Tag: characters welcome

Characters Welcome 9: An International Sticker Art Show – Friday, October 17

Characters Welcome 9: An International Sticker Art Show is THE event for sticker artists to meet, exchange ideas & leave behind tokens of their amazing art on our walls, ceilings, floors, etc! Now in its ninth year, this weekend-long show highlights thousands of sticker artists from around the world with many first time artists shown side by side with the seasoned titans. This year’s event programming includes a full weekend of artist workshops, an all-ages sticker scavenger hunt, a free intro to sticker art class, and more, with all show proceeds donated to local youth arts programming.

 

Characters Welcome 9: Friday, October 17th
OPENING NIGHT // 5PM ’til 2AM // FREE ADMISSION
EVENTBRITE // FACEBOOK

For Saturday, October 18, click here.
For Sunday, October 19, click here.

 

Celebrating the street art community, Characters Welcome is a room-filling installation of sticker art that occupies the entire upstairs front room of Tattooed Mom! Collaged boards will be available for purchase along with a special Philadelphia sticker pack curated by local sticker artists, mystery show sticker packs, framed hand drawn stickers, and limited edition tees. All proceeds from Characters Welcome 9 will be donated to youth arts programming at The Village of Arts & Humanities and Fleisher Art Memorial.

 

Scope out some photos from past Characters Welcome shows, as well as sneak peeks for this year’s event on our Instagram. CW9 flier designed by El Toro.

Follow Characters Welcome on Instagram.

 

 

***

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Characters Welcome 9: An International Sticker Art Show

Posted on by Sarah Cowell

From Pocket to Wall: “Characters Welcome” Covers Tattooed Mom in Sticker Art from Around the World

Philadelphia’s very own International Sticker Art Show returns with a weekend of free workshops, meetups, and a scavenger hunt, all benefiting local youth arts programming.

We are thrilled to announce the return of Characters Welcome: An International Sticker Art Show, opening Friday, October 17, 2025, and running through Sunday, October 19, 2025. Now in its ninth year, this weekend-long show showcases thousands of sticker artists from around the world, with many first-time artists shown side by side with seasoned titans. This year’s event programming includes artist workshops, an all-ages sticker scavenger hunt, a free introductory sticker art class, and more, with all show proceeds donated to local youth arts programming.

 

Celebrating the street art community, Characters Welcome is a room-filling installation of sticker art that occupies the entire upstairs front room of Tattooed Mom. Kicking off with Opening Night Part I on Friday, October 17, Tattooed Mom will host several workshops with local creators over the weekend before Opening Night Part II on Saturday, October 18, and the Closing Night Party on Sunday, October 19. Budding artists, young creators, and families are invited to join us on Sunday afternoon for all-ages programming upstairs at Tattooed Mom (usually 21+). Collaged boards will be available for purchase along with a special Philadelphia sticker pack curated by local sticker artists, mystery show sticker packs, framed hand drawn stickers, and limited edition tees. All proceeds from Characters Welcome 9 will be donated to youth arts programming at The Village of Arts & Humanities and Fleisher Art Memorial.

 

Characters Welcome 9 programming includes:

💛 Friday October 17 💛

  • 5:00pm – 2am • Opening Night Part I (21+)

🩷 Saturday, October 18 🩷

  • 12:30pm – 1:30pm • Let’s Collab: A Sticker Collab Meet Up (21+). @smugsbunny presents a sticker collab hour meet up with some pre-started collabs, plus @dday521’s World Famous Giant Collab on view.
  • 2pm – 3pm • Characters Always Welcome: An Artist Talk (21+). Street art photojournalist @ericinphilly talks all things stickers with character based artists @eltoro215, @ffs3000, & @melt.gif
  • 3:30pm – 4:30pm • PMSlaps Presents Black Book Buds Swap & Giveaway (21+). A meet up hour hosted by @pmslaps for drawing in and swapping stickers for black books. Free special edition mini black books to the first 30 attendees.
  • 5:30pm – 2am • Opening Night Part II (21+)

🧡 Sunday, October 19 🧡

  • 12:30pm – 1:30pm • PMSlaps Presents Sticker Scavenger Hunt (ALL AGES). @pmslaps takes you on a scavenger hunt to find artists & characters on the walls of Tattooed Mom. Find them all and you could win a prize! (kid and big kid versions).
  • 2pm – 3pm • Stick Up Kids! (ALL AGES). Join @aaronteachesart for a FREE make and take activity inviting kids to create their own mini T-Moms wall using novelty stickers and art from some Characters Welcome All-Stars!
  • 3:30pm – 4:30pm • Sticker Art For Kids of All Ages (ALL AGES). An all ages sticker workshop with @bydivij for the next generation of storytellers & street artists.
  • 5:30pm – 11pm • Closing Night Party (21+).

