Our Market Billboard Series

Located on 9th Street and Washington Avenue, the Our Market Billboard Series highlighted portraits and phrases of the people of the 9th Street Market. The billboard served as an outdoor gallery that rotated monthly from May through November 2024. Each photograph was taken by local photographers including Bella Vista residents that are members of the Our Market Media Team, including Areksun and Kevin Nguyen.

Part of Our Market a community-centered, multi-layered, multi-year public art project created and led by artist Michelle Angela Ortiz. The project was developed in April 2019. Our Market is focused on supporting the im(migrant) vendors, business owners, and neighbors that work and reside in the 9th Street Market, the artist’s home for 40+ years. The Project invests in the 9th Street Market by offering creative community strategies to tackle the issues of gentrification, racism, displacement, and erasure.

The Our Market Project is supported with lead funding from the William Penn Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Mural Arts Program. Additional support is provided by the Hearthland Foundation, the Leeway Foundation in partnership with the Bella Vista Neighborhood Association and Philadelphia250 and Visit Philadelphia. Past support has been provided by the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Catalyst for Change Grant, Art is Essential Grant, and the Southwest Folklife Alliance.

Learn more at the Our Market Project website.