Audio Described Public Art

Bail-Co Mural.

The mural on the south side of the Bail-Co Properties Building, 21 West Church Street, was created by artist Mark Salvo in 2006. When standing in front of the mural, there appears to be a corner to the actual building to the viewer’s right. A sense of depth is created by the angle of the roof line on the right side of the mural and by two painted evergreen topiary trees in gray concrete pedestal planters throwing shadows against the image of a side wall. A ten-foot-high arch creates an entryway through the imaginary recessed rust-colored brick wall directly facing the viewer. The wedged-shaped stones forming the arched opening are a light taupe color and frame a lush green park with two small trees and an expanse of green lawn behind a three-tiered stone fountain centered in front of the arch. In the mural, the stone-lined top edge of the red brick wall contrasts with the lush, sun-light dappled, dark and light green foliage of the trees painted above. In the spring and summer, the top edge of the mural almost blends in with the real trees towering over the building. The benefactor of this piece of public art tells the story of a little girl who asked her daddy, “Why can’t we ever go play in that beautiful park?” She said it was a strange park because the leaves never changed color!

Big Boy Statue.

Across the street from Erwin Plaza on the west side of South Jefferson Street is a Big Boy statue situated between two large trees. The farmer’s elevator serves as a backdrop on the far side of a recently sprouted field of corn. Though dwarfed by the trees, this adult-sized pudgy iconic figure of a boy holds a double hamburger the size of a basketball above his head on the palm of his upraised right hand. His black hair is swirled into a bent-over cone on his disproportionately large head. He smiles beneath blue eyes and arched eyebrows. He wears a short-sleeved white t-shirt with blue trim around the sleeves and neck under faded red-and-white checked bib overalls. The words “Big Boy” are lettered in blue in the center of his shirt. He leans forward on his right foot with his left arm in a loosely clasped fist at chest level as he offers the world’s first double-decker hamburger.

Bison Statute.

Located on a concrete pad in a green space at Erwin Plaza at the northeast corner of Verner Street and South Jefferson Street, a larger-than-life bronze bison assumes a broad-based stance. He stares wide-eyed from a huge hairy head with his short, curved, sharply pointed brown-tipped yellow horns aimed directly in front of him. His hairy face culminates in a long beard beneath his chin. His massive, humped shoulders and front legs are covered with a similar dark brown shaggy coat whereas the texture of his slim, tan-colored hind quarters is smooth. His tail curls around the left side of his brown body.

Bear Statute.

About 3 car-lengths from the Bison, a scowling bronze bear lurches forward. He is taller than a grown man and broader than a doorway and probably weighs 500 pounds. His brown fur is streaked with golden highlights. He plants his left front paw firmly upon a large beige rock, lifting the front of his body by several feet. He pulls his right front paw close to his body ready to strike. He opens his mouth wide and bares his fangs. A big pink tongue larger than a person’s hand glistens behind a sufficient supply of sharp teeth. On the rock rests a wristwatch with a shattered crystal that is painted in place rather than sculpted. Presumably, this is all that remains of the bear’s encounter.

Fence Climbers Statue.

In a green space at the corner of Church Street and Lebanon Street, four short-haired, round-cheeked children clamber onto a fence. This bronze statue consists of two young boys and two young girls climbing onto and balancing themselves as they walk along the top of a two-railed fence. The tallest boy leads the way wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. He balances himself with outstretched arms, bent knees and eyes fixed securely on the horizon. Behind him a small girl pulls herself onto the fence with her left hand placed on the vertical fence post, her right arm outstretched behind her, and her right knee upon the top rail while her left foot still supports her weight on the bottom rail. The two children behind them stand on the top rail, with the smallest girl turning back to reach out to the bigger boy behind her. She wears bib shorts, lacy socks with her shoes, and a fishing hat with a narrow downward-sloping brim around it. The boy behind her with outstretched arms wears a ball cap, collared shirt, pants, and solid close-toed shoes. His left arm provides him with balance as he reaches his right hand toward her.

Boys on Bike Statue.

In the first block of South Jefferson, two life-size boys share the banana seat of a bicycle.The boy seated in front wears his ball cap backwards and looks up at the sky, his hands on the handles, his left foot on the left pedal and his right foot on the ground. He wears a tank top, shorts and sneakers. His buddy perches behind him on the seat but faces backward, balancing a basketball on his right open palm above his head as his left hand tucks the seat of his shorts close to his left thigh. His left leg is pulled up and back with the toe of his laced shoe pointing toward the ground; his right shoe tip touches the ground on the other side of the bicycle. He has short hair, chubby cheeks and suspenders secure his shorts. The front wheel of the bicycle is suspended in the air several inches. The color of this statue is a mottled yellow-green.

