Request for Qualifications (RFQ): Riverview Wellness Village Meeting House

The Porch Light Department at Mural Arts Philadelphia is pleased to announce a public art opportunity for a professional artist to create murals for the Riverview Wellness Village Meeting House. Located at 7979 State Road, Philadelphia, PA, this initiative will feature murals in the entry corridor and potentially an exterior entrance space of the facility.

The artist will be expected to engage the community, design, and implement murals that reflect the mission and values of the Riverview Wellness Village. The total budget for the mural project, inclusive of artist fee, assistant artists, materials, administration, and labor, is $54,000. The fee for the Lead Artist is $20,000, and the assistant artist allocation is $10,000.  The project is scheduled to be completed by late Fall 2025.

All interested artists must submit qualifications by July 18, 2025. For questions or more information, contact the Porch Light Project Manager Jess Kratzer at jess.kratzer@muralarts.org. 

2. Background (Full Project Description)

The Riverview Wellness Village is located in the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia. Spanning approximately 19 acres along the Delaware River, the Village comprises a Meeting House and six residential cottages—Acorn, Birch, Cedar, Dogwood, Fernwood East, and Fernwood West—providing 336 recovery-based housing beds.

This initiative is an investment to break cycles of homelessness, substance use, and trauma through a comprehensive recovery-housing model. Residents are supported with on-site services including health care, therapy, workforce development, and more, enabling long-term stability. Riverview Wellness Village is an initiative of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Administration and is overseen by the Office of Community Wellness and Recovery within the Managing Director’s Office and the Department of Public Property. 

The mural project at the Riverview Wellness Village Meeting House aims to reflect these goals, offering visual inspiration that affirms recovery, healing, and community connection.

For over 30 years, Mural Arts has united artists and communities through a collaborative and equitable process, creating nearly 4,000 artworks that have transformed public spaces. Mural Arts empowers people and stimulates dialogue with programs that focus on youth education, restorative justice, mental health, and wellness. Mural Arts builds bridges to understanding with projects that attract artists from Philadelphia and around the world to create and preserve public art. 

The City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services seeks to educate, strengthen, and serve individuals and communities across Philadelphia, so that all Philadelphians can thrive. The vision of DBHIDS is of a Philadelphia where every individual can achieve health, well-being, and self-determination. 

The Porch Light program, a joint collaboration with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, focuses on achieving universal health and wellness among Philadelphians, especially those dealing with mental health issues or trauma. 

3. Scope of Work, Budget, and Schedule

This project aims to engage with both the service providers and residents of Riverview Wellness Village. The selected artist will work with the Office of Community Wellness and Recovery and service provider partners (including Merakey, Gaudenzia and the Black Doctors Consortium), and Porch Light staff to come up with an engagement plan. The murals will be in the entryway and hallways of the Meeting House (walls pictured below). The space is approximately 2,760 square feet. There is potential for the design to also be on a small portion of an exterior wall. The artist may also have to coordinate some aspects of the work with the site’s design firm that is responsible for signage. 

Scope of Work

Artist Responsibilities

• Engage with community stakeholders and Riverview residents through meetings and workshops
•  Design original mural concepts for the entry corridor and outdoor entrance area
•  Produce full-scale renderings and final artwork
• Lead the painting and installation process, including supervision of assistants and volunteers (including Riverview residents) and leading at least one on-site paint day 
• Participate in press and community engagement events related to the mural unveiling

Mural Arts Responsibilities

• Provide project oversight and coordination
• Facilitate community engagement and logistics
• Support with project promotion, documentation, and archiving
• Provide technical support and access to mural-making resources and materials
• Coordinate between partners and design review process 
• Porch Light Program will support community engagement and artist interaction with residents

Partner Responsibilities

The Office of Community Wellness and Recovery, the Department of Public Property and other City of Philadelphia agencies will provide site access and coordination with facility staff

The staff on site will also coordinate access to the walls for installation 

Artist Fee and Budget

The full project budget is $54,000. $30,000 of that is reserved for artist and assistant artist fees. All materials and supplies required for production will be covered within the provided budget.

Project Schedule

•  RFQ Released: June 13, 2025
•  Submission Deadline: July 18, 2025
•  Artist Interviews: July 21 to August 1, 2025
•  Artist Selection: August 8, 2025
•  Community Engagement and Design Development: August–September 2025
•  Mural Production and Installation: October 2025
•  Project Completion: Fall/Winter 2025

4. Artist Selection Process

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to artists residing in the Greater Philadelphia area. Preference will be given to artists with experience in community-engaged art-making and mural creation. Artists should demonstrate sensitivity to the subject matter and the populations served by Riverview Wellness Village. While not required, any personal experience with the above-mentioned goals of Riverview Wellness Village are welcome in the application documents. 

Selection Process

Mural Arts will use a qualifications-based selection process. A review panel composed of representatives from Mural Arts, the Office of Community Wellness and Recovery of the City of Philadelphia and community stakeholders will evaluate applications. A short list of finalists will be invited to interviews. Final artist selection is expected by August 2025.

Qualifications and Review Criteria

The selection panel will consider the following criteria:
 

• Quality and strength of past work
• Experience with community engagement
• Demonstrated ability to design and execute large-scale murals
• Alignment with the values and goals of the Riverview Wellness Village
• Availability during the project period 
• References and professional conduct