J T A CISCABAC

685 Venice Boulevard, Ven ice, California, 90291

(310) 822-9560

-Tri umph of the Heart-

" Danzas Indlgenas"

• BIOGRAPHY

• RESUME

PRESS ARTICLES

(Slides of artwork- avanable upon request)

I
I Ba~
" ,.
" ,f A Tntista del'C.mtro (J4 Est'tldi4s Av~ de Puma Ria> ") E'~
..
, "
-".
second hu.sba.n<i.]ose N1C~O, a Spanish-bom I:onege pm. '
fessor.Tn 1.967, a ~k.entit1ed La g&St4d4 PumD Rito'wa,1
p~bl.\;Jh~ ~ wdl as A~ poiti1;4 'dl E~ RibtrO
CMvreJlUl1lt, wtittc:n with J~eLuiS R.odriguc:. And Bab(n
le:ft 'W'asbington ~ College to jo~ the !aQrlty oC
Lehman.CoUegeof'tbe ClL7 'Un~ty ofNew Yort: Grad~
ate Ceater,' It wU' during het tenure at Leb..m2nConegl:,
1969--72. that Babin founded and,he:Jded 'thc: :fitst Depart-
.
ment:of Puerto RIcan Studies- in the United.St:1,te5. '
, international ¢hz:oOnicler.In more than two, decades o~
In 197Q, Babin tQO'k on th~3.dditionaJduties of professor
of Sp~h at the City 'U'nivc:r$iry ,of New York Cra,dua1<
Genter.,U1c was named professor emeritus in,1~78.0ncc:
av.in, Babm blended 'her aeademtc duties ubomLehn;Qn
College.and City UnivCf$ity With hcr'Writin,g~rand
pro~uced a number of notable literary \Vorks. including
fo~'!Ven-tteei'(ca. books; !M 'PiurtD J~icQ1'U ' SpiT#: Tiui! '
liis~~ Lifl and C~ La pociagalkga ,tU Gama !.ArCD.
Es:u4i~LorquianM; ::Jnd GmiD,jigu'rc'dtNemmo It C<maw.
Although bUSy with her various CuJJ·dme teichlo g posi.
tions, and writing assignmentS; 'Babin' :wo fQund time to
3Aar.e her extensive kno~ledge, and love of Puerto Rican
cultur.e and litera ture with omen by 1ectl1rini at numerous
uni:yersfti~ 3.CfO.u the United St;Ul;SaD.d co~~g with ,
various univenHiojorgani%atiOllS'. and gOvernment :.geD-
des. Babin r eceived numero,w aw:irdsand honors for her
work, indudlng '~ prestigioUs 'pmd for her writing,
the I nstiruto ,d c: u ter:uur3. l'ucrtQmqueiia litcIVy 'prize,
1954, the A ~n c:o Puertorriqucllo literary p~ 1955. the
" '
l
Uni6n Mujer~ Amcri~ literary prize. 1962, and th ,
1
literary Prize of the Ye:JJ' from the Insntuto PuertOniquei'1o~
~~ " "
Sources:
Books
Ca1'ibe; Dc:panmCDtofPuerto Rican Studles, Center fa '
Advanced Studies on Puerto RiCo, 19891 p. 25.
' Riven de Alvat6%, Josefiria"Diccio1l4rio d4 liteTt:uur
~lnstitutq de Cultur.:l Puenor::riquem. 1974
pp. 15S.161. '
Other
j
Rivera. Carmen. telephone interview with Pam Berry, Set>"!
tetnbc:r9and 10, 1992, Sao juan, Puma Rico. '
-Sutch bJ Pam B~
Judi~ F. ,Baca
(1946-)
Artist, munJis4 ptofessctr ,
, I
,JUdith ,FtanqsCl Baa has "risen from the role ofpte-'J
miere muralist of the streeu of Lcs Angeles tc) that oC ani
painting ~e projecu. Baca has sought to di5playi
the hinoryand culture of a variety of races in ncr artwotk.
rn addition tohcr work a:sa muralist and, communi~ ,
o~. Baa helped found the: Social and Public Art I
Resourcc Cmter (51'ARC) in Venice,California. an organj. j
zarion dedic;ned to the promotion,andeu1tivation of I..-Wno '
artbt!.Baci',s ""atu~ ,in the,an world rose with her proj~t~
the ~CrCU Wall; " the ~f euedccr muraiin the worfd. ;
' He- next~~e: publican project" the "World wan.
io
which is a .swdyo( envuioojng a WQrld without Ie3l. ~
,i1i¢1udes participatiOn by in~o,naJ2tti5uand 1= been '
displayed in loC:itiom all divme as Corky Park. in Moscow
and the Smithsonian Institution in Wa:shingto~ D.C: "~ j
pivQW figure since the early 19705, is Chicano m1Jra!i,s.t. j
teacher. and community activist Judy Baa. wrote PaUl
II
Von , IJIUmin Z Mag=i1U. "Her ",moined eff'()ru as • •
m~istam:ia.ttisticdireCtOr ofSPARC have brtJught ber ·
nation\li,acclaini.. ~ . (Her) initial projects established Baa
as a major publiC artist whose work encompassed a C1!1P1" '
mum! process culminating in vivid, !oci2lly consdo~
~....'"
!l.c>
... ' _ ., .iJ
j uJiJA F. 8=
SaC2., a sec ond-generadcn QUQJl3., was bern Septem-
be 20. 1!)46. in routh centra.! Los ..l,n gel 0. Cro ....ing up in
the HuntingtOn Pm neighborhood.. me~ b rou~t".: p in
a stranS' fOlate household. which included he:' mccher.
grandmother, and rwo :lUnC3. one of whom was mentally
retolrtic:d.. 'vVhiIc&o's mothc:r, O rte:r..s.ia. BaC1 ('''Sbt drnppct;1
the 'H' because she didn't lik.c the An gie ' caJl:r:g her
'Hcrtense.t" Raosaic1 in a telephone interview with Yleana
Martinez), workcd :U:l tire f.tcr.ory. Sao wa.s r.:Useci prim :;.ri.
Iy by her gnndmother. AltholJ!h she did not kno w her
father,:l mtuidan named Valen tin o Marcd. Baa \IoOS vetv
happy. She rec:illed.: "It was a. very strong, wo nd~uL
rlT.Uri3rch:Li hcuseacld, I was ~l'" s ",~ Id.. I had ;z
wonderful playmate in my grown-up au nt .",ho wasn't
grown uP .in her hCld. It was like she w:I.S five. my ~g:t: . l)n; y
she was big.,.
When Sao W3J six her m cmer married Clarence F~Tj
and m~ to Paccima, wnere Baa would spc:nrl he
