareness. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention recognized Cathy with the Lifesaver of the Year Award in 2013 for managing Finding the Light Within, a project that touched over 1,200 survivors and family members who lost loved ones to suicide. In partnership with the Yale School of Medicine, Cathy co-authored an article about the project which was published by the American Journal of Community Psychology. Cathy is passionate about the work she does to support communities in telling their stories through public art and to catalyze and sustain positive outcomes. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experiences with arts administrators across the country through the Mural Arts Institute which she has done since 2018.

David McShane

(he/him)

Director of Resident Artists

Most of McShane’s murals are large outdoor community-based projects, which were painted in collaboration with specific neighborhoods. Outside of offering ideas for themes and subjects for the murals, community members (and especially neighborhood children) also participated in community art activities and assisted with painting many of the murals. David also has served on the board of the Mural Arts Advocates, helping to raise funds for MAP. He teaches the community mural process to potential mural artists and serves as a knowledge sharing advisor for the Mural Arts Institute teaching artists and arts organizations throughout the world. In addition, he has taught drawing and mural painting at LaSalle University and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Outside of Philadelphia, David has received grants to create community murals in Coatesville, PA, Middletown Township, PA, Dublin, Ireland, and in the suburbs of Paris, France. David has a Bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in pre-med, from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, but decided to enroll in art school instead of medical school after college. He studied at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, from which he received an M.F.A.

Felix St. Fort Jr.

(he/him)

Resident Artist

St. Fort’s most prominent commission, “The Stage” (Philadelphia, 2018), has garnered international press. Felix St. Fort recently worked as an Art Teacher for C.B. Community School while continuing to work on private commissions and mural commissions until beginning his role as a Resident Artist for Mural Arts Philadelphia. He is an advisor for the Mural Arts Institute on mural making logistics, wall designs, and approach to public art projects.

Nathaniel Lee

(he/him)

Resident Artist

Lee especially enjoys problem-solving the many logistical challenges of creating artwork at a monumental scale, experimenting with new materials, and using unconventional mark-making methods to achieve the visual goals of the art pieces. In addition to his work with Mural Arts, Lee creates independently-commissioned murals and portraits and also exhibits his personal artwork in galleries and art competitions. Lee’s work is influenced by both the Golden Age of American Illustration, including N.C. Wyeth, J.C. Leyendecker, and Edmund Dulac, while also harnessing the energy of contemporary street art — bold and beautiful but also whimsical. He previously worked in the stained glass field as an artist for Mezalick Design Studio and Selvin Glass. Lee is a graduate of the University of the Arts and holds a BFA in Illustration.

Shira Walinsky

(she/her)

Porchlight Coordinator

Shira co-teaches a program with Jane Golden, Executive Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, called Big Pictures Mural Art in Philadelphia. This class, currently held at the University of Pennsylvania, explores mural history, case studies of mural projects and reviews other Philadelphia programs. Shira has taught art at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, Moore College of Art, and the University of the Arts. Her work has been shown at Asian Arts Initiative, Monument Lab at the Philadelphia Airport, and the Comcast building. In 2012 she helped found Southeast by Southeast, a center for new refugees created through a partnership between Mural Arts Philadelphia and the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. Shira loves that the work of Mural Arts ties together art and community -- art that connects community stories and transforms spaces. She brings this experience and passion to the Mural Arts Institute as an advisor on community engagement strategies. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a lifelong learner and continues to grow from her experiences at Mural Arts Philadelphia.

Emilio Maldonado

(he/him)

Artist Relations Director

As the Artist Relations Director, Emilio works with MAP to address the disparities between artists from different backgrounds in and beyond the institution. He advocates for better conditions for artists across the board. Maldonado is deeply invested in the role that social dynamics play in perception. Emilio is a current member of the artist-run gallery Tiger Strikes Asteroid PHL and is a co-founder and past member of Philly Group Crit. He received an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design, A BFA from Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico and an AAS from Escuela de Diseño Altos de Chavón in the Dominican Republic.

Netanel Portier

(she/her)

Senior Director of Learning and Practice

Netanel has 20 years of experience bringing diverse artists and communities together for transformative public projects and programs as a project manager, artist, teacher, curator, and médiatrice culturelle. She is devoted to promoting social engagement and meaningful action and has designed and managed diverse and complex public art projects rooted in social practice. As Director of the Project Management Office, a role she held before launching the Institute, Portier led the creation and implementation of project management processes and tools for the Mural Arts program and model while leading consulting opportunities. Netanel continues to lead and design learning initiatives and engagements with individual artists, administrators, institutions, and cultural and civic organizations with a focus on participatory public art projects and programs. A first generation American and mother of two multicultural children, Netanel is devoted to peer learning, cultural exchange, and community-centered cultural practices. She is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, and serves on the board of PhilaFLAM.

Joseph Iacona

(he/him)

Director of Mural Arts Institute

Iacona has activated creative exploration with intergenerational populations in schools, libraries, museums, prisons, shelters, behavioral health facilities, and other community service centers. He has exhibited his paintings and public projects at museums, galleries, and cultural institutions throughout the East Coast. As Director of Mural Arts Institute, Joseph supports artists and community leaders in socially engaged participatory art practices, locally, nationally, and globally. Joseph has held previous roles with Mural Arts since 2009, as both a muralist and as a teaching artist, with an emphasis on work in Restorative Justice programs and Trauma-informed curriculum development. Outside of Mural Arts, Joseph organized more than 50 community engaged artist residencies with public schools through the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has written for Art21 Magazine on integrating contemporary art into classrooms, and presented at conferences and colleges on creative placekeeping practices.

Jane Golden

(she/her)

Executive Director

Under her direction, Mural Arts has created over 4,000 works of public art through innovative collaborations with community-based organizations, city agencies, nonprofit organizations, schools, the private sector, and philanthropies. Sought after nationally and internationally as an expert on urban transformation through art, Golden has received numerous awards for her work, including the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship Award, the Philadelphia Award, the Hepburn Medal from the Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center at Bryn Mawr College and many more. Currently, Golden serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and as Critic-in-residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art.