Parris Stancell is an artist that may be best known (in part) for his murals around the city of Philadelphia. As an artist from childhood age, his first memory of his potential as an artist occurred when he was 8 years old. He sent a drawing to an illustrator who commended him on his work, and his artistic talent continued to develop. “When I was 13, my mother sent me to Fleisher Art Memorial every Saturday to keep me out of trouble,” he relates. “My parents had split up and I was drawn to the streets. Unfortunately, it did not work.”
At the age of 19, Parris was drafted and did not come back to Philadelphia until 1979 where he once again attended Fliesher. “I developed a portfolio and applied to the Philadelphia College of Art, which is now University of the Arts. After my first year I dropped out.”
As an excellent draftsman, mural style art come easy to Parris and it’s what he loves to do. In 1991, Parris painted his first mural at a Salvation Army. “It was in the chapel; just a sky behind a cross. After that, I painted a mural at 7th and Jefferson that is now no longer there.”
Plenty of Parris’ murals can be seen all around Philadelphia, due to this collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia. “I applied for a position at Mural Arts in 1998. This opportunity was a full-time position teaching artist and [as a] muralist,” he says. “I consider myself fortunate to get the job. Lots of my friends wanted this job. I was in the right place at the right time.”
Although his art is a staple in cities like Philadelphia, Parris’ art is not something he necessarily tracks and adds to a personal portfolio. “Once I complete them, I like to divorce myself from them,” he says. “Once I went to a friend’s house and was surprised that she had one of my paintings. My first thought was how bad the painting was. (Yes, you do some good ones and some bad ones.) I have paintings all over, but I never kept up with who bought what. I just love to paint. If someone wants to buy one, I am eager to sell.”
Parris selects his art tools (e.g., paint, brushes) based on the type of art and surfaces he’s working on. “When painting murals, I used to love to draw out my mural with big fat Crayola crayons. I would love the way the drawing would look on the wall—different colors making up a figure or whatever it was I was drawing. Unfortunately, I can’t find them anymore.”
Parris is inspired by his own very personal experiences. “I am a recovering addict. I used for 27 years. I swam at the bottom of the barrel most of that time, so I had plenty to share, express, and lament about,” he shares. “Most of my murals are colorful, playful, and with a meaning much deeper than is seen at face value. [They] have a political message as well as something for the children to be attracted to; yes, mostly, they are a very complicated mix of pain and pleasure. The pain of a well-kept secret by yours truly.” Parris is also inspired by other artists, African art, western art, abstract art, folk art children’s art, naivety, and sincerity.
