Pieces of tile, 1,152 of them, each with a uniquely bright drawing, make up a colorful community mural that was unveiled and dedicated Thursday evening and now stands in Bob Hart Square in downtown Merced.
Dozens of community members and public officials gathered at the square to see the mural, some of them trying to find their tile in the huge piece of art.
The Tree of Life, which measures 6½ feet tall by 23 feet wide, was a community art project lead by Monika Modest, 56, and created by hundreds of community members. The drawings in each tile had to be associated with a tree.
The youngest to participate was a 9-month-old and the oldest an 89-year-old woman, Modest said, who began the project a year ago.
"It allowed people from all kinds of life to participate," she said. "The response was incredible."
The mural was financed by a $5 contribution that participants were asked to make for each tile. In addition, a few community members helped finance key components of the mural.
"So it's really the community that paid for the project," Modest said.
A few employers sponsored their workers to take part in the project. For example, Mercy Medical Center sponsored 100 of its employees, Modest said.
Jim Greenwood, with the Office of Student Life at UC Merced, said at least 250 students, faculty, staff and families participated in the community art project.
"Some of the students really spent a lot of time working on the tiles," he said. "They put a lot of time and effort into them. They took the project in a very serious way."
Staci Santa, executive director of the Merced County Arts Council, said projects like this one "give much hope that the greater community cares about art." It sends a message the the arts are valued in the community, she added. "Monika has really seen a lot of support from communities that are not necessarily in the art community," she said.
Projects such as the mural can show how art can be used to create a better community in general, Santa said.
Bill Spriggs, mayor of Merced, who took part in the project, said projects like the mural in which the entire community can get involved are significant. He said there will be a similar project for the G Street underpass to help make the community "more visually attractive."
Spriggs said art can be something positive for the community.
Modest had done similar projects in other cities and wanted to try it out in Merced. She will be leading the G Street underpass project, and is inviting the public to participate.
Reporter Yesenia Amaro can be reached at
(209) 385-2482 or
yamaro@mercedsunstar.com.
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