Merced launches downtown art project to transform utility boxes into works of art

Fifteen local artists will put their stamp on their city with the launch of the Utility Box Beautification Project in downtown Merced.

Merced Mayor Matt Serratto and Arts and Culture Advisory Commission chair Colton Dennis announced the launch of the project during a press conference at the Merced Civic Center on Monday morning. They also introduced some of the artists participating in the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of July.

The downtown art project will turn those bulky gray utility boxes from eyesores into works of art by local artists who were selected by the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission.

The project is similar to those seen in many other cities. The ugly — but essential — components of urban living will be canvases to display images of art and beauty.

“We’re changing the culture here in Merced and our artists are worthy, and we have amazing artists and we’re going to show them off because we’re going to tell our story in Merced, the story of who we are,” Dennis said.

Nearly $20,000 was raised for the project privately through fundraisers and donations. The money raised helped the Merced County Arts Council to pay each artist a commission for their work of $750.

“We all knew we have a good, strong, kind of under the radar, really talented local arts community,” Serratto said. “So it’s just the opportunity. All we needed was just to give them the finances so they can be adequately rewarded for their work.”

The painted boxes will be in the downtown area from V Street to G Street with the bulk of the boxes being painted between The Mainzer and Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre.

The project is representative of a footprint for the city’s larger ongoing vision of a downtown Merced arts and culture district, Dennis said.

The district is imagined as an officially designated, walkable space that highlights Merced’s rich arts scene and diverse cultures.

“This is the first of I hope are many (art projects),” Dennis said. “This is going to kind of establish what our downtown arts and culture may look like. Then we have so many different possibilities for districts within our city of different types of arts districts such as a mural district, maybe a nature district.

“This is just the very beginning of something even bigger to tell our story,” Dennis added. “It’s like our calling card to the rest of the world of who we are, what makes us unique compared to anybody else and I’m so proud to be a part of this.”

Serratto also mentioned a possible south Merced mural district and an education and art district near the area of Merced College and UC Merced.

“The ability for the community to see this and this be visible — especially downtown in the center where we’re going to have an arts district — really hopefully this will serve as a catalyst and get the community excited,” Serratto said.

“Colton kind of alluded to a few of them, but we’ve been talking about a south Merced mural district, which we kind of almost already have, really taking that to the next level,” Serratto added.

“Bear Creek with an arts and nature district. Bear Creek is an absolute treasure and a jewel and we really need to enhance that and improve that.”

A chance to show ‘who we are’

The utility boxes’ design theme will reflect the artists’ interpretation of celebrating the arts in Merced, according to Dennis.

Some of the art submissions from the 15 artists include a painting of the iconic Merced tower and an image of the Merced Wildlife Refuge.

“I’ve just seen the city grow so much and I was really excited to have the opportunity to be a part of that growth and sort of put my little stamp on there,” said Arianna Lytal of Merced, who was one of the artists chosen.

Kobie Griggs, who was another artist chosen for the project, feels it’s an opportunity to bring the community together

“I think it’s going to be awesome to see all of these wonderful artists’ work,” Griggs said. “It gives us a chance to show who we are as artist and show what Merced is about.

The artists selected for the project include: Griggs, Lytal, Jazz Diaz, Karen McComb, Eliana Saucedo Soto, Jose Hernandez-Sanchez, Eddie Rodriguez, Thore Munoz, Alana Perlin, Christian Aguilar, Stephen Schertz, Oscar Torres, Madison Ewing, Goku the Pink King and Andrea Torres.

“I really like the idea of encouraging people to really put their stamp on the city in different ways like one of the artists was saying…The more people we have contributing, taking ownership, just the better the culture is and the more positive change there is,” Serratto said.

Dennis says he’d like to see more projects like murals and sculptures come to fruition.

“We wanted this to kind of be a sparking point to get people excited about what we can do,” Dennis said. “It’s not the only thing that we can do. That’s where we need artists’ input, that’s where we need the community’s input about their ideas of what we can do.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 5:56 PM.