Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)
The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) is a non-profit public art organization in Los Angeles. Born of the spirit of social movement in 1970s empowering underrepresented communities by murals , (SPARC) was founded by Judith F. Baca, Donna Deitch, and Christina Schlesinger in 1976.[1] Since then, SPARC has been working on creating public art to facilitate social changes that benefit marginalized communities in Los Angeles (fig. 1). SPARC provides Baca and other muralists a free space to wield their talents and creativity to bring everyone the great stories that belong to different communities.
The Great Wall of Los Angeles was SPARC’s first project. Painted on a flood control channel for over half a mile, it is one of the longest murals in the world and a true cultural representation of different ethnicities in Los Angeles.[2] The Great Wall depicts the history of people of color from prehistoric times to the 1950s. One of The Wall’s murals (fig.2) represents the African American surgeon Charles Drew, the inventor of blood plasma storage, died because of excessive bleeding. Although his contribution saved millions of lives around the world, he could not save his own life because a white hospital refused to give him a blood transfusion. The Great Wall is not only thought-provoking to viewers, but also educational to the great number of youth participants who have participated in its production. SPARC recruited many young people of different ethnicities to work as artist assistants and participate in both the planning and execution of the mural.[3] Community-based art engages youth from marginalized communities and enables richer expression and comprehension of racial, identity, and community issues.[4]
Other mural programs conducted by SPARC include the World Wall program and The Great Walls Unlimited: Neighborhood Pride program (fig.1)(fig. 3). The Neighborhood Pride is an extension of The Great Wall of Los Angeles to the entire city.[5] SPARC sponsored over a hundred murals for the Neighborhood Pride program and together they provide audiences a unique lens through which to understand the culture and history of almost every ethnic community in Los Angeles. A theme that repeatedly appeared in the Neighborhood Pride program was the portrait of local or historic figures, such as African American curator Cecil Ferguson(fig. 3) by Richard Wyatt.[6] Watts resident, Cecil Fergerson, became the first African American curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art(LACMA).[7] His experience shaped the identity of his race to the public and continues to inspire community members to realize their self-worth.
SPARC has valued collaboration throughout its history. Artists were hired to work with community members and youth through the entire process of design and execution of different murals. Artists supervised community participants and gave them instructions to help them acquire necessary skills to paint the murals.[8] SPARC also worked closely with scholars and community organizations to conduct research for the design of the murals.[9] This collaborative production extended the ideas from artists and sponsors to more authentic experiences of locals and created murals revealing more democratic history.[10] Through this collaborative approach, people of different races, backgrounds, classes, and generations gain opportunities to exchange their experiences, memories, and ideologies. The invaluable spiritual treasure of intellectual fusion of all the participants is hidden inside each mural waiting for the appreciation of its audiences.
SPARC still holds various programs today. Its Mural Restoration Program helps preserve and restore murals undergoing damage to allow the affiliation between murals and communities to proceed. Following the development of new technologies, the UCLA@SPARC Digital Mural Lab was born in recent years. It is the leading research, teaching, and production facility in the country devoted to the creation of large-scale digitally generated murals, public art productions, and community cultural development practices.[11] The Great Wall of Los Angeles has never come to an end after a suspension in 1983. SPARC is currently working on an extension to The Great Wall that addresses historical events of the 1960s.
The Great Wall of Los Angeles was SPARC’s first project. Painted on a flood control channel for over half a mile, it is one of the longest murals in the world and a true cultural representation of different ethnicities in Los Angeles.[2] The Great Wall depicts the history of people of color from prehistoric times to the 1950s. One of The Wall’s murals (fig.2) represents the African American surgeon Charles Drew, the inventor of blood plasma storage, died because of excessive bleeding. Although his contribution saved millions of lives around the world, he could not save his own life because a white hospital refused to give him a blood transfusion. The Great Wall is not only thought-provoking to viewers, but also educational to the great number of youth participants who have participated in its production. SPARC recruited many young people of different ethnicities to work as artist assistants and participate in both the planning and execution of the mural.[3] Community-based art engages youth from marginalized communities and enables richer expression and comprehension of racial, identity, and community issues.[4]
Other mural programs conducted by SPARC include the World Wall program and The Great Walls Unlimited: Neighborhood Pride program (fig.1)(fig. 3). The Neighborhood Pride is an extension of The Great Wall of Los Angeles to the entire city.[5] SPARC sponsored over a hundred murals for the Neighborhood Pride program and together they provide audiences a unique lens through which to understand the culture and history of almost every ethnic community in Los Angeles. A theme that repeatedly appeared in the Neighborhood Pride program was the portrait of local or historic figures, such as African American curator Cecil Ferguson(fig. 3) by Richard Wyatt.[6] Watts resident, Cecil Fergerson, became the first African American curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art(LACMA).[7] His experience shaped the identity of his race to the public and continues to inspire community members to realize their self-worth.
