Penn presents Sam Maitin in We the People and The Mayor of the Arts

Maitin had deep roots in Philadelphia and at Penn. He was born in North Philadelphia to Jewish immigrant parents, his mother from Ukraine and his father from Belarus. After graduating from Simon Gratz High School at 16, he simultaneously attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, (later UArts) and Penn. In addition to being an alumnus (Fine Arts, 1951), Maitin taught at Penn and headed the visual graphics communications lab of the Annenberg School of Communications (1965-1972). His mural Celebration (1975, extended 1985) rises in the school’s lobby, a flock of vivid, exotic shapes—just one of many Maitin works to be found on the campus.

Mayor of the Arts at Van Pelt Library

Philadelphians have seen Sam Maitin’s work for years, though they may not know it. Led by his affection for good causes, he delivered graphic designs for a litany of local institutions: American Poetry Review, Philadelphia Opera Company, the Jewish Museum, Parkway Schools, Jenkintown Music School, Catholic Charities, International House, The Painted Bride, and the Family Institute of Philadelphia, among many others. His murals watch over numerous public buildings, including Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry, the former Gershman Y, and the Please Touch Museum.

“Throughout his life he was completely committed to Philadelphia and the art world HERE and threw his energy and time to supporting other artists and mission-driven arts and social justice organizations,” writes Ani Maitin, the artist’s daughter, in an exhibition essay. “He felt strongly that talent here was underrecognized and he wanted to change that ... he designed for little or no cost for arts and social justice organizations throughout the city.”

Posters displayed in Maitin in Philadelphia: Mayor of the Arts hint at the range of causes and organizations the artist touched, such as The Philadelphia Civic Center (1967), where generations watched professional sports, attended concerts, and received their diplomas; The People’s Fund (c 1971), South Street Arts Festival (1983), The Philadelphia Theatre Co. (1991-92), The Philadelphia Folk Festival (2001), and the Philadelphia Orchestra (c. 1993), featuring a tiny maestro unleashing a symphony of color.

We the People at Annenberg Center

Maitin’s abstract, brightly colored images were frequently accompanied by words rendered in his instantly recognizable, joyous hand. The graphics were versatile, appearing on mailers, in advertising, wrapping bus enclosures, and on banners, as in the swooping eagle he designed in 1976. Eleven years later, the John Wanamaker department store made it the emblem for its celebration of the 200th anniversary of the US Constitution. Appearing on decorative banners and shopping bags, Maitin’s eagle flew not far from the Wanamaker eagle, a local landmark and well-known meeting point.

An expansive wall in the Annenberg Arts Lounge has been given over to lithographs, collages, paintings, watercolors, and mural studies created between 1974 and 2004. Selected from Penn’s more than 9,000-piece art collection, We the People: Sam Maitin was curated by collection director Lynn Smith Dolby and Lynne Farrington, director of programs and senior curator at Penn’s Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscript.

We the People is a mosaic of Maitin’s art, alive with color and amorphous creatures. Several sketches center on murals designed for Penn’s Christian Association, where Maitin spent time as a student and faculty member, drawn by its ecumenism and social activism. Commissioned in 1983, he created an 18-by-8-foot mural that took two years to complete. A Pennsylvania Gazette article traces the story of the mural, which became so beloved that when the Christian Association relocated in 2001, the mural moved too.

It was soon joined by a second mural, based in Maitin’s reading of scripture. “The two semi-circular shapes will bring to mind the shape of the world,” he explained to Gazette author Jane Biberman. “I am thinking of Genesis, of creation, as a theme, and I want to weave in the impressions I have of the 104^th Psalm ... God has finished his, or her, work and looks down at the earth and talks of the roar of the lion from the mountaintop; he cavorts with the leviathan of the sea—a huge sea monster I have always thought of as a whale. I don’t want them to be too literal. I’ll probably incorporate calligraphy, which is typical of me.”

Other pieces trace the evolution of Celebration, the Annenberg School mural, which Maitin refurbished and extended in 1985. A photograph from the time taken by Ani Maitin, who now manages her father’s body of work, shows him on his knees, carefully touching up paint.

Philly’s artistic freedom

Though Maitin’s work can be found in grand museums and exclusive collections in the United States and Europe, it’s indelibly linked to Philadelphia. Early in his career he turned down a lucrative offer in New York, preferring the artistic freedom and community connections here, along with the opportunity to nurture Philadelphia’s art and artists, which he believed were overlooked. “I seek out the delightful in life,” he was quoted in a 2005 Gazette article published after his death. “I believe that life is a series of small miracles. I think it’s important to express this vision.” For 76 years, Sam Maitin created small colorful miracles, many of them in Philadelphia. Lucky us.

At top: A view of Sam Maitin’s ‘We the People’ banners on display at Wanamaker’s in 1987. (Image courtesy of The Estate of Sam Maitin and the University of Pennsylvania.)