Multiple pieces of paper containing pencil sketches on a wooden table, with the artist Judy Baca's outstretched pointer finger touching one of them

A wooden box of soft pastels arranged in groups by color 

A small cross shaped sculpture draped with a beaded necklace amongst other small pieces of sculpture on a shelf inside the artist Judy Baca's studio

The story of Los Angeles, like many great cities, begins on the banks of its river.

Located along a half-mile section of the LA River network, The Great Wall of Los Angeles tells a sweeping visual story of the city’s history, bringing lesser-told histories to the fore. Judy Baca co-founded the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), and starting in 1974, over five summers, employed 35 artists and over 400 socially and economically diverse youth and their families to bring the vision to life.

A painted mural on a concrete wall depicting a man sifting for gold with a confederate flag on the left. Text below this image reads, "California Gold Rush." In center, a portrait of an abolitionist (identified in text as "Biddy Mason") above a gold river in the center alongside a group of slaves hanging from a tree, and a bandit (identified in text as Joaquin Murrieta) riding away on horseback on the right

Artist Judy Baca standing in her studio in white paint splattered overalls

An essay from the artist Judy Baca, originally published on the Mellon Foundation website in 2021. She is the artistic director of SPARC and led the effort to create The Great Wall of Los Angeles. 

Headshot of Judy Baca

Artist and CEO & Artistic Director

Judy Baca

Arts and Culture

Painting in the River of Angels

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

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