Philadelphia Unveils 20 Painted Liberty Bell Replicas

A new initiative called Bells Across PA will display 20 Liberty Bells replicas painted by 16 local artists across all 67 Pennsylvania counties to celebrate America's 250th anniversary in 2026. Philadelphia has commissioned 20 fiberglass Liberty Bell replicas redesigned as neighborhood artworks.

Sixteen local artists were chosen to paint the Liberty Bell replicas that will be displayed throughout the city. 

“As Philadelphia's own Liberty Bell served as inspiration for this statewide program, it makes sense that Philly would take it to the next level and bring these bells to as many neighborhoods as possible,” Mayor Cherelle Parker shared with NBC10 Philadelphia. “We are a proud, diverse city of neighborhoods with many stories to tell. All Philadelphians should join me in thanking our community and artists for helping to tell these stories.”

Philadelphia Bells Across PA installations will be placed in the following neighborhoods:

PhillyVoice profiled one of the artists selected to participate in the art project, overseen by Mural Arts. 

Titled “Always Open,” the bell designed for Bella Vista showcases vendors who have sold goods in the Italian Market for more than a century. A woman holding a potted plant nods to the Vu family's stand on Ninth and Montrose streets. The man next to her, clutching a ruffled pink dress, represents the neighborhood's quinceañera shops. A man with a mustache, shouldering a block of ice, represents the Italian immigrants who worked as “icemen,” supplying homes with cooling before refrigeration.

Artist Cindy Lozito is behind the Bella Vista bell. Lozito, who has lived in the area since 2020, told the PhillyVoice that her Italian great-grandfather was an iceman in New York. This background gave her plenty of ideas, but conversations with the business association gave her even more inspiration. After learning how many women had worked behind the market's meat counters, she added a female butcher to her design.

“I was actually really excited that they let me put that in here,” she said. “It's an important part of the experience of the Ninth Street market, especially in the winter. It's how the vendors who are outside all day stay warm.”