ST. LOUIS — Approximately 500 graffiti artists from across the country and the world are coming to paint the flood wall in Downtown St. Louis this weekend for the 26th annual Paint Louis event.
The international graffiti festival consists of local and international artists coming together to create a mural on the flood wall, located south of the Arch, which is about 20 feet high and 1.5 miles long, according to co-founder John Harrington.
The public is welcome to meet the artists, watch them work, and enjoy live music, vendors and food trucks, Harrington said. The event is Sept. 1-3, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A new children’s program called Paint Littles will take place during the event Saturday, Sept. 2, and Sunday, Sept. 3, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Artists will teach children how to paint from and the Missouri History Museum will host story time, according to Harrington.
Some graffiti artists are traveling from Germany, Canada, Japan, Mexico and more, according to Harrington, who is looking forward to seeing their different styles and their ideas as there is not a theme this year.
This weekend will be the first time having the event back open to 500 artists since before the pandemic, Harrington said.
“It should be a big reunion,” he said.
Originally called St. Louis Super Jam, Harrington said the event started after the flood of 1993 with a small group of local graffiti artists.
“We all started turning our cars on the same radio station, hanging out and started painting,” he said.
The event kept growing year after year, according to Harrington, and as it was being recognized across the country, he said the event name was changed to Paint Louis.
The event is about shining a light graffiti artists, Harrington said.
“Everybody’s a DJ now; everybody’s a rapper,” he said. “You’ve got break dancers everywhere, but the fourth element of hip hop, which is graffiti, that never really gets any shine.”
For more information about the Paint Louis, click here.