Wednesday, June 21st, was the Arts Council of Kern’s (ACK) press conference in front of the Kern County Museum to announce the start of their new Intersections project. The three murals are intended to be an interactive community project and one of the first significant opportunities funded by city and state entities that can provide good pay to new or experienced local artists.
Mural locations include Garces Circle, Q St, and 204 intersections, and California Ave and Highway 99. There will be paintings on sidewalk electrical boxes throughout the routes that connect the streets.
Jennifer Williams-Cordova is a local artist and the lead community art consultant for the Intersections mural project.
“These are major intersections and big community spaces. We wanted to engage the community and get their input on the project so we can move forward and plan really collaborative designs that are significant and meaningful,” said Cordova.
This undertaking is funded by Clean California, Caltrans, and the Arts Council of Kern (ACK). Local artists and the ACK collaborated on surveying to ensure community input. The survey aids in deciding the main themes with a handful of questions asking residents what kind of art they like and how it makes them feel.
“Some of these questions people have never been asked before, maybe no one ever asked someone what their favorite type of art is, are how they feel about art when they see it for the first time,” explained Cordova.
Cordova stated that public art’s impact is major, especially in communities that don’t always have access to museums. Public art is accessible, has the ability to bond community through collective and expressed experiences, and intertwines places of work with leisure.
Kern residents that would like to share their preferences for what the new art murals should be, can take the quick survey. It has five multiple-choice questions, with number six being left open for comments. Community members can find the survey in English and Spanish at online. Survey questions can be answered for a few more weeks.
The latest mural project for Cordova named the Lake Street Beautification Project, which was a collaboration with Children First, got positive feedback from the communities directly impacted by the new art on the canal crossings from Union Ave to Williams on Lake Street and along the streets. Feedback described residents’ feelings of connectedness and joy seeing the new art.
The survey is part of the first steps and is a tool for creating the Intersections murals. According to local news and ACK social media, interested artists can send resumes, at least three examples of past art projects, and any inquiries to info@kernarts.org.
Kernart.org describes the project as “A visual tapestry that highlights the intersecting lives, cultures, and experiences that converge in our community.”
The intention behind the mural is to be deliberate about which symbols, people, or imagery they choose to display.
