ST. LOUIS (AP) - A slew of graffiti tags cover the flood wall along Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard, south of the Gateway Arch. "Scribble scrabble," artist Dustin Gravitt calls it.
Down the road, Gravitt and other painters are hard at work, transforming a stretch of tag-ridden wall into a mural, "Tails of the Mississippi."
Jacob Schmidt, a college student from the city's Compton Heights neighborhood, organized the project with the St. Louis Street Department. He has been working on the mural since June 6, along with local graffiti artists, art enthusiasts and anyone else who can pick up a paintbrush.
"Anybody can come out here?" someone asked from a car, slowing down to take in the work on the wall.
"Yeah, you want to come draw?" Schmidt replied.
The mural depicts a journey down the Mississippi River, Schmidt said. On one end, there's the city skyline, with the Arch painted white over the navy sky. A riverboat leads into the bulk of the project: a motley crew of fish - a largemouth bass, catfish, even a crawfish playing a saxophone. Eventually, the river transitions into the Gulf of Mexico, complete with a whale and a manatee.
"No two lines look the same," Gravitt said.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://j.mp/28X4hxW ) reports that Schmidt designed the concept of the mural, but said the final product depends on what volunteers come up with.
"Everybody got a little art in them," said Aundrae Williams, an art teacher with the Parkway School District. "It just looks different. That's the beauty of it. It's just communication, is all it is."
Williams showed up to the site after teaching summer school and decided to add a rose to the mix.
"This whole thing is about community, about bringing everybody's opinions and artistic talents into it," Schmidt said. "Allowing people to bring their own style and expression is really important in a community volunteer effort."
This isn't Schmidt's first community art project. When he was in high school, he founded the Urban Beautification Project. Schmidt and volunteers covered city dumpsters with works of art. Dumpsters with the Loch Ness monster and sunsets and whales and more still get carted around the city.
Building on his relationship with the Street Department, he decided to pitch his idea for a mural. Schmidt said he hopes to bridge the divide between the city and graffiti artists.
"We're taking this gap and sometimes animosity between each other and seeing how we can be mutually beneficial," Schmidt said. "As long as it's beautiful and unobtrusive and artistic, (the city) really digs it."
The city's relationship with graffiti and taggers has been even more strained over the past year. The number of graffiti complaints has been rising steadily, and some have wondered if the yearly Paint Louis event is to blame. There were concerns that this year's city-sanctioned event might be in jeopardy after the uptick in complaints. The event is scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 2.
"Street artists get a bad rep," Williams said. "You can view (this mural) and be inspired."
Schmidt said he sees the mural as a "litmus test," and isn't sure whether it will withstand the taggers of St. Louis. Graffiti is a form of expression and trying to connect to the community, he said. He hopes taggers will feel invited to contribute.
"It's about taking unused, accepted ugly spaces and turning them into something community oriented, into something beautiful and vibrant," Schmidt said. "I think that's really important to claiming ownership of a city."
Schmidt will be taking a break from June 26 to July 8, and plans to put finishing touches on the mural when he returns. While there won't be as much room for volunteers at that point, he encourages people to help with future urban beautification projects.
"You can paint over it if you want," a man said to Schmidt. He had just finished painting a manta ray.
"I'm not going to paint over it," Schmidt said. "That's your work."
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com