51

ch a p ter 5
JUDY BACA
At various tim es through out the 20th century, the mural has served as a
major medium of political commentary and critici sm. lnfJuenced deeply by the
Mexican mural renaissance of the 19205, many contemporary muralists have
created works of impressive artistic statu re and dramatic soci al impact. These
artwo rks typ ically call atten tion to social ills and reclaim the neg lected history
of oppressed peoples. Above all, they express th e h opes and frustrations of mil-
lions of people.
Socially conscious muralists through out the co un try view their art as a pow-
erful mean s to fos ter social co hesion an d political awareness in working class
and ethnic communities. They usually seek neighborhood participation in a
mural's planning and execution. You ng people often work closely with mature
artists in large scal e artistic ex press ion. As a medium of public art, the murals
have an im pact far beyond traditional ar tistic products in mu seums and oth er
traditional ar t world institutions. Their presence on interi or and exte rior walls of
major buildings mak es them easily accessible to large num bers of people who
live and work amon g them. Their popular character distin gui shes them dramat-
ically from th e ar t found in elite settings.
Chicano artists in particu lar have made a uniqu e co ntribution to th is expres-
sion of public art For more than 20 years in Califor nia, Ch icano murals have
transformed thousands of dreary walls into vibrant ex pressions of co lorful art-
works that reveal the cultural identity and aspira tions of the Mexican-American
comm unity. Los Ang eles, with its eno rmous Latino population, has been at the
forefront of th e modern mural movem ent WeU documented in national and
regional books and articles, this work h as collecti vely added a dramatic dimen-
sion to the broad er tradition of American political art
Women artists have been extremely pro minent in the mod ern mural move-
ment in Souther n California Its participator y flavor and its democratic charac-
ter have increased th e oppor tun ities for women to achieve wide recognition for
their artis tic accomplish me nts. A pivotal figure since the early 19705 is Chicana
muralist, UC Irvine studio art professor, and comm unity activist Judy Baca. Her
combined effor ts as a muralist an d artistic director of th e Social and Public Art
Resource Center (SPARC) in Ven ice, California have brought her nati onal
acclaim. Recen t reviews of her work in Signs From the Heart: California Chicano
Murols by Eva Coc kcrolt and Holly Barnet-Sanch ez and Mixed Blessings by Lucy
Lippard have enhanced her high s tand ing in the progressive arti stic comm un ity.
Born in the Los Angeles area. Baca was raised th roughout h er childh ood by
the women in her fami ly. Whil e her mother worked to s uppor t th e family, she
spent co nside ra ble time with her grandmother. whose personal character and
spiritual powe r have been a co ntinuing inspiration for the artist This Ind ian-
looking woman also ser ved as a remin der of her own ethn ic heritage, an aware-
ness th at would inform her entire career as a public artist Her first mural , paint-
2

FIgUre 5-1 OM ] Abuel its"

