BACA: Art, Collaboration & Mural Making by Mario Ontiveros

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 mural and the “how” of its creation. BACA: Art, Collaboration & Mural Making showcases Judith F. Baca, a woman so inspired by the work of Mexico’s Los Tres Grandes—José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros—that she collaborated with hundreds of Southern California colleagues and students to paint an unvarnished history of Los Angeles. The result: a mural that has been viewed by millions and has become a cultural landmark in the city it documents.

BACA: Art, Collaboration & Mural Making explores The Great Wall of Los Angeles, the landmark work of muralist Judith F. Baca,. A renowned half-mile long mural, the project began in 1976, spearheaded by Baca and executed by more than four hundred artists and artists-in-the-making.

The Great Wall has been acknowledged internationally as one of the world’s great murals, and has been hailed for the methodology behind it. Judith F. Baca, a teacher, scholar, and activist extraordinaire, guided the team, introducing youth from the streets of Los Angeles to a world of art that not only expanded their minds and their individual passions, but defined a period of high muralism in the City of Angels. And just as importantly, Judith F. Baca taught these young people the importance of collaboration as a way to reach a common goal.

Scholars from across America join forces to study Judith F. Baca and The Great Wall, analyzing the why of its inception and the how of its creation. Edited by Mario Ontiveros, BACA: Art, Collaboration & Mural Making shares how Judith F. Baca was inspired by the work of Los Tres Grandes—José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros—and led her team to paint the history of Southern California. The result: a mural that has been viewed by millions, a cultural landmark in Los Angeles.

For everyone who treasures the mural as an expression of a community’s concerns and as a document of a specific time in history, BACA: Art, Collaboration, and Mural Making is a must-have work, a testament to the power of paint on a wall. With more than 200 images and a complete view of The Great Wall of Los Angeles as well as other important works by Judith F. Baca and other muralists, BACA: Art, Collaboration & Mural Making will be an important addition to every art lover’s library.