Jesse Hunt
Is an Artist in Merced, CA
There’s something sacred about forgotten people and discarded moments. I’m drawn to memories that don’t belong to me—boxes of old photos, worn-out letters, lost landscapes—because they stir something ancient inside me. They whisper, “Bring me back to light.”
In those whispers, I don’t just hear the past—I hear symbolic truths waiting to be transformed. My art takes memory, pain, and human emotion and reworks them into visual language. I use symbols to hold things too big or too raw to say directly—grief, shame, spiritual hunger, and the chaos of becoming.
Raised in a system that equated perfection with holiness and struggle with sin, I learned early on to perform instead of feel. Now, as both an artist and a therapist, I create to challenge that. I believe art can be a sacred container for the unspeakable.
My work often blends emotional and therapeutic ideas with layered symbolism—whether it’s through hidden iconography, fractured portraits, or textures that evoke decay and resurrection. Nothing I create is just aesthetic—it’s a vessel.
I’ve spent most of my life working in mental health, and the pandemic deepened my belief in art as survival. My practice has shifted from expressive to sacred—from expression to exorcism.
I make work for the invisible, the silenced, and the almost-forgotten—including parts of myself. I use art to translate emotion into something visible, something touchable. My symbolic language is always evolving, but its aim is constant: to restore dignity, presence, and emotional truth.
My journey as an artist is to listen deeply—to memories, to clients, to landscapes, to my own shadow—and bring back what I find. To translate pain into beauty.
I create to remind others—and myself—that we were always worth seeing.
Vision for Public Arts
Vision for Public Arts
Public art should not just decorate a space—it should activate it.
I believe artists have a responsibility to awaken, challenge, and heal their communities. We see the world differently—through symbol, contrast, and history. We notice the patterns others overlook, and we ask questions others are afraid to name. Through this lens, public art becomes more than visual—it becomes vital.
My vision for public art begins with children. A community that keeps art alive for its youth invests in future thinkers, dreamers, and problem-solvers. If children grow up surrounded by art that moves them, they’ll grow into adults who value creativity, empathy, and emotional intelligence.
But my vision goes beyond inspiration. I believe public art should disrupt—gently or powerfully. It should challenge our prejudices, our inherited dogmas, and the false stories we tell ourselves about who we are. The right piece in the right place can soften defenses, spark dialogue, or completely reframe how someone sees their city—or their life.
Finally, I believe public art has profound therapeutic power. It can create space for reflection, mourning, celebration, and belonging. In a time of widespread emotional disconnection, art becomes a kind of public therapy—accessible, symbolic, and transformative.
When we neglect the arts, we neglect part of the soul of a community. But when we invest in it, we create more than beauty—we create resilience, memory, and connection across generations.
My vision for public art is threefold:
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To inspire the next generation by making creativity visible, valued, and alive in public space
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To challenge viewers to confront prejudice, dogma, and their own stories
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To offer healing and psychological wellness through symbolic and emotionally resonant works
I see public art not as decoration but as disruption, connection, and communal soulwork.
Selected Clients
2012- Atascadero State Hospital Fire Dept. Mural
2013- Inland Empire Fatherhood Involvement Coalition, Website, Billboad design and Marketing Coordinator
2015- Loma Linda University, Art Cart Program Developer
2017-Salmon Public Library, Maker Space Coordinator, Americorps Vista Volunteer
2020- Mural Project 3 Murals for Behavioral Health Unit for Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center,
Reno, NV
2022- Mural Art Project California Psychiatric Transitions
Dehi, CA
8/2022 Pig Restoration BBQ PIT Merced,CA
2023- Wellness Art Club started Jan 2023 Merced, CA
News
5/2009
New Times- San Luis Obispo County
UMC Beacon Art Show
5/2009 Central Coast Living Magazine
UMC Beacon Art Show
9/2010 New Times- San Luis Obispo
Art After Dark, Coalition Skate Shop
02/23/2023 Volume 59, Issue 8, P.2
Merced County Times
10/3/2025 Turlock Journal
Publication
5/2009
New Times- San Luis Obispo County
UMC Beacon Art Show
5/2009 Central Coast Living Magazine
UMC Beacon Art Show
9/2010 New Times- San Luis Obispo
Art After Dark, Coalition Skate Shop
02/23/2023 Volume 59, Issue 8, P.2
Merced County Times
Exhibitions
2008- Avenue One Art Gallery
Avenue One, Phoenix, Arizona
2009- San Luis Obispo UMC Beacon Art Show- 1st prize
San Luis Obispo, CA
2010- Coalition Skate Shop- Skateboard design contest
1st prize "Shall I spare Nineveh"
San Luis Obispo, CA
2011- Jeff Clausen Gallery–Under $100 show
San Luis Obispo, CA
2011- Wine Women, and Song
Paso Robles Art Association, Paso Robles, CA
2011- Carnival Paso Robles Art Association, Paso Robles, CA
2012- The Phantom Art Project
San Luis Museum of Art, A&R Furniture
Paso Robles, CA
2014- Merced Art Hop
Drawing Photo Booth, Merced, CA
2014- Holiday Craft Fair
Multicultural Art Center, Merced, CA
2015- Merced Art Hop
Fatherhood Project, Merced, CA
2017- Purple Easel Gallery Featured Artist
Featured Artist, Salmon, ID
1/2018- My Artrepreneur™ Program Cohort
Coeur d'Alene, ID
11/2017- Salmon Arts Council
Charity Auction, Salmon, ID
6/2019 Plein Air Paint Out Among The Perennials, May Arboretum Society, Best In Show Professional, Reno, NV
8/2019 Head Maze-Burning Man
Library paintings, Woman Heroes
Black Rocks City, NV
6/2020 Art of Isolation, The Generator Gallery, Sparks, NV
7/2020 Hockey Art Show and Scrimmage Battle Born Hockey, Donated Painting, Reno, NV
7/2020- Karma Box Project-, Bat Painting, Sparks, NV
2018-2020 -Resident Artist The Generator
Reno, NV
10/2022- Kreepie Kawaii Halloween Art Show
1/2023- Kreepie Kawaii Tiny Art Show
2/2023- Supermarket Selected Artist Vendor
11/2024- Kreepie Kawaii Halloween Tiny Art Show
10/2025-1/2026- Coming Together: Art & the Written Word
members of the Wellness Art Club, a bi-weekly group that meets at the CAC under the guidance of recreational therapist Jesse Hunt, encouraging well-being through art. Participants in the Wellness Art Club created projects that incorporate visual arts with language or text.
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