Memorial to Newtown victims springs up in North Philly

A "pop-up" mural on North 5th Street and Cecil B. Moore honoring victims of Sandy Hook shootings. December 24, 2012 ( RON TARVER / Staff Photographer )

GALLERY: A "pop-up" mural on North 5th Street and Cecil…

By Jessica Parks, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Posted: December 25, 2012

On a Philadelphia street corner covered in graffiti, one 10-foot-wide stretch has been dedicated to the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The painting has a black background, with puffy white clouds and Sandy Hook tagged in giant pink block letters. On the left is a child with wings, his head bowed and hands joined in prayer. On the right are the words Dedicated to Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The unsigned painting is a memorial to the 26 students, teachers, and school administrators who were killed Dec. 15 in a mass shooting. The gunman also killed his mother and himself.

The corner of Fifth Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, a mile east of Temple University, is a gallery for taggers, with long concrete walls surrounding abandoned warehouses and empty lots.

The walls are covered in giant, ornate works of graffiti, many of which appear to be memorials to deceased friends, relatives, and gang members.

The only sign of life in the area is a row of loft apartments on Fifth Street - the Lamp Factory Lofts, the Tie Factory Lofts, the Sewing Factory Lofts. But look up to the roof and you'll find graffiti there, too.

It was unknown Monday who painted the memorial.

Contact Jessica Parks at 610-313-8117, @JS-Parks on Twitter, or jparks@philly.com.