This month, to celebrate The Enterprise Center in Philadelphia, UO is producing a special tote designed by Philly artist Iye Yin Dae of ARTLIFESTYLE. The tote will be sold at two stores in Philly (1627 Walnut St. and 110 S. 36th St.) and at select local businesses on 52nd street, a historic stretch of businesses in West Philadelphia. All proceeds from sales of the tote will benefit The Enterprise Center. The Enterprise Center is a Philadelphia-based organization whose mission is to cultivate and invest in minority entrepreneurs to inspire economic growth in communities.

Below, we talk to Iye Yin Dae, the local artist behind the tote, about his love for Philadelphia, the inspiration behind the tote and his favorite places in Philadelphia.

Why is this project important to you?
52nd St. and The Enterprise Center initiative is important to me because I was raised one block away from 52nd St. 52nd St. was my highway to the world around me. I caught the El train at 52nd Street Station to travel to school, furthered my education in the Blackwell Library, played video games and ate snacks with my friends at Cotton's Place afterschool, read books from Hakeem's, have had countless Rotis and Doubles at Brown Sugar Bakery, and lived across the street from Malcolm X Park with my family. I'm very proud to say I'm from West Philadelphia.

How did this collaboration come about?
The collaboration happened after I submitted a design for the 52nd St. Banner competition that The Enterprise Center was hosting sometime in 2020. Unfortunately, my submission wasn't selected, but shortly after I was contacted by The Enterprise Center saying that they liked my design and that they had another project with UO and wanted to know if it would be something I'd be interested in doing.

Where are your favorite places in the city currently?
My favorite place to visit in the city is Maken Studios North in the Kensington section. I did my largest mural to date in the loading dock of the building. I was commissioned by Shift Capital and Blue Cross Philadelphia to create a map of Kensington with landmarks that embraced the Kensington/Philadelphia communities. The irony is that my "Made in Kensington" mural design was the inspiration for the 52nd initiative tote design, which is also a map of the 52nd St. corridor/West Philadelphia area that embraces the community as well. A full circle moment for me in many ways really.