From this Earth

mural:


From This Earth is a collaboration between the Arts Council of Kern, Valley Oaks Charter School, and the Kern County Museum.  It is located on the building just north of the Lori Brock Children's Discovery Center facing Chester Avenue.

During the spring of 2009, Los Angeles-based mural artist Eloy Torrez, who is known for his larger-than-life portraits, traveled to Bakersfield several times a week to meet with Bakersfield artists Sebastian Muralles and Jorge Guillen and student artists from Valley Oaks Charter School. Together, they researched Bakersfield and Kern County history and chose individuals and scenes they felt represented the area. Working with Museum staff, they looked through the Museum's historic photograph archive. Many of the elements in the mural found their inspiration from those photographs.

The mural was unveiled on October 1, 2009.

Derrick and Oilfield Equipment - Petroleum has been a Kern County commodity since prehistoric times when early local peoples traded asphaltum. It was not until 1898 when the first large-scale commercial development of an oil field in Kern County occured at the McKittrick Field. Since that time, oil has been a mainstay of the county's economy.
 historicphoto428:
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"Erecting new rig - General Petroleum Company - Shale 14"

Oilfield Worker - The Oilfield Worker represents the thousands of hard-working people who have dug and drilled for the precious commodity throughout our county. His visage is that of the father of one of the student artists. historicphoto427:
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Man with roller bit.
Leong Yen Ming - Mr. Ming was one of the many early Chinese settlers in Bakersfield, coming in 1874 with the Central Pacific Railraod. He owned a potato farm on the site of present-day Vally Plaza Mall. In 1915, Ming sold his potato crop for ten thousand dollars. Ming Avenue is named after him. historicphoto431:
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Leong Yen Ming and his family, circa 1910.
Earl Warren - Earl Warren was born in Los Angeles and moved to East Bakersfield when he was a boy. He graduated from Kern County Union High School, now Bakersfield High School, before continuing his education at U.C. Berkeley. He was elected governor of California for three terms and eventually went on to be the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. historicphoto231: <div style="text-align: left;">108A.EarlWarren.2<br> </div>
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Governor Earl Warren at the Kern County Fair
Dr. Ruth B. Love - The granddaughter of a runaway slave, Dr. Love graduated from Bakersfield High School in 1950. She earned degrees from San Jose State and San Francisco State and her Ph.D. from the United States International University in San Diego. She taught in many areas and was also a school superintendent of public schools in Chicago and Oakland.
Jose Jesus Lopez - J.J. Lopez came to Kern County to raise sheep in 1873. The following year, Edward Beale, owner of the Tejon Ranch, hired J.J. to manage the sheep on his ranch. In 1885, Lopez became the manager of the Tejon Ranch overseeing ranch operations for the next twenty-four years. He and his wife Mary later built in Bakersfield. Their house was donated to the Kern County Museum in 2008. historicphoto432:
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Jose Jesus Lopez
Beale Memorial Clock Tower - The Beale Memorial Clock Tower was a gift to the City of Bakersfield from Truxtun Beale in memory of his mother, Mary Edwards Beale. Dedicated on April 2, 1904, the clock tower originally stood in the center of the intersection at Chester Avenue and 17th Street in downtown Bakersfield. historicphoto65: <div style="text-align: left;">57.Beale Memorial Clocktower.5<br> Beale Memorial Clocktower at 17th Street and Chester Avenue (200.19.01)<br> </div>
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Beale Memorial Clock Tower at 17th Street and Chester Avenue
Agricultural Field - With only brief periods when oil reigned supreme, agriculture has been Kern County's number one industry since the beginning of the county. A seemingly unlimited variety of crops and livestock are grown and raised in the area.
 historicphoto426:
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Agriculture and oil combine at Edison, 1950.
Bonnie Owens - Born in Oklahoma, Bonnie Maureen Campbell  moved with her family to Mesa, Arizona as a child. Bonnie was just 15 when she started performing with Buck Owens. In 1948, she married Buck Owens, and, in 1951, she moved to Bakersfield. Bonnie initially found work as a waitress at a carhop, but was later hired at the Clover Club where she became known as the “singing waitress.”  In 1965, Bonnie was named “Female Vocalist of the Year” by the Academy of Country Music. historicphoto430:
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Bonnie Owens and Merle Haggard, January 27, 1965
Dolores Huerta - Delores Huerta was born in New Mexico but raised in California's San Joaquin Valley. She co-founded the United Farm Workers along with Cesar Chavez, and has been an advocate of workers' rights since the 1950s.
Farm Worker - The Farm Worker represents the thousands of hard-working people who planted and harvested crops in Kern County. His visage is that of artist Jorge Guillen.
Bob Manning - Originally from Texas, Bob Manning eventually settled in Bakersfield where he drove a Golden Empire Transit bus in later years. In the late 1940s, he was known as the “Singing Cowboy,” the musical artist who played on stage between featured films at movie theaters. He sang and played guitar with several bands that toured throughout the southwest including the Spade Cooley Orchestra, Sons of the Pioneers, and Bill Boyd and his Cowboy Ramblers.  In addition to his work on stage, he hosted several radio shows featuring country western music and gospel in Bakersfield, Mojave, Los Angeles, and Michigan. historicphoto429:
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Bob Manning, November 14, 1940
Canal - The importance of water to Kern County and Bakersfield cannot be overstated. At one time, Bakersfield and its surrounding area was swampland during wet times and a desert during droughts. Canals and ditches diverted water from the Kern River and irrigated outlying farmland enabling the area to prosper agriculturally.
 historicphoto433:
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Pioneer Canal
Photo by Carleton Watkins





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