Memory of My Life

Memory of My Life by artist Frito Bastien is located between the Callowhill and Poplar neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Covering two walls separated by a vacant lot, the murals are an imaginative rendering of the artist’s memories of his native boyhood in Haiti. The flowers are depicted as the artist remembers them appearing in Haiti at age 15. When he returned at age 25, they were gone. The young boy in the tree represents the artist as a child. He recalls sitting in a tree sketching and thinking about his life in a place where no one could bother him when he was a boy.Two waterfalls are depicted in the mural. The artist often includes water in his murals, as he believes that water is life. The house depicted is the artist’s grandmother’s home as he recalls it.

The murals were originally painted on two walls facing an empty lot. After the murals were restored in 2010, the adjacent restaurant added small gardens around the mural and an outdoor courtyard table seating area for guests. The murals were restored again in 2016.