Street Artist Faring Purth is back on BSA again after a little while, this time on a commissioned piece in Old North St. Louis, Missouri. Typically known for its historic 19th-century brick homes and its award-winning community gardens, the 205-year-old “village” is slowly rebuilding after years of population loss and economic challenge.

In this case, her mural is on the side of a modern home constructed with recycled shipping containers, designed primarily by Travis Sheridan – after his friends built the first such home in the neighborhood a couple of years ago.

“The house is situated two blocks from a grammar school,” says the artist, “in a part of the city known for its beautiful dilapidated buildings, gun violence, but also its resilience and hope.”

Working with the corrugated surface was undoubtedly more time-consuming – ask any graffiti writer who’s done a piece on a pull-down gate. This one is a portrait she calls “Capacity,” a woman filled with the universe and still down to Earth.

“I traveled from California & painted her slowly over a month,” Faring says, “due to complications with lift maneuvering, extremes of weather, and lastly because I’m now a full time, breastfeeding mum to a beautiful little girl. So she took some time, but it was time enjoyed.”

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