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OakdaleARTS Bringing New Mural To Downtown
arts

After months of planning, designing, and delayed wall repair, OakdaleARTS is bringing the next mural to downtown Oakdale. 

Work was scheduled to begin on Saturday, Jan. 8; however, due to circumstances beyond the organization's  control, the mural painting this weekend is canceled and is rescheduled for next weekend, the weekend of Jan 15.

The first OakdaleARTS-sponsored mural, done a year ago, is the larger than life cowboy on the side of the Hobby store at East E Street and Yosemite Avenue.

The new mural will be painted on the east wall of Downtown Fitness at South Third Avenue and East F Street –next to The Oakdale Leader office. Joel Aguilar, an up and coming artist/muralist from nearby Livingston, will be painting the mural. He graduated from California State University of Stanislaus with a concentration in painting. Aguilar has painted murals up and down the Central Valley including in Livingston, Merced, Modesto, as well as in San Francisco.

Working with city staff and the Planning Commission, Cheryl Ichord Dillwood, Rhonda Darling McDonald, and Nancy Podolsky designed this mural to celebrate youth and literacy in the community. Included in this mural are interactive butterfly wings to become part of the mural for selfies and posting. The three longtime Oakdale residents have come together as OakdaleARTS to increase the visibility and awareness of art in the community through education, experiences, and events. As required by the city, they went through the process of presenting the design to the Planning Commission for discussion and approval.

“You can follow OakdaleARTS on Facebook and Instagram as we will be posting updates and progress on the mural,” Podolsky said. “We three will be present at the site during the painting of the mural to answer questions and provide information on goals of OakdaleARTS for the community.”

OakdaleARTS has partnered with Oakdale Women’s Club, a nonprofit 501c3 organization, to receive and distribute finds for art projects. Generous seed money for this mural project came from Richard Gilton of Gilton Solid Waste along with donations from SONS Farm Fresh, Denise Cash Century 21 MM, Susan Creedon CPA, Nancy Parker Farmer’s Insurance, Mickey Peabody, Susan Byars, Mary Louise Kucker, Melinda Owen, Janet Neal, and Pamela Thomas Downtown Fitness.

For anyone wanting to support more murals and art in Oakdale, checks may be made payable to: Oakdale Women’s Club, P.O. Box 501, Oakdale, CA 95361 – reference OakdaleARTS in the memo line. OakdaleARTS is already planning the next mural for downtown.