Artists spruce up downtown Merced at quarterly Hop

Merced’s quarterly Art Hops are known to give the downtown area a picturesque touch, but the October event seems to be a favorite for visitors.

Because of its proximity to Halloween and Day of the Dead, Art Hop in the fall allows locals to show off their festivity-inspired artwork.

Delila Rodriguez of Los Banos and her two nieces used the downtown streets during Saturday’s Art Hop as a runway for their dames of death and corpse-bride-like costumes. Rodriguez said costume design and makeup are hobbies of hers, and she runs with her creativity when Halloween approaches.

Every year, she gets her nieces to join her in dressing up. “It’s to pay tribute to the dead, but also just for the costumes and the fun of it,” she said.

Halloween and Day of the Dead were also the themes behind many of the crafts available for children, as well as for the Multicultural Arts Center’s latest exhibit.

Ruben Sanchez, curator at the arts center, said although the exhibit just opened this week, it’s become very popular, especially among youth.

“Younger generations really show appreciation toward this type of art,” Sanchez said as he pointed to altars and acrylic paintings of “death” on the second floor of the Multicultural Arts Center. Most of it was made by students throughout the county. “The attitude toward ‘Day of the Dead’ art has really transitioned; today people seem to embrace it more.”

Artists who exhibited their work on the sidewalks also gathered a crowd. Bob Smith of Merced shared with passers-by the process of how to make stained-glass mosaics, which he has been doing for more than 25 years.

First he finds a photograph that he likes, blows it up, paints the photograph and then places pieces of glass on top, he explained to onlookers.

Saturday’s Art Hop, the last of the year, also served as the ideal occasion for United Way of Merced County to unveil its new murals in the buildings’ conference rooms.

The murals illustrate all of the programs housed at United Way, such as Building Healthy Communities, Cultiva La Salud (Cultivate Health) and Pedal Merced. The murals were completed by local artists, including the Mariposa Art Company and Kimberly Zamora, co-founder of Art Hop.

Art Hop organizers also unveiled their new permanent space Saturday. The official Art Hop home is on Canal Street, between Main and 18th streets.

Next year’s first Art Hop will take place Jan. 16 and will have a theme focusing on heart health.

This story was originally published October 18, 2015 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Artists spruce up downtown Merced at quarterly Hop."