for:na.u~c y~. She .-cn.c::nbc:rs Wt .sh e spcse E.-:gfu:~
POOrly In e le.on~ school J.Dd fclt vet"V 3lien in tt!.~
~ool She ::ttisxd liVing :n 2. Spanish-5pc::ajng housc~old
Wlth he:- gnndmothcr. who Strled behind in .south coU<1J
Los ..\nge..'e5. O ue ofth u aiien.:lCion. ho~, c:::une he !.irs t
? PPO ruuti ty to Pr'aC'..icc art. Her te:u:hcr ~lo....ed. he" to ::;it
In :t. COr:"l.a 3nd. paint while the rest o( the!' dass o....,.;e1 l)n.
Baa gr:tduated in I !)64 from 3bbop Alemany High
chool. a Cuholic sc."1ool in Mission Hm.s. ClJifOr.IQ.., t"..m
by the Sistcn 1)( Sc.joscph Carondelet. A YCU" l2.tc:"
wouJd rm.rry at the age of 19. The m:trriage would tas: ~
yc :lt'S. Sh e: rewmcd to her :11m mater to teach a f,
rccc tv-in g a bachelor' j degree in art in 1969 from C:tJiCo r ::
SQt C C'cive:3 ity in No rthridg e. "TInt same yor. she e r
barkcd on he" first cooperacve art venture whcn :si
rounded up a number of cthniC111y diverse student.:!
D3int ::L mural at the schooL It was "a mcthod to fo rce to;
grou p inrc cccpeacce," she: :s:l.id. 2. method she: "" OU
emp loy time 100 ag3in in her future prcjeca.
&let's days ac the high school were n umbered, Ba
became involved widllbc peace movemenragamse the w
in vter :"un and put:icipaLed in marches. woegstde rna:
~ ( th e nuns who also taught at the school, A change in c
school's adI:ini.nnnon resulted in a notorious tnci d e-
~c: purge of the N.-\lemany Elghttt:1," she said. Ten mar
Baca, and seven other lay toehers wen fir ed for their an
.....-u ;.cti>.-icc:s. Shortly therc:Uter' the rest of the nuns wi I
d.-"ew fr om opcruing the 3d:tool in prceesr of me: aerie
BOlCl Aid she was "quite cr::;..urru.tized'· by the event, fo r s.
1)diC'."C'd her tclching career was over.
However. Sao. soon found employment in a sp c ,:;
Progr"4JTl: for artists with the: Gry of Lea Angdcs Cultu:
.~'hi n Division. Baa eaveled from schools to par -
tc=':lChing art, cYe:1tu:ally fo rmin g her own group. "L
V"'.I3W ~ ~ .. ,h e said. 'lbc groU?, rmde u p of 2{) k;
Irem Icur differt::l~ganS' and neghborh ood groups, painl
he r first mural for her, in H ollenbeck Park. "The city \0-
amazed;t the work I w;u doi ng, " sh e recdted, "p u lti n g
mc r:t.is with k.kb who 'd run director']' out ofncighborho ,
centers. Tne city let me do roy own thing. '.
ShOrtly after the compl etio n of th e Ho llen beck Pa
:r.llr.tJ. someone handed he' J. book en "Los Tres Cr.lndes'·
Diego Rjve:":1. David Alfaro Siqu eiros, and Jose Cemez
O re zco-e-me famous Mcxi ~ munliso. and Baca beg,
to- learn abcut tne Mc:xicnlr.ldition of mural painting.
me mid·19iO·s, she: did go to Me:::cico to Clkt: classo
m:Jnl marerials 'UU1 recnniou es at Siqucirw', studlc :lJ
tr:lvc!ed. around the COwltrY loo k.in g it th e murals. "T
precedence oC all mural painting in Am erica lie" with l
TreeCr.:mdc=." she said in ~ in~ewwith.-\no M:d33pi:
&0. is tinnJy fi.'CC'd in that tradition. " 1 believe Clking an
the people is a politiaJ act," she safd , echoing her fo:
bears. " I Lon a McUo.n munJ p2inter in th e: tru e sense. b
! ~nd, it ~o the nat level To lc.eQ an ut fonn Ji ving, it h
to grow 3I1d c:han~. "
aaa. in Los .~gd es. with the sUpport of lht: dty 5m
t.ehind h er. 8a.o. ~dcd her ?"'gr:un in to rh e CICf""i>
Munl P:-ojl:C"_ .-\l ldSt ~O munis ~ painted under h
sU9C'f'Yisio n. Baa em rightfully cbim to be the fint in l
.\ngt:!es to _ark wilh muJticuJcuraJ you th to produce ::-
::W. " W:ills wen aJrcdy used 4S community billboards
..
L~.so the e:xtc.sionofgnBiti to im1ges was nOl tbatbig :a.
la p to make ," m e aid in ber telephon e infe:"Yicw.
H ermost ambioOU1 project during the. 1970s was the
"C rc:u W:ill, a hall-mi1c: long namuivc: mutaJ painted on
to
<be T ujunga Wa>h ~ anal in San Femondo V>Ilcy.
it:! subject is Los Angd o ' mu1ti-ethnic history from neo-
lithic tim es up to the 195{);, andencompaJSO'uch evc1U~
the Freedom Bus Rides. Japanoc: •.uncric2n Internment
during World Wull. tbe gn::u DuSt BowfJoumq. and the
infam o us Zoot Suit Rioa of 1942. The "e reu WaIl" w:u
pain ted over fiye swnmen in nine yon: Bac::l ~ped
the co nc ept, h ired. people. and helped I'2lSC money ror the
prcject, ";bich .she likc:ned in a. tdephone inu::rview to
"devdoping a. miliary cnampmcnL" - aaive ccc cept, how an we ~ bope fo r it lO happenr
aaca began to JCt:: the value in worXing with ciiw=se
gro u ~ to create public an. MIt niIl is ~ only ~.le of
in te":'"Jdal wort chat foc.1Sd on working on I'2ci:JJ difTc ·
e."1CO in Los .~=- 11 was not only a. mural p ~ but
it addrl:!Sed. ethnicity and 2Cknowicdged the ditraencl:3
between cu1tunl groups." $he.said. Using the " Gre ll Wall"
project as 3. mo del, Sa.ca. went an to found in. 1976 .the
S ~ciaJ and Pu bticArtRdource Center (SP.UC), In venice.
