Community event focuses on the theme of history and what it means to local Rogue Valley artists
By Meg Wade for Ashland.news
The second annual Mural Fest took place June 21 and 22 at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in Ashland. Produced by The Brothers Grime, a Southern Oregon trio comprised of artists Jarrett Davidson, Jonathan Davis, and Rhino, the event brought together 17 artists from across the Rogue Valley to create 8-foot by 8-foot murals in the ScienceWorks plaza.
“Murals are a way to be proud of your area, and painting is just exhilarating to behold and to witness; that’s the advantage of the live experience,” Davidson said about the vision for the festival. The goal, he added, is “to connect as artists in a community and have a public space where anyone can have an encounter with a large painting.”
“I’m so stoked to see that it’s bigger and way better than last year,” said Rhino. “And the new people who are psyched on it. It’s hard to sell people on something that hasn’t been done, and this year, this one has so much more energy.”
“The funnest part, for me, is the collection of people. I love all these people as artists. So to have a day where I wander about and talk to them about making art and materials and all that — it’s so sick.”
Facing history and the present moment
Muralists are given a suggested theme; this year’s was “history.” Approaches to the theme were as varied as the artists’ styles and techniques.
Adrian Chavez of Medford and Ophelia Sutter of Ashland partnered together on a painting they described as “bridging that gap between old-school paintings and new-school subject matter.”
“We study a lot of classical painters,” explained Chavez. “And a lot of those portraits include dogs. It’s like, it’s either humans or dogs. And we have this idea of kind of merging some of the symbolism you see in the old Catholic paintings of the Sacred Hearts, but we’re placing that imagery with a dog. We’re paying respect to all those old-school style painters but with something you wouldn’t see back in the day.”
Some pieces were deeply personal. Gabriel Barrera of Ashland worked from a photograph of his wife, Merilee, who passed away in April of 2024 from cancer, to create a tribute to both her and their late cat, Chula. Berrera said he was trying to capture “her eyes… they always have a look of extreme joy and love.”
Max Malcomb drew from Mesoamerican art to explore his personal heritage, which he described as “a lot of mixed heritage and lost heritage too … it’s a journey I’m just beginning.” His process, he said, includes learning more about Aztec glyphs and also learning Nahuatl. His mural drew from a glyph from Mexico for Mictlantecuhtli, a god of the dead, combined with skulls and personal motifs.
Some artists used their pieces to try and connect historical themes to their concerns for the future.
Opie Snow Lael of Ashland said she was “thinking about all the untold stories in our history books — and the future too. We’re making history right now, with all the things about immigration policy and all the horrible things going on right now.” In her large-scale portrait, she said, “she wanted to show a super strong, resilient woman, full of wisdom.”
Mera Oliviera, an oil painter and chalk artist from Medford, said her mural was “a futuristic depiction of a possible historic event.” The figure in her painting is shown in a post-apocalyptic landscape, blowing on the head of a dandelion to help spread its seeds.
Asked how it felt to be working on this image as news about U.S. missile strikes in Iran came in, Oliviera said that it can feel “insignificant in comparison to everything that’s going on. So that’s hard.”
“Early this morning before everybody showed up, we were wondering, asking, ‘what’s the point? Why do we even, like, come here and paint?'”
“And in a way, even though as a human it feels really pointless when so many terrible things are occurring all around the world, and so much suffering is happening — I feel like creating beauty can be a form of resistance, because it’s putting beauty forth that didn’t exist before we came to show up and make it. So there’s hope in that way.”
Jerryck Murrey of Medford, back for his second Mural Fest, worked on a longer piece set against the outer wall of ScienceWorks that he said “explores war culture.”
“The general thesis is that war has been used, more or less, as a game that society participates in. And it’s all about controlling a narrative. And this piece will ultimately make the viewer the game show participant … and then hopefully, as the viewer plays the game, they’ll realize that the joke is somewhat on them.”
Micah Blacklight of Ashland aimed in his mural to simultaneously lift up images of Black royalty while poking at modern-day power holders, featuring what he called a “multi-faced pharaoh.”
“Pharaohs are one of the few, the very few, directly recognizable, old, Black, nobility, royalty …. that European culture recognizes was a big deal. They’re iconic as all hell. So it’s a good place to play,” Blacklight explained while actively sketching an outline in pencil.
“And then, when we talk about these times we’re in right now, it’s not like just because you were a pharaoh you were a good person. And we got some some stuff happening in our world right now, in our country right now, in our government right now, in our government leaders right now, that to me, are astounding. And this dude, the main person in office at the highest office we have in this country, America, right now, he’s got many tongues. He’s got many faces. … So I just feel like it fits… As as an artist, I can make beautiful art about his ugliness.”
Weather challenges don’t dampen creativity or community building
The festival faced challenges brought on by rainy weather, and the second half of Saturday’s events were canceled. Musical performances were rescheduled to Sunday and artists found themselves with less time to finish their pieces or creatively working with the effects of the rain.
Mera Oliviera said that some of the background paint on her mural was washed downward by the rain, but that it “actually added it to it, so I just kind of wiped out where I didn’t want it, and left where it landed … It’s collaboration in a way, with the elements. It almost looks like a storm is happening in the painting.”
While Jarrett Davidson called Saturday’s attendance “disappointing” due to the weather, a steady stream of people made their way through the walls of murals on Sunday.
Attendees came from all over the Rogue Valley, drawn for different reasons: The Williams family, of Eagle Point, came with their teenage daughter, noting that they don’t get art events like this where they live. A couple from Medford were curious about the event after seeing an ad in Central Art on Saturday. Autumn, from Talent, said she came because she was excited about the venue and the chance to see a variety of large-scale art that was “larger than life.” Ella, a recent Ashland High School graduate, said she was looking for experiences to be in community, and that it was meaningful to be in the presence of people making art together.
A group of friends from Ashland attending for the first time expressed appreciation for the addition to the art scene.
“I feel like we don’t really have a lot of community events that are new and different. I feel like it’s a lot of the same, you know?” said Kaiya Spain.
Marlee Kitzmiller, standing next to her, agreed: “It’s cool to see more things like this happening in Ashland. There’s not a lot of art events or creative outlets … It’s cool just to see everyone working on their art together.”
“I think we should do more,” said Kaiya.
The festival received funding from the city of Ashland. The $2,000 stipend came after a recommendation by the Public Arts Advisory Committee. Mural Fest and the recent Fringe Fest mark the first time they have recommended use of funds for live, interactive art, said Cassie Preskenis, who chairs the committee.
“It’s totally different, out of the box. It sort of opened up a door to us having a big conversation about how we define art in our community.”
Preskenis said that the City of Ashland will receive one of the murals, likely to be displayed in a city building, though which piece and the exact location have yet to be determined.
Another mural, co-created with festival attendees, will be put up at Central Art Supply in Medford. The mural, put together by Paul Bunch and Adam Bunch, involved a paint-by-numbers design which participants could fill in with paint markers. Those who helped paint the mural were encouraged to sign the back to mark their contribution. Central Art Supply also provided gift cards to Mural Fest artists to help reduce their cost of supplies.
Smaller pieces by many Mural Fest artists are also on exhibit at ScienceWorks through September, in their Art and STEAM gallery. The murals will stay on display through the summer as well, though Preskenis — who also serves as the Operations Manager at ScienceWorks — said their exact location may change to accommodate other community events.
More details on Mural Fest and a list of participating artists can be found at muralfestashland.wordpress.com/team/
Ashland resident and freelance journalist Meg Wade’s byline has appeared in Mother Earth News and other publications. Email Ashland.news at [email protected].
