Jane Golden is stepping down as Mural Arts’ executive director
'I’m not going to sugarcoat this. It’s really hard to leave,' said the arts leader who was hired by Mayor Wilson Goode in 1984 to address the city’s graffiti problem
Forty-two years after founding and leading Mural Arts, arts leader Jane Golden announced on Monday that she will be stepping down as the organization’s executive director in July 2026.
Over the next year, Golden will guide major Semiquincentennial projects while working closely with Mural Arts’ senior leadership and board of directors, assisting with the organizational transition.
The search for her successor begins this fall.
Golden, who has dedicated her life to transforming the Philadelphia cityscape through Mural Arts, said she’s content with stepping down. Reflecting on Mural Arts’ impact on local artists and the people of Philadelphia, she said, has made it easier.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this. It’s really hard to leave,” she said to The Inquirer. “Every day I wake up, I’m excited and inspired. I’m inspired by the power that art has to lift people’s hearts, souls, and to educate … To think about separating from that is almost impossible, except I have to think for the betterment of the organization, that it’s something that’s good.”
Throughout Golden’s career, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said, her dedication and vision for Philadelphia has built a “powerful model for community-centered public art.”
“Art changes lives,” Parker said in a written statement. “As we honor Jane’s remarkable impact on Philadelphia’s social and physical landscape, we look ahead with excitement to the future of Mural Arts.”
“I think everybody in the city knows who Jane Golden is,” Mural Arts board chair Hope Comisky said. “She has impacted so many lives in so many neighborhoods in so many different ways.”
It will be nearly impossible to fill Golden’s shoes, she said. Mural Arts’ board of directors has established a seven-member search committee to work with a national firm to select Golden’s successor.
Ideally, Comisky said, the incoming director will work with Golden for a month before she officially departs from her post.
“It’s important for the organization to ensure continuity of its leadership, to make sure that there’s a smooth transition in such an important role, and also reduce disruptions of programming that might be associated with a change in leadership,” Comisky said.
While the details of Golden’s involvement in the search are still being worked out, Comisky is hopeful the new leader will carry on the mission that’s made Mural Arts such an integral part of the city.
Even after her departure, Golden will continue to work to bring some of her long-held ideas to fruition, in a contracted ambassadorship role.
Among those ideas is a restorative justice program and she’s interested in growing the Color Me Back Program, which aids artists struggling with housing insecurity.
“I’m really driven by the impact that art can have on the life of our city. And I feel very passionate and sort of relentless about it,” Golden said. “People always say, ‘You’ve done so much,’ but there are always things to do.”
Artist Meg Saligman, who has worked with Golden since the late 1980s, said no one else has been as committed to supporting and employing Philly artists as Golden.
“She’s like how Berry Gordy was to Detroit during [the height of] Motown,” Saligman said. “Her dedication is unsurpassed by anything I’ve seen. The fact that she’s still planning and thinking about the future shows who she is.”
In 1984, former Mayor Wilson Goode hired Golden to address the city’s graffiti problem through the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network.
Golden then spearheaded the Anti-Graffiti Network’s transition to the Mural Arts Program in 1996, with the support of then-Mayor Ed Rendell. She also established Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates, an independent nonprofit organization designed to raise funds and support the mural-making program.
She collaborated with and commissioned local artists to design murals that mirrored places, people, and stories that make up the city.
Under Golden’s leadership, City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said Mural Arts has grown into a nationally recognized arts organization that’s cemented Philly’s reputation as the mural capital of the world.
“I thank [Golden] for her extraordinary service to our city, her unwavering commitment to inclusion and social justice through art, and her belief in the limitless potential of Philadelphia’s people,” Johnson said in a written statement.
As her time at the helm soon expires, Golden intends to continue supporting Mural Arts and the people who make Philly whole.
“I don’t think I’ll ever really leave Mural Arts in my heart,” she said. “I’m always going to care a lot about the organization … there’s a part of me that feels like I would just want to work forever.”
“I just love this organization. I love the people, and I love the people we work with across Philadelphia. I love our city tremendously. And every day I wake up, I feel very privileged and honored to do this job.”