Manayunk Stoops: Heart and Home
Diane Pieri with the Manayunk Development Corporation                 Original concept by Diane Pieri and Vicki Scuri

Manayunk Stoops: Heart and Home is a public art project by Philadelphia artist Diane Pieri with the Manayunk Development Corporation for the Manayunk Canal Towpath. The artist has created nine mosaic "stoops" that enhance and interpret the physical and natural environment of the Towpath. The artwork includes imagery inspired by the native flora, fauna, and industrial heritage of the Manayunk area. The stoops are situated in five sites between Lock and Cotton Streets and are an interpretation of the front steps and entryways that mark the neighborhood's architecture and street life.

Manayunk Stoops: Heart and Home was commissioned through the Fairmount Park Art Association's program New•Land•Marks: public art, community, and the meaning of place and will be donated to the City of Philadelphia. This project was made possible through the generous support of 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, TD Banknorth, and The Dietrich Foundation. The Fairmount Park Art Association thanks consulting architect CuetoKEARNEY Design, LLC and the Fairmount Park Commission for their assistance with the project.

  About the Canal

The Manayunk Canal Towpath is part of a reclamation effort to restore this beautiful natural setting that directly abuts the neighborhood's bustling Main Street. In conjunction with this public art project, the city has replanted the banks of the Towpath, protecting them from erosion as well as providing an important buffer zone for wildlife habitat. The Towpath is used by over 500,000 walkers, runners, and bikers every year and is part of the Schuylkill River Trail, which forms a green link from Center City Philadelphia all the way to the Valley Forge National Historic Park - a distance of twenty miles.

  About the Artist

Diane Pieri, well known in Philadelphia as an artist and educator, creates paintings and sculptures that incorporate abstract patterning. She describes her motifs as a "symbolic language" through which she addresses issues of social concern.