sheets of chilly afternoon rain beat down on the tattered vinyl awning covering Scott & Judy's Chinese Groceries.

The proprietors are replenishing inventory on the curbside produce stand of their South Ninth Street business, sweeping the sidewalk and chatting with customers, when muralist Michelle Angela Ortiz and photographer Tony Rocco approach.

Judy Tran smiles, convivially embracing Ortiz, and the two go indoors to gather paperwork; her husband shakes Rocco's hand, offers a friendly hello and gets back to work.

The artists didn't always receive such a warm reception.

"He didn't speak to me until maybe about a month ago," Rocco confides. He and Ortiz had been visiting the vendors along Ninth Street since December 2009, conducting interviews, shooting photographs and gathering stories for "Different Paths, One Market," their Mural Arts exhibit being installed this week.

Later on, tucked inside Anthony's Italian Coffee House up the street, Rocco says he doesn't begrudge the Trans' reluctance to open up. His voice is warm, his delivery pointed as he explains that working with the vendors on this project gave him "an appreciation of how many cameras get stuck in their face every day. If you just sit right here and look outside — every Photo 1 student in Philadelphia walks by the Italian Market to take pictures. And they're in your face about it, totally. So then you can imagine how, after we come and want to do the same thing ... "

His frankness is distinctively South Philly, and indeed, Rocco, 41, grew up at Fifth and Morris. But he's right: The market is something of an attraction for tourists and those in search of "local color." It draws thousands of daily visitors from the suburbs, around the region, around the country — folks who want to gawk at the street Rocky went running down, then grab some pepperoni bread from Sarcone's. But it's also a practical destination, a place for neighborhood residents to grocery shop (like Ortiz, 32, who grew up at 10th and League, and still lives nearby), or for local restaurants to gather supplies.

On another level, the market is a gateway for new immigrants to establish themselves and their families in the United States. It's historically held this role, for the Jewish and Italian merchants of the early 20th century and for the Mexican and Vietnamese vendors doing the same thing today. Ortiz rattles off facts and anecdotes in a breathless, energetic voice. She's gregarious and passionate about her neighborhood, and bristles at the notion of its merchants gaining their foothold in a new country while, in a way, being on display.

"When you say tourist attraction, then that's what happens," she says. "That person behind the stand becomes an object, just like the fruit they're selling. They're not real people who are going through real things."

Her exhibit with Rocco sheds light on the people behind the produce by profiling vendors along Ninth Street. Mixing archival family photographs, Rocco's portraiture and Ortiz's design work, the images in "Different Paths" were printed to large sheets of vinyl and hung at their corresponding merchant's stand, replacing the worn tarps flapping in the wind.

"It's not about my big artwork on the spaces," Ortiz says. "It's really about telling people who walk through here to look past tomatoes and celery and look past the grittiness of the market, to realize people who create the spirit of the space and recognize the struggle they had to endure."

The installation is one of four featured in Journeys South, a Mural Arts Program series of non-murals unveiling in South Philadelphia this month. The projects — ranging from animations of old photographs to poetry collections placed in decorated honor boxes along East Passyunk — seek to document the immigrant experience in a section of the city that's an entry point to the country.

It's something about which Rocco and Ortiz have firsthand knowledge. Both are first-generation children of immigrants, Colombian on their mothers' side. Rocco's mom used to drag him shopping on Ninth Street every weekend as a child; she saw in the market remembrances of home. Ortiz's mom worked at Giordano and Giordano Produce for 25 years; she saw in the market opportunity.

After finishing our drinks, we head to Triple Play Sports, an apparel and printing shop at Ninth and Christian, so Ortiz and Rocco can pick up a proof of the tarp intended for Anthony's Coffee. The artists hold it up to the window and nod with satisfaction. Ortiz designed the images with the color palette of the market in mind: dark chestnut reds, olive greens and grays, muted tangerines. Backlit by the sky, the colors pop even on this overcast afternoon. On a sunny day, the work will positively glow.

The images were created through a lengthy process of information-gathering and editing. Ortiz and Rocco spoke with some 20 subjects along Ninth Street about their business and their family's path to America. They met with varying degrees of willingness. A few, like fruit vendor Mary Messina, would consent only to an audio interview. Others allowed them to record video as the two asked questions. Later, Rocco returned to shoot their portraits.