Camino Real Mural.

The monochromatic mural on the east side of the Camino Real restaurant building at 9 West Main Street was designed and painted by Red Lemke. The sepia-colored painting of a turn-of-the-century street scene occupies a space on the side wall of the building about one story high and approximately the length of a school bus. In the foreground of the painting is an intersection of two streets. The viewer faces the center of one of the streets stretching straight ahead into the distance. This street is lined with unadorned box-style one- and two-story buildings on the left and right sides of the street. Twenty people go about their activities in this scene. Half a dozen pedestrians stand or walk on sidewalks. Men are garbed in suits with bowlers or top hats and some carry walking canes. Women wear long gowns and bonnets or carry parasols. A young boy wearing a vest converses with a man in a top hat. Three adults stand on balconies overlooking the street. One man rides a horse down the street. Several wagons and buggies are pulled by pairs of horses. A small girl reaches for her mother at the left corner of the intersection where two horse-drawn wagons cross. In the wagon approaching from the left, a man stands and holds the reins. A second wagon, coming from the opposite direction, is enclosed and the lettering on the side of the wagon reads, “OUR HOUSE IS THE BEST IN MASCOUTAH.”

Leu Civic Center Mural.

Adjacent to the Mascoutah Fire Department on North Railway Avenue is a mural on the west-facing wall of the Leu Civic Center. The four firefighters in full firefighting garb depicted in this mural tower over the parking lot at two-and-half stories tall. The left-most firefighter faces to the left as he carries a small child in his left arm and holds his brown-gloved right hand to his mouth, shouting. The child wears a purple shirt and gray pants and turns his blonde head toward us, one brown shoe missing revealing a white-socked left foot. The two firefighters in the center of the mural face to the viewer’s right. One black haired mustached firefighter falls on his left knee with his right elbow resting on his right knee, his right hand holding his bent head. He has removed his helmet and placed it on the ground in front of him on which he braces himself with his outstretched left arm. Standing over him, his partner reaches down to clasp his right shoulder with a gloved hand. His partner fixes his gaze ahead, oxygen tank on his back and fire axe ready in his left hand. Furthest to the right, the last firefighter lunges forward with both hands gripping the firehose and directing it upward.

Set of Two Statues.

In a small park at the corner of Maine Street and Lebanon Street are two separate statues:a tortoise and a well where two children gather water. The gray tortoise is about the size of a large ottoman. His four stubby legs and head extend beyond his shell. His shell is made up of more than a dozen circular-like shapes that create geometrical protrusions rather than a smooth surface. His eyes peer out from the sides of his head behind a blunt nose and open lips, all of which are covered in scaly reptilian skin.

The second bronze statue in this space depicts two children gathering water from a round stone well with their puppy. The top of the well is waist high to an adult. Two bronze tree trunks shorn of their branches and entwined with rose vines serve as vertical supports on opposite sides of the well for a horizontal crossbeam overhead around which the rope attached to a water pail is wrapped. One child crouches upon the edge of the stone wall of the well, steadying himself with his right hand on one vertical wooden support while his left hand grabs the wooden pail suspended at eye-level. In order to reach the handle that turns the winch, his companion tiptoes on an overturned pail and stretches her arms high over her head so both hands clench the handle. Their puppy stands on its hind legs and places its front paws, long droopy ears and chin on the edge of the well but is too short to see into the well. The children’s attire, the rope, the puppy, the well, and the vines wrapping the vertical poles are a greenish hue the color of oxidized copper whereas the wooden pails and wooden winch structure for lowering and lifting the water pail are brown.

Set of Three Statues.

Three statues line the sidewalk bordering the north side of the St Louis Coffee Shop

parking lot in the 200 block of East Main Street. 

