PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — A few years ago, artist Justin Klement said, he was in a bar recounting to someone his gig painting images of the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field before each home game.
In 2011, Klement recalled, he carried portraits he had done of then-Eagles quarterback Michael Vick to the team’s training camp at Lehigh University in hopes of getting them signed.
He not only did, but got invited by an events coordinator to paint live at the Linc for the season — and did for several years.
"It's an honor, for sure."Artist Justin Klement
“And then seven years later, I was talking to some guests at the bar and they were asking what I did outside — I told them I did this artwork for the Philadelphia Eagles," said Klement, who grew up in Whitehall and now lives in Bethlehem.
"And I said, ‘You know what? I got to get back into it.’
“And then two days later, the [Eagles] marketing director reached out to me."
Klement, indeed, is back into it.
But now, Klement is painting a wall at Lincoln Financial Field that serves as a backdrop for fans who want a photo memory of their visit to the stadium.
His most recent — a holiday-themed backdrop with huge Eagles wings between which fans position themselves.
It's been a huge success — The Wing Wall, as it's called, has been "the most Instagrammable thing down at the Linc since it’s been built,’’ Klement said.
The mural will remain as the Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 4, finish the regular season against the Washington Commanders.
“It’s an honor, for sure,” Klement said.
Starting as a fan
Klement was an outstanding running back for the Whitehall Area High School football team and also played at Moravian College, where he studied art and business.
While no longer playing, Klement continued to be a huge football fan, and in 2011, he carried portraits he had done of then-Eagles quarterback Michael Vick to the team’s training camp at Lehigh University, with the goal of getting them signed as a keepsake for himself.
Klement said that while he was at camp, a photographer from the team took his picture with the paintings and uploaded it to the team’s website.
Klement said the Eagles publicist saw the paintings and asked, “Did you paint those?” and took him to the locker room to get signatures.
Two weeks later, Klement said, he got a call from an events coordinator asking whether he would consider painting live at Lincoln Financial Field for the season.
For several years, for nearly every home game, the Eagles set up a tent on Headhouse Plaza at Lincoln Financial Field for Klement to paint images of Eagles players before kickoff.
After the kickoff, all the artwork was done, and "I was shaking hands with people,” Klement said.
Klement said he once was working on a painting of running back LeSean McCoy when “this lady came up and said, ‘I want to buy that.’
“And I said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s not for sale,’" Klement said. "And she was so persistent about it, like arguing with me. Then she asked me how much it would cost for me to do something for her.
“I gave her a price and she said, ‘Well, do I get a discount?’ And I kind of shrugged and laughed and said, ‘For what? For being the No. 1 Eagles fan?’
"And she goes, ‘No, because that’s my son.’
“It was LeSean McCoy’s mom."
Music artists are another passion
Klement also worked at events for former Eagles coach Chip Kelly and former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins and other charity auctions.
He also did paintings of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Philadelphia Phillies, and painted at the Flyers Wives Carnival.
Klement also caught the eye of the owners of Wind Creek Event Center when it opened in 2012 as Sands Bethlehem Event Center.
When rock group Incubus was announced as the center’s first act, Klement — a self-described “huge fan” — said he got the idea to do a painting to be signed.
He took a 4-by-3-foot painting to the center’s grand opening, and event center owner Jeff Trainer helped him get it signed.
Klement then produced a series of paintings of acts at the event center that have hung in the venue.
One of his early works for the event center, of the late comedian Bob Saget, included a scrawl of a profane quote from Saget’s role as a recovering cocaine addict in the movie “Half Baked.”
Klement said Saget laughed when he saw it, took a picture of it and put it on his Twitter account.
He said DJ Tiesto took his picture with Klement's painting of him and posted it on his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, saying, “This guy’s awesome."
Klement said radio rock band Matchbox 20 was behind schedule and rushing through a meet-and-greet, but so liked the painting that members took the time to sign it, keeping the sellout crowd of more than 3,500 waiting.
Trainer, the event center owner, said he has many of Klement's works for the center, which he called "incredible," in his home.
'They usually give me the call'
After the more recent interaction with the bar patron, Klement said the Eagles' marketing coordinator emailed him.
"He said, ‘Hey Justin, haven’t heard from you in awhile. Hope you’re doing well," Klement said. He said the Eagles had an idea to do a version of the iconic Nashville WhatLiftsYou Wings mural, "but doing a Philadelphia Eagles version."
“He was, like, ‘Would you be able to do this for us? Would you be able to paint this wall?’" Klement said.
"And I said, ‘What if I said no?’ And he said, ‘Then we won’t build it.’ And I said, ‘Go ahead, build the wall.’"
The Eagles had the idea of "having community artists paint their rendition for military awareness, for Hispanic Heritage Month, for [the NFL’s] Crucial Catch [initiative, which focuses on raising awareness and funds for cancer research and protection], and for PRIDE awareness month," Klement said.
"They wanted artists of those demographics to do their renditions. So the idea was to have a rotation of artists.
“So they built [the wall and] throughout the season they got artists of those demographics' version.
"And then any time it comes to the season opener, the holiday games and then the playoffs, they usually give me the call."
Klement last year did Lincoln Financial Field's “Let’s Hunt” wall — the theme for the Eagles' 2024-25 season playoffs, emphasizing the Eagles' identity as hunters.
“So the idea was they wanted the hunt to begin in the divisional round and then in the conference championship," Klement said.
"They were going to have ‘The hunt continues.’ But they just kept it simple and said, ‘Let’s hunt.’ So that was the theme for the Philadelphia Eagles going into the playoffs.
"So I had the opportunity to design and execute the ‘Let’s hunt’ mural.”
The Eagles have told Klement the mural will change for this year's playoffs — The Eagles are set to host a home playoff game next weekend — but don't yet have a slogan for the postseason campaign this year.
But the team has asked Klement if he is interested in "mocking something up."
'Bless other people'
Klement also has continued to do other projects.
“When you’re passionate about something, it always finds a way of finding you, and reaching out to you," he said.
In Allentown's PPL Center, he said, he did a whole makeover for the suite used by Lehigh Valley used-car company AutoProved.
“Just staying busy, just creating — spreading that joy to people, doing what I do with my talent and abilities."Artist Justin Klement
"They wanted me to design their logo and mix it in with the [Lehigh Valley] Phantoms [ice hockey team] logo," Klement said.
“I recreated their logo with the Phantoms and I did a whole corporate suite makeover. I even told them that if I just paint their logo on the wall, it’s going to look out of place. So you have to trust me to paint all the walls.
“It looked like a doctor’s office when I went in, but when I was done, it looked like a high-end luxury suite — somewhere you would want to hang out and entertain.”
He has a rendition of Bethlehem’s SteelStacks on the wall inside Pints and Pies Pub in Bethlehem. His work also is inside Aloha Jay’s restaurant in Hellertown.
He said he's done a lot of personal basement murals.
“Anyone who has a man cave or wants something original in their basement, going through the whole design process, or painting a mural," he said.
“Just staying busy, just creating — spreading that joy to people, doing what I do with my talent and abilities to bless other people.”
