Wanted: Obama banner returned — no questions asked
The pilfered painting is on the bottom row, second from the left
The St. Louis Young Democrats are hoping the first week of the new administration finds a Barack Obama banner returned to its owner.
The Young Dems co-hosted a black tie inaugural ball on Tuesday night at City Hall, where the decorations included five Obama paintings draped over the rotunda.
Created by St. Louis artist Rich Rodriguez – whose signs also adorn the Royale bar on Kingshighway — the banners are an homage to the ubiquitous campaign poster conceived by illustrator Shepard Fairey.
The five signs were left at City Hall overnight, but when Young Dem president Martin Casas went to pick them up the next morning, only four were there.
Missing is the banner that had the image of Obama and “St. Louis” on the bottom. It was signed by Sen. Claire McCaskill, a key Obama supporter, at a campaign party in October.
The theft has not been reported to police, Casas said, in the hopes that the person — who might have thought they were taken a free party leftover rather than a piece of private art — will return it without incident.
“We are trying to solve it without police involvement. We don’t want to charge anybody,” Casas said. “If it just magically appears on the steps of City Hall tomorrow, that would be fine and dandy.”
In addition to the picture above, the banner also appears in the background of the clip below.
How much does it cost to rent City Hall for a soiree like this?
Theft? In St. Louis? NOOOO!
Im pretty sure you will be able to find it on eBay.
I HOPE your luck CHANGES.
Starr-Triplett probably took it to put up on Delmar Blvd.
Too bad they can’t blame it on W,
I need to get information on renting City Hall and I won’t steal nothin’..
……………taken from City Hall overnight? Bwaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
they wouldn’t put that on Delmar they would just have the city spend more money making up a sign and putting it up only for it to be stolen 2 hours after some lame ceremony that I’m sure she would plan.
Somebody needs to be asking questions on how much money they raised and what they plan on doing with money before they start stealing that too
I took it to use for the cat litter bos. Appropriate use for Nobama.
I believe the base rate for the 1st floor of the rotunda is roughly $300 and escalates to over $2,000 for multiple floors. There are additional charges for additional requests, such as removal of the flags, provisions for electricity, etc. With that being said, I would imagine that this event was hosted for free, as City Hall does typically allow non-profits to use the space gratis.
I’m sure the same charge would be extended to the Young Republicans.
Don’t worry jjk, in four years, the St. Louis Area Young Republicans will be definitely testing out whether we can have OUR Inaugural Ball in St. Louis City Hall…