Visitors to downtown Palm Springs can send a virtual love letter with a warm postscript, “PSILOVEU,” thanks to a new metal sculpture by the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce.

The two-piece “Love Letters” sculpture — each piece 6 feet tall and weighing 850 pounds — is downtown between Il Corso restaurant and Starbucks in front of the Kimpton Hotel.

Individuals standing between the two pieces can essentially become the “I” in the phrase. A sticker tells gatherers exactly where to stand, and it also reminds them to share the image on social media, the modern-day version of the old-fashioned hand-written letter with a postscript.

The chamber’s hashtag, by the way, is PSILOVEU.

“Every time I go down there, I see people waiting in line to get their picture taken,” Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce CEO Nona Watson told Desert Magazine. “I know the general manager of the Kimpton said every time she looks up, there’s somebody down there.”  

Watson came up with the sculpture’s idea while watching an episode of a TV show, Good Bones, filmed in Indiana. She saw the “NDY” sign in the show, where the person having their picture taken becomes the “I”.

“The idea is that YOU become the ‘I’ in PSILOVEU, just like you become the 'I' in the Indy art piece. Perfect!” the chamber said.

Watson took the idea to the Palm Springs Arts Commission and PS Resorts.

“I knew the Arts Commission has some funding for public art, and I knew PS Resorts had funding for tourism,” she said. “Between those two, we were able to fund the project.”

Shortly after the sculpture’s installation, it included a mask as a public service reminder during the COVID-19 pandemic, Watson said.

For now, the piece is downtown — thanks to Michael Braun of Grit Development — who agreed to give it a home. However, it can be moved to other locations across the city, Watson said.

“It’s just something fun,” Watson said.

The sculpture was built by Jack Rivers of Palm Springs Canyon Copy and Print.

In Palm Springs, tourism took a hit during COVID-19 just as it did in other cities, but it is making a comeback, Watson said.

“It’s not where it usually is, but there is tourism here,” she said. “Palm Springs has always been really smart. We have a really good recipe for people to come and either relax or hike and bike ride. It’s one of those cities.”