About Manayunk Stoops

Manayunk Stoops: Heart and Home consists of nine mosaic "stoops" that enhance and interpret the physical and natural environment of the Manayunk Canal Towpath. The artwork includes imagery inspired by the native flora, fauna, and industrial heritage of the Manayunk area.  The stoops, situated in five sites between Lock and Cotton Streets, serve as seating elements along the Canal and are an interpretation of the front steps and entryways that mark the neighborhood's architecture and street life.

The artist selected the stoop motif as a "symbol of interaction and community."  Residents of Manayunk, like those in many Philadelphia neighborhoods, traditionally sit on their front stoops to socialize.  "By bringing the stoops to the Canal," says Pieri, "we hope to bring the language of the community to the Canal.  The stoops are unpretentious yet meaningful reflections of the people and social customs in Manayunk."  As a metaphor for the acscension of the community, Pieri's Stoops also relate to an existing staircase that runs from the bottom to the top of the hill.

Manayunk Stoops was commissioned through the Art Association's ongoing program New•Land•Marks: public art, community, and the meaning of place.  Artists Diane Pieri and Vicki Scuri developed an intial project proposal for the site by meeting with community groups including the North Light Community Center, the Manayunk Development Corporation, and Venice Island Playground Community Council.  They investigated the Canal, neighborhood, local history, industry, and culture.  With the North Light Community Center, Pieri led several community workshops where children shared stories, memories, and reflections of their experiences growing up in the neighborhood.  Pieri has also revitalized a mural along the Towpath to complement Manayunk Stoops. 

Diane Pieri

Diane Pieri is a well known Philadelphia artist and educator who creates paintings and sculptures that incorporate abstract patterning.  She describes her motifs as a "symbolic language" through which she addresses issues of social and timely concern.  As resident artist at the Cooke Elementary School in North Philadelphia, Pieri organized the Cooke Museum of Art, which exhibited the work of 120 students.  She has also created several murals through Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program, including Starr Garden in Center City.  A graduate of Tyler School of Art, Pieri has received two Pollock-Krasner Foundation grants, an Independence Foundation Fellowship, and has attended residencies at Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony.

Manayunk Development Corporation and the Manayunk Canal

The Manayunk Development Corporation (MDC) encourages healthy economic development to benefit all segments of the Manayunk community.  Founded in 1985 by a coalition of business and community leaders in response to the decline of the neighborhood's commercial district and other evidence of community disinvestment, the MDC has been instrumental in Manyunk's economic revitalization.

In conjunction with Manayunk Stoops and as part of a larger reclamation effort, the city replanted the banks of the Towpath to protect it from erosion and provide a buffer zone for wildlife habitat.  The Towpath, used by over 500,000 walkers, runners, and bikers every year, is part of the Schuylkill River Trail linking Center City Philadelphia to Valley Forge National Historic Park.  Across the Canal, Lower Venice Island is scheduled for redevelopment to include hockey and basketball courts, a river walk, children's spray park, and a Recreation and Cultural Center.

Supporters

Generous support for Manayunk Stoops was received from the William Penn Foundation, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources through the Schuylkill River Heritage Area Grant Program, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, Connelly Foundation, the TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation, and The Dietrich Foundation.