Christine Riutzel and Meg Wagler are painting the tribute mural to Robert. E Smith on a building at 338 N. Boonville Avenue.
The mural was originally at the corner of Walnut Street and Campbell Avenue, but it was painted over by the building's new owner in April of 2026.
After the mural disappeared, a committee was formed to repaint it at another location.
“I saw a lot of people on social media posting about how they were so upset that the mural was painted over,” said Riutzel. “It piqued my interest because a lot of people are familiar with what the mural is and where it's at but not necessarily familiar with the artist's work.”
When applications opened for the mural to get repainted, Wagler and Riutzel applied.
“It's nice to be able to get to tag team,” said Wagler, “I think particularly nice on this project because anytime you're doing a master's study, which is basically what this is, there's just a lot of trial and error to get the techniques right at the scale, so it's just nice to be able to bounce that off of somebody else.”
They did research on the mural and Robert E. Smith's style before they began painting. There were not a lot of quality photos available of the original mural so they looked at any of Robert E. Smith's work they could find, and they got access to a copy of the painting the mural was based on.
Wagler's takeaway from their research is that Smith was a “funny guy,” and she noted that many of the people they talked to had a story about him.
“We're learning about a local artist who really became so, you know, quote unquote famous by being an extrovert,” said Riutzel. “Like he just would just go randomly talk to people in their businesses and paint a painting.”
The mural is supposed to be finished by the end of October. Until then the artists encourage people to come see the progress on the mural and share any stories they have about Robert E. Smith.