Did you know that one of the largest graffiti festivals takes place in St. Louis every year? Well it does- along the roughly 1.5 miles of flood wall lining the Mississippi, just south of downtown. It began back in 1995 as “The Paint Louis Jam” – started by a group of friends who wanted to see graffiti-as-art get the attention it deserved. Since then it’s evolved into what it is today… bands and artists from all over the country gather to celebrate street culture in a weekend long soiree. This year over 100 artists made the pilgrimage to St. Louis to claim their stake on the wall and showcase their skills. One San Diego artist I talked to called Paint Louis, “The biggest graffiti fest and best graffiti wall in the country”… which might actually be true, since the wall was named the Largest Graffiti Mural by the Guinness Book of World Records back in 1998. Images ranged from the occult to almost whimsical and will last for a few weeks or months until other, non-sanctioned, graffiti is painted over it. Then the whole process will begin again next year.