PHILADELPHIA — Today, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and Mural Arts Philadelphia proudly debut a vibrant new mural along I-76 at Spring Garden Street along with beautiful landscaping installations across seven priority sites stretching from the airport to downtown as part of the “Gateways to Philadelphia” Anti-Graffiti & Highway Beautification Project.
The multifaceted project is a major component of Mayor Parker’s commitment to position Philadelphia as the safest, cleanest and greenest big city in the nation in time for the celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives in partnership with city, state, nonprofit, and private partners, implemented a comprehensive set of highway beautification and landscaping improvements to major entryways and interchanges along the highway corridor from the airport and 30th Street Station to Independence Hall in advance of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations.
“When residents and visitors travel through Philadelphia, they should immediately feel the pride we have in our city,” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. “These improvements help transform major entry points into vibrant, welcoming spaces that showcase Philadelphia’s vibrant culture, creativity, and commitment to cleaner and greener communities. This is what it looks like when government, artists, and partners come together to invest in quality of life and the future of our city.”
The “Gateways to Philadelphia” project sets a nationwide standard for comprehensive highway beautification and landscape improvement, increasing civic pride, stimulating tourism, and supporting workforce and economic development. These improvements, made in advance of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations, include bold murals, graffiti removal, enhanced maintenance, and dynamic, four-season landscaping and garden installations symbolizing the city’s warmth, pride, and bright future, for 2026 and beyond.
“As Philadelphia prepares to welcome millions of visitors to celebrate the semi-quincentennial, the FIFA World Cup, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and other marquee events, the Office of Clean and Green is proud to take the lead to present the first impression of Philadelphia’s beautiful major highway corridors and landscapes,” said Carlton Williams, Director, Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. “You get one chance to make a great first impression. What better way to welcome visitors and have them feel connected to the city than through symbolic and picturesque imagery of Philadelphia at its iconic entryways to the city.”
The project reimagines seven major gateways to the city to ensure visitors coming to the city experience a welcome that is bold and vibrant. The vision is to create a consistent color scheme for the gateways and install a high-quality planting design from the airport to key locations downtown. Consistency of design and improvements at each location ensures that visitors arriving by plane, train, or automobile all experience the same high-quality introduction to our city.
The targeted list of priority locations includes:
26th Street Gateway at Penrose Avenue
South Street Bridge, walls, medians and on/off-ramps
30th Street Station walls, medians and ramps
I-76 and I-676 interchange at 15th and 16th Streets and Vine Street
I-76 and I-676 interchange at 6th and 8th Streets and Callowhill/Vine Streets
I-76 and I-95 interchange at 2nd and 3rd Streets and Callowhill/Vine Streets
CSX/Amtrak wall at Spring Garden Street
The project features a transformative, 250th-themed mural on the wall abutting I-76 at Spring Garden Street. Mural Arts Philadelphia oversaw the design and installation of this mural, which celebrates Philadelphia’s unique urban fabric and role in the nation’s history. Designed by local artist Carlos Lopez Rosa, aka Calo Rosa, One Philly, A United City, With Love was a massive undertaking, painted onto a 16,000-square-foot wall, featuring characteristics and landmarks of Philadelphia.
Mural Arts’ eye-catching “Gateways” mural along I-76 is one of the most complex and ambitious projects in the organization’s history, due to the challenge of creating public art in active highway and rail corridors. The mural was painted in just under two months this spring, during nighttime hours and in close coordination with CLIP and Clean and Green, as well as CSX and Amtrak, to ensure that railways were closed and active traffic was diverted elsewhere.
“No challenge is too great for Mural Arts when it comes to making public art that reflects the heart and soul of Philadelphia, and the ‘Gateways’ project is a thrilling opportunity to spotlight the wealth of creative energy and artistic talent that lives here,” said Jane Golden, Executive Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia. “Calo Rosa’s beautiful design will be a warm, vibrant, and proud welcome to over a million Semiquincentennial visitors, as well as the people who call this city home. We are deeply grateful for the collective vision and support of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and the many partners who made this work possible.”
“Philly is a city built on grit, and this team showed exactly what can be accomplished through passion, skill, and dedication,” said Calo Rosa, Artist. “This has been one of the most challenging and ambitious projects I’ve ever worked on — a project this big takes trust, teamwork, and vision, and this crew brought it all. Most of all, it was fun!”
