A Love Letter For You is an absolutely inspiring/jaw-dropping/big ass grin-inducing project by Stephen Powers with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, sponsored by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative.

We need to bring back patronage for the arts, starting…yesterday.

This is one of the best examples of an inclusive visual arts project funded with organizational and private sponsors that I have seen lately — an ongoing series that not only improves the urban landscape and buildings that have seen better days, but most definitely has a tangible effect on the days and lives of everyone who comes in contact with the work. Think of how many artists are created by the existence of these murals! How fantastic is that?!

Okay, so it may also inspire a whole slew of graffiti artists, as well, but look, here’s the thing — every child is an artist. Adults forget that they were all artists. I believe creative expression is absolutely crucial to the mental and emotional health of a society, and the avenues for such outlets are essential to the welfare of a nation’s citizens. Yes, I understand things such as clean water and cancer often get the big-ticket billing for causes, but if there were such a thing as a Crayola-sponsored peace bomb* — where millions of boxes of 64 Crayons with the built-in sharpener parachuted gently to the ground globally in an explosion of waxy delight — I have no doubt that we would have a softer, brighter, more beautiful world.

Looking at this series makes me instantly feel that there is more love in the world. Love is all you need.

*I stole this idea from Robert Fulghum, who wrote Everything I need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. My dad took the title of Fulghum’s book literally and had me read the book of essays from cover to cover by age 8. That was in 1992.