CHECK IT OUT: Shake Shack in Center City Gets a New Mural

A prototype of the mural, drawn the way it will be painted on the wall directly above Shake Shack at 2000 Sansom Street.

Pretty soon Shake Shack will be more than a place to slurp milkshakes and throw back a burger or two, it will serve as a bastion of public art.

Thanks to a partnership with Mural Arts, a new mural will emblazon the wall directly above Shake Shack at 2000 Sansom Street.

The mural—which you can see above—will be painted by Philly native David Guinn, who has painted something like 35 murals in cities from Philly to New York to D.C. and Montreal. Titled Summer Rendezvous, the work is a pastel-laden blend of expressionist and realist elements. It shows a chivalrous young man climbing a ladder to give his girlfriend an ice cream cone, one that I’m guessing came from Shake Shack.

According to a press release Shake Shack sent out this morning, the work was inspired by “the green wall that surrounded the Center City Shake Shack during its opening construction, and reinforced by the plantings that decorate the roof year-round, the mural presents a fantasy of plants growing up the building wall, framing the whimsical encounter between the children. Stylistically, the mural captures the freshness and fluid feel of watercolor painting on a large scale.”

I can see that.

The mural is set to debut sometime in December, and work will begin this weekend, on October 18th, at community paint day posted by Shake Shack and Mural Arts. The event will take place between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Shake Shack will be welling Center City Pretzel frozen custard concrete that afternoon, with five percent of proceeds benefitting Mural Arts.

Learn more about the artist in the video below: