A colorful cart is rolling down Ninth Street Market and it wants to hear your stories

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Michelle Angela Ortiz pedaled a vibrant yellow and blue pushcart down Ninth Street Market, heading to Villa di Roma. No, she was not carrying produce or pasta to the long-standing Italian restaurant. Instead, the local artist was gathering stories from market residents and merchants as part of a public art project called “Our Market.”

In collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia, Ortiz is creating a digital archive of the market with a focus on stories from immigrant and migrant vendors, business owners, and neighbors who live and work in this beloved neighborhood.

Her “Our Market Media Cart” is a part of the multiyear project, launched during the 2019 Italian Market Festival. Ortiz designed it inspired by market pushcarts and uses it to draw folks walking by to the project. Equipped with all the necessary tools, Ortiz’s team of researchers will conduct interviews at various market locations, from butcher shops to hair salons, on select Saturdays through July.

The goal of the project, which is supported by the William Penn Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia250, and Leeway Foundation, is to offer creative community strategies to tackle issues of gentrification, racism, displacement, and erasure in the market.

There are extensive archives of the market at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Temple University, but “we noticed that it’s really centered on one particular group or two particular groups, which are Italian and Mexican,” Ortiz said.

“What we want to do is honor the flow of all of the people that have contributed to the Market, from Jewish vendors and Irish immigrants, to the presence and contributions of the African American community, [who are] often left out of conversations and the history of this work. We want to make sure that [everyone’s] represented, honored, and valued.”

Outside the restaurant, her team of researchers chatted about the project with people walking by and interviewed some. The recorded stories are then played aloud on the mini TV screen attached to the cart for passersby to hear, inviting more of them to contribute with their own tales of the market.

On this Saturday, Villa di Roma owner Epiphany “Pip” De Luca ventured outside his restaurant to see stories like his and other residents and merchants of the neighborhood displayed on the cart.

“One of the most important things to me is communication — with all the different people moving into the neighborhood and opening business, [Ortiz] has bridged that gap, letting us know who’s here, who we are, what we’re all about, and bringing the merchants together,” De Luca said.

Having spent over 40 years on Ninth Street, De Luca has seen immigrants from all over make a home for themselves in the Ninth Street Market. There was an initial resentment to new people coming into the neighborhood, he said, but “then you realize as you got wiser and older to accept because they are the same as us — hardworking, family people.”

For Brenda Méndez, the owner of B&J Estampados y Más print shop at 1135 S 9th Street, the project is changing the perception that the Italian and Mexican residents and merchants are two separate communities. She believes that both the communities work together to keep ninth street “looking good” for future generations.

“I came [to Philly] 20 years ago, and I remember [there] was too much discrimination [against] Hispanic people,” said Méndez. “But right now I feel happy, because we’re learning [from] them, and they’re listening to us, so that’s good — we are people who come from different places but we are here for the same reason.”

“Our Market” also includes several murals created by 12 local artists and a billboard series on Ninth and Washington streets showcasing images of community members like De Luca and Méndez. The billboard, which serves as an outdoor gallery, will change every month through November.

In September and October, Ortiz and her team will partner with Beyond the Bell Tours for an interactive app and community-led in-person tours showcasing stories focusing on social movements, collective power, immigrant histories, and finding home in the market. The tours, offered in multiple languages, will be continue in 2025 and 2026 as a part of the Philadelphia250 festivities.

The project also features five sets of lightboxes at five businesses located south of Washington Avenue. These will provide more lighting along the market but will also showcase more art.

The market’s produce stands, too, will get a face-lift. The vinyl fabric awnings will be replaced with sunbrella fabric and designed with artwork that will depict the particular vendor’s story. Each stand will also include a QR code featuring the stories.

For Ortiz, the project is her way of using public art to connect with people directly and offer functional resources for the community.

The 45-year-old artist didn’t grow up going to museums and galleries, but spent her childhood walking up and down ninth street. For 55 years, the market has been home to her mother who worked for the Giordanos, the family that runs Paul & Frances Giordano Fruit and Produce. For Ortiz, the market was her first point of connection to art and creative spaces.

“I wouldn’t have been able to achieve those things [as an artist] without the support of my immigrant parents, without their emotional and physical labor in this particular place,” she said. “[Our Market] is an homage to them, honoring them — this is my way of giving back to [Ninth Street Market].”

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