Public Art
Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy
Cultural, historical and artistic monuments should reflect the diversity of a place and its people. People of color and women have been vital to the creation of Los Angeles throughout the history of the City and the area. Yet with almost 900 official cultural and historical landmarks in the City of Los Angeles as of January 2008, only about 76 relate to people of color, women, and Native American tribes. Images of 60 of those diverse monuments are shown in the The City Project's Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy set on flickr.
Things are not getting any better as Los Angeles gets increasingly diverse — only about 16 out of 199 monuments since 2000 relate to people of color or women.
Manzanar is a best practice example of a monument that honors diversity, democracy, and freedom.
In contrast, community members, activists and advocates have identified over 100 links along the Heritage Parkscape to serve as a "family album" for diverse communities from the Great Wall of Los Angeles to the Rio de Los Angeles State Park, the Los Angeles State Historic Park, and El Pueblo de Los Angeles.
Prof. Judy Baca and SPARC, Mujeres de la Tierra, and The City Project presented public comments to the Los Angeles Culture and Heritage Commission on April 17, 2008. The comments make two major recommendations. The first is to redefine the criteria for designating monuments. The second is to redefine the responsibilities of the Commission. Both should promote cultural, historical, and artistic monuments that reflect diversity and democracy.
The Ordinance should be revised to reflect the following principles. The collection of monuments should faithfully, completely, and accurately depict the history and diversity of Los Angeles, including people of color, women, and workers. Monuments should stimulate and provoke a greater understanding of, and dialogue on, diversity, democracy, and freedom. The Commission should provide leadership for the protection and interpretation of such monuments, resources, and places.
Best practice examples of monuments and public art that celebrate diversity, democracy, and freedom include the Great Wall of Los Angeles, Manzanar, Biddy Mason Park, Little Tokyo, and Colonel Allensworth State Park.
(The study of diverse monuments is based on a review of several sources. There were 700 landmarks as of 2000, which are described in the book Landmark L.A. published by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department in 2002. Another 199 landmarks had been added as of January 2008. These landmarks are described in the list by the City Planning Department, in the newsletters of the Office of Historic Resources, and other sources.)
Public Art at the Los Angeles State Historic Park
Public art in the new Los Angeles State Historic Park at the Cornfield
site should highlight the struggles, hopes, and triumphs of the generations
who have entered Los Angeles through El Pueblo and the Cornfield
to reflect the dreams of the community, the purpose of the park,
and the vision of the Cornfield Advisory Committee. "Public
Art in the Public Park: People, Place, Power in the Los Angeles
State Historic Park" sets forth the vision for the park
as expressed by the communities that struggled to create it.
Public art in the public park should reflect the values at stake
to bring people together – providing children the simple
joys of playing in the park, improving recreation and health, equal
access to public resources, democratic participation in deciding the
future of the community and park, educating the public, local jobs
for local workers and economic vitality for all, spiritual values
of promoting peace and justice, and providing the clean air, water,
and ground benefits of safe and healthy urban parks.
Artist Judy Baca and Baldwin Park Residents Defend First Amendment
Freedoms Against Terrorist Tactics
Judy Baca writes:
"SPARC's mural in three movements, "You are my other
me," (pictured above) is truly a case of art begetting art.
Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped conceive, construct,
and perform the mural, which premiered on Saturday at the 'Reconquest
of Justice, Peace, Liberty and Love.'
- “The first of three movements, 'Speaking Back,' ridicules
the anti-humanitarian ideas of SOS with quotes submitted from supporters
to our website.
- “In the second movement, 'Turn Our Back,' we illustrate
America turning its back on hate-groups and hate-speech, with
the decisive show of disrespect coming from silhouettes labeled
according to the models' ancestry: Native-American, Mexican-Irish-American,
Cuban-American, etc.
- “Finally, in the third movement, 'Reconciliation,' we
offer Spanish and English translations of a Mayan concept-word,
'in lak ech' that means 'you are my other me,' and 'tu éres
mi otro yo,' to signify that whether we like it or not, we all
share a common humanity, and that even the most vitriolic hatred
doesn't change our connection to others who think differently."
