We are thrilled to welcome Corrie Martin as SPARC’s new Development Manager! Corrie brings a wealth of experience in community engagement, event organization, and collaborative projects that align seamlessly with SPARC’s mission. Her passion for art, performance, and activism will be invaluable as we continue to produce, preserve, and promote socially relevant artwork. We look forward to the innovative initiatives and energy Corrie will contribute to our community.
Hello, Friends and Fellow Fans of SPARC!
What an honor to be moving into the role of Development Manager for this beloved and storied organization!
After moving to Los Angeles this past summer, one bright afternoon exploring my new Santa Monica neighborhood I happened to wander into the SPARC Gallery at the Bergamot Station Arts Center. Inside, I was surrounded by the phenomenal mural work-in-progress of the 1960s section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural.
Stretching to the ceiling on each of the four walls were vibrant scenes of joyful protest (have you seen our depiction of the Los Angeles Donut Riots?) and inspiring moments from our nation’s great era of everyday people standing up and speaking out for freedom and justice: Freedom Riders departing Los Angeles’s Union Station, the Free Speech rally at UC Berkeley, the East Los Angeles student walkouts, and more.
I sensed immediately that the history of the human spirit had come alive in this space and that this is exactly what we need art to do today.
After officially joining SPARC’s Research Team and delving into the collaborative process behind the mural extension project, my admiration has transformed into passion—dare I say, love–for SPARC’s mission, vision, and impact.
I am thrilled to return to the field of fundraising and development for an organization that creates art that changes lives and improves communities. My dream is to talk to every person in Los Angeles about SPARC, and then everyone in the state! But, then, why stop there? Will you join me?
I’d love to hear from you! Email or call me to share your ideas, questions, and stories!
“Hitting the Wall” Update on Restoration of Judy Baca’s 1984 artwork on the Harbor Freeway As many of you know, the emblematic mural “Hitting the Wall” was egregiously whitewashed in 2019 without the consent of the artist and our founder, Judy Baca. The piece commemorated the first time female runners were allowed to compete in the…
Luis Jimenez 1940 – June 13th 2006 Dear friends and fellow artists, We have lost our companero Luis Jimenez too soon. The great Chicano Sculptor whose work appears in public sites throughout the country was killed in his studio yesterday in a tragic accident involving a hoist and the 28ft mustang in progress for Denver…
SPARC is inspired by a question recently posed by Jaclyn Roessel, the Director of Decolonized Futures & Radical Dreams at the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture: How do we collectively confront the invention of Thanksgiving and take on the myth and falsehoods related to the “founding” of the United States of America? …
