Behind every piece of art there’s a story. Sometimes that’s a story of dreams realized, or the beginning of a dream.

Those stories and dreams were recently on display at the first “Follow Your HeART” fine arts show exclusively for amateur artists. The one-day show was held Saturday, April 22, at the McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts Gallery in the Old Webster Business District.

Open to all 2-D mediums, ages and levels of artistic talent, 40 artists ranging in age from 5 to 76 years old exhibited work in 67 separate submissions and the show drew roughly 200 visitors.

Afghanistan native and St. Louis transplant Arezo Sahel, a 23-year-old mother of two, was overjoyed to share her work at the show. Husband Amin Sahel shared that his wife always loved to paint and draw. 

While in Afghanistan, her parents took her to art courses, where she started learning the basics. She couldn’t continue her lessons because of safety concerns, but always hoped that one day she could start painting again and find an opportunity to display her art in public. 

When the couple arrived in the United States in 2021, Arezo Sahel asked her husband to buy her some painting accessories so she could “continue her incomplete dream.” When a friend suggested she participate in the “Follow your HeART” show, Amin Sahel saw his wife’s eyes fill with tears of excitement.  

With limited tools, Arezo Sahel created two acrylic paint pieces, “Mountains of Afghanistan” and “Creve Coeur Lake.” 

“United States is the land of opportunities. My wife’s dreams and desires were buried until we came here and she felt secure to go ahead and do what she really wants to do,” said Amin Sahel, who lives with his family in Fenton. “Arezo was so happy and counted every day to get to event day. For some people this could be just an event, but for artists, this meant the world.”

That was also true for Webster Groves resident Kim Pepple, who seized the opportunity to show off a reproduction of his late father’s Ernie Pyle cartoon-strip artwork, along with two of his original artboards from 75 years ago. Ernie Pyle was a renowned frontline combat war correspondent from 1940-1945.  

Kim Pepple’s father, R. Ted Pepple, returned to St. Louis after completing his World War II military duty. His real ambition was to be a sports cartoonist for the local newspaper, but life took a difference course. He got an English degree, married the love of his life, Doloris Specht, had six children, and worked in marketing and public relations. 

In 1945, he researched, wrote and drew a serious comic strip of the inspiring life and tragic death of American journalist Ernie Pyle, but the comic strip was never published. No one even knew it existed until Pepple’s children were cleaning out his storage locker after his death in 2014. 

Brothers Kim and Rob Pepple, lifelong residents of Webster Groves, were headed to the dumpster when sisters Kathy Bailey of Brentwood and Dianne Wichenheiser of Glendale insisted on unpeeling the newspaper wrapping to see what was inside. 

Much to their surprise, the siblings found several 24-by-7-inch storyboards with the cartoon illustrations, drawn in Ted Pepple’s hand, with the signature “Pep,” Pepple’s childhood nickname. There were 10 of them.Apparently, a penchant for art runs in the family.

“Adding substantially to my enthusiasm and pride is that my 17-year-old grandson, Keegan, also has a drawing displayed next to his great-grandfather’s handiwork,” Kim Pepple boasted.

Aspiring artist Keegan Pepple watched lots of cartoons and read comics. It was only natural for him to sketch some of his favorite characters. He explored many different art mediums in art class and even designed a skateboard deck. His favorite — pencil drawings. 

Keegan Pepple was inspired to explore his creative side by Laura Lebeda, his art teacher at St. John Vianney High School.

“She motivated me to draw, saying, ‘Force yourself. Sit down and once you get started, you’ll gain momentum and follow through.’” 

Eight-year-old budding artist Lucy Corelli who is in third grade at Avery Elementary in Webster Groves was excited to show her watercolor piece entitled “Song Birds of Spring.” 

“It was really cool to know that a piece of art that I made was being seen by lots of other people, and that they might like it. It felt special,” she said. “I used a lot of different colors for the birds, and I liked the way the colors of the tree blended and how the leaves looked on the small branches.”

St. Louis Community College art professor Annie Smith Piffel had several students exhibiting work in the show. 

“I’ve witnessed growth in all my students who had the opportunity to exhibit here,” she said.

The first-time event was coordinated by Webster Groves resident Dave Buck. A 70-year-old amateur artist himself, he set out to bring this brainchild to fruition.

“I did the event for two reasons — to bring the community together and to have fun,” he said.

Buck contacted Scott Kerr, who co-owns McCaughen & Burr with his daughter Sara.  Buck presented his idea to provide an opportunity to create community through arts, which would be open to any amateur, unjuried, with no awards. Kerr, being community-minded and a consummate supporter of the arts, opened his doors to the event, a generous act Buck credits for the show’s success. 

“I’m grateful for the Webster Groves community for supporting this independent art source,” Buck said. “There’s no other forum in the world that can lift people up and bring them together like the arts can.”

In artist Juan Velázquez’s heart, “Art belongs to no one and everyone.”

The sentiment was on display last week as he took to social media to rally community support, when his mural painted on the upcoming second location of Gilberto’s Taco Shop along the 600 block of West Park Row Drive, faced the threat of removal.

The mural, which has become a favorite among the Arlington community, depicts the infamous “Don’t mess with Texas” moment when Rougned Odor, Texas Rangers second baseman, punched Blue Jays’ player José Bautista. The piece has been complete since January.

After Gilberto’s owner José Ruiz filed permits for additional signage on his new restaurant, the city notified him last week that the mural violated development code and must be removed before the permits could be granted.