Rgure 5-2 "Dragon Eat ing nme" Mural, Frontera. Californ ia

r
53

ed in 1970, paid loving bibute to her grandmother. "Mi Abu elita" (Figure 5-1)
,ppears on a three-sided bandshell in a Los Angeles park. Th e subiect's dark-
skinned arms extend out to welcome and envelop viewers, encouraging them to
discover the family bonds that will facilitate their own life journeys. The mural
reflects Baca's deep understanding of the close relationships of personal expe-
rience and social commitment. a perspective shared by all the artists represent-
ed in thi s boo k.
Baca's personal identity, forg ed out of many family struggles an d hardshi ps,
sensitized her to the oppression and resi s tance of women in the Chicano co m-
munity. This background empowered her with a durable feminist foundation for
her future artistic efforts. For more than 20 years, her work has featu red stro ng
female imag es. a reflection of the major influence of feminism ge nerally in th e
progressive artistic co mm unity of Southern California.
Judy Baca has combined this foundation with a political consciousness
emerging from Ch icano activism of the 19605 and 19705. Like tho usan ds of her
generatio n, s he was engaged by the militant labor and civil righ ts str ugg les of
the United Farmworkers, Chicano stu dents, and others in the "rnovim iento."
This dynamic political activity spawned a complex of soc ially oriented theater,
mus ic, and visual art, forever influencing Baca's later directi on as a publ ic
muralist and co mmunity organizer. Early in her career, following her graduation
from California State University, Nor th ridge in 1969, s he developed her endur-
ing co mmitment to a collaborative artistic process rooted in her involvement
and ide ntification with the Chican o movemen t
After receiving her degree, she was employed as a co mmunity artist and
teache r in the Cultural Affairs Division of the city of Los Angeles. This work
brought her into co ntact with young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
many gang members among them. She lelt deeply attached to these young peo-
ple, iden tifying with their spirit 01 rebellion and sym pathetic to their daily strug-
gles for su rvival and dignity in a hostile, raci st society. These encounters led to
the lormation 01 the Citywide Mural Pr oject, which produced hundreds of
murals throughout the Los Angeles area, many of which she dir ected herself
with the extensive participation of th ese young men and women .
At the same time, she continued to paint her own murals, with the help of assis-
tants in a collective artistic enterprise . In 1973, she produced a work at the California
Institution for Women, a state prison. Featuring imagery radicallydifferent from her
other works , "Dragon Eating lime" (FIgUre 5-2) is directed to one of the most pow-
erless audiences in California, women prisoners ser ving length y sentences behind
bars. Th e fiery dragon-like creature has human parts, including the ann and torso
of an African American inmate and the arm and breast of a white inmate. At the top
01 the composition, this hall-human, half-beast ferociously attac ks the clock that
signifies alienation and oppression to the incarcerated women. Its aggressive
assault suggests that even prisoners, mired in depression and despair, can turn their
traditional enemy, time, into an oppo rtunity lor personal growth. As always. Baca
uses her art to bring a message 01hope to a marginalized and neglected population.
 The initial Citywide projects in Los Angeles established Baca as a major pu
tic arti st whose communal process culminated in vivid, socially conscio
imagery. As she has regularly noted, the images produced are the linaI par t
the entire process-and not at aU the most sign ificant The collaboration i
empowers young people to take control of their own lives and imbues them wi~
the respect long denied them by American society. This feature of Judy Baca'
work has enduring political impact even as the actual images fade through ti
weath er, and the general atmospheric pollution of the Los Angeles basin.
In 1976, Baca organized and directed a massive team of young people, includ,.j
ing rival gang members, to produce one of the most monumental mural p roj ~
in the e ntire histor y of art "The Great Wall of Los Angeles" employed doze.
of white, Asian, African American and Chicano youths to produ ce a people's hi
tory of California. Located in a flood control channel in the San Fernando VaJ ley~
this mural is the largest outdoor work in the world. In preparation for this effoJ1.!
she traveled to Curnevaca, Mexico, where she per fected her knowledge 01
mural painting techniques at the Taller Slqueircs.
Th e most remarkabl e accomplishmen t of the Great Wall, an on-going pro~
through out the 80s and 90s, has bee n the cooperative efforts of the teen 3gef1
involved in the project. A political artist with a comprehensive educational
vision, Baca implemented an amazing instru ctional process that forced
young participants to con!ro 1lt each other's stereotypical perceptions of their
 Judy Baca

