Locals call the traffic triangles along Baltimore Avenue "barren" and "boring."
But two 13-foot-tall ironwork planters spilling over with wisteria blossoms may grace those triangles in a few years, if University City residents soon voice strong support for their installation.
The artworks were designed 10 years ago by Malcolm Cochran, a professor of art at Ohio State University.
He submitted the design to New Land Marks, a program run by the Fairmount Park Art Association, which connects artists with Philadelphia communities to create new public artworks throughout the city and raises funds for their installation.
A final decision by the FPAA will probably be made on Cochran's artwork in the next two months, according to program director Susan Myers, but she said its construction would not be finished for at least another two years.
"It's really up to the community to come forward with support for this art," Myers said. "If we don't have that support, we won't go and place the art; that's against the mission of this program."
The FPAA already proposed the artwork to a Cedar Park neighbors' association but only received "mixed reactions," Myers said. Some residents worried that the eye-catching structures would steal attention from a veterans' memorial in the park, located at 49th Street and Baltimore Avenue.
Myers and her team are now looking farther east on Baltimore Avenue, considering one site at 45th Street and another at 39th Street.
Yet Myers acknowledges that the desire for art like Cochran's is "less urgent" than it was back in 1998, when the New Land Marks program started.
Myers pointed out that gentrification in West Philadelphia over the last 10 years has made its residents more choosy about additions to the neighborhood.
"When places start looking up, people have a more vested interest in them," she said. "They're more likely to say, 'Oh, that's not good enough to go here.'"
Still, West Philadelphia residents seemed enthusiastic about the idea of installing a planter at the 45th Street triangle. "This area could use some culture," said Jake Bolden, who lives in the area.
Meghan Talbot, another local, agreed. "Some art here would be great," she said. "It would add visual interest."
And West Philadelphia resident Steven Cunliffa said he would "absolutely" support the installation. 'You can never have too much art in the city," he said.
Myers said her team is still gauging how feasible - and affordable - the project's actual installation would be. The cost of installing the previous five artworks, Myers said, "really escalated beyond what we expected."