On June 25, 2005, over 600 peaceful demonstrators sang, danced,
chanted, and beat drums to urge tolerance and support for our client,
artist Judith F. Baca, Founder and Artistic Director of SPARC (Social
and Public Art Resource Center). The City of Baldwin Park presented
Ms. Baca with a proclamation to keep the Danzas Indigenas monument
intact and declared the matter closed. Sixty members of the anti-immigrant
hate group Save Our State—Sink Our State would be more appropriate—staged another unsuccessful protest against the Danzas Indigenas
public art monument in Baldwin Park and Ms. Baca. On May 14, 2005,
twelve to twenty outside agitators from the hate group traveled
to Baldwin Park where they encountered over 1,000 supporters of
the monument. The hate group has charged that the twelve-year old
monument to multicultural understanding is racially charged, seditious,
and anti-American.
Ms. Baca facilitated a community process with members of the Baldwin
Park community that ultimately created the public art project to
reflect the dreams, past, and future of Baldwin Park.
The hate group using terrorist tactics threatens to take action
if two statements are not removed. The group's diatribe against
one quote reflects its own ignorance: "It was better before
they came." The group berates that statement because it laments
the presence of whites in America, but in fact the quote is from
a non-Hispanic white resident who was speaking about Mexican immigrants
arriving after World War II, according to Ms. Baca. The ambiguity
of the statement as it appears on the monument is the point: about
which "they" is the anonymous voice speaking?
On the front of the monument representing the past is a quote
from the Chicana author Gloria Andzuldua, "This land was Mexican
once, was Indian always, and is, and will be again." The quote
reflects the fact the monument is one mile from Mission San Gabriel,
and descendents of the native Tongva/Gabrielinos still live in
the region, making the quote particularly relevant to the increasing
indigenous population. The reference is to the land being Native
American, and does not advocate a return to Mexico, contrary to
the ignorant ravings of the hate group, which dismisses the author
as a "dead lesbian."
Baldwin Park Councilman Bill Van Cleave stated that "there
is no race problem in Baldwin Park," but that the Ventura
County-based hate group "was bringing one." The group "threatened
my life and told me they were going to bury me in brown soil," said Councilman Van Cleave, the only non-Hispanic White on the council.
All members of the council have received death threats. The hate
group's web site is filled with violent images of a man shooting
at the viewer, people used as target practice, and people beaten
and bloodied.
The City Project will continue to represent Ms. Baca and SPARC so that
artists, public officials, and community members will not be left
to face death threats and attacks on their well-being because of
a work of public art that was created in a public process, and
approved by an art committee in the city and the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority.
Watts Towers
A universally acclaimed artistic and cultural masterpiece, the Watts Towers were constructed by hand over a 33-year period by Simon Rodia, an immigrant artist. The City Project supports the ongoing efforts to restore and maintain Watts Towers.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa summed up the importance
of the Watts Towers in his inauguration speech this way:
“I've
lived here all my life, and there are many places I love around
the city. But whenever I go through South Los Angeles, I always
try to catch a glimpse of Nuestro Pueblo, which is Spanish for 'Our
Town.' It describes a series of towers that rise over Watts
like some improbable dream.
The Watts Towers were a 33-year labor of love, built by the Italian artist
and immigrant Simon Rodia. He used simple tools and cast-off materials. He
worked without the aid of scaffolding or the benefit of cultural and architectural
designs. And he raised his towers up, from the ground up.
And for over half a century, the Watts Towers have stood. They've withstood
natural and man-made catastrophes. They've survived despite the efforts of
critics and the ravages of earthquakes and the proximity of civil unrest. And
they've stood. They've stood as both a tribute to individual imagination and
as a monument to the power of difference.
Seen from afar, the Watts Towers rise like the spires of a great cathedral.
But close up, you're immediately drawn in by the amazing complexity of their
design. Embedded in those walls are thousands of cast-off objects, representing
every imaginable color, shape, texture and form. They're made from bed frames
and bottles and broken glass-pot shards and ceramic tiles.
When I see those towers soaring over Watts, my thoughts always return to the
pieces that make up that beautiful whole. To the value in those things that
people, in their haste, are apt to cast away. To the awesome power of disparate
elements working together to achieve such dazzling harmony.
Fellow Angelenos, I will never forget where I came from. And I will always
believe in the value of every Angeleno. This is truly our town. And we all
have a contribution to make.
Simon Rodia was asked late in his life to explain the meaning of his work,
and he offered this simple reply: ‘I had in mind to do something big,
and I did it.’"
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