SPARC has valued collaboration throughout its history. Artists were hired to work with community members and youth through the entire process of design and execution of different murals. Artists supervised community participants and gave them instructions to help them acquire necessary skills to paint the murals.[8] SPARC also worked closely with scholars and community organizations to conduct research for the design of the murals.[9] This collaborative production extended the ideas from artists and sponsors to more authentic experiences of locals and created murals revealing more democratic history.[10] Through this collaborative approach, people of different races, backgrounds, classes, and generations gain opportunities to exchange their experiences, memories, and ideologies. The invaluable spiritual treasure of intellectual fusion of all the participants is hidden inside each mural waiting for the appreciation of its audiences.
SPARC still holds various programs today. Its Mural Restoration Program helps preserve and restore murals undergoing damage to allow the affiliation between murals and communities to proceed. Following the development of new technologies, the UCLA@SPARC Digital Mural Lab was born in recent years. It is the leading research, teaching, and production facility in the country devoted to the creation of large-scale digitally generated murals, public art productions, and community cultural development practices.[11] The Great Wall of Los Angeles has never come to an end after a suspension in 1983. SPARC is currently working on an extension to The Great Wall that addresses historical events of the 1960s.
Notes
1. Tang, Yujia. “The Impact of Mural Programs on Minority Communities in the United States,” ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2019.2. “The Great Wall of Los Angeles,” SPARCinLA, accessed April 17, 2021.
3. “The Great Wall - History and Description,” SPARCinLA, accessed April 17, 2021.
4. Christine Sleeter. “Public Art and Marginalized Communities,” Ubiquity: The Journal of Literature, Literacy, and the Arts, Praxis Strand, Vol.1 No.1, Winter 2014, 9-17.
5. “Neighborhood Pride,” SPARCinLA, accessed April 17, 2021.
6. Robin J. Dunitz. “Spotlight: Neighborhood Pride: A Los Angeles Mural Program Places History and Culture in Public Spaces.” Southwest art 21, no. 1 (1991): 46–.
7. “Neighborhood Pride,” SPARCinLA, accessed April 17, 2021.
8. “The Great Wall - History and Description,” SPARCinLA, accessed April 17, 2021.
9. “Neighborhood Pride,” SPARCinLA, accessed April 17, 2021.
10. Mercado, Juan Pablo. “Judy Baca, SPARC and A Chicana Mural Movement: Reconstructing U.S. History Through Public Art.” Doctor diss., eScholarship, University of California, 2018.
11. “About the Digital Mural Lab,” SPARC Digital/Mural Lab, accessed April 17, 2021.
Bibliography
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PiNder, KymBerly N. "Black Liberation Theology, Black Power, and the Black Arts Movement at Trinity United Church of Christ." In Painting the Gospel: Black Public Art and Religion in Chicago, 69-98. University of Illinois Press, 2016.
Robin J. Dunitz. “Spotlight: Neighborhood Pride: A Los Angeles Mural Program Places History and Culture in Public Spaces.” Southwest Art 21, no. 1 (1991): 46–.
SPARC Digital/Mural Lab. “About the Digital Mural Lab.” Accessed April 17, 2021. https://digitalmurallab.com/dml/about-the-dml/
SPARCinLA. “About SPARC” Accessed April 17, 2021. https://sparcinla.org/about-sparc/
SPARCinLA. “Neighborhood Pride” Accessed April 17, 2021. https://sparcinla.org/neighborhood-pride/
SPARCinLA. “The Great Wall of Los Angeles.” Accessed April 17, 2021. https://sparcinla.org/programs/the-great-wall-mural-los-angeles/
SPARCinLA. “The Great Wall - History and Description.” Accessed April 17, 2021. https://sparcinla.org/the-great-wall-part-2
Tang, Yujia. “The Impact of Mural Programs on Minority Communities in the United States,” ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2019.