In conjunction with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, “Love Letter” is a series of 50 rooftop murals created by Steve Powers and completed in 2010. The tour follows the Market–Frankford SEPTA line, along which the murals appear from 45th Street to 63rd Street.
12:46 p.m.: The tour starts at 1 p.m., but I’m supposed to arrive 15 minutes in advance at the Mural Arts gallery in Center City. I’m late and I’m lost inside of a giant building surrounded by Footlocker, Burlington Coat Factory and soft pretzel stands. WHERE IS THIS PLACE???
1:03 p.m.: Found it. Got my token for the subway and didn’t receive too many eye–rolls from the group. Speaking of the group, this is a strange collection, full of half–bearded hipsters with thick–rimmed glasses and tourists with transition lenses (people still wear those?).
1:20 p.m.: The subway snakes out from the tunnel and into the daylight and we get our first glimpse at a mural. The series is intended to be a love letter from the artist to a girl who rides the train. Powers, a West Philly native, often incorporates the physical building’s use into his design. For example, the mural pictured above is on the side of a camera shop.
1:30 p.m.: We get off at 52nd Street and move along the platform to admire the murals at this particular stop. Cue dirty looks from the people who actually live here and are waiting for the train. According to the guide, a curly–haired woman with a thick Philly accent, the Mural Arts Program started as an anti–graffiti movement. Over the past 30 years, the M.A.P. has been responsible for over 4,000 murals in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: known for ‘murica, cheesesteaks, Rocky and fancy street art.
1:44 p.m.: Next stop, 63rd Street. A fuzzy–faced dude asks a question about the medium, commencing a long–winded discussion about paint that I can’t follow. Oil based, polyurethane, acrylic...what? Apparently most of the murals in “Love Letter” were made using spray paint. Take that, Philadelphia Anti–Graffiti Network.
1:57 p.m.: We cross to the other side of the platform and head back eastward, with one more stop at 56th Street. The guide explains how Powers received a Fulbright scholarship in 2007 to create a similar collection in the housing projects of Dublin, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
2:16 p.m.: As we hop back on the train with our tour complete, the guide reiterates Steve Powers’ message about “Love Letter;” it is a message for one, with meaning for all.
