After months of incredibly detailed planning and gathering an army of volunteer hands to make something transformative possible, the long-awaited Merced Arts Festival has come and gone, but will not be forgotten.
Over the past week, Downtown Merced was brought to life in a way that felt uniquely vibrant with artists, business owners and residents engaged in the creative process on a broad canvass that encompassed the entire Main Street core. Several larger than life murals were created on the walls of downtown businesses. Art exhibitions took place in shops and along sidewalks. There were also photo tours and pottery workshops.
“Merced AF truly feels like a dream come true,” said organizer Earvin Mendoza. “What started as an idea over a year ago between my friend Patricia and I, slowly turned into a real manifestation of what we believed Merced could become. Pulling off something of this scale was not easy at all, but we had an incredible team behind us and a community that embraced the vision from the very beginning.
“I genuinely believe Merced is experiencing a renaissance right now. These murals, the photography exhibitions, the live performances, dancing, music, and all the different forms of art showcased during the week really highlighted how cultural, creative, and alive Merced truly is. There’s so much talent here, and this festival was about giving it a platform. I’m deeply honored to be one of the organizers of Merced AF, and I truly could not have done this without my fellow organizer Patty. This was a huge dream for both of us, and seeing it become reality has been emotional in the best way possible.
“We’re incredibly grateful to all the businesses that trusted us and allowed us to use their walls for these murals, as well as every artist, performer, photographer, volunteer, and business that participated throughout the week. Most importantly, we thank the Merced community for receiving us with so much love and support.”
This sentiment was shared by the festival’s many contributors and collaborators too. “I think this event is part of a larger thing that we need in the Central Valley,” said muralist Daniel “Thore” Muñoz, who worked on a mural outside the Sensory Lab on Main Street. “It’s not for lack of talent that this kind of stuff does not happen more often — there’s so much out here, it’s insane. The fact we’re getting to do this kind of thing here is amazing, I am super stoked for everybody that’s made it happen.”
Looking forward, a documentary of this month’s event is currently in the works.
“The Central Valley Film Club documented every day of the festival,” Mendoza said, “and we’re hoping to premiere the documentary this September so people can relive what became a very special moment for Merced.”
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Central Valley Film Club takes residents on art tour
By GABRIELLE ANDRADE
If you have walked through the streets of Downtown Merced, you might have noticed the bright, beautiful colors covering the electrical boxes in the area.
This is one of the many projects the Urbanists Collective, a group of muralists across the Central Valley, has been involved with to beautify Merced and other cities. Other projects in the area include the mural at Applegate Skate Park and murals across the Highway 99 underpasses.
“Our non-profit [Urbanists Collective] serves the community through the arts,” says Erik Gonzales, one of the muralists. “So through art initiatives, we’re promoting community wellness.”
For their most recent project, the Urbanists Collective took the opportunity to use the vibrant, downtown area to create a celebration, “Merced AF (Art Festival)”, a week of love for art and a love for Merced. Local vendors and businesses came together to share their work with residents and the Merced community. During this time, muralists were hard at work- painting at sites near Shaffer Building, Bella Luna, O’Ryleigh’s Tavern, ASIP Sensory Lab, and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
In collaboration with the Central Valley Film Club, they invited residents to tour the murals while they finished up their projects on Saturday, May 23. More than 50 attendees participated, starting at the first location, ASIP Sensory Lab.
On the side of ASIP’s wall, two muralists, Daniel Munos “Thore” and Robyn Rahman, brought their own passion and creative vision that will catch the attention of drivers along Main Street. They alternated spaces with their unique artistic designs while maintaining a shared color palette throughout the piece. Rahman drew inspiration from iconic Japanese characters such as Godzilla and Astro Boy, whereas Munos incorporated Japanese elements as well, featuring the Lucky Cat.
The next destination took us to the back of the Shaffer Building, where artists Erik Gonzales, Reggie Gamboa, Joel Martin, and Ryan Giles were finishing up their piece. “There’s multiple things happening, but we dedicated the theme to railroad logistics. And it’s what keeps the country going,” says Gonzales, “And Merced has a strong contribution to that.”
“But on top of that … I don’t know if you’ve heard of these repurposed train cars that get dropped in the ocean to reestablish coral reefs,” Gonzales continues. “And so wherever there are dead reefs, they’re dumping these train cars. I guess they create the perfect conditions for life. The trains become part of the coral.”
The relationship Gonzales describes between the train cars and coral reefs is analogous to trains and Merced. In 1906, with the construction of the Yosemite Valley Railroad from Merced to El Portal, Merced experienced a boom in population, services, and organizations over the next decade. Merced was revitalized by the train economy, and even today is considered a gateway between Northern and Southern California.
After visiting the Shaffer Building mural, the group walked to O’Ryleigh’s Tavern, not for a drink but to take a look at the only female team’s mural. Patricia Pratt, California director of the Urbanists Collective, worked with two other talented muralists, Mikayle Gutierrez, and Joanna Sanchez. In this collaborative piece, they tied in elements that were important to them.
“That is the only woman mural, and what we’re trying to do is highlight, basically, womanhood, motherhood. Something that we kind of all relate to is, you know, getting our hair done by our mothers,” says Sanchez. “So being able to represent our culture in that and just kind of piece together something that’s a piece of all of us is very special.”
“So these [baby blue eyes] are actually flowers native to Merced. So we did want to keep it, you know, local, representing the community,” Sanchez continues, “This is Patty’s best friend and her daughter [the two models for the mural]. And then the bird is, it’s actually a quetzal, and it’s a native bird to El Salvador, which is my heritage.”
Finally, the last destination was at Bella Luna, where two muralists, Joel Aguilar and FASM, worked together to encapsulate Merced, California.
“I wanted to work on something more, a little bit more whimsical, more fantasy, a little bit surrealism, where it kind of plays with an homage to home, where I feel like every time I go somewhere, I feel like Merced is calling me back — Central Valley is calling me back,” says Aguilar, “Swallows represent home to me, I was always told that swallows always return home, and I really wanted to play with that.”
This ties well into the palette FASM used to create the bold letters of MERCED, California.
“I wanted to do another one of these for Merced… just to give you guys something for beautiful backdrops, and rally the community pride around it,” says FASM.
There are different ways to beautify Merced and through the past week in Downtown Merced, the Urbanists Collective, alongside local business owners and community organizers, came together to show off how they are, “Merced AF.”