Upset and stressed, Ruiz called Velázquez after receiving the notice. He was worried about losing the artwork, especially with the time, effort and money that went into it, he said. Ruiz has also spent months preparing the restaurant to open and the mural’s code violation became another obstacle. Velázquez assured him that he would take care of the situation, turning to social media.

“I made the decision to go public with it because I wanted him to see the support,” Velázquez said.

Within 24 hours, hundreds of people flooded social media with comments or direct messages to Velázquez defending the mural, he said. Some wanted to call city employees and others to protest outside city hall. But Bowie Hogg, District 7 city council member who represents the entire city, poured oil on troubled waters, clarifying that there were no immediate plans to remove the mural.

After seeing Velázquez’s post, Hogg conferred with the city manager, who then postponed the mural’s removal until city council reviews the current policy at a meeting May 9. Ruiz will also be able to move forward with getting his sign permits and opening the restaurant, Hogg said.

Although the mural was allowed to stay, the taco shop’s logo painted on the left side of the mural will need to be removed for the sign permits to be approved, Ruiz said. The situation has become a catalyst for a larger conversation about where public art should be allowed in the city.

Currently, murals are allowed in the Downtown Business zoning districts and the Entertainment District Overlay with certain conditions, according to Arlington’s Unified Development Code.

Some of those conditions are one mural per building, and it must be painted with weather-resistant paint. If the mural degrades severely, the owner shall repair or remove it within 60 days. No portion of the mural can be used to advertise, but it may display the tenant’s name or logo on no more than 20% of the mural area, with the proper sign permit.

Confining artwork to one area doesn’t sit right with Velázquez and some members of the community.

Not everyone can afford to live downtown, but they still deserve to have art in their neighborhood that they can appreciate everyday, Velázquez said.

He said he understands that some parameters need to be in place such as prohibiting murals from being painted in residential areas, but thinks they should be allowed in commercial areas. Hopefully, changing the code creates a path for other artists, allowing them to find work in places where they previously weren’t allowed, he said.

Allowing murals to be painted outside of downtown would add value to the rougher areas that can’t afford to make everything look nice, said Julie Elizondo, who showed support for the Rangers mural on Velázquez’s social media post. It can also be inspiring to see beautiful things around the city.

“There’s enough negativity in the world. I just feel like his artwork helps cast a little shadow on that negativity,” she said.

Public artwork can also help the city’s economy. When people go to take pictures at the Rangers mural, they might buy food from the taco shop or the Walgreens next door or get gas nearby, Velázquez said.

There is some data pointing to art’s economic impact in the city. A 2019 study by the Downtown Arlington Management Corporation found that the total annual economic output of the arts and cultural institutions in downtown exceeds $118 million. Impacts were calculated for jobs and salaries, money that the organizations and their activities pumped into Arlington’s economy, taxable sales and hotel room sales generated by out-of-town visitors.

Downtown Arlington has a history of supporting the arts, said Maggie Campbell, president and CEO of Downtown Arlington Management Corp. The corporation represents collective stakeholders and engages in work that benefits downtown like marketing, promotion, beautification and economic development, Campbell said.

Over the last ten years, downtown has been involved in promoting the movement for public art. To date, there have been 20 murals commissioned that the corporation has been involved with, either by paying the artist directly or providing grants to property owners, she said. Murals have been painted on businesses ranging from Theatre Arlington to Sugar Bee Sweets Bakery.

The emergence of performance art in downtown over the years, from live music at Arlington Music Hall or Levitt Pavilion to small shows at bars and restaurants, provided a rich environment for murals which can be enjoyed by everyone for free, Campbell said.

The Downtown Arlington Management Corporation has since established a program where it provides matching grants to business owners to fund major storefront improvements, including murals. This can help pay the artist, pay for the materials or both, Campbell said. The corporation also helps connect artists with downtown businesses looking to commission artwork.

“We believe that public arts enriches people’s lives and provides opportunities for all kinds of people to enjoy art,” she said.

While downtown may have become a bastion for the arts, it would look forward to participating in and following the discussion as city council reviews the existing ordinance, Campbell said. The mural program has become a great attraction for downtown and similar programs may work in other areas if someone can figure out how to do it, but there are things to consider.

It will probably take a couple meetings for the city council to officially determine how the policy is changed, Hogg said. One concerning factor is the mural’s longevity, which could detract from the look of a neighborhood if degradations aren’t abated through routine maintenance.

But one possible solution could be asking the artist to coat the mural with a weather protective seal, he said. It is likely that murals would be prohibited in residential areas as well. Either way, Hogg said he hopes to find a working process to increase the amount of art throughout the city.

“You have to figure what’s a good balance of encouraging art, but also looking out for the entire community,” he said.

The Rangers mural will be allowed to stay until the city council reaches a final decision, with initial discussions beginning May 9. But if the policy were to be reviewed and no change implemented, then the mural might be subject to potential removal again, Hogg said.

And that’s something Velázquez said he might not stand for, intent on talking about the issue until the code is changed.

But overall the situation has been one of positivity and Velázquez said it felt good to have the community’s support, as he is someone who wants to give back to the community. And without this incident, reviewing the mural policy wouldn’t have been on the city council’s radar.

Ruiz said it would make him happy and proud to potentially be part of such an impactful change for the arts in the city he loves alongside Velázquez and hopes it inspires others to do the same.

“At first I was just trying to argue with them because they need to let the mural stay, but now I see this as something bigger,” Velázquez said. “I see this as fighting for the rights of other artists.”

@Perriello369

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