Words and photos by Streets Dept Lead Contributor Eric Dale.

Last winter just before Valentine’s Day, Philadelphia textile artist Julie “Juicebox” Woodard installed a series of small handmade hearts around South Philly. This year, she’s installed about 20 more. If you find one without any context, you might take it as a little valentine from the universe. But for Julie, the hearts have a different meaning. Here’s what she told me on the day she put these up:

“Today is my mom’s birthday, and it’s the fourth birthday when I’m not able to call her and wish her ‘happy birthday.’ But every year since she’s passed away, I’ve done some sort of activity to pay tribute to her.”

“She was just a very loving and giving person. She was a writer, so words were very significant to her. And I find her words in my pockets—of clothing that belonged to her. She continues to send me messages of love and affirmation. And I thought you know, this is an opportunity to put some of those out into the world. As well as follow some, sort of, ‘love trails’ of places that we visited together when she would come and visit me in Philly.”

“A lot of them are related to public art. She was a big lover of nature, like me, as well as—she just was easily awed by the world. So every mural, she gasped at.”

The placement of messages at locations important to Julie and her mom were largely serendipitous, but the messages all have meaning. For example, “keep going” was a common refrain throughout their lives.

“That’s something that she said about herself when she was going through cancer treatment,” Julie told me. “Years before that, throughout my childhood, it was something too. As I was curious about something, she would say just keep pursuing that, like, see what happens.”

Julie has definitely taken this message to heart. She really values following her instincts and interests in her art practice. Case in point: the time from idea to execution for this project was less than 24 hours!

The hearts are made from reclaimed materials, which comprise nearly all of Julie’s work. The red sides came from a trash picked beach ball, and the clear sides that seal the messages inside are lids from salad containers. Julie stitched the two plastics together with a technique she pioneered for her first public art project in Philly, and the choice of materials should make the hearts withstand the elements for a while.

This project was a meditative act for Julie, but she also hopes that some of the hearts are found and read by people who need the affirmations they contain.

“This time of year, people might just see this and perceive it to be a valentine that’s out in the world,” she says, “and that’s okay, too.”

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