Sidewalk art, organized by the club MAIZE, celebrated Black History Month at Bakersfield College.
Carlos Gomez, president of the club, said this is the first year this has been done for Black History Month and hopes that it becomes an annual event.
The event was spread over a two-day period and if you visit the site you can see it was time well spent.
Gomez went on to say that black history is bringing about awareness to the achievements of African Americans beyond focusing only on Martin Luther King.
African Americans have made major contributions to the greatness of this country and to the betterment of the world, so the reason the month of February was set aside in recognition of their accomplishments.
Gomez also said that it was a chance to show high school students what BC had to offer.
Britnee Espinoza, a student from Highland High School, wanted to show other people that black history was important and should not be forgotten.
She said that she attended the event and would come back should this become an annual event.
The contribution of Espinoza was a chalk drawing of an African American woman.
The main participants were from Highland High School’s art club, and they heard about the event from their art teacher who received a flier from the club, MAIZE.
Lisa Mayo, art teacher from Highland, said that when she was presented with the opportunity to do something connected with black history, she put it to the class and they were enthusiastic about the idea.
Mayo said that she felt this would be a positive experience and give her students the chance to practice African folk art and that she would also come back if given the chance.
About 10 students attended the MAIZE club chalk drawing.