Cilifomia.. The non-profit, muilicu1tl1n.1 ~ cemer contin-
UC$ a. pr ogr.un of involving ;utisu. comrnUDity groups and
youth to present and preserve mur2Jsand olhcr pub lic an.
The im~a.tionaDy ~ a1te:nacive art a:na:r J.1.so
bcuses an;arch.ive of mor e than 16,000 slid es of public art
fro m around the: world.
''World Wall" Mural btablisbed RcputoDoe
In 1987 Baa cnbartl:d on an CYC1 grande:" projea.
" Wa n d. Wall: A V'u ion of the Future Without Fear," 113
them e of global importance, war, ~ md cooperation
greo.... out of bn io.n orming sessions W'lth pcopk sdected. to
provide cultur.t.ldiVt:r.rity aad c:xpC"tise in ~ of concern
to the project. The pomble tnUt"3l is made oC X"tC:l. lo-by·
.3Q-fOOt pm el.s to be painted by aaa ant! arranged. in a !OO-
foo t se.'"I1i<irdc. With four p:aneb completed. the: pttt:
premiered. in Finland in june 1990. It the Q'%VCcd. to the
Soviet Uni on. when' it W2.1 displayui in Gor1ty Part.. 111c
munl includes sncn pandS to be painted by utisa !rom
me countri es in whidl it wU1 be dispLayed. Thc:sc additional
pane, will be hung on the outc' circle.
f or Bac:::L the jump from producing murals with neigh-
~ bornood. groups to werling 'With zrtists from uound the:
world ~ :l natUta.l tr2IUition. '"My idCl was that what wc
had learned with the in~ wort in Los Angdes could
be applied to an intenwional scope, from the neighbor-
I'1OQd to the global" she :mid. '"The World Wail ~ an
utemp t to pusb the scue of 3I'U in lD'Ur2fum jQ ~t the
mur.U c-c:atC:S its own ~ It makes io own lpace
and c::U1 be :wc:nblcd. bv any DeaDle ~ .. Second.,
she asked the participating uUsa' to aa u vi3iorw-:=. to
envisio n the fuwce witho utfe:u-, she Aiel The l'DUr:J.I, when
com pleted. - will be llfOl'!dowidc: col1a.bor.Wcn. .. The tides
-
Baca
cf the pancb p:rin ted by Baca U'C '"Triumph. of the Hen."
"Nonviolent R.c;,utanCC'., " "New World Systems." "1bl-
ana:," "H wmn Based T e:dmoiogy,'" ~ to SQOh.iPS. ~
aad "Triumph aCme Hands." The paneb wiD usc striJting
itmgery lO prc:scnt 3peCfic allegories.
In her artist's senemeee fer "wcrld Wall." Baca wr-ote:
- . . . Many oC\U re:ad]oaathan Schen', Feu of tJu E.crth. in
which he .wd thou we must imagine the evenwa.lity of
nudor war WOR we an change our d.cstiny. It OCCJn'ed
to Inc b.ter th2t it ....., n~t imagining destrUCtion that W85 so
1w'd lO us but mber imaginiDg peace, One of the: atad ene
on the 'World WaIl' teLm said, 'ls pc::at:e C'Ylef'YODe .sitti "S"
around wau:hing rv?' If we c:::lJmO[ ~ peace as U1
Cr=ing the: World Wall ""I"'cialIY waddog wilh c!liJd.
rc:n-was a labor of love. In ~ Baca. reccueeed an
esercse she oftc::t did with hcryoung 2.Isj1cmcs. She ulted
them to pthe:' in ~ large cirde U1d hold out their hanm.
~ And then YOu'd see all these wondc::ful litt!c hand1. thee:
little b..",m £ini=. .wbby h1W. hnnds, 1Iim-fing=<i
white han~. all these various hands," Baa reolled... Then
she would tell the: te-::nagcn: '"We need <:Very ~d here.
W t: have nin e wecks and we bave MO feet of wall, it's thC3C
l=ds _ wiD make that. •
Oesoice her ,ucccs on n.umcrotn levels. Bact. has strUg-
gkd With nising funds: for ber work. In :I.tI. interView with
the lAs Angela- Tnna, Bac:a s:rid it wu " Ironic" th1t she: h:Ld
received more support for the "World wan" fro m abroad
than on ;l leal Jcvcl She: said olber countries have soon-
soce:1 visits for her aud he:' :asUstants by providing 'fTer
ilCCOmmodatioru and o thC' :ln'2Dgcment! but thatsbc l?d
been tumed down by ~ influential U.s. foundatio",
and art councils, However. she did secure funding fro m
groups including the: Rodc.e!e!lcr Foundation. th e Worn·
en's fow1d:uion. ~d Art:o. 'rnte intention is to acne a
dWogue of a vision of the futu re where there: 'Will be 2.
world without fcar;o she told the LtJs AngdG Tz:ma. .0&
artists. we have tht: powcr of spreading icic2s. and this i.! :3-
way in which the power of ideas an move around the:
world... she said.
Baa'J art n::±1ccD her commitment lO 2d.drosing JOcia.I
iIls. This interest. , he: c!2iuu. nems from being nixd by
her snndmotha, whom >h. d<3cribcd .. being • ""1'
rdig::ous penon and the ccighbcrhood', resident h~c:-.
She an rec:ill that her grandmother used herbs and pnycr
to make her wdL She bciieve:s that her artWOrk exhib it.!
much of me ccnscientiousnos iwtiII ed in her by he!'
gtrmdmotha "'"'usb <b. ~ of healing and makin,
the family work. "(My wod] focu.sc:s OQ social1trU.8'8'1C.
issues, :u.uJ ills that come 3.bout from r.td:sm." she saic:l
Baa hoJd:s amaste's: degree in ntfrom Uliromi:a.Seat.~
Univc:sity at Nonhridge 2%1.d U a. full profes$Or of art :lL the
University of UliComia. at Irvine.
 Great Walls Unlimited: Neighborhood Pride
Putting Communities and Artists Together
A MODEL PROGRAM

