When people challenge me about the tiles, it’s almost always about the identification of copycats. The claim is usually that newer tiles aren’t the work of the original tiler. The WHAT section of this site traces the development of style over time, but doesn’t explicitly lay out the case for a single tiler for the 700+ […]

Your Neighborhood Toynbee Tile
Here’s a little Toynbee Tile theory for everyone out there. With a few exceptions, Toynbee tiles typically appear in areas of the greatest population density… central business districts of large cities, highways and rest stops. Of course I’ve considered that only tiles in these areas get noticed and reported, but there is some evidence that […]

That Sweet, Sweet Tile Cash
After nearly 20 years of interest, 6 years of investigation and 1 year of movie madness, I finally got around to putting together a gallery of Toynbee Tile photos. The gallery is far from comprehensive, but details a wide array of styles. Unfortunately, general negligence destroyed a large chunk of the official record. A dramatic […]

THANK YOU PHILADELPHIA!
Resurrect Dead has finished its first Philly run. Considering that we sold out 4 shows in a 360 seat theater and came very close to selling out the remaining 2, it would seem that another run would be a good idea. No word on that yet though. And by the way… all those people came […]

Resurrect Dead Premier + House of Hades: you got our attentioin
If you haven’t seen on Facebook, Philebrity, WHYY, WMMR, City Paper, The New York Times, The AV Club or any other number of sources, then you’re probably not finding out here either. But anyway, the Toynbee tile movie, Resurrect Dead is making its Philly debut on Thursday September 8th at the Internatioinal House at 37th […]
Sundance, From the Stage
So two nights ago, I was standing on the awards stage at the Sundance Film Festival, while Resurrect Dead, Director Jon Foy accepted the award for Best Director in the U.S. Documentary category. I was part of the tiny team that worked on the film and am one of its subjects. I keep telling people […]
Incredible News, Really, Really Incredible News
First off, I know that I haven’t been posting much of anything for a long, long time. There are a lot of reasons for this, none of them interesting. For anyone out there still subscribed to this feed, here’s something worth waiting around for. Remember that Toynbee tile documentary that I’ve been harping on about […]
House of Hades
House of Hades tile in NYC. These tiles started in Buffalo a few years ago and are mainly centered in NY. They look nice, but don’t last long. All 3 Philly HOH tiles didn’t last a year. This one is at East 12th street and 3rd Ave.
Shepard Fairey
So every once in a while I’m sitting around trying to attach a SQL database to a laptop when a random request comes my way. “Steve, Shepard Fairey is coming tomorrow and no one is covering it. Can you shoot it?” “Yes.” And with that I found myself covering a very small and almost completely […]
Love Letter
If you’re from Philly, you probably know about the Mural Arts Program. You also might know about Steve Powers’ Love Letter Project. You might even know that Love Letter is a Mural Arts Program project. If you’re familiar with Mural Arts, that probably comes as a little bit of a surprise. Love Letter is very […]