Pulse at Dilworth Park

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Pulse is a unique and interactive public art experience that is certain to become an iconic part of Philadelphia’s public landscape.

The first phase of Janet Echelman’s innovative and immersive work of public art opened September 2018 and is being enjoyed by more than 30,000 people who visit Dilworth Park each weekday. Phase I—the green line—follows the trolley route that runs beneath the park.

You can help us add the orange Broad Street Line and blue Market-Frankford Line to complete this new defining element of the Dilworth Park experience by making a gift online or by contacting Kristine Kennedy at 215.440.5529 or kkennedy@centercityphila.org.

About the Artist

Janet Echelman combines ancient craft with cutting-edge technology to create artworks that have become focal points on five continents in cities from Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai and Santiago to Beijing, Boston, New York and London. Recipient of the Guggenheim, Fulbright, Harvard University Loeb, and Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellowships, Echelman was named an Architectural Digest Innovator for “changing the very essence of urban spaces.”

Echelman received the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Visual Arts, honoring “the greatest innovators in America today,” and her TED Talk Taking Imagination Seriously has been translated into 35 languages with more than two million views worldwide. Oprah’s list of “50 Things That Make You Say Wow!” ranked Echelman’s art No. 1.

Placemaking in the Park

The Center City District redesigned and completely reconstructed Dilworth Park, opening this new civic commons in the fall of 2014.  People of all ages and from all walks of life arrive by transit or on foot to enjoy free concerts, dance events, movies, exercise classes, to ice-skate, grab a bite to eat, or just relax and watch children playing in the fountain.

Positioned at the center of region’s transportation system—entered through signature glass headhouses—Dilworth Park provides a gateway to universities, the sports complex and the regional rail connections to all of southeastern Pennsylvania.  More than 10 million people visit the park annually.

Support of Pulse—with permanent, year-round recognition opportunities—offers extensive exposure to an average of 30,000 pedestrians per day and demonstrates a commitment to animating the city’s historic center square and improving the quality of life for everyone living, working or visiting Philadelphia.

Pulse is embedded within one of the most popular components of Dilworth Park—the 11,600 square-foot fountain. The fountain features programmable jets that create a dancing water display and interact with the artwork. The scrim of water on the fountain surface not only reflects the ornamented façade of City Hall, but also creates a mirror for Pulse, making the artwork an even more enveloping and immersive experience.

History and Inspiration

Inspired by Center Square’s history as Philadelphia’s transportation hub and home of the first steam-powered waterworks, Pulse traces in the surface of the fountain the paths of the subway and trolley lines that converge beneath Dilworth Park. As SEPTA trains pass below, four-foot-tall curtains of vibrantly illuminated mist travel across the park fountain’s surface signaling the train’s movement.

A celebration of the location’s rich past, Pulse uses cutting-edge technology to create a living X-ray of the city’s circulatory system with ethereal fog layered in vibrant undulating color, producing what the artist, Janet Echelman, describes as a “physical Rothko painting.”

Both children and adults walk, run and even dance through the mist, posting photos and videos on social media.