Ex-graffiti artist Steve Powers is returning to Philadelphia to work on “Love Letter“, a 20-block mural project that is being installed with the help of local youth who are being taught sign design and mechanics by Steve. The piece was conceived as a “love letter spanning 50 walls and roof tops to be painted in West Philadelphia facing the Market-Frankford Elevated train. The letter is meant for one with meaning for all, and in a larger sense, will be for West Philly from West Philly.”

Even cooler, the project is a collaboration with the Mural Arts Program which is one of the largest civic art initiatives in the nation. The program has produced over 2,800 murals and educated over 20,000 underserved youth in Philadelphia. The founding executive director, Jane Golden, is a lecturer at Penn, and students of her class get to work on an actual mural in the city which is awesome except that the registrar hates me and I have failed twice already to get into the class.

Before bored japanese people and those pretty snazzy Sprint commercials, Pablo Picasso was inspired by LIFE magazine photographer Gjon Mili to make shit happen with a light and a camera.

See the full gallery here.

“Your Message Here” is a project put together by Something’s Hiding in Here through the Urban Outfitters’ Sansom Window Project. The project gives artists the chance to make a window installation for two months at the Urban Outfitters’ store in Philadelphia. “Your Message Here” is simply a sign that will display a new message daily chosen from user submissions to the website. So go to the site and leave a message if you’ve got something to say.

Came across the sketchblog of Andrea Joseph and was immediately impressed with her work (unbelievably soft textures and details).