The Our Market Project revitalizes the 9th Street Market - one of the oldest outdoor markets in the country - through public art, storytelling & community-centered programming that preserves its cultural legacy and amplifies the voices of those who make it thrive.

• We celebrate the people of the Market by lifting up stories of generations of workers, (im)migrants, residents, and small business owners.
• We preserve cultural memory by using public art and oral history to document and share lived experiences to be remembered and honored.
• We center community voices by listening to residents, vendors and local leaders who know the Market best and want to see it sustained for future generations.
• We activate the public space through our art installations, lightboxes, and revitalized vendor stands to elevate the Market and invite neighbors & visitors to engage with the space in new ways.
• We resist displacement by building our work that is deeply rooted in the community to uplift the Market’s cultural and economic sustainability.

Help Us Keep the South 9th Street Market's Story Alive For over 100 years, Philadelphia's South 9th Street Market (popularly known as the Italian Market or La Calle Nueve) has been a living, breathing testament to immigrant resilience, community, and culture. Our Market Project exists to make sure those stories are never lost.

Support our ongoing work in the Market:

What we have accomplished so far:

Murals & Public Art — A series of murals along 9th Street by acclaimed local artists that bring the layered histories of the Market to life. The murals capture portraits and voices of the people of the Market.

Revitalizing Produce Stands — Since January 2022, we have been providing free stand revitalizations to produce vendors — the most under-resourced group in the Market. Each stand is rebuilt with sustainable materials, adorned with artwork reflecting the vendor's own story, and includes a QR code linking to their personal history. This work isn't just beautification — it's preservation. Every stand we save is a space reclaimed from potential city parking and a 100-year-old immigrant tradition protected.

Lightboxes — Nine lightboxes are installed at immigrant-owned businesses along the Market. They don't just add beauty — they add safety, light, and dignity to the people who work there every day.

Our Market Tours — Our community-led tours, running May through November, were built through deep conversations with Market community connectors. As an official part of the Philadelphia250 celebrations in 2026, these tours are sharing the Market's story with the city and the world. Local residents are trained and employed as tour guides, keeping the knowledge — and the income — in the community.

Our Market Story Cart & Open-Source Digital Archive — Inspired by the Market's original push carts, the Our Market Story Cart is a multimedia cart that travels the Market collecting stories — from butcher shops to produce stands — inviting vendors, families, and neighbors to share their experiences in their own words. Every story gathered becomes part of our growing Our Market Open-Source Digital Archive — a free, community-owned resource where the people of the Market have agency over how their histories are told and preserved. Organized around themes of love, dreams, home, childhood, and ancestry, the archive is designed to tell stories beyond labor alone — centering the full humanity of the migrant and immigrant communities who have made the 9th Street Market a cornerstone of Philadelphia life for generations. Both the Cart and the Archive will continue to grow through 2026 and beyond.

Every dollar you give goes directly toward sustaining this work!

The migrant and immigrant communities of the 9th Street Market have given so much to Philadelphia — and to this country. Help us honor them by ensuring their stories endure through our investment in the Market.

Contact

Email us at admin@ourmarketproject.com