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Photograph by Thomas Crone
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Event organizers, especially those working in an outdoor setting, live in a constant state of wonder about the weather. In June, St. Louis offers no shortage of possible quirks, from mojo-wilting heat waves to brutal rainstorms. And the largely ad-hoc group that put together the 2013 version of Paint Louis was treated to a bit of both this weekend, with multiple, pounding storms intercut by our usual, early summer heat.
But let’s be honest about this: Paint Louis’ organizers have a cat-herding element that’s not directly tied to the weather. In attempting to keep a lid on the cross-city painting binges that ended the first, four-year cycle of Paint Louis events in 2001, event planners were upfront with crews and individual writers who came to St. Louis this past weekend.
John Harrington, a longtime local proponent of hip-hop’s multi-faceted culture, was the person who actually pulled the permit for this year’s event. Last year, the stripped-down version popped back into the local consciousness on a limited scale, with a roster held to less than 20 artists, almost all of them local. This year, the event burst back into a larger feel, with dozens of graf artists from around the Midwest on hand, including heavy contingencies from Chicago and Kansas City, along with a host of other cities repped. Harrington, along with other STL proponents of the event, knew that he’d have to get out word to make sure the wider city was respected.
“The only way to get a name is to get up,” Harrington said, essentially saying that leaving a well-seen, public mark is “part of the culture. The [authorities] weren’t worried about what was going on down here, but they were about the rest of the city.”
Part of getting an okay for Paint Louis to run legally was the idea of clean-up. On Sunday afternoon, Harrington figured that “I have about two weeks of cleaning to do.” That’ll include some on-site work, as the area was liberally dotted with paint cans and plastic bottles on Sunday afternoon. But with his own power-washing kit, Harrington even plans to take down a handful of renegade pieces and tags that he saw while driving around during the weekend. He added that Paint Louis’ initial popularity surprised even the organizers, saying that “10 people couldn’t keep up with the other 400.
“Twelve years later,” he says of Mayor Slay’s administration, “they’ve changed their minds. For the better, I feel. We hired the cops that are down here this weekend. And we’ve told everybody not to go out and bomb the city.”
Those concerns aside, the weekend was much more about art and expression than about the technical components of permits and the like. That’s true not only of those working the walls, but also of the healthy amount of regular folks wandering through the scene, filing on-the-spot, visual reports through their Twitter and Instagram feeds, as hip-hop and punk poured from open car doors.
Surveying those in from other cities, it appeared that the event went over well with the direct participants.
“It’s been pretty chill,” said Chicago Xmen member Heckle. “It’s given me an opportunity to connect with brothers and sisters from all over the world.” The Xmen are an international crew, he explained, with affiliates the world over. He said that members from various US cities were on hand over the weekend, traveling here from points as diverse at Puerto Rico, New York and Fort Wayne, IN. “It’s a reunion,” he said.
Quicdraw (aka Neuz), also from Chicago, was partially identical in his praise of the event, also saying that it was “pretty chill. It’s something different for a lotta people, with a lotta writers making great art. I’m glad that I was down here.” Asked where he heard of the event, Quicdraw said “Instagram, actually. I’ve met a blend of people here that I’d met in person and on the Internet.”
FORM, from Kansas City, was happy for both his own placement at the event and for the chance to survey what else is happening nationally. “I can’t believe I got such a dope-ass spot, right here on the second wall,” he said. “I like to see all the different styles, the different regional styles. And everyone’s being really cool, no kinda beefs.”
When painters finally left the walls during a torrential downpour on Sunday afternoon, a lot of pieces had already been completed, with writers packing up and heading back home on their four- and five-hour car rides. They left a completely new sense of expression on the walls, one that’s undoubtedly already under attack by scribblers. But while the work was going up, Paint Louis was giving off a contented vibe, with little tolerance for nonsense.
Those that did cross the lines? Well, Harrington’s out there right now, graffiti champion with a power washer, a man with an overriding sense of what-can-be for Paint Louis going forward.
Photographs by Thomas Crone. For larger versions, go here.
