Fresno Grizzlies Derek Franks and CASA Director Wilma Tom Hashimoto (center), cut the ribbon on a new mural at Chukchansi Park. Photo by Dylan Gonzales

Fresno and Madera counties celebrated a new mural at Chukchansi Park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday morning. The mural highlights Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).

The teal-blue mural, which was described as a new selfie spot, is located by the main entrance off Tulare and H streets.

The Fresno Arts Council funded the mural with the help of Measure P. 

“Chukchansi Park is a community ballpark, and partnerships like this are what it’s all about,” said Fresno Grizzlies President Derek Franks. “Being able to unveil this today and talk about the importance of it for an organization like CASA and the wonderful work that they do for the hundreds of thousands of fans who walk through these gates every year for baseball games and concerts and other events here will help shine light on the great work that they do.”

CASA trains volunteers as court-appointed special advocates

to be a guiding voice, empowering vulnerable children and youth in foster care to reach their full potential. It was first established in Fresno in 1996 and has grown from a handful of advocates to a team of over 200, serving more than 300 children in the foster care system.

Wilma Tom Hashimoto, the executive director at CASA, highlighted the current fires in Southern California and compared it to what the children in the foster system go through. 

Hashimoto, who has family in Southern California and started off her statement with a moment of silence for the victims, emphasized how foster children are often removed from their homes and families without warning, just as the wildfire victims were given little time to evacuate. 

She finished her statement with a positive outlook for the future and the idea that the mural can be seen as a beacon of hope. 

“It represents resilience and hope,” Hashimoto said. “If we stick through it, if we have perseverance, we have community coming together, galvanizing. That’s hope.”

Steven Camacho-Nunez, the artist commissioned to complete the mural, touched on some of the inspirations for the painting.

“We had the kids involved also on this project,” he said. “We did a mini mural of this version of this mural, so it was really cool. I also got to show them how to spray cans. They’re really involved with that, too.”

Franks hopes this mural will lead to many more throughout the ballpark. 

“Thank you so much for bringing this idea to us,” he said. “There are some murals in the ballpark, but we’ve really just scratched the surface on what we can do with this wonderful palette that is Chukchansi Park.”