Romance and street art in the land of the cheesesteak
Philadelphia, the city of murals: Susie Bearne goes in search of the stories of unrequited love on the overground
Philadelphia ain’t just the land of cheesesteaks – it’s now known as the city of murals. Thanks to the Mural Arts Program, set up in 1984 to provide constructive projects for young graffiti artists, the city is covered in stunning public artworks.
I set out to catch a glimpse of just one of these – a set of 50 murals collectively depicting a love letter from a guy to a girl that spans the walls and rooftops of the Market/Frankford elevated train line.
My guide, Mary Rastatter, led me to a packed train on the 8th St Station for the On the Love Letter Train Tour. Squashed on the carriage with locals and a big group of twenty-something couples, Mary started pointing out murals as the train sped along. My head span right and left as we flew past brightly coloured graffiti art. I managed to make out a few, such as “See me like I see you… Beautiful”. But to tell you the truth, we were moving so fast I missed most of them.
Within minutes we jumped off at 52nd Street and stood outside on the platform as Mary pointed out the various cryptic love notes splashed on warehouses, residential buildings and shops in West Philly (as the locals call it). On the platform we saw a green mural with the words “This love is real so dinner is on me”. Many of the murals have a connection with their specific location, such as the bold, red letters reading “Meet me on Fifty Second if only for fifty seconds”.
I asked Mary if the murals are set out in a particular order but she says they don’t spell out one sequential message. Rather, she says, it’s just a fictional, jumbled set of love notes from a boy to his unrequited love – all set along the walls and rooftops of the train line to catch the eyes of his beloved, who takes the journey through West Philadelphia every day. Mary told me this major love note project was dreamt up by Philadelphia-born artist Steve Powers and involved 20 spray painters and 1,200 cans of paint.
Affectionate and rather more soul-stirring messages such as “Miss you too often not to love you” and “Open your eyes see the sunrise” made me smile and prompted a wave of photo opportunities for the couples. Mary says the tour is particularly popular with young lovers but tells me they do get a few people coming on their own, although I suspect she may have been trying to make me feel better.
She said when the owner of a camera store was approached by the program to see if they could create a mural on the side of the building, he asked: “Sure, can you put a camera up there?” The result is a mural that reads, “Picture you, picture me, picture this”, and includes an image of a digital camera.
Against a residential wall we saw a colourful assortment of jumbled up letters, which spelled out Michael Jackson – a tribute to the artist who died when the murals were being created. On the same wall, just a few metres away, is: “If you were here I’d be home now”, spelled out like fridge magnets on a white background. Some murals show the boy’s feelings aren’t all rosy. One depicts friction emerging within the relationship, reading “I got the butter I got the bread I got the milk I got the blame”.
However, as we finished the one-and-a-half hour tour, it’s obvious that the murals had sparked a dash of romance. There was a lot of handholding and eye gazing among the couples. The tour had brought love from the walls to the streets of Philadelphia. I hope they have better luck than the unrequited love of the murals.
The Love Letter Train Tour runs every Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost $20 (£13) and must be booked in advance.
To book or for more information, visit www.muralarts.org.