Mural Stories: When the Mind Blooms
Sponsored by Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County
by Mary Anne Em Radmacher, Arts Council of Kern
Sponsored by Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County
by Mary Anne Em Radmacher, Arts Council of Kern
Jul 30, 2026
Mural designed by Deirdre Hathor. Photo by Kern County Family Magazine. WHERE TO SEE IT: 1727 18th Street, corner of G Street. Locale and House of Flowers building.
When the Mind Blooms: A downtown mural celebrates neurodiversity, lifelong learning, and the community that grows when artists create together.
Every mural transforms a wall. The memorable ones transform a community.
In downtown Bakersfield's Mural Alley, Heather Laganelli of Locale Farm to Table Eatery commits to public art by inviting artists to turn exterior walls into places of discovery. Asked why she makes her wall space available for murals, Heather explains, “To celebrate artists, build community and turn an everyday place into something inspiring that reflects the pride, creativity and heart of Bakersfield.”
The mural titled Neurodivergent, facing G Street just off 18th Street, reflects another kind of generosity: the willingness to keep learning. ArtistsSeekingKnowledge (ASK) co-founder and muralist Deidre Hathor designed the work not simply as a mural but as a teaching experience and homage to those whose brains operate differently. Throughout the project, experienced and emerging artists worked side by side, sharing techniques, solving problems together, and discovering how every mural becomes its own classroom.
Two artists who have grown through ASK's community classes joined Hathor on the project: Sonya, alongside her husband and children, and Amanda, demonstrating the organization's belief that artistic growth happens through collaboration, encouragement, and hands-on experience.
The mural itself explores the harmony between structure and imagination. One side celebrates the intricate pathways of the brain, while the other bursts into a flourishing garden of flowers. Sacred geometry, color, and vibrational forms intertwine to suggest that analytical thinking and creative expression are not opposites but partners. For Hathor, the design celebrates neurodivergence as beauty, innovation, and possibility. Rather than asking viewers to see difference as limitation, the mural invites them to recognize the remarkable ways minds bloom when allowed to think, create, and experience the world differently.
For everyone involved, the lessons extended well beyond painting. Summer heat, changing conditions, and endless color mixing became part of the education. Skills deepened. Confidence grew. Emerging artists discovered they belonged beside experienced muralists.
That spirit may be the mural's greatest work of art. Long after the paint has cured, Heather Laganelli's commitment to public art, ASK's dedication to lifelong learning, and artists willing to learn from one another will continue blooming together in Mural Alley.
Find more of KCFM's Mural Stories Series below:
- Mural Stories: A Slice of Bakersfield History
- Mural Stories: Dream Center Youth Mural
- Mural Stories: Nine Parks, One Mural
- Mural Stories: EASTCHESTER: One Word, An Artful Direction
- Mural Stories: The Roots of the Basque Mural
- Mural Stories: Color Arrived Before Most People Noticed
- Mural Stories: One Love in an Unexpected Place - A Mural That Gets Respect
