Immigrants, business owners who built South Philadelphia's Italian Market honored in new murals
South Philadelphia's 9th Street Market is getting ready to host its annual Italian Market Festival next month. And with it comes some new displays of public art.
The festival is coming up on May 17, but this weekend, three murals will be unveiled on South 9th Street.
They depict some of the market's founders who helped shape it since the very beginning, like Elizabeth "Betty Ann "Mongelluzzo, who worked as a florist in the Italian Market for 30 years.
"On the street, she was everybody's Aunt Betty Ann, or 'Aunt Bet,'" said Cookie Ciliberti, Mongelluzzo's niece. "Didn't matter if you were related to her, she was Aunt Betty Ann."
Mongelluzzo passed away in 2019. She was known for weaving palms on Palm Sunday.
"I'm just happy that she's not forgotten—she lives in us, but she's not forgotten," said Ciliberti.
A mural depicting Mongelluzzo is one of the three new murals on South 9th Street painted by the Our Market Project.
The group was founded in 2019 by Michelle Angela Ortiz. The goal is to tell the stories of the market's immigrant families through public art.
"It's really important to utilize art as a way of representing these community stories, specifically the contributions of immigrant and migrant communities," Ortiz said.
Ortiz was born and raised in the market and is the daughter of immigrants.
Murals are also dedicated to Joe and Danny DiBruno, who founded DiBruno Brothers Specialty Foods in 1939, and to Carl Redel, the founder of Carl's Vineland Farm Eggs. Redel was Jewish and was one of two family members who survived the Holocaust.
"It's just beautiful for the market, it shows the history of how many generations it took to build up this market," said Steve Redel, the grandson of Carl and current manager of the business.
In addition to the murals, Ortiz is also working to revitalize the famous produce stands. She's swapping out wooden stands with weather-resistant ones and replacing worn-out awnings with hand-painted ones. She says her job is to maintain the market's 100-year history as it continues to evolve.
"It's utilizing my skills as an artist, as a community arts educator, as a filmmaker, as somebody who uses the art as a way to promote positive social change, to invest back into my community," Ortiz said.
The official unveiling is set for Saturday. That's also when the group will restart their walking tours of the market. Ortiz also says she is working with other vendors to revitalize additional produce stands.
