Wellston Loop Community Mural

In the Spring of 2018, I worked with two peers from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts to design and execute a community-created mural in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood of St. Louis. We applied for and received a Small Change Grant via the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement in order to fund the planning and painting of the mural through a community event. 

We ran the project alongside the Wellston Loop Community Development Corporation, (WLCDC) a community-based organization that leads events and initiatives in St. Louis' Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood, including resource drives, food giveaways, and street beautification projects, among many varied forms of neighborhood support.

We wanted to represent these neighborhood change-makers in action by highlighting WLCDC's planned farmer's market on the corner of Hodiamont Ave. and Dr Martin Luther King Dr. This would coincide with the same corner becoming a regular stop on the route of the St. Louis Metro Market, a mobile grocery store housed in a repurposed city bus. 

I had the opportunity to design our mural graphic using these programs as inspiration. The design featured brightly colored fresh fruits and veggies with characters based on real neighborhood residents tending a raised garden bed. I kept the images simple, knowing those that would help paint the mural would have varying levels of skill and experience. We sketched out the graphic onto the 10' by 40' fence overseeing WLCDC's grassy corner lot, and added a color swatch to each element as a guide for our painters.

The project culminated in a neighborhood cookout where the local community was invited to make the mural come to life. Over the course of the day, over 100 people came through to help paint, eat, and enjoy the festivities. Our team then tightened up the mural and added outlines to produce a finished piece. 

ALL EVENT IMAGERY CREDITS: TROYANTHONYPHOTOGRAPHY.COM