Philly’s new Portal opened in LOVE Park to much fanfare

And just like that, there was the world. At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the big glass Portal in LOVE Park filled with shapes of people.

The Portal, a sculptural art installation that connects people in different cities around the world, made its official Philadelphia debut Tuesday morning. People in the three European cities with active Portals were poised to welcome Philadelphia to the fold.

In Dublin, Ireland, folks held up little flags — the American Stars and Stripes on one side, the Irish tricolor on the other. In Lublin, Poland, they carried “Hello Philly” and “Lublin welcomes Philly” signs. In Vilnius, Lithuania, people smiled and waved.

Meanwhile, here in Philadelphia, a couple of hundred people packed in front of a glass orb in LOVE Park, cell phones held aloft, laughing, cheering, and waving back.

“It’s awesome, it’s so cool,” said Grace Segreti, 25, of Delaware, a paralegal who works nearby. “It’s really fun to see everyone in Philly all excited.”

“It’s incredible, it’s beautiful,” said a visibly moved Shireen Mustafa, 43, of South Philadelphia. “It’s a surreal experience. I never thought I’d see someone from the other side and feel a connection.”

Enabling those connections between people from different countries and cultures who might not otherwise ever meet was the hope of Portals project creator Benediktas Gylys, a Lithuanian artist. The first Portals were installed to connect Vilnius and Lublin in 2021, and more recently Dublin and New York City. New York’s Portal is now in Philadelphia, and all four cities as of Tuesday are linked, with real-time connections changing every three minutes.

Gylys said he hoped that Philadelphia, as “the birthplace of America” and the site of the Declaration of Independence, would be a permanent home for one of his Portals.

On hand at Tuesday’s installation event, people involved in bringing the Portal to Philadelphia talked about their hopes for it.

Joseph Callahan, 60, a Philadelphia native who works with Ciright, an area technology firm, is one of the local people who helped get the Portal here.

“It’s truly amazing when people get to see someone,” Callahan said. “When you’re walking by, and there’s someone on the other end, it really reflects the human connectivity — that we’re all truly the same.”

Michael Newmuis, the city’s 2026 director, sees Philadelphia as a good fit for the Portals project.

“It shows that Philadelphia is ready for big ideas, especially when those ideas tap into who we are,” Newmuis said. “We’re a city of unity. We’re a city steeped in forging solutions that are innovative, and that’s exactly what the Portal is.”

Bringing the Portal to Philadelphia did not require the outlay of city funds, Newmuis said. Plus, some of the labor needed for the installation was donated, he added.

Ironworkers Local Union 405 provided pro bono services and employed graduates of the Ironworkers Academy, a government- and union-affiliated training program, according to Newmuis. Other support came from the Operating Engineers Local 542 and Rebel Trucking & Rigging.

The crack in the Portal’s glass that a spokesperson said occurred during shipping from New York City didn’t impair the view or the festivities. It’s supposed to be repaired within the week.

On Tuesday, people’s attention was elsewhere. Lots of folks in the crowd were definitely having fun with the whole citizens-of-the-world jawn. Some Philadelphians were dancing via the Portal with Dubliners likewise having the craic. (That’s Irish for fun.)

“I just love having Philadelphia seen in the international spotlight with this Portal,” said Santiago Ortiz, 22, a Temple University student capturing the event for his TikTok and Instagram brand, No Shorts. “It’s been all over social media.”

And for the inventive, purposeful connections were possible, too.

Alexander Levengood, 24, and his little sister, Sophie, 21, have been separated by quite a few miles.

Siblings from Virginia, Alexander’s been living in the Philadelphia area, working in tech sales, while Sophie, a student at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., has been studying abroad in Italy.

But it just so happens that Sophie was on fall break, visiting Dublin. She got in touch with her brother Tuesday morning.

“She said, ‘Hey, have you heard about this thing called the Portal?’”

They agreed to meet in front of their cities’ respective Portals at 12:30 p.m. Philly time.

At first, he didn’t see his sister. And then there she was.

“When I saw her, I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’ Then everybody around me was like, ’Wait, do you know someone on the screen?’ I said, ‘That’s my little sister, right in the bottom corner.’ Immediately everybody ushered up to the front,” he said.

The siblings got each other on their phones and talked as they viewed each via the Portals.

They FaceTimed their mom, too.

“My mom got to see the fact that we were seeing each other. She started crying,” he said.

The brother and sister talk via FaceTime once or twice a week, and their family has group FaceTime on Sundays. But Alexander said there was something special about the Portal experience — the scale, the serendipity.

“It was such a crazy coincidence. Out of all places, there’s one in Philadelphia and then one in Dublin and the fact that we were there,” the brother said. “I love her to death, so to see her was really special and a very, very cool experience, one that I’ll remember.”