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s (PHS) landscape and garden installations across the “Gateways to Philadelphia” corridors are transforming more than 57,000 square feet of highly visible roadway infrastructure into stunning, four-season public gardens designed to welcome residents and visitors alike. Inspired by a “Ribbon of Gold” palette that reflects the colors of the Philadelphia flag, the plantings combine sweeping drifts of gold, purple, and blue blooms with bold foliage, ornamental grasses, flowering trees, and striking fall color to create a dynamic visual experience throughout the year.
PHS will plant 65 trees, more than 540 shrubs, nearly 2,700 ornamental grasses, over 4,500 perennials, and approximately 96,000 bulbs across the six gateway locations stretching from South Philadelphia to Center City. Several sites are now fully planted and beginning to establish ahead of Philadelphia’s major 2026 events, while additional installations will continue in the coming weeks. By summer, the gardens will begin coming into full expression, offering a bold and welcoming landscape experience for visitors arriving in Philadelphia during the nation’s Semiquincentennial celebrations and beyond.
“Gateways to Philadelphia demonstrates what is possible when community partners come together around a shared vision for the future of Philadelphia. Each of these sites contributes something unique, from transformative murals to expansive new gardens, but together they create a more welcoming, inspiring, and connected experience for everyone entering the city. PHS is proud to help shape landscapes that will continue growing and flourishing well beyond 2026,” said Matt Rader, President, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
The full project is made possible through various city, state, nonprofit, and private partners, with an estimated total cost of $11.5 million from city, state and philanthropic funding to support project installation and long-term maintenance.
“This beautiful new mural and the surrounding landscape installations bring to life the vision of the Gateways project—an effort that Pew and the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial are proud to support,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, the senior vice president who leads The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia work. “These enhancements reflect the energy and creativity of a city that’s ready to welcome millions of people for the nation’s 250th anniversary while creating meaningful, lasting spaces for Philadelphians to treasure for years to come,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Senior Vice President, The Pew Charitable Trusts.
*** For project images and more information about Mural Arts Philadelphia’s “Gateways to Philadelphia” mural project, contact Frank Luzi at frank@luzi.media or 215.779.7614. ***
###
More About “Gateways to Philadelphia”:
“Gateways to Philadelphia” is delivered through a robust network of city, state, private and nonprofit partners, including the Office of Clean and Green, Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP), Streets Department, Managing Director’s Office, Office of Strategic Partnerships, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Mural Arts Philadelphia, PennDOT, CSX, Amtrak and HRP Group. Landscape architectural firm Ground Reconsidered and engineering consulting firm Pennoni have been retained to guide the design and engineering phases from development through execution, ensuring that installations meet high standards for sustainability and impact. Philanthropic investors include Pew Charitable Trusts, Neubauer Family Foundation, Connelly Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, Funder Collaborative, and the Hamilton Family Foundation. For more information, visit officeofcleanandgreen.org/gateways.
About Mural Arts Philadelphia:
Mural Arts Philadelphia is the nation’s largest public art program, dedicated to the belief that art ignites change. Mural Arts has united artists and communities through a collaborative and equitable process, creating over 4,000 artworks that have transformed public spaces and individual lives. Mural Arts aims to empower people, stimulate dialogue, and build bridges to mutual understanding through projects that attract artists from Philadelphia and around the world and programs that focus on youth education, restorative justice, mental health and wellness, and public art preservation. Popular mural tours offer a firsthand glimpse into the inspiring stories behind Mural Arts’ iconic and unparalleled collection, earning Philadelphia worldwide recognition as the “Mural Capital of the World.” Philadelphia was recently named the number one city for Best Street Art by USA Today. For more information, call 215.685.0750 or visit muralarts.org.
About Pennsylvania Horticultural Society:
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), an internationally recognized nonprofit organization founded in 1827, uses horticulture to advance the health and well-being of the Greater Philadelphia Region. PHS programs create healthier living environments, increase access to fresh food, expand access to jobs and economic opportunity, and strengthen deeper social connections between people. PHS’s work spans 250 neighborhoods; an expansive network of public gardens and landscapes; year-round learning experiences; and the nation’s signature gardening event, the Philadelphia Flower Show. PHS provides everyone with opportunities to garden for the greater good as a participant, member, donor, or volunteer. For information and to support this impactful work, please visit PHSonline.org.