Conrad Benner
“At its core the public space is collectively ours, and it serves us best when it reflects and responds to our human experiences. Great art can affect the ways we think, feel, and behave. And art in the public space is a powerful tool.”
Conrad Benner is a photographer, podcaster, curator, and founder of StreetsDept.com. Through this photo-blog, Conrad shares and elevates the art he finds around Philadelphia, and his photography then gets wider exposure on social media and in mainstream publications. Conrad is inspired by murals that tell our stories, and he is a champion for street art that speaks truth to power. As such, he seeks to reclaim public space away from billboards and other million-dollar advertising that props up corporate products. So, in addition to promoting artists and their artwork, he is an effective activist. He has collaborated with artists to increase voter turnout and to end youth homelessness. Before the pandemic, Conrad advocated successfully to restore weekend and overnight service on the trains. A young man of passion and conviction, Conrad likes to explain that our individual choices -- the clothing we wear, how we decorate our homes, what we read or watch on tv, as well as the bigger decisions we make -- curate our influences. He is a firm believer in everyone’s creative ability and in the power of art.
how do you define creativity?
“Every choice you make is a creative decision, is expression, is creativity. From the clothing you wear to how you choose to decorate your home. Even what you choose to watch on tv or read, with those decisions big and small you're curating your influences. It's a powerful idea to really consider how much control we have of what informs us and what in turn we create from those experiences. So, in short, creativity is everything you choose.”
what big ideas have propelled your career?
“One of the biggest is the idea that at its core the public space is collectively ours, and it serves us best when it reflects and responds to our human experiences. Great art can effect the ways we think, feel, and behave. And art in the public space is a powerful tool in that respect, that's one of the reasons marketers will spend millions of dollars every year on outdoor (or "out of home") advertising. Advertisers know that unlike TV shows or magazines that you can easily choose to not engage, most people have to use the public space to move around our towns and cities. And I think our public space has a more important role in society than to prop up the products of the monied. Instead, I'm inspired by murals that tell our stories and street art that speaks truth to power. The public space is ours, and we should continue to fight for it.”
Biography:
Conrad Benner is a photographer, podcaster, curator, and founder of StreetsDept.com, a photo-blog that discovers art on the streets of Philadelphia. Streets Dept has been named one of the ‘Best Blogs for Travellers’ by The Guardian. And Conrad has won the Philadelphia Geek Award for ‘Geek Culture Journalism’ (2011), as well as been named ‘Best Art Curator’ by Philadelphia Magazine (2014), ‘Rad Guy of the Year’ at the 3rd Annual Rad Awards (2017), and one of ‘The 100 Most Influential People in Philadelphia’ by Philadelphia Magazine (2017).