ARTIST: ZACH CHASNOFF & SIMIYA SUDDUTH

Zach is a long-time resident of LaSalle Park and an active member of the LaSalle Park Community Association and owns a small commercial painting company that supports his family, and he also creates photography and art.

In this project, Zach handled the equipment, preparation, and groundwork while serving as the community liaison, ensuring the mural reflects the history and spirit of LaSalle Park through a collaborative, community-supported effort, while local artist Simiya Sudduth provided the artistic concept and vision. 

Simiya Sudduth is a multidisciplinary artist and art educator. She has painted murals throughout the United States, including a 2,000 sf mural at St. Louis Lambert Airport. Her work in the 2023 Counterpublic Triennial was featured in the NYTimes and PBS NewsHour. Within her practice, she explores the concepts of healing, spirituality, social justice, visibility, the landscape, joy and beauty. Characteristics of her art include bright, bold and often fully-saturated colors, resulting in works that promote a sense of joy and collective healing. She prioritizes public facing art because of its unique power to educate and engage a larger community in ways a gallery cannot. In her words “Public artwork becomes part of public space, thus becoming art of the people”. Her motivation as an artist is to support ways that art can be a part of everyday life.

The mural concept is a visual representation of the urban renewal effects of the construction of highway 44/55 along which the mural is painted, commenting on the devastating shaping force of the highway, serving to isolate the LaSalle Park neighborhood. Taken for granted as a common traffic route for the citizens of St. Lous, the mural asks viewers to consider the history of highway 44/55, what led to its construction, what it replaced, and the effects an elevated 8 lane highway has had segregating larger historic Soulard into the current LaSalle Park and Soulard neighborhoods. The mural at this location proposes to reclaim this barrier by the community as a public art amenity and destination, in stark contrast to its current condition as a steadfast barrier.