See where St. Louis' Mural Mile ranks in study of nation's popular street art

A spirited stretch of St. Louis ranks high among the most popular public-facing art in the United States, according to analysis conducted by an art framing company.

Mural Mile came in fourth on the tally of most-popular pieces of street art, according to Level Frames. The company came to its conclusions by examining numbers of Google searches per year, Instagram and TikTok posts and articles found through Google, then assigned each landmark an "art score."

Mural Mile received an 8.47 out of 10, coming in behind Mission District Murals in California, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens and Michigan's Heidelberg Project. Locations in California, Tennessee and Texas tied for fifth.

More: In these Missouri towns, murals paint pictures of history and culture

After Missouri's historic flood of 1993, graffiti artists started adorning the 2-mile long flood wall near the Gateway Arch, according to an Atlas Obscura article. The wall, built between 1956 and 1964, now bears the work of more than 250 artists, the article noted.

"The flood-wall is now a masterpiece of color, shapes, and powerful images. The artists often put a message in their work, whether it’s honoring previous writers or advocating for change," Atlas Obscura said. "Some artists in 2023 used their canvases to showcase the problem of Indigenous women going missing in our country, and many other artists use their canvases for causes they believe in. This ever changing mural holds hundreds of writers names underneath the layers."

Mural Mile sits between Victor and Chouteau Avenues, the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis notes.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: St. Louis' Mural Mile ranks among nation's most-popular street art