Located at 4545 Girard Ave. across from the Global Leadership Academy Charter School, artist Richard Wilson’s 60-foot mural of Will Smith is Philly’s latest large scale dedication to one of the city’s most famous figures. The mural was finished May of 2018, it is also the first Philly mural to be dedicated entirely to Smith.
Will was touched by the project, and says in his video commemorating the mural that as a kid growing up in West Philly, he was inspired by a mural of Sixers great and NBA legend Julius Erving. In the video Will’s mother, Carolyn calls the mural “perfect” and personally thanks the artist.
“The idea that there would be a mural of me on the side of a school in West Philadelphia just wrecked me,” Smith said. “To see my mother’s face when she looked at the mural, that was profoundly moving for me.”
Congrats Will, Here’s the video and mural below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkqaZfrABHp/?hl=en&taken-by=richardwilsonartwork
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkuJcgrAqrW/?hl=en&taken-by=richardwilsonartwork
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkvtC20FKDF/?hl=en&tagged=willsmithmural