The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) Is a multi-culturaI arts center that
produces, exhibits, distributes and preserves pubfic art wo rks. PubUc art is a vital part of
every c ulture because it exists where people live and work--in schools, OD public
transportation and In our neighborhoods. SPARC Is particularly committed to enhancing the
visibility of work which reflects the lives and concerns of America's diverse populations,
including ethnic groups, women, caree r people, the y outh and the elderly. The ultimate
purpose for all of SPARe's programs is to examine what we choose to memoriaUze through
public art and develop alternative processes for the creation of public monuments for
communities.

Administered by SPARe, the Great Walls Unlimit ed: Neighborhood Pride mural program began
in 1988, when SPARe received funding through the Los Angeles Mayor's Office to produce
nine new murals within the city. S ix years and over sixty murals later, the Neighborhood
Pride program is going strong, serving as a model program to cities across the country.

The Great Walls program has several goals: To foster community pride among the people
living In the areas wh e re the m urals are placed; to beautify neighborhoods with insplrin&
works of public art; and not least to provide young people with the opportunity to learn
artistic skills firsthand under professional guidance. For many ofthem, i~ is their first formal
exp osure to art.

Great Walls Unlimi t ed is inspired by the model of the Great WaIl of Las Angeles, the longe st
mural in the world , located on Coldwater Canyon Avenue in the Tujunga Wash. In this
project, which lasted from 1976 to 1983, artists worked with local youth teams and solicited
community advice, producing a public mural monument, the reby making a lasting
contribution to life in Southern Califomia through art.

SPARC's mural program is an important nationwide model for de veloping publlc art for
ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Careful selection of artists en sures the compatibility of
the artwork with the sites. Muralists include both locally and nationally recognized names
as well as first·time muralists.

Through Great Walls Unlimited: Neig hborhood Pride, SPARC supports artwork that expresses
the many cultures an d inte rests in Los Angeles. Together, these murals eloquently reflect
the multi-cultural nature of the city for which they were created, making a free outdoor
gallery of the streets .

For further information on SPARC and its many programs, please call or write:
685 Venice Blvd. Venice , CA 90291
(3 10 ) 8 22-9 5 60 - 1'a1: 13101 827-8717
Ul.6 Angcles (Urncs
' ~, ' .
too.: .

.'

Is L.A.
Public Art
aPie in
the Sky?
=:::::=:-:c...::...
Let critic
Christopher
Knight show
you the high
.points, tfgm this
~u1/Jture perched 1
". over a Venice
t. ....
:~·. .
'¢terrection to an
qnc mural-
along a
city !lood ch~l.
. "
II
. .'

~, Page4 c:' .
-_ J~;, -,Z~!: ,-. l-;.~
.u . , . , . . i · '*...~ "' ..,1t
- ., . "
............. •_ .......
or _
 CO\ Tr~ ::IOl~)

Not Just an Exercise in Futility

Public art is almost always
controversial but sometimes
it's even popular. As it becom es
m ore common place, isn :t it

- - - . -' ,.. - --- ..- --. - -- .. worth considerin g a few

pieces that really work?
By ChristoPtter Kaicht
M ·G~al wsu of L A..'· u" furh n, for nNr,.,

T
S.~
Th ~
punted
half a mi~ alonf an unlo~ej r ("O;'>Cl'C'It' no.><l
e~
Nortl';
~

mu:-al. a
lh.Il sllCft I hrou lt h Va" :\"U.H an(:
H oll~·"..aod.
mllFI ~ I Y ra ni; a moroe Ihe
p;Ilntlnp anpl.-he,"" In lh~ l ' nll e'd

