The559MuralProject for Fresno Arts Council, Inc.

Educate to Elevate Mural - Coming in 2022 with your support!

Location: Salazar Community Center, 1800 Sheridan St., Selma, CA 93662

We need your help to launch our next project at the beloved Salazar Center in El Barrio! For our next mural project, we have partnered with Jose A. Moreno, III, board member at the Selma Arts Council, and three local artists Mikayla M. Gutierrez of Visalia, Brandi Nuse-Villegas of Fresno, Nicole ‘Niki’ Jiménez and Mikey Blanco of Selma. The mural is called Educate to Elevator or “Educar para Elevar”, promoting imagery of education, honoring farmworkers, and interweaving cultural symbols of Mexican-Americans and Mexicans. The Salazar Center currently is home to clients such as the Boys & Girls Club where neighborhood children come to engage in incredible learning experiences.

We need your support to use art to beautify the city and spark inspiration for learning. The cost of the mural is $16,000. This includes a whole host of expenses from artists' fees, supplies, paint, equipment, general administration, operational, and promotional costs including a celebration event to unveil the mural.

With your generous support, we can make a meaningful impact in our rural communities. We believe in creating a bright future for all in Selma. We’re excited to partner with you!

Cultural Awakenings - Coming in 2022 with your support!

Location: 10798 Morro Ave., Del Rey, CA 93662

Our Cultural Awakenings mural celebrates three prominent cultures in Del Rey: Mexican-Americans, Yokuts, and Japanese-Americans. We tie them together through their ties to this land through agriculture, as stewards of the land, and their connection to this earth. In addition, we highlight the human and political injustices they have each encountered in this country, bringing awareness of past and current issues they face through the educational components of the mural. Cultural Awakenings also recognizes the erasure of cultures and histories that have been a part of the Del Rey and Central Valley region that modern society forgets: this land originally belongs to the Yokuts and they are still here among us despite massive genocide and continued marginalization. 

We are trying to raise another $4500 to complete this mural, please help us get there!

We thank you sincerely for your generous donation toward our work!

Sincerely,

Selena Martinez Mak (she/hers), Co-Founder & Executive Director

Sirina Renee Resendez (she/hers), Co-Founder & Operations Director

Keanna Louise Salazar (she/hers), PR & Marketing Director

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About 559 Mural Project

We are The 559 Mural Project and we’re motivated to address racial and socio-economic inequity through mural art and community dialogue in the rural communities of Fresno County. Our approach is to work with stakeholders such as artists, community activists, business owners, and city officials in order to achieve our goal of creating socially conscious and culturally relevant art that can become a focal point for a community conversation around racial injustice and socioeconomic inequity. We hope that the murals will become a living part of the community and act as catalysts for the public to develop creative solutions surrounding inequities that affect our rural communities and can help to move the needle forward on change. We were inspired by fellow art educator, activist, and mural producer, Vicki Filgas Trevino, who helped bring the community together to create mural art in Selma’s downtown after the economic crash of 2008. We are building upon this work to bring mural art to those communities that have been dis-invested in order to spark inclusive revitalization and strengthen the community. Visit us at https://bit.ly/the559muralproject.

 Our Work

We are the organization responsible for the production of the “De Colores” Mural at La Estrella Market on Whitson Ave which was painted by the talented muralist team Ariel Bird Howe, Mauro Carrera, Mike Howe, Eddie O. Rodriguez, and Goku The Pink King. Our mural unveiling event demonstrated the community’s appreciation for Selma’s first mural celebrating Mexican American/Mexican and Chicano heritage, as well as, recognizing the realities of injustices that still impact our communities. We accomplished a great deal in little time because of an incredibly collaborative process and the financial support from the community. Our work was recognized by former Congressman TJ Cox of California, D-21.

The 559 Mural Project's fiscal receiver is the Fresno Arts Council, 501 (c)(3), EIN: 94-2902674. 

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More about the Fresno Arts Council

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Fresno Arts Council, Inc., and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause which means so much to me.

More information about Fresno Arts Council, Inc.: The Fresno Arts Council sponsors, promotes, and encourages the arts throughout the city and county of Fresno and acts as an umbrella for artists and art organizations from all cultures and disciplines through advocacy, education, programs, and services. We are a non-profit organization managed by a volunteer board of directors and serve as the local partner to the California Arts Council. The Council solicits support from foundations, government and corporate funders, membership dues, and private donations.