Day 9 / Love Letter
Steve “ESPO” Powers, from the series Love Letter, 2009. Photograph provided by Steve Powers
THE AMAZING THING ABOUT GRAFFITI IS THAT IT EXISTS TO MARKET ONLY ITSELF. YOU SEE SOMETHING IN A PLACE WHERE IT DOESN’T BELONG . . . YOU’RE SEEING AN ADVENTURE. AND IT’S NOT A KOOL-AID AD, IT’S NOT A CIGARETTE AD, IT'S SOMETHING THAT’S GIVING YOU STRENGTH AND LIFE AND VITALITY AND IT’S TELLING YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THE LENGTH THAT PEOPLE WILL GO TO TO MAKE YOU AWARE THAT THEY’RE THERE.
—STEVE POWERS
Best viewed from SEPTA’s elevated Market-Frankford rail line, Love Letter is an iconic project by former graffiti artist turned muralist Steve “ESPO” Powers adorning fifty rooftops and walls across West Philadelphia. Here, an enlarged painted Post-it at 4915 Market Street disrupts the urban landscape, otherwise inundated with unremarkable corporate advertising. Spanning 45th to 63rd Streets, each unique, massive “love letter” delivers uplifting declarations in bold, large-scale typography and punchy colors that challenge conventional narratives about urban life. As it snakes around storefronts and residential facades, Love Letter’s visual language variously recalls 1950s signage and ‘90s R&B. The sometimes-cheeky but always sentimental messages read, for example, “Miss you too often not to love you,” and “If you were here, I’d be home now.”
Love Letter foregrounds love—between lovers, an artist and his hometown, residents and their community. The murals offer momentary, if recurrent, encounters, meant for commuters on the El—whether suburbanites passing through, or West Philadelphians traversing their own neighborhood. By creatively repurposing time and perspective, Love Letter elicits joy.
reflections
How can artworks like these interrupt routine or anxiety-filled moments in the hospital and provide opportunities for reflection, inspiration, and healing?
Where have you experienced beauty or an uplifting message in an unexpected place?
Sources
“A Love Letter For You.” Mural Arts Philadelphia. Last modified April 30, 2019. https://www.muralarts.org/ artworks/a-love-letter-for-you.
“Love Letter by Steve Powers (Grant).” Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Last modified May 4, 2017. https://www.pewcenterarts.org/grant/love-lettersteve-powers.
Levy, Aaron and Samantha Stein. “An Ethics of No Edges.” Slought Foundation. Last modified January 29, 2021. https:// slought.org/resources/an_ethics_of_no_edges.
Jackson, Candace. “Love Letter to Philadelphia.” The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2009.
