The “YOUR MOVE” public art piece, sprawled over the plaza of the Municipal Services Building at 1401 J.F.K. Boulevard looks like an oversized version of that drawer where you kept all of the miscellaneous game pieces that were at one point lost under the couch and never found their way back to their respective game boxes. Littered with giant checkers, chess, Monopoly, domino, and Sorry pieces, this collaborative sculpture piece by Daniel Martinez, Renee Petropoulis and Roger White brightens up its otherwise dull environments of grey and beige buildings. Neighbor to a church, fast food restaurants and a masonic temple, and close to City Hall, “Your Move” brings some much needed play to this all work neighborhood. And it’s a great place to take photos! Let’s be real, who doesn’t want to pose under a toppling domino?
— Inna Kofman
Across the street from City Hall sits a 40–foot giant "CLOTHESPIN." The stainless steel outdoor sculpture designed by Swedish artist Claes Oldenburg is just majestic enough to make passersby stop and admire its beauty, but quirky enough to not seem pretentious and artsier-than-thou. In an almost human-like pose, the work stands on the corner of Market and 15th streets.When one first visits the outdoor sculpture, it seems a bit out of place. An oversized metal clothespin in the middle of Center City just doesn't make sense, but when you walk around and observe it from different angles, the simple elegance of the sculpture becomes more apparent. Juxtaposed with an intricate and stately backdrop, the stark and black Clothespin acts a transitional link between the formal architecture of City Hall and urban Philadelphia.
— Frida Garza
In Front of the United Plaza, in little more than a lot filled with a square of grass, lies the pop art playground that is Roy Lichtenstein’s "BRUSHSTROKE GROUP". This thirty foot three–dimensional collection of Ben Day–dotted abstracts literally pops against its concrete backdrop. Unfortunately, the sculpture is isolated on its island of a lawn, which makes climbing up the twisting purple aluminum and sliding down the green striped diagonal “brushstroke” a thing of the imagination. Regardless, seeing Lichtenstein’s work outside a museum is almost like falling into a comic book. The presence of Duane Morris LLP (the law firm that sponsored the sculpture) asks you to take the art slightly more seriously as suits walk past hardly even glancing at the structure, but this larger than life sculpture demands a brief forray into whimsy, and complements (or even outdoes) Philly’s other, perhaps more famous, public pop-arts of Robert Indiana’s Love and Claus Oldenburg’s Clothespin.
— Alexa Nicholas
Robert Indiana's "LOVE" is an iconic symbol of Philadelphia — even though there are more than a dozen replicas around the world, the sculpture is nowhere better suited than the City of Brotherly Love. Penn has a copy to call its own, but no student should graduate without experiencing Indiana's masterpiece in the park that bears its name. LOVE Park, the colloquial name of the area surrounding the JFK Plaza fountain, is a mecca for the city's skateboarders. Pack a picnic, sit on one of the wooden benches facing the water (this month it's dyed pink in honor of Breat Cancer Awareness Month), and watch gaggles of pre–pubescent boys attempt (and fail) to land a switch ollie. Ladies on the prowl: you might even spy a skater hottie above the legal drinking age. — Lucy McGuigan
While exploring Old City, be sure to take a stroll past the Wells Fargo on Independence Mall (a corridor north of Market between 4th and 5th). After a romantic evening at one of the many swanky restaurants along 2nd Street, walk off your decadent dessert by paying a visit to Robinson Fredenthal's "WHITE WATER". The artist (whose other work Black Forest graces the corner behind Jaffe) certainly has a prediliction for geometric evolutions: this collection of metamorphosing pyramids, unlike its Penn counterpart, forms a delightful archway. And unlike a certain famous make-out spot, there's actually enough room under there for you and your chosen partner/date/meal ticket to make out comfortably.
— Lucy McGuigan
