Mercado murals could make Moline ‘cool, welcoming place’

The newly painted murals on a building in downtown Moline are big, bright and will help make Moline a “cool and welcoming place.” That’s the hope of Maria Ontiveros, the co-founder and president of Mercado on Fifth. The nonprofit organization, which operates an outdoor marketplace, is dedicated to promoting small and minority owned businesses and […]

The newly painted murals on a building in downtown Moline are big, bright and will help make Moline a “cool and welcoming place.” That’s the hope of Maria Ontiveros, the co-founder and president of Mercado on Fifth. The nonprofit organization, which operates an outdoor marketplace, is dedicated to promoting small and minority owned businesses and Hispanic cultural pride in the Quad Cities. 

Ms. Ontiveros was joined by about 50 guests from the community who helped to officially unveil a series of murals – spanning about 2,500 square feet – on the sides of the newly renovated Mercado building at 423 12th St., Moline. (That building officially opens for events today, Nov. 11, when it will host vendors as part of the fifth annual Holiday Hop festivities in Moline.) The renovated building offers 6,300 square feet of indoor space and 5,000 square feet of outdoor patio space to host a variety of year-round events, according to Mercado’s website. On Thursday, though, all the attention was focused on the paintings outside the building. The murals feature a ballet folklorico dancer in a colorful gown, a cowboy, a field of marigold flowers, images inspired by Day of the Dead, and other intricate details. The murals also pay homage to Mercado on Fifth’s history with a realistic portrait of Mercado’s co-founder, the late Bob Ontiveros. “We hope this mural inspires Hispanic cultural pride to the thousands of Latinos that call the Quad Cities home,” Ms. Ontiveros said in a news release ahead of Thursday’s ceremony. “The artwork is a gift to honor the community that has made Mercado on Fifth such a vibrant place to start the weekend.” During the brief ceremony, she added that she hopes the artwork will help “make Moline a cool and welcoming place.” The murals had many fans in the crowd. Among those admiring the creative works was Chris Ontiveros, a businessman and the son of the late Bob Ontiveros and Ms. Ontiveros’ father. “It’s really special. We couldn’t be happier with the results,” he said.

The artwork on the Mercado building is actually still a work in progress. While most of the work is done, there are still a few portions that need to be completed on the back of the building. Ms. Ontiveros said Mercado wanted to officially unveil the artwork on Thursday to take advantage of the sunny and warm weather conditions. The mural’s artist, Caesar Perez (known professionally as Czr Prz), has been working on the mural project for about four weeks. He said at the event that he is pleased with his creation and hopes it will be an “impact piece” for people who drive by it and look at it in the community. “Sometimes I will turn around and there will be people watching me paint. They tell me how much they like it,” he added.  Mr. Perez is a contemporary artist working in sculpture and large-scale aerosol murals. Born and raised in Chicago (where he still lives),  his 20-year creative career has spanned North America and Europe. He adds that he hopes his art on the Mercado on Fifth building will bring some joy to the community. “I'm just very happy with this. … I want people to be excited about it. I want them to be happy about it,” he added.