A Valentine For Mae V. Cowdery Mural Dedication

Steve 'ESPO' Powers is unveiling a new mural on Ranstead Street in Center City on Saturday, October 24, from 10 AM to 12 PM. The dedication is part of Mural Arts Month 2026 and the citywide public art exhibition Throughlines, which runs from 2026 into 2027. The mural itself belongs to Powers' Love Letter series, in which he turns city walls into oversized postcards addressed to Philadelphia. It's a text-based work that stretches across several buildings along Ranstead Street, quoting lines from Nameless, a 1928 poem by Mae V. Cowdery.

Cowdery (1909–1948) is a voice of the Harlem Renaissance who's been overlooked more than she should be. She started publishing at 19 while attending Philadelphia High School for Girls, and her work shared roots with that of Langston Hughes. The mural brings her words back to the city where she went to school. The dedication will feature poetry readings by Emi Wong Shing, the 2026–2027 Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate, and Rashawn Dorsey, the 2025–2026 Youth Poet Laureate, so you'll hear the poem read aloud on the same street where it's now painted. The event was staged with help from the City of Philadelphia Office of Clean and Green Initiatives and the Center City District.

It's a free event at 1598 Ranstead Street, Center City, Philadelphia, PA 19102, from 10 AM to 12 PM on Saturday, October 24.