lOOlle;Y linkf'd sNIU<n« 0; 41 J<'Cm',

,"~lttenll~' btl ...... n 1m 'O...c 19S3. le li. a..,
al llIOlIl cirmnaue: hLl'tory of Ca h;o m la from the preh ", .
\.One eralD thepraoml d;I~'.
A$iOe fnlrn I he adchl .'· af 'UI mammolh AU. lM m" r,,:
a.bo n",lu: u a SlJTU ficanl and compell"'ll "VTk gf ""h hc
ar. - .. sarwllIlt Ii'...: IS no , ,,,,"Ii a chl(" 'c ~n t In th at
IYP)l;;l!J~' be~ucred re.>lm. :\"ol.l.blC S lXC......~ C I Lh,'
publle· an ".nre ...... i..." tholn .. bu~nL . even tl\oul:h
tJM, I~lci .. L ~~i1Sl nll In '''Slbi h'~' Lhroullltoul 1..0>
A. Ies,
Wha t ,t It :h..1 m.. keoc !'Om<' publ'c U\ <'Clio "'"lei
I'e5OI.lItd III \he 1"",S"""uon, " 'hile """" of It juc<1 MM of
si t-r tl1eTe . Ioaklllll' "a"OU$I ~' pompoltJ or ;o:-iorn,
:umoyin« ~ loc!ilf~ 1. Ln the "·a.~ CIT OUt o! place 7
Why 0Cl lOme " 'orks of ..n set'!!I born to ,."'J<tl.,.
inMOlI the ptIblK rt'alm . "Ule'r ,~" te :'t'<;UIl'C' Lhr
IIlOl"f enc lOH<l"""'id of th \' llalk-r.'· ;1nd m \l$C\lm7
n.e QU8UOn "" wanh eon5ldc:n1lfl'. ,n pa r: tl«"..ll&<'
pub hc ~ .. iI('comiO-!l t'Ot1lmonp~ In LA. and III pa r,
btcause !he Iflln ill L!$elf of pnt S1,."llCa~.
Art iI: ~. to a e'VlIl;r:t'd ,, ·o r ili. Thl"Olll!t>out
history.lJOVerT\l!le'Ilt$ of a U k,m.. have bH-n pnnc"""
~ for..,-... In l>TMr to aclue ,·e .. ovilW!d d=>oc... .
c~·. publIC pa\r'llnfillt' . - to ~'le'I"alt' U\ in lhe pUbJlt'
realm .
'I'he p.-ollf~h"n of publlC ..n Ioe~U y, ~ a mull of ~ h.,
ewnu.l.J.u n ...rfft:L'O of fedl:n1. a""Ie and (:ny !aWl. "'h",h !'
"btpn.-ith the lUuanaI Endowmcml fCIT lhe A ru' An
in Pubhe Ptaca p:lIJRIII d the I.aUlI S6OI. T <>d.Iy . man:
lh;f.r. h;t./f the 1lta18 ;and a...ns" f Clt~ m;r,r.cl.ale
I
pen:enl_ I«.an wmm i ~ lram a mix af puW..: anc! . .
pnn"' de ..k4>o<' s.
Sanl.a "oruca. CuiWI'" e lly ..nd l.D$ A"lIe,"", ar c
"raonc lClui ~ I~t r~ a pcm"", of
reOev" iap<oem or cil.• COfIS\1VC1JCITl runds to be ok"ott'd
to the comrnssaoni"ll' ~ ~Utli'I of pubtie work. of
an. A bfc bcul lw _ ltom MelJ'Q Rail . ,,",th iU
h iChly vl:Sib~ Sl O- m'Uio)n Art lor Rail Tn"mt Pfqt'Ct
"'I\K:b has invol..w UliIts m $\IbW' )' mlJlm dt'sIl{rl .
In IOSlt.ion to p:lVI::rnment. .. f"", pnv'le IocaJ entities
abo hf'" becoIDe tIlvClIwd. Foun:tatlana .. nd ind\'pt'nd .
mt reaJ.-ate Oevelopen ~ an mlen<!<'d not
I« prjva", otIIIRlllIpUOn but lelTUte publIC realm.
e-uovenin cm&inly a~'t a l"'" IG lhe """fII'ct. I
SClmeumeI .. lIPft:ifie \lIOri: C\llUIlelI a nap. as happen<'CI in I
19111 "'ben • conp"I:IIm.In .. nd .I fC!denI .iudl \' o/;IJeelCd I
to. newlell1plw'al ef"oRmo le by Tnm Ottnnas .., 1....1'
Roybal Fedenl BuiJduI&: dcJ""nlOWTt. (T heir t>O;ecUo.'UI
tlid not prnoail.)
I'
I-
.
Otbe" tirJl<f$. u in a l"Ktn1 storm in Culve-r Cit v ever I'
. whether .... not \he qualily of Mwly built .....,hit«tul'C' .
......1oCIZ\'O"-'"'QOC I ... _ _ c:auld Ie:liUDWoely utJlly .. pertt'lll-ror.an I"\"tnlll"t". ,' ,
ment..it is the Jarwu phlkMlphy of public an thai "tues
~T[ . . .'": Terry Allen', head~ bron7J: ac Cirirol'Jl P\az;a is all too lttOptaat!k-hr is IlL t1wbea\. ( Tba~~ stU lsimme>'s.1
 Pl'od\ll:1l'l( pubbe' a.., II b«om1nI 10 f~r an bet_ ttwm. ADd lbe di&IoI\R. as wtUI an)" po..~ be ~ on perpru.w
cIispla)\ tMre IIIlQ ~ roc= ~~r
-, u nl,. II: r- A~Ies. _ lull' _ ~ tJw .:onwnation.. S'OI! "' be . -ort..'l mucll ID'IloI!II I!Iorn L"e V1ol'Wff7 ""to ~ bI\ lI'I ~ o:onten ~ l.'lan Lhtft " .. !Ir.:
\OpK: mD&ilIllOI ~)' blurred. ~ t . fou:- .d.ly plenty of opmmc:s Ie:' u u,,~ pubIk to ~ all V\IS\'J b1c:.IK"" of.u
D ~~. fillinl cp:::r
conl~ includlnl t.., Gays o! pana cIixIIaicns i:L IpKe.
Friday and sawrday I t I.M BiI~ Houl ..... baWwd Seulpur Siah ~ ~ hu ~ • .-eaI For e¥tdeMe . IoDk arWIlIII 10'00.... A1tilou(h 1M
Ul apIon lU!!WI)' ~ ~ u 1 -ens oIJl1,lb1X:In ~ lbe COUDlrY. once IIUllltIft$ we trIOda\- L.- Anftles ha$ ~ _ .
""Public An. ReallWs. Tlleorie$ aDd . . . . .~ '"It.b ~ lbe crur;:aJ ~ or auilIC f..u tbt what bdIilldauessueh uX_ ro:i<. ~Vlli~·e:'l
bKkmIJ t:om lIM ~ IJU Counl::il. lIM e-mu. IaiddIl!D. ~ ~ c:ornat ... Iom l:IllkiIlI pubhe an. Seoullit in pnr.'llUIl( po:bfit :an_"",,", on'Pt~1
Dity R_~~- the
Cul lW'al AlJan ~ Yill I ttemPt
cst"', wwk ~.as indHd bftn compiow<l r~ ...
lbe Iul IO 01' 12 years. Ie. \~. v. fno:l
to addreS lbe ~ m:m ulll'lll1 lLlJ&la - - at tile . . . to __hell 1.M .er.....
• ~ -..ra. as ..d/ U 1M ~ oj tomImt · I
~ ilL of eourM. DO . . . ~ .
bullet _ to lIM...-..on 0/. _Ily _
""""'I 1ftK~ ~ "·!'I>c:t. '\
C<lIDI!I II: to ~ II
putJbc art......u and _ d-.'- 'Tbe ...'lIa lfolJo)ws ... M'Iecuo::>. t...."" mn:w
"'G1'Ul. W~ 01 LA..~ _ ~y ~~.ot fjye ....u_k.l:iooo.." ..~1<s i
pruc!l.ftd by - tJI ~ drawn
_1llJIQI!I-'" ~ 01
0/. pubIx L"'I.. 1'lIot hs: ~ ~ 10
~ • YWWI..l' « ~"peI d JIl'ClIKU.
f
!:'cal YW1DIlS
t!Ie public:. 1<;101 couk! Ia}'. ""lPPd II!
maltiI'I' publiC an_ blrI ochI'r. amd&r1y
"""'.....""'Wd in I VW'IftY 01 ...,.,~... T. "o
..-- IlIoaICR ~ • ~)' ..... dUI af
I
...-r-:I_~_ _ daD' t _ ~ PD'IteJ'S ~ ~ "'i>o
dca ID eurtl:lW !he ~ ..... ,..u d. Nptd ~Vft ~1Cl1!,. AI puD'.lC
the ~ lAo'an.- aniNo eeee -... IlCll. •
Sysmuuc fonnlll.u jw;l dal"t wort. b' If tlIiI cl!Vft'W crouP Q...,
be sud 10 "... ~
an _ wh>c:!l _ Dllt W iii :" Uwy doIl't pi. ~ 1ft - . It IS ceK .-.r. ~
tne4. F llI' 1ftSUDl:lL. rubD.I conyeftlal 01 CI'UllOftof :o.., iru~ ot,tc"_ ::r...." ' ....
pubUc an \OGi:y _ tb.a1 . tbilrouIIh ""*r· "1J ~ lO be loob d .t IX' '- _ 1II~ o!
n-=a cI 1lw pubbc: IlW 1ft w~ tbI ... aMW lM:" ha>.-e.all 60De u..:. -
...n triJ..I aIIl II' ~ '" UM u-t·s Crnx:aI \0 their IUttftJ III lhe lI:>Q.C.": ' .
-. pCl9Ot1" u.- oqrcu: and pbal lis'""
l:)
S o _ WUSlS U')' lOco=pt'ehelld s siw plvan:ze use m'~, ..-heft <1"...,.
by beclollulW .-."'dMn-SJl _ ~. FIX'I'ubbt.n.. o:ontnl. is C'I'\>C". al •
hlsuIrian. ~ : , raphet' , .".
th.""'fIOloIlSL 11M art ~y
~
p:"Od\Xlt tlltlI-
..·...1 !las bMI'l daKo. ert'd dlll'ial
'Great W.II of LA.'
the~txlft. .., ... _
_ .........
~ GI the dulJeR. _
academoe pubbc an ,.u lIUlk Wt ...,..
Lediou$ly

