Support the makers not the corporate takers! Saturday December 15th from 1pm to 6pm 685 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291 SPARC will be hosting its annual anti-corporate Art Sale on Saturday December 15, 2018. Support local artists, selling a variety of arts, crafts, fine art posters, jewelry, glassware, ceramics and much more! Come by and […]
Teaching Assistant Opportunity SPARC is seeking qualified Teaching Assistants to join our Arts Education team! Teaching Assistants will support 10-week visual and/or performing arts workshops for K-8th grade students from October-December 2018. The SPARC arts education program leverages the power of the arts to explore notions of culture, identity, community and social justice. Apply online […]
Sip & Sketch: A makeART@SPARC Series October and November, 2018 Join us for Sip & Sketch, a night of wine, music, and drawing live models at SPARC! Spend your Friday night creating art among friends. This event is BYOB friendly. All ages and levels of experience are welcome. Bring your own drawing materials, or purchase a kit at the SPARC Shop! […]
“When She Rises” An Artist Talk and Pop-up September 15th | 2PM-5PM Artist talk and pop-up with Jeaneen Carlino and Noelle Reyes of Shop Mia Vida. This event will center around the journey, inspirations and path to launching and becoming a product-based business. Jeaneen will be releasing an Art Print series (38 prints), along with some fun […]
This is a stunning new book on Judy Baca written by Anna Indych-Lopez from the A Ver Series: UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. “This book, long overdue, gives us insight into how Baca’s traits of curiosity, problem solving, and passionate inquiry have served her goal of justice through the arts.” It is now available for purchase, so make sure […]
When She Rises: Banner Disruption Members of the Trust Your Struggle Collective: Erin Yoshi and Nisha Sembi, along side of Gloria Muriel creating 5ft x 13ft hand painted banners to transform the exterior of SPARC. In partnership with SPARC’s Digital Mural Lab, When She Rises produced banner works by Favianna Rodriguez of Culture Strike and […]
“Trayvon Martin. Michael Brown. Sandra Bland. Eric Garner. Freddie Gray. In recent years, alleged police brutality has been at the heart of several high-profile cases both in the news and on social media. The Black Lives Matter and Hands Up United movements began in direct response to it. It made an unlikely icon out of […]
BACA: Art, Collaboration & Mural Making by Mario Ontiveros essays by Anna Indych-López, Andrea Lepage, Amalia Mesa-Bains, and Carlos Rogel foreword by Judith F. Baca For the first time in one volume, scholars from across America write about Judith F. Baca and The Great Wall of Los Angeles. Their captivating text explores the “why” of the world’s longest […]
The Great Wall of Los Angeles: Judith F. Baca’s Experimentations in Collaboration and Concrete October 14 – December 16, 2017 Reception: Saturday, October 14 | 4-7pm Curated by Mario Ontiveros As part of the Getty’s initiative Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, the University Art Galleries at California State University Northridge (CSUN) presents Judith F. Baca’s Experiments […]
Unveiling of Canada’s contribution, “The Inuit Send the World a Canary,” to The World Wall: A Vision of the Future Without Fear. The World Wall: A Vision of the Future Without Fear is a traveling installation mural, conceived by artist, Judy Baca. It examines contemporary issues of global importance: war, peace, cooperation, environment, interdependence and […]
On May 27, 2016 of Memorial Day weekend, graffiti covered the POW/MIA mural in Venice, CA., honoring the fallen servicemen who served in Vietnam, originally painted in 1992 by artist and Vietnam veteran, Peter Stewart. The vandalism also covered hundreds of the 2,273 names of those missing in action and prisoners of war hand-painted by […]
Creative Careers Pathways Program: A partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs and the RightWay Foundation Header image: Aryelle photographing her 6th grade student’s portrait in preparation for the Emancipation Project. SPARC is proud to host our newest Public Art Administrative intern, Aryelle Carter, through the Transitional Age Foster Youth Creative Careers Pathway Program (CCPP) in […]
Carlos Rogel, SPARC Project Manager and Arts Educator at the Judith F. Baca Arts Academy (JBAA) states: “As SPARC artists and educators who grew up going to LA Unified schools, we are thrilled to see a future energized by the range of talented ACN arts educators in the room; collectively we will advance a transformative […]
APPLY TODAY TO BE A TEACHING ARTIST! Video on SPARC’s Spring 2017 Arts Education Program at Judy Baca Arts Academy Available Positions: Teaching Assistant Job Description The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) is a cultural center that creates public art and arts programming as a vehicle to promote civic dialogue, foster cross-cultural understanding […]
20 Years of The UCLA/SPARC Digital Mural Lab showcases a sampling of projects that highlight instruction, community organizing, research and artistic production. These projects are emblematic of partnerships with nonprofit advocacy groups, civic institutions, public schools and municipalities that provide students, artists, academics and community members an alternative model for articulating community needs. The images in […]
Support another 40 years of art, political action, and social justice by contributing to SPARC today. SPARC has remained at the forefront of advocacy through the arts since 1976, beginning with our most well known artwork, The Great Wall of Los Angeles. Since then, the organization has been at the forefront of designing and implementing […]
Amidst the honking and shouting all along Hollywood Boulevard, painter Alfredo de Batuc stands calmly and quietly with paintbrush in hand, seemingly unfazed by all the noise in front of his mural “Dolores Del Río,” which he painted in 1990. Having been diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome in 2005, de Batuc had not picked […]
SPARC connected with actions being organized by National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Central American Resource Center and IDEPSCA to strategize with the creative community and plan actions SPARC can be a part of. This is a preliminary effort to mobilize our leadership and encourage other like minded arts organizations to stand in solidarity with social […]
On Sunday, October 30th at SPARC’s historic headquarters since 1977 (Old Venice Police Station), UCLA@SPARC presented our annual “Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead” ceremony to honor the dearly departed with the annual ritual of The Calling of the Spirits. The traditional ceremony guided by UCLA instructor and SPARC’s Artist in Residence, Martha Ramirez-Oropeza, and […]
“Looking back, being truly in the present and looking towards our future.” September 20, 2016 It is surprising to wake up today and turn 70 years old. How did the time pass so quickly? I founded SPARC when I was 30 years old with my two best women friends, Donna Deitch and Christina Schlesinger. Both […]
WATCH THIS GREAT VIDEO ON THE PROJECT! If you’re lucky, you can find SPARC’s CityWide Mural Program Team on the job, equipped with their pickup truck full of tools, ready to work their magic on a mural that’s been damaged by sun, tagged with graffiti, or painted over completely. The Team makes it look easy, […]
BACKGROUND: Calle de la Eternidad was the former name of Broadway Blvd., where the mural WAS located (SPARC is working to bring it back to Broadway). Poethig emphasizes the nature of time and of space. Using images familiar with the Latino community who live and work in the area, the words of Octavio Paz around the […]
(Click on booklet to enlarge image) Follow SPARC on Issuu for more updates on our CityWide Mural Program!
A legacy that lives on the walls In the hands of artist Judy Baca, the mural is a powerful teaching tool of L.A. history and student empowerment.
In their exhibit “Division: Reflections and Shadows”, which opened on June 25, 2016 in the Durón Gallery at SPARC, the Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective along with guest artists explore the impact and establishment of divisive forces through the radical medium of printmaking. Art is often used as a medium for conversation, a vehicle for […]
