You know, somedays I love my job more then others. I have a great job, but this weekend was really SO MUCH FUN! For a couple months now, I have been planning and prepping for this project – The Chlorophyll Wall. I’ve been wanting to find a way that I could collaborate with my husband (the biology nerd) and his students. So, with The Bakersfield High School Ecology club as the man power and 17th Place Townhomes providing us a space, we teamed up with Sherwin-Williams for National Painting Week to bring a little green to our downtown.
I put together a little video to show you a little of the behind the scene fun.
If you have followed me for a while, you’ll know that my family loves living downtown Bakersfield. We work, live and play all in about a 1 square mile radius. We love our little community and are always looking for ways that we can help it grow and improve. We also wanted to get students involved so that they would feel a little ownership and pride for their hometown. Adding a little color to our downtown was an idea I’ve had for a while now. Selfishly I chose the color green, because it’s my favorite color. Chlorophyll is the life giving force behind plants, our hope is to bring a little of that natural fuel to downtown Bakersfield. 
We chose 8 native plants from this area. Using the ColorSnap App by Sherwin-Williams, we picked 8 shades of green to represent those plants. You simply upload an image to the app and it picks Sherwin-Williams paint colors in the image.
My local Sherwin-Williams store provided all the paint and even sent a crew out to help us. They gave the kids great painting tips and were such a pleasure to partner with. 
Here’s the colors we used and the plants that inspired those color selections we used:
- Bakersfield Cactus – Courtyard SW 6440
- Green Palo Verde – Dill SW 6438
- Valley Live Oak – Billiard Green SW 0016
- Manzanita – Agate Green SW7742
- Joshua Tree – Shamrock SW 6454
- Lichen – Talipot Palm SW 6726
- Willow – Arugula SW 6446
- California Poppy – Picnic SW 6731
These kids were amazing! They worked so hard and did an excellent job. I’m a very picky painter and these kids were all about quality work.
The taped, they rolled, they brushed and they cleaned. While is was work, it was also a really great day spent together.
If you are in Bakersfield, be sure to stop by the wall and take a picture. It’s located in between 17th and 18th St. on N St. Use the hashtag, #chlorophyllwall, we want to see your pics. And now we are ready to take on another wall!
Photo Credit: Ally Swen Photography