People in St. Louis love many things about the Grove: nightlife, diversity, events and a collection of murals showcasing everything from martini glasses to mythical creatures. Dragons, live chess pieces and a mountain lion remind visitors lurk on walls, letting visitors and pedestrians know that they have entered an urban jungle, a place where imagination and art thrive.
Murals have long contributed to city life, dating back thousands of years. The first mural in the Americas was over 3000 years old. Murals have evolved from depicting the way of life or telling the story of a particular group of people or to conveying political ideas. Murals have evolved to include more artistic purposes, but have continued to work to draw people into the community.
During GroveFest, an annual festival in the Grove, Grace McCammond creates the outline for the murals and then uses a paint by numbers approach. This tactic enables people with all levels of experience to contribute to public art by painting with one color in a number’s designated area. The Boys and Girls Club Adams Park have participated, creating a new mural which was unveiled this Spring.
McCammond thinks that the murals created a sense of ownership from the community because residents of the Forest Park Southeast will forever be remembered in the Grove for their involvement in painting the Mural. Her main goal in painting the murals she simply said “To make people smile.”