The life-size bronze statue furthest to the west and closest to the coffee shop is a young girl with her long hair pulled back in a ponytail seated on a park bench close to a taller older man on her right who is sketching a landscape scene on a pad he holds in his lap. His left hand secures the sketch pad on his knees as he draws with a pencil held between his right thumb and forefinger. He wears a button-down shirt with sleeves rolled half-way up his forearms, suspenders, pants and laced shoes. He gazes steadily and intently ahead and slightly downward with a lightly furrowed brow as the young girl turns toward him, her left leg crossed over her right knee, left arm outstretched gesturing in front of her and her right arm slipped cozily under his left elbow toward motioning with her hand to where he is sketching on the pad. Her upturned face is wide-eyed, and her mouth is open. She wears a sleeveless shirt, short skirt and lace-up ankle boots with socks. The figures and the bench are brown except for their shirts and her skirt which are the green color of oxidized copper. 

The middle bronze statue is a shaggy brown bear cub standing on his back haunches. In this position he is just tall enough to peer inside a car window. His head is canted to his right with his small furry round ears perked and eyes wide open. His mouth is closed beneath his elongated snout and his front legs are outstretched below him in an open circle. His claws taper to a point on his curved padded front paws. 

The bronze statue furthest to the east in this collection of three depicts two life-sized children fishing. A girl with shoulder-length straight hair and bangs is seated on an arched tree trunk a foot in diameter over an imaginary fishing hole with her legs dangling below her while she holds a two-gallon bucket tucked against her left hip. In her right hand she wields a scoop net as she leans back and turns her glance upward and to her right toward her companion, a beaming toothy grin of amazement on her face. She wears a t-shirt and bib overalls rolled up to her ankles and leather crisscrossed sandals. Her fishing partner stands on the tree trunk next to her with a similar wide-eyed expression on his face, the lower half of a snapped and broken fishing rod and reel remaining in his hands. He wears a billed cap, fishing vest over his t-shirt, shorts with bulging pockets, and laced up ankle boots. The color of this statue is brown with the exception of the fishing vest and bib overalls which are the color of oxidized copper.

Rearing Horse.

At the 900 Block of West Main and South Tenth Street in front of the Meineke car care center, a life-size bronze statue of a horse rears up on its hind legs with the tip of his long tail touching the ground behind him. The dark brown horse is taller than a minivan but not as tall as the adjacent one-story building. He balances on his hind legs with his front legs raised and curled in the air. His nostrils flare and he bares his teeth with mouth wide open and lips curled back. He flings his coarse, lustrous mane in the air.

Native American Warrior on Horse.

At the sports entrance to the Mascoutah High School, a life-sized bronze statue of a horse and rider faces visitors as they approach the building. This dark brown statue is situated on a two-foot-high white concrete pedestal. The figure of a Native American warrior is seated bareback upon his steed. At the time of the photo, purple lanyards with name tags were hung from the thin reins stretching back from the bridle to the hands of the rider. The right front leg of the horse is extended forward and the right hind leg is extended backward, giving the impression of being mid-stride. The horse’s ears are perked up and his mane flows upward and backward. The man on horseback wears a full head dress of feathers and fringed buckskin shirt, buckskin pants and foot coverings. His left hand holds the reins. He grips a 6-foot spear in his right hand. His face is expressionless as he glances slightly to his right.

Billiken statue cast by James Reid.

On a red granite, octagonal base about three and a half feet high, sits The Billiken. He is about three feet high and made of bronze. Most of him is a dark, aged bronze with a greenish tinge, while his ample belly is a brighter, lighter tone from being rubbed by countless hands. On the base, there is a plaque that reads, “The Billiken. According to legend, those who rub its belly will have good luck! Donated by James I Reid and Frances Skinner Reid (A&S ’39)”. The Billiken is a baby nymph. He is cherubic, naked, and seated modestly, with the flats of his pudgy feet showing forward. He has a large head on his squat body. His face reflects the orientalism of the early 1900s with an exaggerated slant to his eyes and eyebrows, a broad, flat nose and a queue, or Chinese ponytail, on top of his somewhat pointed head. He has pointy ears and is wearing a mischievous grin.

 Birds on Boyle by Jeff Kapfer.

On the side of a brick building, reaching about ten feet in height, is a cheerful, upbeat mural of seven painted birds. The birds are heavily reminiscent of the birds painted for the old 70s TV show, “The Partridge Family”. The birds are not realistic, but bright and colorful, giving the impression of quail or partridges. They all have yellow beaks and one white eye. They are all painted facing forward and slightly to the left, with each bird looking over its right shoulder, showing the side of its head, facing towards a sage green door in the building. Each bird is painted using four colors, with each color outlined in black. The colors used on the birds are deep purple, bright red, sky blue, peach, lemon yellow, fuchsia, bright blue, and forest green. The birds are grouped with two on the bottom and five more behind those two. Above the five birds in the back is a thick white border of about a foot.

