In this image made from video, Philadelphia's Mayor Cherelle Parker, left, honors actor Quinta Brunson with a key to the city in a ceremony. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)
On Wednesday, May 28, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker honored Quinta Brunson with a key to the city! The honor happened at a ceremony for a separate mural dedicated to Brunson at her alma mater, Andrew Hamilton School, which inspired the actor-producer’s show ‘Abbott Elementary.’
At the ceremony, Quinta gazed at the shiny key Mayor Parker handed her and said, “Wow! I want to ask the question on everybody’s mind: What does it open?” Brunson used the moment at Andrew Hamilton School to celebrate the power of public education, public school teachers, and music and arts education. Her parents and siblings were in attendance. So was Joyce Abbott, the teacher who inspired the name of the show’s fictional school. Also, the “real life Gregory” and other teachers and classmates attended.
Artist Athena Scott created the mural ‘Blooming Features’ with input from Quinta Brunson and Hamilton students and staff. The mural wraps around the outside of the school’s red brick. It showcases bright images of real people from the school. Brunson said she was inspired by the murals painted along her subway route as a kid, especially when she saw one of her own teachers featured. She said she hopes this mural has the same effect.
Brunson said she shut down ABC’s idea to feature actors from the Emmy Award-winning show ‘Abbott Elementary’ in the mural. She wanted actual community members depicted because “that’s how you know there is a future.”
“You don’t need to see famous people on the wall. You need to see you on the wall,” she said. “Painted, beautiful. We are beautiful. It makes a difference. It made a difference for me, so I know even if it makes a difference for just one child, that one child matters.”
Fun fact: Philadelphia is ranked No. 1 in the nation for its murals, per the Associated Press. Jane Golden is the executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia. She said she was thrilled when Brunson featured her organization on an ‘Abbott Elementary’ episode.
“When people visit Philadelphia, they are struck by the works of art that grace the sides of buildings in every single neighborhood of the city,” she said. “For us, this is a matter of equity. It’s great to have world-class galleries and museums that’s wonderful but the fact that everyone everywhere can walk out the door and see large-scale works of public art that represent them, like the school here, that is awesome.”
Associated Press Staff contributed to this report.
