Nutter highlights 'Identity' opening

What makes you you? What gives a city like Philadelphia its identity?

Those were the questions posed last night at the official launch of the Franklin Institute's newest exhibit, "Identity: An Exhibition of You."

To kick off the event, mayor-elect Michael Nutter gave a keynote address in the museum's historic Franklin Hall about "The Identity of the New Philadelphia," one of the first speeches he has given since he was elected Nov. 6.

Nutter, a Wharton graduate and a native Philadelphian, served as a City Councilman for almost 15 years before becoming mayor.

"It's always inspiring to be in the shadow of Big Ben," Nutter said as he began his speech, referring to Benjamin Franklin as an example of a person who successfully maintained "numerous identities over a lifetime."

"Cities can also have numerous identities," said Nutter, who centered his discussion of Philadelphia's identity around films and who dubbed the city to be entering a "post-Rocky era," from the Philadelphia of Rocky fame to a new Philadelphia.

"The Rocky image does not serve Philadelphia particularly well," with its portrayal of the city as a place that lacks skilled laborers and is rampant with crime, Nutter said. "We need to put that behind us."

Nutter defined "identity" on a more personal level, about who we think we are and who we can be, and on a larger level about how a city is portrayed.

"I happen to think that a mayor can do a lot about a city and the image that we project to the world and to ourselves," Nutter said.

Nutter cited the fact that Philadelphia currently posses the highest percentage of adults in the nation who have a high-school diploma but no college degree.

"We need to work on an identity where smart is cool and going to college is the norm," Nutter said.

Nutter pinpointed three key aspects to building a new Philadelphia: optimism, ethics and abundance. In confirming his confidence for the city's plans for the future, Nutter briefly discussed a few of his own goals for office: to improve green issues of sustainability and to develop the city's waterfront.

The "Identity" exhibit takes an interactive look at the physical, psychological and social characteristics of people that make them tick and give them their unique identities.

"We've got some fun stuff here in the exhibit," said Dennis Wint, president and CEO of the Franklin Institute.

The exhibit will be on view at the Franklin Institute from this Friday until April 20, 2008, when it will travel to science museums in Los Angeles, Boston and other cities across the U.S.

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