The inaugural Green Philly EcoFair at Cherry Street Pier this Saturday will offer eco-conscious Philadelphians workshops, resources and ideas on how to make positive impacts on the region’s sustainability.
For those who love Philly’s many green spaces as well as its public transit, the fair will also have the launch of the latest “Routes to Roots” map, a guide to the bus routes that take commuters to each park with illustrations and information about each destination.
The hand-painted map is part of “Getting to Green: Routes to Roots” a Mural Arts Philadelphia project funded by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and with support from SEPTA. The two-year multidisciplinary public art project is led by artists and educators Laura Deutch and Shira Walinsky, with the aim to help “deepen connections between urban dwellers and the city’s natural landscapes.”
Deutch said it was about “expanding people’s awareness that might be neighborhood-bound, block-bound of what’s within reach.”
Getting to Green launched publicly in June 2023 and has included a bus wrap on Route 7, group bus rides to promote exploration, bus stop posters with maps, handouts with facts and scavenger hunt prompts, pop-up events and a video series speaking with commuters.
Walinsky said that part of the inception of the project was about working with immigrant and refugee communities that were new to Philly and didn’t know where the city’s parks were yet.
“The need that we all have to get to green spaces and the fact that we live in a city where we have this incredible park system — and we also have a great transit system,” she said. “So I think it’s just continually trying to make those connections about how to get there, about what resources are there, through public transit.”
Unlike what we’ve all come to expect from a typical city transit map, the intricacy in this guide is in the destination, rather than the route. The city is shrunk down and simplified while the images of the parks, and what can be found in them, are enlarged and meticulously illustrated by Walinsky. Designer William Hogdson assisted with the layout, including the back of the map where there’s more information on how to get to each spot from the bus stop.
Walinksy researched what was distinctive about each park, learning how the hilly, fern-filled Wissahickon differed from the marshes and cattails of FDR Park. Owls, foxes, horses and other local fauna are also featured.
The map has several languages on it. The input of the immigrant communities also offered the perspective to include pieces of nature that offer specific groups their cultural comforts that others might overlook. Walinsky learned of the value of edible nettles, or “sisnu” in Nepali, from the groups that knew that FDR Park was a good spot to find and collect them.
On Saturday, April 27, Getting to Green will have a table at the front of the EcoFair where they will give away the new map as well as interactive activities and brochures to educate and inspire commuters. The fair runs from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The project’s exhibit will be up at Cherry Street Pier until June 3.
Deutch said that they are working with SEPTA and park and community organizations to have the project’s materials and resources at helpful sites in the coming months. The last step before the project wraps up this summer is designing semi-permanent signage showing people where to disembark from their transit and where to head next.
Bus routes 5, 12, 17, 21, 25, 33, 38, 42, 44 and 48 will get you to the pier. The Routes to Roots map will show you where to go next.
