Merced Art Hop to tackle social causes

Whether it’s homelessness, animal abuse, the environment or another cause, Merced Art Hop will ask amateur artists to bring awareness to needs in a public art display on Saturday.

The quarterly celebration of art is set from 5 to 9 p.m. primarily on Main Street between N Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The regular downtown event typically draws a crowd to the city’s entertainment district for all of its free offerings.

Bob Hart Square at Main and Canal streets is set for the public display on social causes, according to Art Hop’s website. Organizers also plan to collect clothes, shoes, coats, pants and other items for the Merced Rescue Mission, which primarily serves the homeless.

More than 20 businesses will also open their shops to feature dozens of artists. The event typically offers interactive art exhibits along the street and in Bob Hart Square.

A new feature this time around is “Kissing, Crying and Freaking Out in Public,” which is based on a public art display of the same name in Hong Kong. The display asks participants to answer challenging personal questions on a board visible to any passer-by.

The display is meant to play with the boundaries of public and private life, and the isolation and connectedness people feel in a city, the website says.

Art Hop takes place four times a year in Merced. Organizers have said the summer edition tends to have the lightest attendance – a combination of warmer weather and young people being away for the summer means fewer visitors.

The event has drawn somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people to downtown during past summer events.

Other highlights at Saturday’s event

▪ Live music from area bands to play up and down Main Street

▪ Scavenger hunt is planned through the night

▪ Animal sculptures in Bob Hart Square

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Merced Art Hop to tackle social causes."