Streets Dept Excursions are curated, guided walking tours exploring the art of Philadelphia. After 15 years running Streets Dept, we’ve learned a lot about the art and artists that are defining our public space. Each tour is hosted by Streets Dept’s Founder, Conrad Benner (hi!), and/or Lead Contributor, Eric Dale.

And for the rest of 2026, we’re expanding to two tours a month: 1) Our ongoing 4th Saturday morning Streets Dept Excursion*, which is completely new each month. As well as, 2) A new monthly Thursday evening tour featuring some of our most beloved walks (scroll to bottom of post to skip to these)!

We love offering these experiences for you, and want to remind you that every cent spent on one of these tours helps to support the work we do here at Streets Dept to document, archive, and celebrate Philly’s ever-changing art world. We thank you so much for your contribution, and we’re excited to see you!

Thank you,

Conrad Benner

*Please note that if you are a Streets Dept Patreon member at the Events tier or above, you get two tickets as part of your membership and you will receive information on each month’s Saturday Excursion via email!

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Streets Dept Excursion: Art on East Market

On this tour, we’ll slow down and uncover one of Center City’s most unexpectedly art-filled corridors, where incredible works are hiding in plain sight. We’ll explore bold abstract window installations, striking murals, overlooked artworks high above the sidewalks, surprising discoveries below ground, and dozens of creative details that most people walk past without ever noticing. Along the way, we’ll reveal the stories behind these hidden gems while discovering how local artists and organizations are working to bring art to this busy stretch of Philadelphia.

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Streets Dept Excursion: Exploring the New in Old City

On this tour we’ll explore what’s new in one of Philadelphia’s oldest neighborhoods. Together we’ll visit a pair of recently completed mural projects, step inside one of the area’s most exciting galleries for a standout exhibition, and take a closer look at how contemporary artists continue to shape a district best known for its history. Along the way, we’ll talk about the neighborhood’s evolving creative landscape, uncover a few hidden gems, and experience the fresh art, ideas, and public spaces that make Old City worth returning to again and again.

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Streets Dept Excursion: The History of Philly Murals

Join us for a walk through Fairmount and Callowhill to explore one of Philadelphia’s most historically significant stretches of public art. Along the way, we’ll visit landmark murals that helped transform mural making in Philadelphia, redefining what public art could be and setting the stage for the city’s international reputation. We’ll also take in a number of bold contemporary works that continue to push the medium forward through new ideas, techniques, and collaborations. Together, these murals tell the story of how Philadelphia became one of the world’s great mural cities—and why artists here continue to shape the future of public art.

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Streets Dept Excursion: Public Art on the Parkway

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway holds some of Philadelphia’s most recognizable public art—but it also rewards anyone willing to slow down and really look. On this walking tour, we’ll move along this sweeping civic corridor in search of dozens of works tucked into its rhythm: monumental sculptures you expect to see, alongside quieter pieces that blend into the landscape, slip behind sightlines, or reveal themselves only at certain angles and distances. From celebrated landmarks to subtle interventions and easily missed details, we’ll trace how this stretch of the city became an open-air museum where the obvious and the overlooked live side by side.

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Best-Of Excursion: Gayborhood Mural Walk (Early Evening)

This beloved tour is now being offered more often, including this special early evening edition outside our typical monthly schedule. On this walking tour of Philadelphia’s Gayborhood, we’ll explore one of the city’s most densely layered mural districts, where an extraordinary concentration of public art transforms nearly every block into part of the experience. Murals honoring Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ history stand alongside works by internationally recognized muralists, forming a vivid and evolving record of identity, resistance, celebration, and community. Along the way, we’ll also encounter some of the city’s most iconic murals, each reinforcing the Gayborhood’s place as one of Philadelphia’s most meaningful—and visually rich—destinations for public art.

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Best-Of Excursion: Solidly South Philly (Early Evening)

This beloved tour is now being offered more often, including this special early evening edition outside our typical monthly schedule. From the Percy Street Project to Isaiah Zagar mosaic murals, to 9th Street Market art infrastructure, a mural made completely from bottle caps, and one of the most-used street art freewalls in the city–this section of Philly is home to a collection art in the public space that’s distinctly South Philly! And on this tour, we’re exploring it all.