BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Brandon Thompson, a local muralist, finishes a mural in honor of the federally endangered Bakersfield cactus.
- Video shows Bakersfield cactus groves and Bakersfield cactus mural in progress
- The approximately 12,000 project began almost a year ago in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, which works to protect threatened and endangered plants and animals.
- You can check out the mural on 19th and Q Streets and visit the Bakersfield Cactus groves at the Panorama Vista Preserve.
This mural just strokes away from completion honors the federally endangered Bakersfield Cactus and it’s just one way the community has worked to recognize and protect the plant
The sound of each stroke soothes the soul of Brandon Thompson.
“I always kept a small box of colored pencils, and so that was my clue that I always made room for art, and art always made room for me,” Thompson said as he painted the wall.
He spent 15 years in the Air Force.
“There were a few times when I was downrange in a war zone, and I was able to still find small resources to do art and kind of take my mind away.”
A lifetime as an artist led him here to paint this mural of the Bakersfield Cactus.
These quiet moments in the mural represent the quiet moments in nature.
“It’s important in the urban environment to bring nature in as much as we can because it separates us from the natural ecosystem around us,” Stephen Winters, a board member of the Kern River Parkway Foundation.
A collaboration of organizations like the Kern River Parkway Foundation worked together to fund a mural that will raise awareness about the federally endangered Bakersfield Cactus.
“If we don’t know about it, we can’t have a good relationship with it. We can’t protect it,” Winters said.
The approximately 12,000 project began almost a year ago in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, which works to protect threatened and endangered plants and animals.
“You worry about vandalism on them," Mic Hall, a board member with the Panorama Vista Preserve said. "You worry about some type of disease, and we worry about fire.”
Hall takes care of Bakersfield Cactus groves in four locations and says it’s not just about protecting the plants.
“By having them, we support the animal population that’s here also,” Hall says.
He adds with the right support and attention to detail, Bakersfield residents can see the cactus groves and the mural for years to come.
“I wanted to put the hands to put the hands, surrounding the actual plant in the soil and show the act of taking care of something that is an endangered species,” Thompson said.
You can check out the mural on 19th and Q Streets and visit the Bakersfield Cactus groves at the Panorama Vista Preserve.
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