In The Grove, find public art with a purpose

Drive past Urban Chestnut in The Grove and you’ll see a new mural painted in royal blue, red, and gold on the building. Groovy ’70s-inspired letters spell out “Consent is my love language.” This artwork, a response to the allegations of sexual assault against Grove bar owners that made headlines last summer, is the brainchild of Sarah Shelton. Shelton is the founder of Girl Louie, a creative storytelling agency, and creator of the Smart Girls STL newsletter, which curates information and resources about how to make a difference in St. Louis. On her Instagram, Shelton designs retro graphics to educate her followers on everything from voter registration to shopping locally. For this project, though, she wanted to get off the internet. She teamed up with the organizations Bartenders for Black Lives and STL Against Sexual Assault, which creates preventive sexual assault training specifically for the service industry. The group wanted to paint a mural in response to the allegations, and they wanted it in a prominent space in The Grove. Shelton contacted Urban Chestnut, whose management donated the wall. Another gift: the paint, which came from Meyer Painting Co., in Eureka. Owners Holly and Scott Meyer heard about the project and reached out. Shelton had never created a mural before. “YouTube helped a lot,” she says, laughing. “That’s just kind of my mentality. If I have an idea, if I can get support from one person, I just do it—or try to do it, at least.”

On what sparked the idea for a mural: On social media, we can be excited about a topic and share stories and push for change, but if we’re not [continually] talking about it, then [interest can die down]. When I created [an initial] graphic, it sparked attention again, and I was able to connect with women who were survivors themselves. Tiffany [Unger], founder of Bartenders for Black Lives and owner of The Wandering Sidecar Bar Company, reached out to me about wanting to create a graphic that said, “Consent is my love language.” I thought that was a great idea, but we wanted to take it outside of social media, to create more of a permanent way of raising awareness around sexual assault. I thought that creating a mural in The Grove, specifically, would make more of a statement

On public art’s role in St. Louis: I think that people are finding that art is a way of sharing your story in a creative landscape. It’s thought-provoking. It’s something that can garner attention easily. And it’s something that people want to share, and that’s kind of the point. You can have a really thought-provoking conversation with somebody, but to create a lasting piece of art that is not only beautiful but [also] something that can be shared over and over again, I think, is important to the overall narrative of spreading awareness.

On the most rewarding part of creating the mural: Women stopped by who knew someone who knew someone, and they would grab a paintbrush and start painting. My daughter, who’s 18 months old, painted a little. It was the camaraderie of women and survivors getting together. Even as we painted the mural, we had discussions around consent, what it looks like for each one of us, and how it can look different depending on the person. I think that the broader conversation around consent is something that should be invited more in conversation. It’s so important, especially for younger people as they grow up.

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