CLAYTON, Mo. — The St. Louis is area is known for its public art. There are hundreds of murals on building throughout the city and county. All are free for the public to see.
But in Clayton, there wasn’t such a piece of art to view. The view is now about to change thanks to local artist Liza Fishbone. She is working on a mural next to DeMun Park and it has people buzzing.
“Everyone in the community stops and they’re like, ‘wow,’” she told 5 On Your Side.
The reactions are about the giant bee on a swing that she is painting.
“There is no better canvas than this wall right here,” said neighborhood resident Jeff Vines.
Fishbone enjoys the idea of taking a drab space and transforming it into something special for a neighborhood.
“Spaces that are kind of forgotten about or under the radar or overlooked,” she said.
DeMun Park neighborhood had such a space. Vines pushed the idea of bringing new life in the form of a mural.
“It’s a first for the City of Clayton. It wasn’t easy, we had many meetings, many approvals that were required. But here we are,” he said.
“It’s about time,” added Fishbone.
The permission to do the mural was the first hurdle. The second was what would the mural look like.
“We had like 30 designs before we came up with this one,” said Fishbone.
And then came turning the small design and making it much larger on the side of the building.
“Most people don’t really realize the amount of work that goes into murals. It’s not just, 'paint a wall,'” she said.
As she works, Fishbone listens to music in her headphones. She said she has 10 hours of dance music playing.
“I just enter a flow state,” she described.
Using colors that takes her hours to mix, she applies them with the brush and that is when the job can be physically taxing.
“Climbing up and down ladders a lot, physical part is real,” she laughed.
But all the physical labor is worth it to turn her inspiration into a reality.
“We’ve been inspired by the wall. We’re inspired by color. Inspired by how the light and shadows are hitting the wall,” she said.
Vines is hoping this wall is an inspiration to the people living around DeMun Park.
“Neighbors here are going to say, ‘how did we go this long without something on that wall,’” he said.
Fishbone is hoping her latest creation inspires more murals to be painted in St. Louis.
“There should be murals everywhere,” she said.
There is a dedication and celebration of the mural scheduled for Saturday July 16 at 5 p.m. in DeMun Park. They’re also going to hold a name the bee contest.
The mural is publicly funded. If you would like to donate to the fund, click here.