Stillnct Ol\lycloa!be In«llod t'Iouri5h. u's '1'CIOIY CAIDUr': Sida Armljanl$ ouldoor TOOI'D lOr ~ and dvtrinJ.
roftlu\lJht m.rudKds,
One I'eQtlD n tltnyU IIIWI II mues for
an art WI', cay \0 e:q:JWn.. And public: an.. wlike an
IIlSolk in the pnvaey oJ tile stlldill, UIUldly needs
upWrDq_lou 01 It. eoven !>den n I'¥W ~ ........
The p1an n~ \0 be n:plaineC' lO pauons IlI'K!
commnues 01 bUTNlICn Ul and reY_ Iloanis and
poIiticiI.ns mel fu ndml! ;qfcnc M!:l _.ny or aU of..,1lCIIll
may rqan! ~ an • ·n h NlPlC:lOlL The show-and -
telllcl>ool _ _ 60ubts by "\' ~I e .tTYClOe. comfon ·
s ble iJllle st.Or}' 10 t1lIbnee.
ConYe:monllJ " "\SIloIr: al.lo hal il thai sllsU'Kt an w
~I avOt6ecl in pub!lC pIKes, IlIK't abslrac:uon III
S1lPpcoedJy Irltompal1ble wllh U:e IIItt1"UU of a.....
pu bh<:. If lhal ·. t~, """ y IS h t hai Ms rs Un·.
bruthtski", Vielnam Vetel"Sou 101"""",,,1 III Wa hlnl -
lOn, 1JIt' IlIIlI'le ,,"Ulnt _ snd mor. ww:lel~· heloY~-
work or contelllponry public:SM. il: W lInll~ :SUItS. II
.n -....nCt Kwpu.re~
o ean lllltlc t JllSlu m lJt'h /'llyocu W KllNllve .
S eit!leT. bril ilani UWlIC fotm. bY I:Hlf, nor s nch
pubIie lite. by 'tMlf. ill mourlt to p l...",u a work of
PIIblic an. SecaMr)' umud IS s IPUkh", ~
.-r_ A"
AfriaII spbonsm ....ens tNt n',
1M I _ .-ho ~ 10 It'll ee eeev of
the Ia:<lbro. In tile ""GlUt w.1i of
LA... - lM ivIlbl - . u uly uke In-
h ~ ~ «.he:" lJqa the ~ iUuRJ"llted pllcooalthe pod" .... .
ranrcln o pnllftll>e1lt todio}·, The puntinl;, fonna1t}· IJl1focl :he ""~;l War!'!
- te publx: an.- Am>a)anI told mterV>eW'tT Cal'·m 3olunl , HIIUI"~" of C. M :......_~ brf1n." ..,tll I btl of
Tomkms Itt 19S1O, ~ II no room!Ol" f _ on t M t'fO. CUlOAur_ltuddtd Fft,Ul.Dr)-, qt:lCkl~· JUfI'ltIl' <li>e;lc! '"
Yau have \O ,et lost IIItMt:On len of lhework.- _ 1M nrl~· m'pUOll of H tl lertI fl"O:;"l- ....... In the' f;:ll.
ConvenllOllaJ .. 1Idom has tonI hekl thai the f~ " Illlennl\lftl a nd ~n eeu ~, .., ' I' main pu~.
rqn of ...""tlSl.K: flO COIn " Teak IIsvot Wlth.rt dI:fI.,nt'<! le llml ~IllOIltc.nont1'of IM- ~ bc:I Wft'II !'O'P""'"
for the ptIbtic rnlm. Con .. ~uo.... 1 'Il'1SdQm I\u bH'n ...... I nd libenuon for c thrno: mtnOnUC'S. ..-omen. J...... .
rilhL p~' men and le.IlNoov. Oust Bowl rl:f~ Llbor
Yel II hun·1 'OM 1M filii llifu.nce. SotICe t!"..at Ol"pnlZcn. polltics l clw:lOknu a:'l<!........,.
Annajani cbd IlOl'IltO!y ,,-IIOIl' ir.L"Il'I.e q'o~ POW Ot/1e .c \·~nl$<lo rei t!tl'OnlCLed a!oru: ~ . ·:. .·. .uch u
problems. ~Ol' t!Id h.. limit the il!t'nl1t~ of who II is ......al I h.. ~\·"I""m('lll o! ,he Il1O.,.. lIIC!unr)· · ancl Ih..
fina lly needs 10 !;Ie !"t;ease<l able ·'10 ,..t IclSt ,n ,hi: mobihzsuon of emun troops", Worlo:! Wal'll 1 ano:! II,
<:olI1.U1 of l!'le wart..~ But.. ..·,tll rOlJ"t'('~~lOn,lh*, IIInot a h1Sl.On' of lh~ ,.,.. t~
T he of ten Cisreprded. f<lel II thll, It ,m'l onl~· \M ulOId Ihl'OlJf:'1: tlle hYKof btsbllAAmenl f;lt'J"t$ .
arlilll's tlI'O thai mllSl. ee COlISCIOUSly It! UIOt' for As tueft. it 11also a "",nu~ 10l M ftlloSIISlvmeuof
.uccessful publ ic arL W<:.1\lSt tht'l't' are 1. '0 I'da In tM 1M CIYi! ",hIS """ '('menl Ibn'tll« the.' {<lte/111 penoc! 'n
pub!ic an equation. ilIt burnptioul flO of l.tlt' ""'lron " ' ''ICh l h.. m....~l "... . ~, .. well as 10 lhe munlllltJ
of llte .. '1'\0 m.ae it.. Th~ P.tlnUIIK WItS t'ftCUlecllII f,v.. to".
uun. Cllllnb _I976. 197'8, 1990. IIlllI alX! 19!3_"~' ~, vr
When the public or lU ....".......,LI\.lY_tlle p&11'ON fI'OUIlS of mW'.1 mskt'l"S. mostl y yo.." ,. poeople ;l nc!
for public: L"'\_ <lemancl lhll ilS prideful ViIo\ of ' u.e lf Pfftw_~ .\ ;

. . ' .. . .. . - ,-. . ... , ,;.. .., ~ ,.. . , ... . _. ~~ ,~ ~. '.-

~l -AU: ~ LA.": The !IIIur.aL pcainttel ~. 187 .. nisrs from 1'116 lO 1911. dt"pins * hit~, orearrfoi'ng arid 5 ~ monument 10 ~ ri-it rf#htS· mo\tml:'nl.

