There’s a Taylor Swift mural on South Street
New Jersey artist Emily Kelley posted a TikTok proposing Taylor Swift should get a mural in Philly. This week, she painted one herself.
It all started with a TikTok.
New Jersey artist Emily Kelley posed the question to her followers in April: “Who do I have to talk to in the City of Philadelphia to get a mural painted for Taylor?”
Kelley was, of course, referring to Taylor Swift, who’s playing three sold-out nights at Lincoln Financial Field this weekend.
“For every stop on the ‘Eras’ tour, I’ve seen small businesses and big businesses within each city to kind of do little things to commemorate her time playing there,” Kelley, 27, said in her video, which was viewed nearly 28,000 times.
Most notably, Glendale, Ariz. — where Swift kicked off the “Eras” tour — temporarily renamed itself Swift City for the singer’s shows.
@ekelleydesign Pop-up Taylor Swift mural in Philly???? #greenscreen #taylorswift #tstheerastour #swifttok ♬ original sound - Emily
She set out to find a place to paint a mural herself, but said she had hit a couple dead ends and was ready to give up until her TikTok caught the attention of Q102 hosts Bex and Buster. Then — as if ✨ it was all by design ✨ — the plan was in motion for Kelley to paint a Taylor-inspired mural of her own on South Street near Second.
Kelley is not a muralist by trade, not even a painter.
“I’m more of like at graphic designer, digital artist, that type of medium,” she told The Inquirer. “This was kind of just like a crazy dream that I had.”
The crazy dream came together in less than a week. Kelley, who started painting Sunday, primed the wall with black paint before setting up a projector to trace her design onto the wall. On Monday, Kelley called in reinforcements.
“My parents and some of my friends took off of work, or just didn’t have work, and came over to help me and we kind of just did like a little paint by number situation,” she said.
The mural’s design is minimalistic: white and yellow letters proclaim “In my Philly era” and are surrounded by white outlined shapes that reference Swift’s songs, including “Cowboy Like Me,” “Cruel Summer,” “Mirrorball,” and “All Too Well.” She also featured other Swift Easter eggs: a snake slithers in the top right corner, and the number 13 sits in the top left. A portrait of Swift in screaming color brings the mural to life.
Kelley said she’s been a fan of Swift since the singer’s 2006 debut, but hadn’t had a big online presence. Once she started posting her Taylor-inspired designs on TikTok, Kelley said her love of the community, and of Swift herself, grew deeper.
“I feel like I still learn new things about her and her music, like, every single day,” she said. “It’s just so cool to like have the community of people who love something as much as you do and love to celebrate what she is doing.”