Story and Photos By Alex Stoltze
People were lined up outside WOW Hall waiting to see the Blue Scholars concert when I arrived on Friday, April 2. I quickly pushed past the eager fans so I could view Marc Mercado’s graffiti paintings on display for the First Friday Art Walk. It was the opening night of Mercado’s show, which will remain at WOW Hall in the Community Center for the Performing Arts (CCPA) gallery for the rest of April.
Mercado is a 21-year-old who has been painting graffiti since his mother kicked him out at 15 for doing drugs and hanging out with the “wrong” people. Born to Filipino parents in Carson City, Nevada, Mercado claims he grew up surrounded by “tweekers and hookers.” He now lives in Eugene and calls home an old bomb shelter owned by a Japanese translator. Mercado’s been painting since he could pick up a pencil and has graffitied all over the country. Art, he said, allows him to express his emotions, taking the ideas from his head and “[translating] them to the world.”
“Graffiti has left its mark on the farther reaches of our history,” Mercado said of his medium. “Cavemen marked the dawn of civilization when they graffited rocks.”
While he appreciates other art forms, including classical art, Mercado said graffiti artists share an extreme and different type of dedication to their art form.
Karen Olch, the creator and organizer of the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP), helped Mercado’s art finds its way to WOW Hall and various other venues around Eugene. Olch first learned of youth on the street while volunteering at the drop-in youth center Looking Glass New Roads. After almost four years of leading art activities, she created YEP in 2009 with the help of the Lane County Cultural Coalition and Lane Arts Council. Recently, she moved the organization to the Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts (M.E.C.C.A.) studios where she holds classes every Wednesday.
“Art is a transformative experience that can change someone’s life,” Olch said. “[YEP is] a vehicle to bring the arts into the lives of youth from communities that are disadvantaged or marginalized in any sort of way.”
Mercado first heard of YEP from friends and decided to check out the studio himself. As soon as he did, “Karen had hooked me up with a show.” The pair continues to work together as Mercado creates more work and Olch finds new ways to share them with the Eugene community.
Learn about some of Mercado’s fellow YEP artists.
