Our Market: Revitalizing Produce Stands
Revitalizing the stands claimed spaces that would otherwise have been taken away for city parking. By offering FREE new stands to vendors, Our Market helped to preserve the over-100-year-old immigrant tradition of the Market. Each stand has a QR code that shares the stories of each of the produce vendors featured.
Vu Varieties
Mr. Philip Vu and his family immigrated from Vietnam and have been in the Market for over 40 years. His stand was recently revitalized with custom welded and power-coated stands. The artwork was hand-painted by Michelle Angela Ortiz, showcasing the imagery and colors selected by Mr. Vu and his memories of Vietnam. Visit his stand located on 9th and Montrose Streets.
Garganos Produce
John Gargano’s connection to the 9th Street Market dates back to his Italian immigrant maternal grandfather who sold produce in the late 1880s. The patterns in his produce stand are inspired by the decorative hand painted food carts from Italy. In February 2023, we transformed over 70’ of space by revitalizing John’s with artwork honoring his connection to the Market. The artwork depicts painted portraits of John as a child and his grandfather as well as honoring longtime African-American workers Anthony Pough and Keith Smith. John is the third generation in his family to keep this 100-year-old tradition alive. Support his produce stand and spice shop located on 9th and Carpenter Streets. Learn more about John’s story here.
Ramos Produce
Lidia Méndez y Joel Ramos are from Puebla and arrived to the Market twelve years ago. Lidia worked in El Mercado Sonora in Mexico selling medicinal herbs. Both Lidia and Joel remember cultivating the land in Mexico. They continue their traditions here in our city to support their families. The colors and patterns on their stand are inspired by the festivities of their community in San Lucas. Support their business and visit their stand located at 9th Street between Carpenter and Montrose Streets. Learn more about their story here.
Tran’s Produce
Mr. Be and Hoa Tran crossed the ocean and survived refugee camps while caring for their small children. They arrived to Philadelphia and settled in the 9th Street Market in 1985. Mr. Be’s stands were revitalized with sustainable materials along with artwork displaying water patterns and Vietnamese folk sayings giving value to our earth and the worker. Graphic Designer, Kim Dinh, designed the text and helped choose the folk sayings for the work. Support Mr. Be and Hoa and visit their stand located at 9th and League Street. Learn more about their story here.
This work was created in partnership with the Mural Arts Program with lead support from the William Penn Foundation.
Our Market is 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.
Location Note: The produce stands are located along 9th Street between Christian Street and Washington Avenue.