 

As Philadelphia’s Unofficial Street Art Museum, sticker artists have been meeting, drawing, and putting up work at Tattooed Mom long before what they were doing was ever called “street art.” Instead of spray paint or wheatpaste, sticker artists use stickers as their medium, which can be easily traded with other artists, carried in a back pocket, or slapped onto a flat surface. Honoring the strong hand drawn, character based sticker culture of Philadelphia’s sticker art scene, Tattooed Mom called its inaugural 2012 sticker art show “Characters Welcome,” but so many different forms of sticker art are represented within the show every year: hand drawn, screen printed, stenciled, collaged, stamped.

 

Photos from past shows as well as sneak peeks from this year’s exhibition can be seen on Characters Welcome’s Instagram. We hope to see you at the show to celebrate the amazing medium of sticker art while supporting youth arts programming in Philadelphia!

 

Continue reading “Characters Welcome 9: An International Sticker Art Show” →

Thirsty Walls: An Artist Meet Up • September 2025

 

Calling artists of all kinds! Come out for an evening of slapping stickers, drawing on the walls, making art, and meeting other local artists! Thirsty Walls is a meet-up for artists to create and add to the beautiful chaos Upstairs at Tattooed Mom. Bring your stickers, wheatpastes, stencils, installations, imaginations & friends because these walls are THIRSTY.

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
5-11PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
EVERYTHING GOES (except spray paint & aerosols)

*****

POSTER ART CREDIT: @botanical_funk + @ofdeathandtaxes

 

 

 

 

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Thursdays, 4-10pm | we support bad decisions but this isn’t one of them. 75¢ pierogis all day for Pierogi Thursday … with all the toppings & sauces ur heart desires + $3 cans of tecate!!!

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

PMSlaps presents Return To Sender // August 2025

🎨✉️ PMSLAPS: RETURN TO SENDER

A 228 Drawing Session for Street Artists, Slap Heads & Sticker Punks

 

Chill, drink, draw and collab with your sticker fam and friends.

 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 19
6-9PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

We’re taking over the upstairs at Tattooed Mom for a chill sticker drawing hangout — no rules, no fees, no sponsors. Just a table full of labels, markers, and creative chaos.

Bring your blackbook, your stickers, your weirdest ideas, and whatever else you want to trade, sketch, or slap.

Whether you’re deep in the game or just getting started, this night is for you.

✍️ Collab. Trade. Draw. Drink. Repeat.

💥 We’ll have some 228s and markers on hand, but bringing your own gear is highly encouraged.

💌 Free stickers & zines while they last.

 

Hosted by PMSLAPS / Priority Mag.

Supporters, artists, and curious rebels welcome.

 

 

 

***

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Tuesdays, 4-10pm |  Taco Tuesday ! Y’all better zoom down for $1.50 beef or bean tacos every Tuesday!! And wash it all down with $3 Tecate!

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

PMSLAPS: RETURN TO SENDER // July 2025

🎨✉️ PMSLAPS: RETURN TO SENDER

A 228 Drawing Session for Street Artists, Slap Heads & Sticker Punks

 

TUESDAY, JULY 15TH
6-9PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

We’re taking over the upstairs at Tattooed Mom for a chill sticker drawing hangout — no rules, no fees, no sponsors. Just a table full of labels, markers, and creative chaos.

Bring your blackbook, your stickers, your weirdest ideas, and whatever else you want to trade, sketch, or slap.

Whether you’re deep in the game or just getting started, this night is for you.

✍️ Collab. Trade. Draw. Drink. Repeat.

💥 We’ll have some 228s and markers on hand, but bringing your own gear is highly encouraged.

💌 Free stickers & zines while they last.

 

Hosted by PMSLAPS / Priority Mag.

Supporters, artists, and curious rebels welcome.

 

***

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Tuesdays, 4-10pm | The triumphant return of Taco Tuesday is finally here! Y’all better zoom down for $1.50 beef or bean tacos every Tuesday!! And wash it all down with $3 Tecate!

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Characters Welcome 9: An International Sticker Art Show: Call for Submissions

Posted on by Sarah Cowell

We’re pumped to announce the call for submissions for Characters Welcome 9: An International Sticker Art Show! We love the community of sticker artists that meet, exchange ideas, and leave behind tokens of their amazing art here at Tattooed Mom. Characters Welcome celebrates that creative community and reaches out to artists all over the world to show their best hand drawn & printed sticker art. Check out some photos from past Characters Welcome shows as well as submissions for this year’s show on our Instagram.

All are welcome to contribute to Characters Welcome 9. First time artists will be shown side by side with the seasoned icons in the street art world. Stickers need not be character based. We welcome hand drawn, printed, silk screened, stenciled & collaged stickers.

The stickers will be displayed in a show at Tattooed Mom on Friday, October 17th, Saturday, October 18th, and Sunday, October 19th, with additional programming TBA! All stickers will be compiled onto various sized boards and will be available for purchase, as well as special sticker packs, select framed art and more! We’ll have some very special raffle items and rad day-of-show surprises. 100% of ALL sales will go to benefit local youth local arts organizations.

