Three stories tall, former Philadelphia 76ers basketball star Julius Erving, known to his fans as Dr. J., looks down toward the corner of Ridge Avenue and Green Street. But he is not wearing his familiar basketball uniform; instead, he has on a suit, a matching tie and pocket handkerchief, and polished loafers. Artist Kent Twitchell, one of the country's most respected mural painters, and his helpers from the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network wanted to show Erving not as an athlete but as a civic leader and role model for the city's youth.

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).