respective eth nicities-an awesome challenge for tee nagers with histories of
mutual antagonism and violence . She used competent and sensitive scholars to
, provide an accurate histori cal perspective for her young colleagu es befor e they
began the arduous process of designing and implementing th e work itself.
Participants in th e Great Wall learned a splendid combination of historicaJ, artis-
tic, and soc ial skills, which have serv ed most of them extre me ly well through
the present. Baca's educational leadership in this collaborative process is th e
signal achievem ent of the work as a whole-an expression of effective political
art rarely seen in human history.
The imagery itse lf combines outstanding ar tistic tec hnique with powerful his-
torical and political commentary. Influenced by the great Mexican muralists
Diego Rivera , Jose Cleme nte Orozco, and es pec ially David Alfaro Siqueiros, th e
work is a panoramic view of Californ ia history from the perspective of indige-
nous and immigrant groups. A strik ing contrast to "official" history, th e mural
panels progress from th e orig inal Native American inhabitan ts to the present. A
major them e is the oppression against various eth nic gr oups whose contribu-
tions to California have been as profou nd as they have been ign ored. Similarly,
the mural highligh ts the accomplishments of many ethnic heroes whose lives
and works seldom grace the textbo oks of public and private schools in
California and elsewhere .
Baca's commitment to the neg lected history of her own Chicano community
fi nds dramatic expression in the Great Wall. The bombi ng of Pearl Harbor
spawned enormous wartime hysteria through out the United States. Most tragi-
cally, this hysteria cause d the unconscionable and unconstitutional incarcera-
tion of 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestr y on the West Coast. a them e por-
trayed in one of the Great Wall panels.
Less well known is that incidents of racial violence were common through out
the nation during the early 19405. Th e atmosphere in Los Angeles was es pe-
cially tense and volatile, particul arly aga inst the large Chicano population. In
1942, the press prom oted fears about Mexicans and crime, focusing es pecially
on young men wearing "zoot suits," trousers flared at the knees and tight at the
ankles. The Los Angeles City Council passed an ord inance prohibiting the wear-
ing of zoot suits and police roam ed through out Chicano areas making searches
and terrorizing the population. In Augu st , 1942. a young Mexican-American was
fo und near death near the Slee py Lagoon just outside th e city. After his death ,
the police used th e corpse as an excuse to round up twenty-two gang mem bers
and beat confessions out of them . Several were convicted of murder and othe r
serious criminal charges; only later was this miscarriage of just ice reversed.
A similar episode occurred th e following yea r, when sailors stormed into bars
and othe r es tablishme nts. beating young Chicanos and tearing their zoot suits
from their bodies. Civilian and military police encouraged the rampage, even
assisting the terro r by arresting young Chicano s on baseless charges. Th e local
press meanwhile intensified the hyst eria. Th e riot eventually ended, but the con-
seq uences affected. Southern California for decades to come.
 56 Other Visions, Other voices

Figure 5-4 "Division of the Barrios and Chavez Ravine" from the "Great Wall of Los
Angeles ~ Total mural over 1/2 rnile1on'g

Judy Baca has captured this deplorable historical reality in a Great Wall panel
known as "Zoot Suit Riots" (Figure 5-3). This detail provides an effective visual
antidote to the enormous historical ignorance of most Californians today. The
work highlights the black, gestapo-like boots of the local police, an image with
uncomfortabl e contemporar y resonance in light of the savage beating of
Rodney King by the Los Angeles police in early 1991. The artist's focus is stark
and unsubtle, a powerful reminder of the repressive history of police miscon-
duct throu ghou t U.S. history. In recounting an unsavor y series of historical
events, the detail restores a more accurate historical vision and encourages
anger and resistance among members of the brutalized communi ty. These
results reflect the deepe st objectives of political art.
Baca's companion detail in the Great Wall updates the history of oppression
against the Chicano community of Los Angeles. "Division of the Barrios and
Chavez Ravine" (Figure 5-4) reveals the human consequences of various politi-
cal decisions made by elite forces in Los Angeles. The construction of a freeway
for the benefit of suburban commuters split a long established Chicano com-
munity into two, fostering family disruption and frustration and generally dilut-
ing the historical stability and cohesion of that community.
The 1958 move of the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles similarly wreak ed
social and emotional havoc in a Chicano neighborhood. City powers constr uct-
ed Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. bringing enormous profits to the
Dodgers' owners, doubtless a far higher concern than the resulting dislocation
r