We hope you will share your sticker art with us and the world through Characters Welcome, and spread the word about the show to your fellow artists, friends, and family. The creative exchange and collaboration of this show is at the very heart of what we love to do here at Mom’s.

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 1st, 2025. Please include your artist name, any Instagram or social media handles, and as many stickers as you’d like so we can give you proper credit & share your art with the world! Submissions will not be returned.

Please mail all submissions to:

Characters Welcome

614 S. 4th Street

#212

Philadelphia, PA 19147 U.S.A.

Local artists may also drop off their stickers in person at Tattooed Mom, 530 South Street, Philadelphia.

For more information feel free to DM us on Instagram.

Hope to see you all at Characters Welcome 9 to celebrate the vibrant world of sticker art while helping youth arts programs!

CW9 artwork by @eltoro215.

Check out the full Characters Welcome Submissions FAQ HERE

Continue reading “Characters Welcome 9: An International Sticker Art Show: Call for Submissions” →

PMSLAPS: RETURN TO SENDER // June 2025

🎨✉️ PMSLAPS: RETURN TO SENDER

A 228 Drawing Session for Street Artists, Slap Heads & Sticker Punks

 

TUESDAY, JUNE 17TH
6-9PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

We’re taking over the upstairs at Tattooed Mom for a chill sticker drawing hangout — no rules, no fees, no sponsors. Just a table full of labels, markers, and creative chaos.

Bring your blackbook, your stickers, your weirdest ideas, and whatever else you want to trade, sketch, or slap.

Whether you’re deep in the game or just getting started, this night is for you.

✍️ Collab. Trade. Draw. Drink. Repeat.

💥 We’ll have some 228s and markers on hand, but bringing your own gear is highly encouraged.

💌 Free stickers & zines while they last.

 

 

Hosted by PMSLAPS / Priority Mag.

Supporters, artists, and curious rebels welcome.

 

 

***

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Tuesdays, 4-10pm | The triumphant return of Taco Tuesday is finally here! Y’all better zoom down for $1.50 beef or bean tacos every Tuesday!! And wash it all down with $3 Tecate!

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Thirsty Walls: An Artist Meet Up • May 2025

Calling artists of all kinds! Come out for an evening of slapping stickers, drawing on the walls, making art, and meeting other local artists! Thirsty Walls is a meet-up for artists to create and add to the beautiful chaos Upstairs at Tattooed Mom. Bring your stickers, wheatpastes, stencils, installations, imaginations & friends because these walls are THIRSTY.

 

THURSDAY, MAY 22
5-11PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
EVERYTHING GOES (except spray paint & aerosols)

*****

POSTER ART CREDIT: @botanical_funk + @ofdeathandtaxes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Thursdays, 4-10pm | All hail Pierogi Thursday! Munch and crunch on 75¢ pierogi (vegan, obvi) plus $3 cans of Tecate every Thursday!! And don’t forget ur toppings…

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Thirsty Walls: An Artist Meet Up • January 2025

Calling artists of all kinds! Come out for an evening of slapping stickers, drawing on the walls, making art, and meeting other local artists! Thirsty Walls is a meet-up for artists to create and add to the beautiful chaos Upstairs at Tattooed Mom. Bring your stickers, wheatpastes, stencils, installations, imaginations & friends because these walls are THIRSTY.

 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30
5-11PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
EVERYTHING GOES (except spray paint & aerosols)

 

We’ll be donating a portion of the evening’s sales to purchase books and supplies for the DreamEscape Library of Kensington Health Sciences Academy.

*****

POSTER ART CREDIT: @botanical_funk + @ofdeathandtaxes

 

 

 

 

***

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Thursdays, 4-10pm | All hail Pierogi Thursday! Munch and crunch on 75¢ pierogi (vegan, obvi) plus $3 cans of Tecate every Thursday!! And don’t forget ur toppings…

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Sticker Movie Screenings at Characters Welcome All Stars

Get your stickers ready for the long-awaited premiere of Sticker Movie in Philadelphia! Art and film lovers will gather for a colorful celebration of sticker culture with movie screenings, vendors, sticker trades, giveaways, and panel discussions with local legends.

Opening night is Saturday, November 9th, at 5:30 pm at the Old Pine Community Center with the official after-party at Tattooed Mom until 2:00 am. On Sunday, November 10th, Tattooed Mom will host two special fundraisers with screenings at 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm. Tickets are available now. Visit stickermovie.com for details.

 

STICKER MOVIE SCREENINGS @ CHARACTERS WELCOME ALL STARS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH
SCREENINGS @ 5:30PM + 8PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
TICKETS: EVENTBRITE

 

 

Follow Sticker Movie & Characters Welcome on Instagram.

 

***

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | Craft Sundays at TMoms? BACK. Googly eyes? BACK. Coloring pages? BACK? Your creative spirit? BACK. Come thru every Sunday for FREE arts & crafts upstairs and downstairs at Tattooed Mom!

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

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