Photography by Matt Marcinkowski
When he was 13, Carlos Restrepo learned that he was moving to St. Louis with his mother from Medellín, Colombia—and that his father, Luis Carlos Restrepo, wasn’t coming.
Today, the 29-year-old Cherokee Street resident remembers the adventures that he and his father—not knowing when they’d see each other again—went on in the lead-up to his departure. They traveled to the country’s beaches. They hiked the Andes. There, in the mountains, Carlos got altitude sickness. “My dad grabbed my backpack and carried it until we got to the top,” he recalls. “He’s always pushing me and helping me along the way, and I think that this was the biggest of all sacrifices. He let me come to the U.S.”
Now Restrepo is doing the same for his dad. On December 1, he will join more than 70 other local artists for the Print Bazaar on Cherokee. For $30, shoppers can take home a “Bienvenido a St. Louis” T-shirt designed by Restrepo. All of the proceeds will go toward bringing his father here, which could cost as much as $10,000.
Restrepo, who hesitates to call himself an artist because he works at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, has been designing since high school. Still, finding the right design took time. He hit on the solution by way of two “men.” “I was playing around with two fonts that I had downloaded,” Restrepo says. “One is called Big John, and one is Slim Jim. I don’t remember why, but I typed those words, ‘Bienvenido a St. Louis,’ with the top one being Big John, the little one Slim Jim. I was, like, ‘That looks really cool—that’s it.’” A final touch: He transformed the O in “Louis” into a mini Gateway City skyline.
And it’s a design with a purpose beyond aesthetics or even getting Restrepo’s father here. The shirts are printed in St. Louis, and the cotton is grown and sewn in the U.S. “I had the idea for these shirts in Cherokee,” Restrepo says. “I printed them in Cherokee, and now I’m going to sell them in Cherokee to bring my dad to live in Cherokee. It’s hyper-hyperlocal.”
More than 70 artists are set to take over Cherokee Street for the Print Bazaar. In addition to Bienvenido a St. Louis, three not to miss.
Maginating: Brad Woods, a former film and TV animator, looks to aesthetics as diverse as Japanese and Scandi design and the Muppets for his playful robot and animal creations.
Fine Line Studios: A program for adults with disabilities, Fine Line Studios helps its artists turn their illustrations into prints (screen prints, relief prints, and monoprints), holiday cards, and T-shirt designs. Twenty percent of sales go toward supplies; the artists take home the rest.
STL-Style/Stylehouse: Stylehouse both hosts artists and sells its own wares. Don't miss one of its most popular items: an STL-inspired scarf with the fleur-de-lis.
