The annual Bakersfield event Via Arté hit the parking lot of the Marketplace on Oct. 19 and 20. Artists and creative minds got the chance to showcase their talent at the Italian Street Painting Festival.

The theme of Via Arté 2019 was “Our World United.” Participants varied in ages from experienced adults to young children expressing their own ideas of what unifies the world.

Ferris Hernandez, high school senior and member of Independence High School Art Club, said, “The colors are what drew us to [the art piece], we also saw the dove holding an olive branch and we thought it was a very good symbol of peace and unity. We felt like this was the best to choose.”

Many Kern high schools, such as Golden Valley High School, Bakersfield High School, and more, had students in attendance sponsored by the Bakersfield Museum of Art.

Along with students, people who work for school districts also spent hours on their weekend preparing and competing against the other entries.

Darla Kendrick, an art teacher for two different elementary schools, said, “Every year the kids [I teach] look forward to this. My third grades classes take a walking field trip over here and I will actually meet them out here. They will see this in person, they will get to ask me questions, they will get to see our art. Just to get kids more involved in it, we like to hide little things in our projects, because it makes them stop and look at the details.”

Kendrick’s aim is to have her students see that not only is she an art teacher, but she is also a producing artist.

Jennifer Williams, who creates the Via Arté artwork with Kendrick, also works around children as a librarian. Williams said that the students inspire her, they create artwork that she will hang in the library that help her explore her creative depths.

“Instead of me feeding them art, they feed it to me. I always make them sign their work, I tell them artists sign their art. You got to put your name on it and that way everybody can see that it is you, you did it. They are just so creative and it is constant, so that kind of keeps my creative juices going,” Williams said.

Via Arté gives an outlet for the community to view artwork from the people that surround them every day.