Piililic Art
,...,.J
Couia....
priDdpaUJ' led by vtiII. J rJdy k1
wtID CCIDClIiI"f'td t!lI! projld. .md
bnl the ttalIlO do tL ~.
G'.dM_ oI 117 1:1~~
. liad wall. wiliie • IhiftizII
CIII tlM
amy of "'tel wumt. eoipcnt.e
....
and prinrc ...... is aim icimti .
Tbe -ere-t Wall~ buiIdt 011 an
ilnp:lnanl C!lIcIno U'dtioo of D -
wmblinI fiuid, lIl\lJtifacfted ye1"
Itr\ICWNcI Jl"OIlIl' of people ill
order to ~ • vital lJItene·
tioa bet..'tt!1 ttSthme pis and
mc:iIII ~ The mural'.
IIIUcn WlNld ~ and -'ed.
IliNn:al . . . . for de$IlaiDIl.
aDd thew woald tit ~ iDUJ
pEtanaI fcrm lIDdIr tbe SI4lt"i -
lion 0/.Bla. 1Ildocber lad artiItI.
Tblt Ol'pIliptiDIW _
"stnEuInd fllliditJ'- it; bnc:illIIr
I'1!OKtad in tbr arunI. ". coqaIi.
- . wttletI ~ • • aIIIbaU·
_l'IIr'I'IUYt. N 41 - . " _ - .
iIakte:l.. ;-', 4"t ~ llIII ·
dered lib ~ pcldI ill •
-,
~r
a=t ItI"ip. lz:Nad.. itt:,"
dIIIrfed..
Dow In aDd out of _ aDCllhef.
~ the wall", hoIi:lI::rfIw G -
T he vituaJftfKt is tD encIoY \lit
~ of llX:iDpo!iueaJ 1\riT.
~ With• _ of both timr.
~ aDd Pf't!RlItneIL The bu·
- . IU'\IqIt for irldepe~ iI
IbDwD to Ill" I arc
hiIu:Iry. wiIlk
~..,.. n ' a btiatl!lli lICIUIIt
t"te'Y «bet.
St)1ilUc:ally• • abcp l:Il'-.k IX·
an in 1m Tbe twu .mer -.1
~"'WilI:Iw~
't'iIaII
un. . I t
.; - 01 talk art;; tM
_ _
PIIIIIP up tbt ~ ~ iI:lto
• hicbI,. IilIplliftiated If*PIak
- . . wtdl • dlIdDctIy hp
-.ibilfr.,.-JCIIIf 0eInIme
_ _ MIdlIaa . - . Tbe .-!lIft
. . . . . 1 _. .WlIDd~
!Ortbe mur.j", tullfIet.
In all ~ me\IJIbllri.
cal ~ 01 ttl ~
,.....w. v..-.
c:mtaL the lIure IDUrllI UIlfokb
IlioDI • bIIf·tIdk ItftW:l of tIw
tbt SUI hmI.sD
Wbic:b II ..,. of
CXlIIUOl. ~ ~ mio tlIt 1.af
fIood-
...... RiYu. n. munl ~
,..net to c:.c.r-.
CazI]'IlIlA 'Ie-
- . amdliac .... tlw ...-m
..n rr- Irlnat
......so-.
n. 'n.l;.q:t1Q:t.
iI • _ _
--a....
w. _
~ 10
Dood m.-I
lII!Y .....
by tilt
IpII:Ie
.....-m IYIlGI piYDtaI 10
L.L', ....,.. 11Ie tn.l dMp
=-- ew tIln:iuP middle·ea.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . boocb
fnlIII Hamal Dam 10 tilt I'tr'er.
W1llIre thI aa-I ~ Grant
HiIb Sc1Iool. \bt min! sud6alIy
--.
The ZIIl;nI'I COIltelU. celeI:ntcIry
aDd 0I&at. . . an del:tric 011'_
nat throQp I a.b-CNWD 110-
_ ',.1lmd" wtlitlIlWIdI. __
~ 10 IllOIIlpIa: W'Ib r;l cmc:
..,.. IrI L.A. "• .biIcary
n.r. cbi
IIZIfoWs ~ I.IziDIt dM
GoocI.-dlIIlMl', ~ Dow
~ ",- - . . , . . . . 1lOCJt
COVER:iTORY
...
~ of
• J.q S- N £\t
m,.p
Jlrmtl~.
ll'__G.- w.a .,c:a,n
nw- ~
LA.. ~ 1'lI
A_ i afI:
_ C=ri
6ft--. Bw6a.t lIoUuInI' a i
0nmI StTa!t. FaA'. .
'Corporate H....'
T""........ "IIJL..-.
'Caqlln1e ~~
aeeomplilhmull. , lallftl-
out _loud _funn,. ICUlptU"
blclr.ed b,. , ~Ye r-..:e
that Iinpn Ionc after U. Itll:iM ,;
.....,., Imnwljllely ~ as
IZI ilMp-watdl for'
• ..-nbY ~ y tripp
Wi&tl t:M ~ W«'t
of wt-lbt i
~ pMls bKkiD ..o 'ocali" :
......
T..". .t.nm.,__
fiItn: fII "l i
of
IDl:IIl1tDOUI IlIi1i ' I 1lIaiI1 :
e-diDlUilmdliot-'CII"l"J"/Ilr ;
,trim~ "' !IiI"""". !
dIe~blfcndle~llI i
clowmowfl', ~ Olicarp PIa_
IL n. &zaiIlc pc. . . . . . ,
Iimp!t lIf:\ of !lcDIfe at tlw ptas
c( I royal paIKl! d. .IIM:ldem ~_
~
aD lift. Simu1~. it prI_
M nta tbe f~', ipominioUl
bKUIdI 10 UIt buatlizlI ctOW'lIa
wbo hllrriedl,. qomd tbt IMpI
hItdDr:l him. i
~
ODe man t!IInf' Tbt broaa ~
halbead. Or. rat!l· .
Del
• . !iii IllldI: 1'"" 1111 tlnD die
piDkkb craDilt aIah d. die offior
~ t!lu n- lJiIln tam. ;-
