ST. LOUIS – A world-renowned art event that attracts thousands to St. Louis was held last weekend, but some local business owners are frustrated after their properties were defaced with graffiti.
The Paint Louis Festival, held at the Mississippi River flood wall in Downtown St. Louis, brought more than 400 artists and nearly 30,000 spectators from around the world, including artists from Australia, Germany, Mexico and Canada.
Unfortunately, some local business near the festival were hit by vandals.
David Weglarz, the owner of Still 630 Distillery on South 4th Street, says it will cost him at least $7,000 to clean up the mess left behind.
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“I came in on Saturday morning this past weekend and found our entire building covered with graffiti, ruining our beautiful sign that we have up promoting ourselves and the great city we live in,” said Weglarz. “It was a real punch in the gut.”
Weglarz says not only was the front of the building spray painted, but all four sides.
“What is amazing to me is, not only these vandals put their names, tag and signature on their own work, they also posted it on social media,” said Weglarz. “We have videos from their accounts that we passed along to St. Louis police.”
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department reports that at least two other buildings were also hit with graffiti being painted on their business property. Damages were also reported in the 4100 block of Chippewa and in the 100 block of Chouteau.
According to Paint STL social media page, it has not confirmed that the vandals were connected to the festival. Paint St. Louis organizers stressed that it informs artists to only paint the flood wall warns that anyone who defaces buildings will not be invited back.
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In a statement, Paint St. Louis said: “Paint Louis alerts artists during registration, prior to the event, and during the event that painting is only allowed at the wall. 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.”
Weglarz expressed frustration over the damage.
“This is not something you can clean off,” he said. “You have to replace the entire sign. That’s thousands of dollars I could use to make more spirits and pay my employees.”
The Paint St Louis Festival 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.
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