St. Louis Blues Culture by Grace Mccammond.

Painted on the brick side of a building and reaching about ten feet in height is a mural in black, white, and light gray dedicated to the Blues heritage of Saint Louis. Amid large swoops of white or gray, outlined in black, are a variety of items related to Blues or Saint Louis. There is a large glass of wine, a fish, a man with a goatee playing a saxophone, a fleur-de-lis, a peach, and a stem of wheat. In the background, there are geometric shapes that help frame the mural. The mural is around twenty-five feet in length.

Angels In America Mural by Cbabi Bayoc.

On the wall of Urban Chestnut Brewery, extending about ten feet in height and thirty feet across is an eclectic and colorful mural titled, “Angels in America” The mural is dedicated to transformation, embracing your identity and community healing. The largest element in the mural is a pair of flame-like wings — the wings are off-center, slightly to the left. The feathers are shaped like large tongues of flame and the colors range from a deep reddish-brown orange at the leading edge of each wing, to bright yellow at the tips of the feathers. The wings are positioned so that a person of average height can stand in front of them and appear to have wings. Where the wings almost meet (where a person would stand) is the center of a sort of bullseye. The center is bright yellow, then cobalt blue, then yellow, cobalt, turquoise, yellow, cobalt, turquoise, and so on, going out six more rings. There are numerous elements in the mural, as well as a few sayings. Starting at the top left of the mural there are diagonal yellow and turquoise stripes, then an African American man’s face and right hand, painted in shades of plum, with tightly curled light orange hair. A patch of horizontal cobalt and lime green stripes stretching from the top of the mural ends at a man’s arm wearing a cuffed dress shirt in cerulean blue with light lime stripes with the word “DENY” over its brown-skinned hand. Below the arm and hand is pink with gold hearts. Above the word “DENY” is the top left-facing profile of a Caucasian man’s face. A green and white design fills the gap between the prior arm and face and a different hand of lime, cobalt, and cerulean inside a plum, upside-down flame. Beneath this, in light teal on white is the word, “PASSION”. At the top and just right of the center, is a stylized tree with a tropical bird. Then in what resembles yellow neon with a deep orange background is the word, “Angels”. Below that in the tropical bird’s azure wing are the words, “YOU ROCK!” in pink, while further down are white ovals against a light teal background with a pink flamelike design. There is a lime green plant with the word, “in” written in light teal on a plum background, followed by “America” written boldly in lavender on a lemon-yellow background. In the middle section of the mural on the left is a cobalt background with diagonal thin white stripes. There is a pink flame-type design on top. Then the wings, followed by a stylized small brown bird on the bottom of the lime green plant. The bird has one large eye in a tiny body. There is a section in pink with bright orange circles, then plum and teal diagonal stripes. Starting at the bottom left corner, the mural has a section in forest green. There is a small drawing of a three-dimensional cube and written are “@cbabi”, “@repstl”, “@urbanchestnut” and “#repangels”. Then the bottom part of the wings and the blue and teal bullseye. This is followed by a deep purple and lavender circular design and a figure huddled inside a brown coat. The figure is African American and has on jeans and dark shoes. A small portion of the face and the right hand are visible. The background is olive-drab in color.

Unattributed Sculpture at Walsh Hall and Grand Boulevard.

Bolted to a rectangular, aggregate base is a life-size bronze sculpture of a girl riding her bicycle. The girl is in a smooth, dark bronze, while her clothing is heavily oxidized green, and her backpack, low boots, and bicycle are lightly oxidized. The girl appears to be around ten years old. She is confidently riding a 2-wheeled bike, as displayed by her left hand being raised off the handlebars and gesturing to something off in the distance. Her right hand continues to steer. The girl is moving fast enough that her chin-length hair is flowing back from her face. She has a high forehead and a slightly upward-curved nose. Her mouth is slightly open. The girl is wearing a cowl-neck short-sleeved top, and shorts. She has a small backpack and is wearing half boots, or low boots that come up above the ankle to the bottom of her calf. She is riding a standard girls’ bicycle. The skin of the statue is smooth, while the hair curls profusely. The backpack and clothing convey the texture of the fabric. The bike tires have raised treads.