Great Wall of Los Angeles, Diversity, and Democracy
Great Wall of Los Angeles
The Great Wall of Los Angeles exemplifies a cultural, historical, and artistic monument that celebrates diversity and democracy.
The Great Wall is one of the city’s great landmarks and one of the country’s most respected monuments to multicultural harmony. The Great Wall depicts the history of people of color and other ethnic groups in California from prehistoric times to the 1950’s. The Great Wall was conceived by Judy Baca, the founder and artistic director of SPARC. Begun in 1974 and completed over five summers, the Great Wall employed over 400 youth and their families from diverse social and economic backgrounds working with artists, oral historians, ethnologists, scholars, and hundreds of community members.
The Great Wall is dedicated at its core to celebrating diversity and democracy, both in its artistic purpose and in the way it was created with full community participation. Yet the City has not designated even the Great Wall itself as an official monument. The City should. Indeed, the National Latino Congreso resolved that “the Great Wall be designated a national, state, and local cultural and historical landmark,” and that “federal, state, and local agencies and the philanthropic community further support restoring and extending the Great Wall of Los Angeles.”
There should be many monuments like the Great Wall that celebrate diversity and that are created through a democratic community process.
Great Wall of Los Angeles by Judy Baca © and SPARC.
Learn more about Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy.
Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.
