Philadelphia is finally hosting the Midsummer Classic again. It has been thirty long years. To mark the occasion, one local painter just carved his own name into the city’s sports lore.
Andre Chaney is the brush behind the new All-Star themed Liberty Bell statue now standing at Citizens Bank Park. The piece is part of “Bells Across PA,” a sprawling public art initiative scattering fiberglass bells across the region to gear up for America’s 250th birthday.
Chaney teamed up with Mural Arts Philadelphia to deliver the piece, officially dubbed “America’s Summer Tradition.”
It features five iconic Phillies who defined their respective eras: Dick Allen, Mike Schmidt, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Bryce Harper. Every single one of them has carried the franchise’s banner at previous All-Star games.
“This is All-Star Week here in Philadelphia,” Chaney said. “It is incredible because we haven’t had this since 1996, and I get to be a part of it.”
For Chaney, the project goes beyond paint and fiberglass. It is about connection.
“One of the things my mom taught me is that it’s not what you do for people, but it’s how you make them feel,” Chaney said. “I think that I’m able to see that by the way people are responding to the bell, just us championing around each other in the sport of baseball.”
