SDG #4: Quality Education - Mural Two
Unveiled in April of 2022, the second of the two SDG #4 murals is located at Saint Joseph's University, painted by Philadelpia-born and Paris-based artist Arthur Haywood.
Installed in the SJU Sciences Building, the mural depicts a sidewalk that is transformed by a mystical figure opening a giant book, which casts light upward and reveals a natural paradise above.
Some of the first lessons we ever learn come from a story. A book opens, and a child is suddenly somewhere else: in a distant galaxy, a dragon's cave, or a forest that has never been on a map. That spark of wonder is where a lifetime of learning begins, and it is the idea behind the second SDG #4 mural. It is also a reminder that quality education doesn't end at the schoolhouse door. It continues through libraries, labs, and lecture halls, for as long as we stay curious.
Local Impact
Every GPA mural is about more than paint on a wall, and each one comes with a grant that puts real resources behind the goal it represents. For SDG #4: Quality Education, that grant went to the School District of Philadelphia. The $3,000 award, funded by Saint Joseph's University, supports the students and educators who make quality education happen in classrooms across the city every day.
The project's academic partners, David Steingard and James O'Sullivan, helped connect the mural to the university community and to the ideas of learning and opportunity at the heart of the goal. Together, the artwork, the grant, and the partnership show what SDG #4 looks like at home: a university, a school district, and an artist working toward the same goal.
About the Artist
Arthur Haywood is an illustrator and muralist from Philadelphia whose work celebrates the wonder of stories. His work highlights human potential through a fantastical lens. From defeating evil dragons to limitless pursuits into space, his art is a metaphor for courageous aspirations.
Creating fantasy art to inspire others and engage youth in reading is his passion. He is focused on making paintings to decorate libraries and schools in addition to book cover and interior art. His life size paintings are designed to fully immerse its viewers.
Quality Education
Global Context of SDG 4
Goal 4 calls for inclusive, equitable, quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030, and the world is not on track to deliver it. After falling by a third between 2000 and 2015, the global out-of-school population has grown for seven consecutive years. It reached 273 million in 2024, or one in six children, adolescents and young people. It is likely undercounted by at least 13 million once conflict-affected countries are taken into account.
Enrollment alone does not guarantee success. Only about two-thirds of young people complete secondary school, which limits who can go on to college, training, and careers. The pandemic made things harder, disrupting learning for 1.6 billion students at its peak. Many systems, especially in low-income and crisis-affected settings, are still recovering. Countries are also furthest behind their targets on training teachers, expanding early childhood education, and building reading skills by the end of primary school. Those gaps carry forward into every later stage of education.
Financing has lost ground as well. In 2023, countries were further from the spending benchmarks of 4% of GDP and 15% of public expenditure than they were in 2015. UNESCO stresses that missing the 2030 access target does not mean the global education agenda has failed, and it points to countries that have expanded access at scale. Reaching SDG 4 will take reimagined education systems, sustained public investment, and partnerships between schools, universities, and communities like the one behind this mural.
Sponsor and Host
Founded in 1851 as Philadelphia's Jesuit university, Saint Joseph's offers a liberal arts core alongside professional programs in business, nursing, health, science, and education.
Global Philadelphia extends a special thank you to Saint Joseph's for their hospitality, including academic partners David Steingard and James O'Sullivan.
Grantee
The District serves pre-K through 12th grade and has been operating since 1818. As of October 2025, 113,735 students were enrolled in District schools, among 198,405 students across all of Philadelphia's public schools, including charters.
