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A Will Smith mural is going up right now in, you guessed it, West Philly

Josh Middleton
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Josh Middleton
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If you’re in West Philly, beeline to 4545 Girard Avenue right now to check out the brand new Will Smith mural being sketched and painted by London street artist Richard Wilson. According to a rep from Mural Arts Philadelphia, which broke news about the mural this afternoon on Twitter, Wilson was inspired to do the work after seeing some of Will Smith’s feel-good, togetherness-inspiring posts on Instagram.

This isn’t a Mural Arts Philadelphia project, but the nonprofit has helped Wilson with essential organization and connected him with a nearby school, the Global Leadership Academy Charter School, where he will teach some art-making classes in conjunction with the mural’s creation.

We haven’t been able to track down Wilson for comment, but this Instagram post from last week offers a few more clues in his own words as to what he has planned.

The work is going up on the side of the Gevurtz Furniture building, which sits across the street from a large concrete playground that’s attached to another school, Rudolph Blankenburg Elementary School.

Wilson, who works primarily with spray paint, has created large-scale murals in the U.K. and U.S.—including one of DJ Kamala in the Bronx and American soul-jazz great Roy Ayers in his native London. One work, in Liverpool, pays tribute to other black musicians, such as A Tribe Called Quest, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti and Stevie Wonder.

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