Philadelphia's Portal — the giant video screen that lets passersby wave, dance, and lock eyes in real time with strangers thousands of miles away — has a hard deadline to find a new home. The sculpture must vacate its perch in the City Hall Courtyard by October 31, 2026, and organizers say the clock is now ticking on securing a local sponsor to keep it in the city at all.
The nonprofit behind the installation, Portals.org, says the City Hall placement was always meant to be temporary, according to 6abc Philadelphia. Portals.org CEO Nicolas Klaus told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the courtyard has to be cleared because the city has prior commitments to set up its annual winter holiday market there. Klaus said hosting the 3.5-ton sculpture going forward will require a local sponsor able to provide accessible public space, cover relocation and minor refurbishing costs, and pay roughly $30,000 a year for maintenance and round-the-clock internet connectivity.
A Landmark Born for the 250th Anniversary
The Portal arrived in Philadelphia in 2024, hosted in the context of the city's celebrations leading up to the United States' 250th anniversary, per 6abc. It has since attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors and generated hundreds of millions of online impressions, according to figures from the Portals organization cited by the outlet. As the only Portal installation in North America, per the organization, Philadelphia's is also part of a wider global network — the station's report notes the live video feed now alternates every three minutes between partner sculptures in Dublin, Vilnius, Lithuania, Lublin, Poland, Taguig in the Philippines, and Piauí, Brazil, according to FOX 29.
The installation is an interactive setup connecting people in real time with others in countries around the world, and it has built a small but devoted local following. Nafis Hall, of West Philadelphia, visits about twice a week, per 6abc's reporting. Michelle Borges, visiting from University City, called it one of the coolest spots she's seen in the United States. Leah Hawkins, visiting from Mapleton, Utah, said the Portal connects visitors with people around the world and should stay in Philadelphia.
A Rocky History, From LOVE Park to City Hall
This isn't the Portal's first relocation scramble. The sculpture was initially installed at LOVE Park before being moved to the City Hall Courtyard after being vandalized, per 6abc. Hoodline previously reported that the LOVE Park installation suffered a cracked screen from overtightened screws and the theft of copper wire from inside the structure, prompting it to go offline in January 2025 for repairs. When it finally moved to City Hall that April, following a public vote among Philadelphia residents, the city marked the occasion with a parade: a police escort guided the powered-on sculpture down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with a symbolic stop at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, according to CBS Philadelphia.
Before any of that, the specific sculpture now sitting in Philadelphia had its own origin story. It debuted on Flatiron South Public Plaza in New York City in May 2024 as part of the viral New York–Dublin Portal project, according to the Simons Foundation. That New York installation was temporarily closed after instances of public nudity and inappropriate displays, and organizers responded by installing physical fencing, spacing decals, on-site security, and automated camera-blurring software, as reported by The Guardian.
The Concept Traces Back to 2016
The broader Portals concept was conceived in 2016 by Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gylys and first debuted publicly in May 2021 with a twin installation linking Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lublin, Poland, according to The Guardian. It's not the first attempt at this kind of transatlantic visual link, either — Wikipedia notes that artist Paul St George's Telectroscope explored a similar idea back in 2008, using outdoor viewing scopes to simulate a visual tunnel joining New York City and London.
What Happens If No Sponsor Steps Forward
Portals.org says it needs a new hosting arrangement in place by the end of 2026 and hopes to have a path forward by the end of September, per 6abc's reporting. The organization says it could work with one organization or several partners to secure permits and fund the Portal's upkeep, and it's specifically seeking financial support for relocation, refurbishment, and ongoing maintenance. Any new site would need to be prominent, with sufficient space, power, and internet connectivity, the organization says.
Klaus said the organization wants the Portal to remain accessible to the public and connected to Philadelphia. But without a new local partnership, the sculpture could be relocated to another city entirely — a stark possibility for what organizers describe as North America's only Portal. For now, Portals.org is actively seeking a new hosting partner in Philadelphia, with the October 31 deadline looming over negotiations.