J"".... 57

Figure 5-5 ·Upris ing of the MuJeres' Portable mural, acrylic on WOOd 8' x 24 '

for the Chicano residents of the area. Once again, Baca has used the power of
mural ar t to correct the historical record and to reveal the political and human
realities concealed by the g litz of lA's entry into major league base ball.
Returning to specifically feminist themes in 1979. she created a portable
mural on wood en titled "Uprising of the Mujer es" (Figure 5-5). Thi s 8' by 24'
effort expresses the enormous impact of women in movemen ts for social
change in modern America. Baca's strong women figures dominate the compo-
sition. Marchin g assertively towards their goals, they communicate a sharp and
positive message to audiences through out the region. Th e most striking detail
is the figure at the lower right of the mural. Her facial expressio n. clearly Latina
with dom inant Indian influences. reveals an unyielding will to continue the
str uggle. Dynamic in conception and execution. this mural represents a high
point in feminist eth nic consciousness in contemporary visual art.
During the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. she accepted a city commission to
paint a freeway mural on an ath letic theme. One of three Chicano muralists in
that project, Baca overcame the hazar ds of working on a wall of a busy down-
town freeway. Her 18' by 90' foot effor t entitled "Hilling Th e Wall" (FIgure :Hi)
highlights the sports successes of women of color, fur the r advancing her femi-
nist artistic vision. The strong central figure . remin iscent of many images cre-
ated by David Alfaro Siqueiros , breaks th rough the finishing line tape. in jubi-
lant celebration of her own athletic prowess . Th e mural tran scends individual
accomplishment by depicting the extensive par ticipation of women in interna-
tional competition. a reality occurring only after protracted str uggle for access
and equal recognition. In th e Los Angeles Olympics, for example, women over
came institutional resistance and participated in the marathon for the first time.
"Hitting Th e ' Vall" also celebrates feminist successes in sports politics, addin
a unique unde rcu rre nt to contemporary socially conscious art.
The broader political tone in this mural is reflected in other details in the co
position. Closer scrutiny, not easily accomplish ed from a moving automobile,
reveals the finishing tape to be rope of metal, sign ifying the social, political, and
eco nomic barri ers faced by women and ethnic minorities in modern America.
Th e vigorous runner shatters that obstacle as well as the stone wall that equ
ly limits her prospects. Behind the wall lie the bright lights of the city, available
finally for the women and oth ers demanding access to its m yriad opportunities.
Baca uses the sports metaphor effectively in this work as a means of visual
social commentary.
More recentl y, th e ar tist has painted a major mura l in the Central California
town of Guadalupe , where Chicano and other ethnic farmworke rs work for
major agribusiness interests in th e region. As usual, her work reflects thorough
research and extensive contact with th e residents of th e community. Consisting
of four panels, the Guadalu pe mural highlights the people whose efforts tr uly
und erli e the are a's co mmerc ial and cultural ach ievements. "Ethnic
Contributions to Guadalupe" ~ re 5-7) emphasizes the diversity of th e town.
Baca's depiction of various immigrant Latino. Chinese, and European worke rs
and shopkeepers reveal a more accurate account of California's historical devel-
opment than that usually portrayed in various instructional materi als.
One of Judy Baca's extremely powerfu l works focuses on so me of the most
profound topics of the 19905. In 1987, she embarked on another large scale par-
ticipator y project concern ing the issues of peace , hum an cooperation, and glob-
al interdependence. like her previous efforts, th is mural was initiated by involv-
ing people of diverse backgrounds. Baca held brainstorming sessions with his-
torians , scholars, teachers, studen ts, and others whose though ts and fee lings
inform th e entire effort. The "World Wall: A Vision of th e Future Withou t Fear"
consists of a se ries of 10' by 30' por table panel s th at envision a future world rad-
icaUy different from th e early 90s rheto ric about the "new world orde r."
Baca's objective is to reach a large world audience and generate human dia-
logu e about a post-cold war world. A traveling installation system enables the
work to be reassembled anywhere, reflecting its highl y public character. World
Wall premiered in 1990 in Finland, where local arti sts joined the project by
adding their own visions about a peaceful and humane world future. later that
year, the mural went on to the for mer Soviet Union, where it was exhibited in
Moscow's Gorky Park. A Soviet ar tist added anoth er panel to the effor t, contin-
uing the participatory process that und erlies the entire ty of Baca's ar tistic work.
Four of the work's projected seven panels are now complete. A particularly
striking panel. photographed in Moscow, is entitled "Triumph of the Hands"
(Figu re 5-8). This detail illustrates the transfonnation from a war to a peace-
based eco nomy req uired for global peace and social jus tice. Th e mural's multi-
 ..

