US City of Philadelphia added to the Portal
Dublin City Council welcomes the announcement from Portals.org that the New York City Portal has been relocated to the city of Philadelphia.
The livestream will now alternate every three minutes between Dublin, Vilnius, Lublin and Philadelphia.
The Portal in Philadelphia will be located in the city’s JFK Plaza (Love Park).
“As a proud Philadelphia native, I’m excited to introduce the Portal to a city that thrives on creativity and shared experiences,” said Joseph Callahan, core team member of Portals. “We’re creating a first of its kind global artwork, a network of Portal sculptures that invites people to share a moment in time with people from distant cultures using universal languages of signs, music and joy.”
“The Portal’s arrival in the heart of Philadelphia is an exciting moment for our city that offers a new way to engage with the world, particularly ahead of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026. This project is a celebration of our city’s spirit of innovation and unity,” said Michael Newmuis, 2026 Director, City of Philadelphia.
Extra locations are expected to be added to the Portal in the coming weeks, so watch this space!
“The Portal in Dublin has attracted over 340,000 visitors since its launch in May and has brought a new lease of life to North Earl Street,” said the Lord Mayor of Dublin, James Geoghegan.
The Vilnius Portal is positioned adjacent to the city’s central station, and the Lublin Portal is located on the central city square, Litewski Square. “We are delighted today to welcome Dublin and New York – the next cities to join this unique project. We are excited that our Portal is growing in reach and popularity, opening up unlimited opportunities for communication and collaboration on an international scale. Thanks to the installation, we can now peek into New York’s Manhattan and Dublin’s city centre, share culture, experiences and initiate new projects together” said Beata Stepaniuk-Kuśmierzak, Deputy Mayor of the City of Lublin for Culture, Sport and Participation.
Having been at the centre of global media attention, Portals have emerged as iconic landmarks, generating billions of online impressions and attracting an average of 25,000 weekly visitors onsite in Dublin. On the Flatiron South Plaza in New York City, foot traffic surged by 47% over the 2023 monthly average.
Previously connected in pairs (NYC to Dublin, and Vilnius to Lublin) the sculptures have fostered diverse interactions across the cities, including vibrant dance competitions, cultural performances and successful marriage proposals. This next chapter of the Portals journey realizes the original mission of the project by evolving from two-city connections to a first-of-its-kind, global artwork that invites people from multiple countries to meet in a spirit of unity.
“We can discover how similar we all are through the use of portals, which connect us to a shared network that brings people from different places and cultures closer together. I hope that this idea, which originated in Lithuania, will continue to grow and connect the entire world, allowing people to better understand each other.” said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation of Lithuania.
The addition of the Portal in Philadelphia is an exciting step forward in our mission to build a bridge to a united planet,” said Benediktas Gylys, Founder of portals.org. “Each of these sculptures serves as a reminder that we share more than what divides us, offering a unique opportunity to experience our world as one united home planet.”
Dublin Portal faces the capital’s main street, O’Connell Street, and captures the iconic vista of both Dublin’s famous GPO building and the Spire together. Dublin City Council has delivered the sculpture as part of its designation as the European Capital of Smart Tourism 2024