[Los Angeles Times / High School Insider] Seeing ourselves connected: “The Great Wall of Los Angeles” to become one mile long

Annika Petras, August 12, 2024

Began as an effort by artist Judith Baca to bring together neighborhoods and cultures of Los Angeles, “The Great Wall of Los Angeles” mural is to be extended to one mile in length.

Already one of the largest murals in the world, “The Great Wall of Los Angeles,” is to be extended. As new portions of the mural are currently being created at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the extension effort moves to bring the entire project to a full mile in length. 

Chicana artist and activist, Judith Baca, began working on The Great Wall in the mid-1970s when she was commissioned to help decorate a flood control channel in the Tujunga neighborhood of L.A. Inspired by the culture of Los Angeles, the social struggles of people of color, and her matriarchal upbringing, Baca knew from the start that she wanted to use this opportunity to raise awareness about aspects of local history and culture that were not widely understood or acknowledged at the time.

“I could not go to the library in 1976 and pull down a book on Black History or Chicano History. I could not pull down a book on women’s history,” Baca said.

Baca believed that allowing such knowledge to be widely available to the public would require a different medium altogether.

In collaboration with over 400 local artists and community members, Baca was able to create a mural “that would work across race and class,” representing “Black history, Chicano history, Asian history, women’s history, … all of our history.”

Though the artist had painted murals in many different neighborhoods of L.A. which were able to represent specific ethnic communities, the imagery of the Great Wall offered a unique opportunity to “see ourselves connected.”

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(Photo courtesy Annika Petras)