Streets Dept Magazine, Issue #3 (2024)

Since 2011, the StreetsDept.com blog has been celebrating art on the streets of Philadelphia. With this, our annual print magazine, we offer curated time capsules of Philly's street/public art world!

In this 3rd edition of the Streets Dept Magazine, we’ve written two articles and three new artist interviews.

For the articles: one looks at when and where artists are allowed to sell their work on Philly's streets. A 2023 incident in Rittenhouse Square and its subsequent protest brought this issue to the city’s attention in a big way and it deserves a fair accounting. Our second article thinks critically about the Avenue of the Arts and a key element its been missing through its now 30-year history.

For the interviews: we explore the work of three Philly artists who’ve had particularly big years despite each being at a different point in their careers.

We talk with Meg Saligman, who’s known for creating some of Philly’s most iconic murals, including “Common Threads” at Broad and Spring Garden Streets and “Philadelphia Muses” at 13th and Locust Streets. Meg recently purchased a building in Old City and has plans for it that are exciting everyone in Philly’s art world.

Alloyius Mcilwaine has been featured on Streets Dept too many times to count for his singular style and drive. Alloyius is a muralist who’s carved out so many opportunities for himself. This year he’s taken gigantic leaps further into curation and building space for other artists.

And while Cindy Lozito is a relative newcomer to public art, we rarely see a career take off as quickly as hers. Cindy left a burgeoning art career in her hometown of New York City to live and build community in Philly. And just a year after painting her first mural at the Philadelphia Flower Show she was hired in a full circle moment to make a mural at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. With these artists–we talk about it all!

The Streets Dept Magazine, Issue #3 is written and created by Conrad Benner and Eric Dale. It is 26 pages in total (with absolutely zero ads!) We love creating this magazine and sincerely thank you for your purchase!