Did graffiti artists attending world-renowned event go astray in St. Louis?

The three-day festival was supposed to enliven the two-mile stretch of the St. Louis flood wall south of the Gateway Arch, along the Mississippi River. But some artists apparently ventured to other canvasses — painting on places that were supposed to be strictly off-limits.

At least two businesses are crying foul, saying their buildings were spray-painted by graffiti artists. 

StilL 630 Distillery on South Fourth Street in downtown St. Louis found graffiti on the business last Saturday morning. Big bubbly letters, the artists’ graffiti signature, marred artwork of liquor bottles that the distillery had mounted on its billboard out front.

Its owner, David Weglarz, was furious. He called it a punch in the gut. Weglarz estimates it will cost him several thousand dollars to replace that printed billboard.

“It’s a significant cost for us that hurts us at a tough time in our business,” Weglarz said Friday. “Not only does it hurt our business, it hurts our soul because we are trying everything in our power to promote St. Louis.”

Weglarz said the vandals got all four sides of his building and a fifth area on a shed near a dumpster. He said he tried power-washing to remove the graffiti but that didn’t work. Operation Brightside came Wednesday to paint over the graffiti on some parts of the building, but the billboard with the liquor bottles was special artwork that will need to be redone.

The Nebula building at South Jefferson Avenue and Cherokee Street was also hit by vandals when a giant mural on the south side of its building was defaced. The graffiti tagged with a name in bubble letters that looks like the word “Hotel.” It ruined a 100-by-40 foot mural entitled “Prime” that had been spared from vandals for years.

One of the organizers of Paint Louis, Bryan Walsh, told the Post-Dispatch on Friday that he had heard from two businesses reporting graffiti. But Walsh said it’s not confirmed that vandals were connected to the festival. Walsh also said the organization doesn’t have the money to help clean up.

“We have unfortunately very little resources on hand in terms of labor, time, money, etcetera,” he said in an interview.

In the future, Walsh said, the festival will make sure to have sponsorships to include money for cleanup.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Paint Louis stressed that it warns artists to only paint the flood wall. Anyone who defaced buildings won’t be invited back, the group said.

“Paint Louis alerts artists during registration, prior to the event, and during the event that painting is only allowed at the wall,” the Paint Louis Planning Committee said in the statement. “Painting illegally outside of the event is not allowed. Paint Louis planning committee members have communicated with business owners that have been affected by things which happened during the event.”

“Artists who have been identified, whether or not they participated in the event, will not be invited to Paint Louis in the future,” the group said.

Organizers said they hoped to “create a call for volunteers” to help with any future cleanup.

St. Louis police Sgt. Charles Wall said police took a report over the graffiti painted at StilL 630. Wall said Friday that he was aware of two other reported incidents: one in the 4100 block of Chippewa Avenue and another in the 100 block of Chouteau Avenue. He said no one has been arrested.

The Paint Louis statement on Facebook began with some background on the festival. It started in 1997 and is now a “world renowned event” with the Guinness Book of World Records crediting it with the longest graffiti wall in the world, the post said. 

“The festival is an annual event that celebrates the four elements of hip hop: Graffiti, MCing, DJing, and Breaking,” the post continued.

The event brought more than 400 artists from Germany, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and across the United States, the group said. Walsh said an estimated 30,000 people attended this year, the festival’s 27th year. It featured music and food and invited families with children to take part in kid events and “experience street mural artists.”

Weglarz, the distillery owner, said the organizers should do more. He said people signing up to paint the flood wall should pay an entry fee to help cover the cost of cleanup.

Weglarz said the vandals were brazen about their deed, posting a video on social media showing them defacing StilL 630 The same vandals, who were out-of-towners, then posted more videos showing them painting the flood wall at the sanctioned event, Weglarz said.

Weglarz said he shared those videos with the event organizers on Saturday, during the event, so he thinks it is wrong if the organizers try to claim there might not be a connection.

“It’s absolutely related,” Weglarz said. “To pretend otherwise is dishonest.

A couple times of year, Weglarz said his building is “tagged” by graffiti artists who draw on the back of the building or the sides. “And we just have to come and paint over it,” he said. “There’s a cost to that continually and that’s a pain, but it’s not the end of the world and I, generally, can’t raise a stink too much about that.”

But what happened last Saturday defaced the face of the business, ruining their special billboard “so blatantly upfront,” he added.

“This is what they see downtown?” Weglarz added. “It doesn’t make them eager to book a return trip.”