Summer’s almost here but for the students of the Bakersfield Museum of Art's ArtWorks most recent session, there was still time for one more test.
The young artists, along with their teachers, partnered with the owners of the Woolworth's building and artist Jennifer Williams-Cordova for a bright abstract mural to cover the plywood on the 19th Street building's ground floor.
Emily Waite, one of the building's owners, said the plan for the building has focused on three tenets: creativity, community and commerce.
"We have been trying to activate and utilize those goals in any way that we can in the interim until the building reopens," she said. "I did a lot of brainstorming on ideas in which we could invite the community to participate in that."
If vandalism could ever be considered serendipitous, that was the case in March when many of the glass windows on the ground floor were damaged by vandals, leading to a creative temporary solution.
"When the windows became a danger to the public and a safety issue, when we knew we had to board it up, then that sort of sealed the deal for me. I said, 'Well, we've got to get a mural on here.'"
"We knew we didn't want it to look abandoned. We want to activate it as much as we can and we love and want to contribute to and promote the local arts community — physical art, music, performance art, all of those things.
"We want to hopefully help create a community in town that can foster that. So a lot of what's going on at this building has to do with that. So the mural just sort of is an extension of that."
After receiving approval from the state registry of historic buildings, Waite said they installed plywood in place of the windows.
Next came finding the right artistic team for the job.
Waite said she first contacted Jennifer Williams-Cordova, who has been involved in numerous local murals and public works of art.
"I reached out to her because I knew she would know a lot of answers to the questions, and she was just so helpful and supportive. So we definitely wanted to utilize her and bring her in on it as well. She does so many great things for the community and she's so good at what she does as an artist."
David Anderson, another one of the building's owners, pitched the idea to the Bakersfield Museum of Art, where he is on the board of directors. The suggestion was made to involve the BMoA's ArtWorks program, which provides select high school juniors and seniors with a chance to further explore the visual arts.
Museum curator Victor Gonzales said he worked with Maria Ornelas, BMoA education and family program coordinator, to work out a plan.
"We thought that it was a great opportunity for them to be part of a crucial moment in Bakersfield's history," he said.
The museum team also suggested Williams-Cordova as a consultant since she had made a great impression on the students when she came in as a guest speaker.
"At first the students were a little bit in disbelief," Ornelas said of proposing the mural project to them. "Once we brought in Jennifer Williams-Cordova, they were excited, started discussing color and design."
Student teams each pitched an idea and the group worked to incorporate them together. The palette included five bright colors: the red and gold of the Woolworth logo along with green, blue and purple.
"We love that the students got to go through the process of designing, picking the colors," Waite said. "We did have recommendations of red and gold, for obvious reasons, so those are heavily, you know, included. But, yeah, I mean, we loved it. We approved it right off the bat."
"I really like that those students have ownership of the design and the color choices."
Elizabeth Aceves, one of the students, said she has enjoyed the program, which allowed her to consult with professional artists, as well as the mural project.
"I didn't think I had the patience but it was really relaxing," the 18-year-old said during a painting break on Saturday. (The mural was completed over Memorial Day weekend.)
"I really like how organic it is. If you're across the street you're going to see it."
That vibrant design may hopefully deter tagging. Williams-Cordova said she has had luck with other local public art projects, which have so far been left alone.
The mural is likely to stay up while work continues inside the building, with the tentative plan for reopening to be late 2024, Waite said.
In the interim, there may be pop-up events like the immersive Orgasms of Fury show in February.
Plans for the building include third floor residential space and offices for Moneywise Wealth Management, run by Anderson and Waite's husband, Sherod, on the second floor.
On the creative side, designs include the return of the beloved lunch counter as part of a market hall design, a la L.A.'s Grand Central Market, on the first floor as well as a music and events venue in the basement.
Waite said supporting local creatives and providing a place where new projects can happen is key to the building's future.
"We want the community to feel like this building belongs to them. And we want to do that as in the most inclusive and diverse way that we can because Bakersfield has a wonderful, creative, diverse community that hasn't really had opportunities to showcase that.
"We want to be able to show not only Bakersfield but the world how wonderful Bakersfield is and its people and its community."