“Welcome to the armpit of America,” was our greeting when we said we were Canadians. Neither one of us had expected to hear this when we walked into Walls Off Washington.
We love seeing large displays of art on the sides of buildings’ walls. We have conducted numerous walking tours of various neighbourhoods to discover the murals we can find. Often, when we pass a building with a large, exposed wall and nothing painted on it, we feel that it is a waste.
Murals, sculptures and other forms of public art can be in the downtown core. This attracts tourists, like us, to see the city/town and hopefully spend money. And then there are the other murals, which are at the other end of the city. These murals aim to beautify the neighbourhood and instill pride in the community, while also combating vandalism. These communities can be described as the poorer part of town, but I never heard a place being described as an armpit.
One of the benefits of a mural tour is that we can conduct it outside the regular operating hours of tourist establishments. Walls Off Washington goes outside what we have come to expect because they are only accessible during a certain set of times and days. We were only able to access the alleyway where most of the murals are located by entering 3333 Washington Ave in St. Louis, MO.
We entered the building and requested access to view the artwork. The guide gave us a brochure and provided a brief description of the mission statement of Walls Off Washington. The idea behind Walls Off is to provide a platform for artists to develop and showcase their talent, while bringing beauty to a community in need. We had already been travelling in this area and had noted that it was not the most affluent. We could see that many stores were closed, there was obvious drug use and even a few homeless individuals.
Our guide would have been more than happy to give a proper tour of the alley and the art, but because he was on his own that day, he directed us to use the brochure. I was disappointed that we missed out on the tour because I would have loved to have someone explain the art to me. Many times, we have seen art and wondered why anyone would consider what we are looking at to be art. A guide would help me in this situation.
We were led to the alley, given the access code to the gate if we wished to return this way, and we began to examine the art. Because this section was fenced off and restricted, there was no graffiti ruining the murals. As we admired the work of others, we left the alley and headed to another section that was not protected by a limited-access gate. Despite being in an impoverished area, none of the murals were defaced, proving art can combat vandalism.
We drove around looking for other murals and noticed that the area is poorer, but the people there do care about where they live, and that shows. Washington Ave has clearly seen better times. Is it the Armpit of America? I do not think so. The streets are clean, and there is a section of the community, like Walls Off Washington, doing what it can to provide a constructive outlet for artists.
- View the map of All The Places We Have Been to see where this location is. We have visited many great places, including this one.
- More murals are being added. Check back every so often to see what’s new.
