‘No trespassing’ signs have gone up at Graffiti Pier after its collapse. Philly’s street artists say they’re undeterred.
The signs come after the pier's tip collapsed into the Delaware River, but the city's Department of Licensing and Inspections doesn't endorse demolition.
“No trespassing” signs and a fence went up around what is affectionately known as Graffiti Pier over the weekend, effectively cordoning off the Instagram-famous art oasis following its partial collapse last week.
The front tip of the Port Richmond pier — which juts out at Cumberland and Beach Streets and is covered in decades of overlapping graffiti — tumbled into the water last Wednesday, according to the Coast Guard.
The cause of the collapse is still unknown, but the city “is not recommending that the pier be demolished,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
The pier’s regulars — a collection of street artists, ravers, fishermen, Instagrammers and people who like alone time — remain undeterred by the collapse and crackdown, making plans to return while mourning the loss of Graffiti Pier as it once was: intact, untouched, and a free-for-all.
» READ MORE: Portion of Graffiti Pier collapses into the Delaware River
“I can’t think of another space like it in Philadelphia,” said Tyson Mitman, sociology researcher at York St. John University in England and the author of The Art of Defiance: Graffiti, Politics, and the Reimagined City in Philadelphia. “It’s incredible, kind of like a living museum.”
Before it was covered in tags and large-scale murals, Graffiti Pier was known as Pier 18, an Industrial Revolution-era coal yard for the Reading Co. Its current owner, Conrail, took over in 1976, and ceased operations 17 years later.
Soon after, graffiti artists started using the pier’s concrete slabs for practice away from the watchful eye of police. Eventually, the vibrant walls became an open-secret thanks to Instagram, where the #graffitipier has more than 18,000 posts. Now, couples taking picture-perfect engagement photos comingle with ravers, picnicking families, and off-the-clock muralists.
Part of Graffiti’s Pier allure is the fact that it’s always been illicit and a little unsafe. Events are unsanctioned, the base is pockmarked with gaping holes, and in 2018, the Philadelphia Police Department shut down the pier over reports of rising crime.
» READ MORE: From 2018: Philly police shut down Graffiti Pier, citing safety concerns
Online records indicate that Conrail received a notice from Licenses & Inspections for failing to submit an inspection report on July 31, the day of the collapse. Conrail has received 10 violations from L&I since 2010, ranging from operating an unsafe pier, failing to obtain a license, or for failure to submit inspections.
Jimmy King, 30, recalled “how sneaky it felt” to be walking along the pier when he first visited six years ago. King went to Graffiti Pier almost daily during the pandemic and tries to keep up with the hodgepodge of events that take over the space. He’s slacklined across the top, moshed at hard-core shows, and even attended a bondage picnic (by accident, King stressed).
Now, he’s not sure when he’ll be able to return.
“Part of the appeal is that we’re not supposed to be here, that we’re bending the rules,” said King. “It’s a place where everyone can really be themselves and do whatever they like. That’s beautiful.”
The wild west of street art
The lifeblood of Graffiti Pier is Philadelphia’s street artists, who use the abandoned industrial space to perfect their style before taking on more visible — and more permanent — canvasses.
Bernard DelaCruz said watching footage of the pier collapse “felt like a death in the family.” The mixed media artist visits the pier at least twice a month to experiment with harder-to-tackle skills — such as 3D lettering — and to scale up sketches to see whether they’d work as a mural.
“It’s therapeutic,” said DelaCruz, who goes by Biz. “Plus, I don’t have walls big enough where I live.”
DelaCruz recently took his 17-year-old son to the pier for Father’s Day. The duo each spray-painted a wall with their respective tags in color-coordinated hues of pink and orange. In the middle, they left a message: “Like father, like son.”
Muralist Alloyius McIlwaine has a similar relationship with Graffiti Pier. He put up 50 to 60 murals there since he started going regularly in 2009: Portraits of his friends to practice photo-realism, sketches of Wolverine to honor his Marvel fandom, murals of WWE superstars to celebrate Wrestlmania in Philly.
Most of his works have been painted over by now; that comes with the territory. No wall is safe from an errant tag or overlapping stroke, but the front of the pier is generally left as canvas for Philly’s more respected artists, such as McIlwaine.
“I want other artists coming up to have a place to practice like I did,” said McIlwaine.
That’s part of the magic of Graffiti Pier, said Mitman. Experienced artists mix with novices to create a snapshot of what Philly’s street art scene can look like at any moment in time.
“A lot of Philly’s public art is curated. Whereas places like Graffiti Pier are so attractive because the stuff is constantly changing. … There’s surprise and delight at never knowing what you’re going to see,” said Conrad Benner, who has advocated for preserving the pier on his blog Streets Dept.
Among those attracted is the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, which has received millions in federal and state funding to turn Graffiti Pier into a public park with more space for artists to paint.
» READ MORE: Graffiti Pier one step closer to becoming public park after state kicks in $1 million
“It is too soon for us to determine how this will impact DRWC’s acquisition and future development of the Pier,” DRWC said in a statement. “But it is our strong hope that we can continue working with Conrail … to finalize the long anticipated purchase agreement that will ultimately allow DRWC to provide meaningful public space for the community in and around the Graffiti Pier property.”
McIlwaine and DelaCruz plan to return, regardless of whether the park comes to fruition. One of them has already found a silver lining.
“What I feel is going to happen is when the water in the Delaware dries up hundreds of years from now, someone is going to be walking by and find Graffiti Pier like ancient ruins,” said DelaCruz. “And they’re going to see my name. I think that’s pretty cool.”