This Woodward Junior Just Turned His Art Into $1,000 — and a Mural at a North Toledo McDonald’s
A Woodward High School junior has turned his artwork into $1,000 — and a mural at a North Toledo McDonald’s. Axel Garcia Lopez won the top prize in McDonald’s Golden Arches Mural Program, a Hispanic Heritage Month competition celebrating community and culture, earning $1,000 for himself and a $500 grant for his school.
His winning artwork will be transformed into a large mural and displayed at the McDonald’s restaurant in the 500 block of East Manhattan Boulevard in North Toledo for customers and the community to enjoy. Students were challenged to blend McDonald’s nostalgia with their own connection to their community and heritage.
The colorful, 5-foot-square artwork features a stylized depiction of a mustached man in a sombrero, two golden arches forming the letter “M” of the McDonald’s logo, and several national flags of Spanish-speaking countries.
The program has run the same competition in other Ohio cities this fall, including Dayton — but this winner is Toledo’s own.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons — illustrative street-art mural photo.
Source: The Blade, Nov. 12, 2026
