Mural Arts keeps Bellwether banners as AI policy town halls begin

Mural Arts Philadelphia will hold two public town halls on a proposed artificial-intelligence policy for public art, beginning Nov. 5, as it continues with a South Philadelphia banner project whose designs have drawn online accusations of AI use.

The organisation had no policy governing AI in artists’ work when the controversy surfaced. Its policy work began several months before the dispute over the Bellwether District banners, but Mural Arts added a second session after public concerns about the project and strong interest in the discussion.

The draft policy covers commissions, partnerships and educational programmes. Mural Arts says it was developed through research and conversations with artists, arts workers, colleagues and arts organisations nationwide, and that the meetings will help refine the policy and its implementation. The organisation frames the issue around creative ownership, consent, compensation and the value of artists’ work.

Each meeting is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mural Arts headquarters, 1727-29 Mt. Vernon St. The sessions are open to artists and the public, but require RSVPs, have limited capacity and allow each person to reserve one seat for one gathering. The format calls for a presentation of Mural Arts’ thinking followed by a facilitated discussion.

The immediate dispute concerns a commission with real-estate investment firm HRP Group for “Throughlines,” a citywide Mural Arts exhibition. Five artists were hired to make 20 vinyl-mesh banners for the 26th Street fence around the Bellwether District, the former oil-refinery site under construction. The temporary works were intended to portray nearby Philadelphians and beautify the fence, rather than become permanent painted murals.

Four designs by muralist Kelley Prevard focused on girls in science, engineering and construction. Social-media users argued that three designs included a skyline building resembling Chicago’s Willis Tower rather than Philadelphia’s Liberty Place, while others said the lettering and portrait details resembled AI-generated illustration.

Tuhin Chakrabarty, an AI scholar, told The Inquirer the designs looked like AI and ran all four through Pangram, an AI-detection tool described by the newspaper as having 99% accuracy. Pangram detected AI in each illustration, indicating that they could have been generated or edited with AI tools; it did not flag work by the four other artists. Mural Arts executive director Emily Mello declined to comment on whether the banners used AI-generated imagery or whether staff knew of possible AI use when approving the designs.

Mural Arts said the banners remained in final design edits and would still be printed and installed in late November, including Prevard’s work. Spokesperson Frank Luzi said the skylines would be revised to reflect Philadelphia more accurately. HRP Group executive Amelia Chasse Alcivar said the banners depicted real Philadelphians, including a local engineering student involved in the Bellwether District’s Career-Connected Learning programme.