{"id":288269,"date":"2026-09-17T16:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/288269\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T16:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:56:09","slug":"will-a-pierre-robert-mural-actually-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/288269\/","title":{"rendered":"Will a Pierre Robert Mural Actually Happen?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNews<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Despite plenty of enthusiasm, finding the right spot for a mural of the late local hero has proved difficult.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Pierre<\/p>\n

The late WMMR DJ Pierre Robert and Dallyn Pavey Uosikkinen, who is spearheading a Pierre Robert mural but running into problems \/ Photograph courtesy of Dallyn Pavey Uosikkinen<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Listen to the audio edition here:<\/p>\n

Soon after Pierre Robert\u2019s sudden death last October, Dallyn Pavey Uosikkinen, his close friend and confidante of many years, embarked on a mission: erect a Pierre Robert mural in Philadelphia. It seemed like a no-brainer. Philadelphia has been called the mural capital of the world, with more than 4,000 murals currently on display, and Robert was a truly beloved Philadelphia legend who rose to regional fame at WMMR, where he worked from 1981 until his untimely passing<\/a>\u00a0last October. Who could argue that he didn\u2019t deserve such an honor? No one, it turned out. There\u2019s just one problem. Where do you put the thing?<\/p>\n

Pavey Uosikkinen found no shortage of enthusiasm for the mural idea, just as she found for her plan to install a bench in Robert\u2019s honor in Rittenhouse Square<\/a>, the park where he spent his last Sunday among the living, reading a book, and drinking a cup of coffee. That bench quickly became a reality thanks to a flurry of contributions from the public and the cooperation of the Friends of Rittenhouse Square, which maintains the park and its memorial bench program. Pavey and others unveiled the bench in May on the same weekend that Robert received an honorary street sign in the Gayborhood, where he spent much of his social life. As for the mural, Pavey Uosikkinen, wife of Hooters drummer David Uosikkinen, is at her wit\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really gave it a lot of effort,\u201d she says. \u201cDavid and I drove around the city a few times \u2014 he would drive and I would take pictures and write the addresses down and then I researched who owned the buildings and would send emails and follow up with phone calls. But nobody wanted to get back to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pavey Uosikkinen says she did have partial luck with Monk\u2019s Caf\u00e9, the popular Center City Belgian beer bar, saying that the owner of the restaurant seemed interested but the owner of the building apparently was not. She also emailed real estate developer Allan Domb, who owns no shortage of properties in the city.<\/p>\n

Domb says that while he loves the Mural Arts program and all that it\u2019s done for the city, he probably doesn\u2019t have a wall that will work for Pavey Uosikkinen. Two murals he previously hosted turned into headaches, he says \u2014 one because the neighbors didn\u2019t like the mural and kept complaining, and the other because the Historical Commission made him take it down.<\/p>\n

Part of the problem with landing a Pierre Robert mural is location. As both Pavey Uosikkinen and Jane Golden, the former head of Mural Arts who has taken on a consulting role with the organization, agree, the ideal wall would mean something to who Robert was \u2014 a connection between the wall location and the man.<\/p>\n

When Robert first worked in Philadelphia, WMMR\u2019s studio overlooked Rittenhouse Square and the park became and remained his \u201cfavorite place in the region,\u201d as he told me in a 2021 interview<\/a>. Then there\u2019s the Gayborhood, where he spent much of his social time. But by limiting the location of the mural to two small areas of the city, it makes the job of wall-finding significantly harder, in part, says Golden, because so many buildings are now owned by LLCs instead of identifiable people; just determining who to ask can be a daunting task. And then if the building houses, say, a restaurant, the business owner would need to get on board with the giant art that will decorate the restaurant\u2019s exterior \u2014 and that\u2019s in addition to approval from the building owner.<\/p>\n

\"Pierre<\/p>\n

Unveiling of the Pierre Robert Memorial Bench in Rittenhouse Square on June 1, 2026. \/ Photograph by Laura Swartz<\/p>\n

Golden and Pavey Uosikkinen even went on WMMR\u2019s morning hit show Preston & Steve to ask fans of Robert and the station to help them find a wall, but nothing came of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo rather than do it half-assed or anywhere else, I\u2019d rather not do it,\u201d Pavey Uosikkinen admits. \u201cI\u2019d rather wait until it presents itself at the right time and the right wall, because that\u2019s what Pierre deserves. He doesn\u2019t deserve to be in a neighborhood that has no connection to him. It\u2019s very disappointing. So many people seemed to be excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pavey Uosikkinen has targeted three specific walls in Rittenhouse Square \u2014 one outside Tria, one outside The Dandelion, and one outside La Colombe, Robert\u2019s favorite coffeeshop and the flagship location for the brand \u2014 but Golden says she knows these to be non-starters. \u201cWe\u2019ve looked at those walls over and over again,\u201d Golden insists. \u201cI mean, we are good wall hunters, so I know that\u2019s a tough area.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a dream world, says Golden, somebody reading this article will be a huge Pierre Robert fan and also happen to own a building in Rittenhouse Square or the Gayborhood that they\u2019d be willing to offer up. Short of that seemingly unlikely scenario, Mural Arts is asking for the general public\u2019s help in identifying walls that might work. The organization prefers a smooth stucco wall as opposed to brick but can work with brick if there aren\u2019t deep grooves in between the individual bricks. \u201cWe\u2019d also love it to face traffic,\u201d says Golden. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t face traffic, it should be pedestrian heavy.\u201d It\u2019s also important that the wall isn\u2019t located in such a place where someone is likely to build in front of it next year. Know the owner of the property? Even better. (You can email wall details to walls@muralarts.org<\/a> with as much relevant information as possible.)<\/p>\n

Of course, once a wall is identified as a potential match by Mural Arts, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a done deal. Murals in Philadelphia are a truly collaborative process involving lots of community engagement as well as the constituency surrounding the person who is to be honored. In Pierre Robert\u2019s case, that would certainly include Pavey Uosikkinen, but it might also include members of Robert\u2019s family and other close friends, and, says Golden, it\u2019s not unheard of for there to be conflict or disagreement among a constituency about wall location, let alone the artwork.<\/p>\n

This kind of tension cropped up during the planning of a mural honoring Pig Iron Theatre Company co-founder Dito van Reigersberg, better known as drag queen Martha Graham Cracker, who died in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FringeArts, the venue where van Reigersberg performed as Martha many times (full disclosure: I was her pianist) has offered up a large wall for a mural. This sounded great at first, but it turns out the wall is actually behind the venue facing a Holiday Inn Express parking lot, does not face traffic (the only drivers who might catch a glimpse would be those speeding down northbound on Columbus Boulevard). One person who was initially excited about the notion of the mural and who would be a likely funder (and who asked to remain nameless) said they absolutely wouldn\u2019t fund \u201ca mural where Martha is looking out at a Holiday Inn Express \u2026 that\u2019s just wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty of public art-making is that inherent in the process is tension and debate,\u201d opines Golden. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a project we\u2019ve done \u2014 maybe just a few out of the thousands \u2014 that do not have those elements. The debate is a really important one, and the fact that it\u2019s co-owned by many people and not just made by a lone person, I think there is something wonderful about that. I know a long time ago, someone once said Mural Arts is like the visualization of democracy, with all of its wonders and complexities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pavey Uosikkinen said that while she is disheartened, she\u2019s not ready to give up. \u201cI think something will magically appear,\u201d she predicts. \u201cIt\u2019s Pierre, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n