Figure 5-6 " Hitti ng The Wall· Mural, Los Angeles 18 ' x 90 '

colored people realize their own power by seizing the military machiner y,
demanding the "peace dividend" aborted by the Bush administration's repres-
sive do mestic policies and br utal military advent ures. This pa nel joins a long tra-
dition of artwork promoting world peace and human auto nomy. further solidify-
ing Judy Baca's stature as a premi er socially conscious artist,
Baca's commitment to participation has led her to significantly broaden the
definition of public art. Realizing th at visual images alone, however politically
critical, are insufficient, she has pionee red the creation and maintenance of
alternative artistic institutions . In 1976, she, painter Christina Schlesinger, and
filmmak er Donna Deitch found ed SPARe as a multicultural art center to pro--
duce, exhibit, document, and preserve public ar tworks. In the ensuing years,
SPARe has become one of the nation 's most successful institutions for political
artists. Baca's inten sive effor ts as arti stic director of SPARe have been crucial
to that success. Critical judgm ents about her work as a political artist must take
her institution-building into acc ount as an integral feature of her artistic work as
a whole.
The Social an d Public Art Resource Cente r performs many functions of vital
importance to the progressive political co mmunity. Its unique mural resource
center, for ex am ple, contai ns 16,000 slides of murals from th roughout th e world,
including 7000 slide s of Chicano m urals in California. This docume ntation pro-
ject encourages com munication across co mm unities, cultures, and nations,
enabling progressive artists everywhere to Jearn from one an other and enhance
•
60 Other VlSions,l:ltMr Voices

the power of mural art in their respective locales. This resource is large
unavailable elsewhere; th e es tablished media, universities, and museums rar e
bother with artwork th ey regard as ephe meral and politically suspect
Baca's influence on the SPARe Gallery equally benefits progressive arti sts
and activists in th e Los Angeles area. Unlike private art galleries, SPARe is a
non-profit enterp rise showcasing arti sts typically excluded from mainstream
artistic institutions. It regularly exh ibits the works of multicultural and other
und er-represented arti sts from South ern Californ ia and elsew here. The SPARe
Galler y also emphasizes ar t with social and political conte nt, which sustains a
centuries-old tradition of visual political criticism . In recent years the galler
program has presented exhibitions of works by African American wome n
artists. LosAngeles/New York urban activist ar t, views of hometessnese. graph-
ics by South Korean student protesters, recent Chicano ar t in Los Angeles. and
many oth er socially committed ar tworks. The SPARe Gallery program se rv

figure 5-7 "Ethnic Contributions to Guadalupe from the "Guadalupe Mural,"

Guadalupe, cantcmre Total mural (4 panels) 8' )I: 28' 8 "
 J""''''''' "

Figure 5-8 "Triumph of the Henes" From · World Wall Mural,· a traveling mural installa-
tion Total mural length 210 '

as a model for other ar tists and cultural workers seeking opportunities to create
and disseminate th eir political and creative visions.
Perh aps above all, Baca 's most enduring influence as SPARe artistic director
is the continuing mural prod uction program. Under SPARe auspices. scores of
murals have been produ ced throughout Los Angeles. generally incorporating
the coUaborative process that charac terizes Ju dy Baca's mural art Since 1988.
S?ARC has administered a neighborhood prid e program for the city, with mural
works directed by professional artists with the assistance of young people
referred by schools and soc ial ser vice agencies. Like Baca's own works, many
of these effor ts express the co nce rns and ho pes of ethnic minorities, women,
and working class people.
As an artist and community org anizer, Judy Baca has had a profound impact
in the political art world of Los Angeles and beyond . Her murals complement
her leadership e ffor ts in building alter native cultural institutions. She has estab-
lished the highest stan dard for pr ogressive ar tists through out th e United States
and fortified the stature of women ar tists in the broader str uggle for a decent
and hum ane society.