A Love Letter For You is a project by the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and is sponsored by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative. Painted on the rooftops and walls of Market Street from 63rd to 45th by Overbrook native Stephen Powers and the youth of West Philadelphia.
In 1984 Steve Powers started climbing rooftops in his neighborhood and painting his alias ESPO as a dues paying member of the ICY graffiti club. 25 years later he returned home to Philadelphia in the summer of 2009 to write a love letter across the same rooftops facing the Market-Frankford line. The letter, meant for one, with meaning for all, encompasses 50 walls on a 20 block stretch of market street. Drawing input, inspiration, and work from the community, Powers created a letter to and from west Philly. This unprecedented public art project was a collaboration of Powers, The Mural Arts Program, and the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. It required 1200 cans of spray paint, 800 gallons of bucket paint, and the skilled hands of 20 of the finest spray painters in America, who Powers put into the legendary ICY club.
A book documenting the project is now avaialable.
The above example is located at 5215 Market Street [map]
The above example is located at 5215 Market Street [map]
