Visions & Voices: The Great Wall of Los Angeles at 40: A Conversation with Judy Baca and Screening of Murs Murs

The Great Wall of Los Angeles at 40: A Conversation with Judy Baca and Screening of Murs Murs 

DATE: Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 5 p.m.

LOCATION: Norris Cinema Theatre (NCT)

TYPE: Screening, Conversation

The Great Wall of Los Angeles at 40: A Conversation with Judy Baca and Screening of Murs Murs

Schedule: 
5 p.m.: Screening of Murs Murs 
6:30 p.m.: Intermission 
6:45 p.m.: Conversation with Judy Baca moderated by Stacy Williams 

Reception to follow. 

ADMISSION: 
Admission is free. Reservations required. RSVP beginning Friday, March 1, at 9 a.m. 

DESCRIPTION: 
Don’t miss an inspiring evening dedicated to the extraordinary life and groundbreaking work of renowned L.A. muralist, artist, and activist Judy Baca! A screening of Murs Murs, Agnès Varda’s acclaimed documentary about the murals and visual landscape of the city in the early 1980s, when Baca was creating The Great Wall of Los Angeles, will be followed by a conversation with the legendary public artist. Moderated by Stacy Williams of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, the conversation will delve into Baca’s life and creative process, the transformative power of art and community engagement, and continuing work on the iconic half-mile long Great Wall, the creation of which has involved more than 400 youth, artists, oral historians, and community members so far.

Bios: 

One of America’s leading visual artists, Judy Baca has been creating powerful public art for four decades. In 1974, Baca founded the first mural program of the City of Los Angeles, which produced over 400 murals and employed thousands of local participants, and evolved into an arts organization known as the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC). Her most well-known works are part of The Great Wall of Los Angeles. Located in the San Fernando Valley, the mural spans half a mile and still is a work in progress engaging new generations of youth. In 2017, it received national recognition on the National Registry of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Baca continues to serve as SPARC’s artistic director and focuses her creative energy in the UCLA@SPARC Digital/Mural Lab, employing digital technology to promote social justice and participatory public arts projects. An emeritus professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was a senior professor in the Chicana/o Studies and World Art and Cultures Departments from 1980 to 2018, Baca is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, the United States Artist Rockefeller Fellowship, and over 50 awards from various community groups.  

Stacy Williams is the librarian for the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, where she works with students, faculty, staff, and other researchers to access collections, archives, images, and databases that support scholarly interests in African American/Black Diaspora Studies. She has a special research interest in the mural history of Los Angeles and has worked closely with L.A. mural archives, especially the Robin Dunitz Collection at USC Libraries. She received her MLS in library science from Queens College/CUNY, a BA in social sciences from New York University, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in heritage conservation from the USC School of Architecture. She is the former head of USC’s Architecture and Fine Arts Library. 

Related Event: 
The Great Wall of Los Angeles at 40: Guided Walking Tour  
Saturday, April 13, 2024 
Depart USC at 10 a.m.; return at 2 p.m. 
Tujunga Flood Control Channel, North Hollywood 
For more info, click HERE. 

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Andrzej Rutkowski and Bill Dotson (USC Libraries). Co-sponsored by La CASA. 

Photo (Judy Baca): Courtesy of the New York Times