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How Many Murals Are In Fresno County? Creative Fresno Is Mapping Them Out

Courtesy of Steve Skibbie

Creative Fresno is on the hunt for murals. 

Murals outside of bars. Murals on random petroleum station walls. Murals in parks. 

Murals. Murals. Murals. 

The group recently began collecting data on murals throughout Fresno County in a project called the Digital Mural Map funded by the Fresno Regional Foundation. The project will feature photos of the murals and information about the artists on a mobile friendly website and later select murals will be featured in a photo book. The mural hunt will end in December and the website should be up and running in May, 2016.

"There are things painted for esthetic and beauty, but also murals to tell stories for the sake of the community."

“This project is going to open up room for art historians and curators to come in and get really into detail about what people are painting and where they are painting them," says Teresa Flores, the project manager for the mural hunt. Flores joined Valley Edition Host Joe Moore for an interview on the project. (Listen to the full interview above).

Creative Fresno has already documented 60 murals in Fresno alone and says there are hundreds more in Fresno and even more across the county.

"We see stories about labor and work in the Central Valley, people working with agriculture in their daily lives," says Flores. "I’ve seen a few murals with people’s girlfriends. They commemorate them. There are things painted for esthetic and beauty, but also murals to tell stories for the sake of the community."

"This project is going to open up room for art historians and curators to come in and get really into detail about what people are painting and where they are painting them," says Flores. 

A kick-off mural party will be held Thursday, Aug, 13, a the Fresno Ballroom in the Pacific Southwest Building in Downtown Fresno. 

“You get so used to driving by these murals that sometimes you don’t see anymore," Flores says. "We’re asking people what murals are in your neighborhoods.”

To share what murals are in your neighborhood reach out toCreative Fresno or use the hashtag #CreativeFresno on social media along with the location of the mural.

Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).
Ezra David Romero is an award-winning radio reporter and producer. His stories have run on Morning Edition, Morning Edition Saturday, Morning Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, Here & Now, The Salt, Latino USA, KQED, KALW, Harvest Public Radio, etc.
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