The mural reads like a road map with directional signs pointing to your past, dreams, and healing.

Above them, a monarch butterfly hovers, the universal symbol of transformation. Anchoring the composition is a simple but radical declaration: YOU.

Facing Wall Street (the alley between 18th and 19th at G St.), this mural insists on possibility.

Created through a partnership between Kern County Superintendent of Schools, The Dream Center, and Muralist–illustrator Jennifer Williams Cordova, with direct participation from Dream Center youth, it is less decoration than declaration: a testament to the resilience of Kern’s young people.

The work emerged through informal “pizza chats,” where participants shared hopes and lived experience. Cordova listened and translated their voices into lasting form. “Dream Center clients evolved the concept and final design,” Cordova says. “The concept and final design approval came directly from the Dream Center youth, and I put the pieces together. Together we all painted stars. The duality of light and dark, struggle and hope, was important for them to express through art.”

The Dream Center serves foster-involved young people up to age 25, supporting those facing housing and food instability, workforce barriers, and uncertain futures. With access to dozens of resources, clients move forward with dignity toward balanced adult lives. “The services are individualized, not prescriptive,” notes Bryanna Wood of The Center. “It’s practical and creative dream-building.”

Arts Council staff member Angel Gutierrez, who has foster experience himself, reflects: “There is hope at the end of the road—and more paths, more options, in life.”

Supported by KCSOS, Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County, and the Arts Council of Kern, this mural is an invitation. To pause. To look. To believe that today’s challenges are already shaping tomorrow’s promise.

For more information on their diverse services: https://kern.org/kern-county-network-children/dream-center/

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WHERE TO SEE IT:

Kern County Network for Children's complex: 1801 19th St. Mural located between 18th and 19th on Wall Street, facing G Street.

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Content sponsored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County