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The Great Wall

In 1974, the Army Corps of Engineers approached Judith F. Baca to build a mural in the Tujunga Wash Flood Control Channel. Beyond her very imagination, it would lead to the inception of the Great Wall of Los Angeles. The half-mile long mural in the San Fernando Valley -- beginning in prehistoric times and extends to the 1950s -- reveals historical events representative of California's immigrant and minority communities.

What began with Baca's own paper and pencil eventually grew to involve over 400 youths, who collaborated with muralists, historians, professors, and community members to produce the Wall. After 5 years, with 600 gallons of paint and over 65,000 hours of labor, the Great Wall was established, conveying long overlooked histories and, for some, deeply personal memories.

Now the mural has become an asset for the growingly diverse community, and for Los Angeles, a catalyst for social justice. The Wall continues to be a work-in-progress: a 3-year-long was completed in 2011, and plans are in place to extend the mural through to the 1990s.

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"Rushing Waters" mural in Pacoima. The image shows a Native American woman holding a basin of water. | Justin Cram
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The Great Wall of Los Angeles has been a work in progress since its inception, and plans for its growth include extending the story from the 1950s into the 1990s.
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The value of the mural is evident through the eyes of the growingly diverse local community. Neighbors have a personal connection to a particular panel's story or have grown up with it, learning and sharing the lessons the mural has to offer.
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More than 25 years later, Judith Baca and SPARC returned to the Great Wall, to restore its luster after years of fading in the summer and beaten by the waters of the Tujunga Wash.
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With over 400 employed youths, and in collaboration with scholars, muralists, and historians, the Great Wall of Los Angeles would be built over the course of 5 summers beginning in 1976.
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The Beginning: How The Great Wall Of Los Angeles Was Conceived
The Great Wall of Los Angeles mural was conceived of in 1974 as a means to revitalize the Tujunga Wash Flood Control Channel. What would unfold, would be more than Judith F. Baca ever imagined.
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