~lb the potiIbed.tn. DllIIl_
bus tba. _ _ "725 Scuh .
SuddmIy. tlw ..... l
F'ipItroe. p
b10cU It'OUDIl i
tIl~t f lll"
-
lIbI Oft UIt "ririd .... d. ' !
........... ~UII-'pnjel::t. I
lbe ~', braia . . . ;
,...,
~
n. aliIbOy !atI'er·lhe. 1lfe- :
er- ala fiI!,n:. wbo would be IIbout !
7 fftl. lIII tf be eouId IIWld uprtpl. t
" II 0IlC:'t flmll." , tmalelliftl ,IlIld :
poiInanL He • pm Nodrhad '
pan untfonntd alrtOnIIton.
b _ ny tnpped In IIIOOtm 1m. :
_I&.
. her. . . IDaantIy fecopiIt him
A tn. piaqw ~ iD UIt
Pound 11 UIt .::aIpwrt., Ie« cw ·
,.. PIlllip LewiDt', brW poiI!IIl>
-----'1'Il!r..,rt','_"j(Jr
.__
1I··..,.,....'""'...
"'" . .11 .., I
I
.
h-'*'~J....,_,
~ ......,.."4iII.,...
" " . . ' 10. ... _
""1Oll bmdlllnaddlt
-.rt'iclr·1 _ _ you _.......
_ lbe
' ,
...
. . , . poIlIjoQ 01tilt bWl m UI bokIsway. nm itI:I.Ip iI at. iIut
CIlIa..,.
Rid lib )'OIIr plm!! ill. !bw bdd!ld
"Corplnte a-s.- I 1111 colIIb-
(ftUal brt_ • poet IDt! m
'1nIal 1I'I"!ttt «lid IIlUIic:ian. ill tht
.......""ina mmmlwjm fer QtI .
cmp PiuI', PaN' Walk. , p q l
01 bItf • cll:IRD coUahana.. proj. i
tal _ _ .nina mt paN i
ICItta'wd aboDt lbt bui!diDl' . :
lftIIIIld·aoar pabk.-. ; . . . til ('DUft ~ from Lbt
ID d* ~CllIII:iIt_! '
UloaPtfuI -=aIpQn. dlt w__ ;
,...,.= c:Mt ~ d. die IlI!ro ftDdIrecI :
iD hrua it ~iI:nlI
__ ~
wtUllltlll'tie- :
lbt CCIa_ •
to .. .....- .....!
apa: tbI
Public Art a::'~ ~r I C:r.::-.c:;n
muit.. ~ IUi.l L!:e «am:-...
W'pt of CilPitLeC ~...' 1liIlI.
~::.;;
I ,
"''''''''11brrinf .llm-
. ) WI:rili.It\.er
Tht hoI:tililt WI some ~')f'.... r ::
flel ~ BcntJky', Ie\1!pt:J-"e ::
tIIiMIdb DfCly 'ct'tIWI'Y. e=bIealux of tbr iI."tW pc:~
~ lOWVc! ~ ar.. 5;::
: • f''"I' .dra .." ",., ~. "BaJIiIriDa Qown- fa br"Jl;m: p.......
-~
tioDr",1 1%$ 1.,.,...,.
s.- PwW Wilit. a-
sr.
aid)' ~ It 11.... st='.lll
YiIllal fClnD UI tbr 0lht:n.1R l:\ "U .
--
lbJt .-ill _ ellli rtl'a1m 0:
' CIown' 1M. mour time..
Barcl&t~. ,,~., out lbt ~ 'I
II that rvt
_ E 't'~ ill 0lIIIllf0nahI,. famil.
iar wttlt the .-urtnI Fanta
UIIt pro't'idt _aX IfpIp
mcx:Itrn dillmlmll iI: iiI iu pll .' i :';':
u"'dIiJwss and bope{u1 pathol. Hu
sc:uipl.lln! it &II unlikrl~' C'lVl( 'ym -
bill flll" lbt ~t brt,,'f'C
lttiI:u and alMlientti . both of
i Iar .-daI t u j- lib tbr
f_=-- Ii friead!)' . . . . UIat. .IooIa __
~ __ « the IriMinc
-*- Ini! boW1d br dMpt,. t111llWl
dIsirt IIld eqaalIJ h Umll:1 fIibl:I.
BI( .".. t!la J*fUlb' atm a • J- u . - lN7'of$kJ . ~ B4JU.ritlc
!
.... on. +-_
s:iPade barpr III ,..q -....
of r...a.ide
a....- ...
~.rftQ.
A _Ill n4 Jl4iJr
---
~ - .....pabIie ICUIpDna.
par.UI -'r. b7pd't'at .... 11..__
1'hI>' _ . . _ _ far JolI_ IU!Iitr'
IlM:D ....,.,.-. wildly ........
~. ' fllll7 - - . -SIne.
i rtaa 00wL- a can-idl30-foot_
I
the buraueraue lIbJ!'UlW of
Q
: &all . . . . 0I1D ~JlOPIlirIr per_ dl.y,o,awwrll. pecuIiiII' iOtas
torm.. sa. Lbt _ ft _
!
~y ret hat.dleli.
:
~
~ iI1la1l1 ~. die ICUipWra
_MIIlI~IIWtqy
e- of the - . otn1Indiah " 'alI
Il'I gption provided UI .IllI.iOr LA..
; V atct ~ of A .... . a- devclopm., " 'M Il"t rtqUil'td b.-·
i :lilt ItWSlIaiI::I sa-.
;
d lY llniirlanoe UI COI11llUt I pa-.
0.," ' [mad ~ u y hy «nap of their buildinI eOIlJ 10
a pri't'W cIII't'elGper far the rae.dt
of I a-d'1lII boiIdiftI of I:bopf.
~ mil "**
IIaI. 8cIrcIMT1 mapifieently
ClOallDalin.
id .
public: II'L A dtYeioptr, tf lit Of It1t
WiII'Ia. an aetiIe the option Ul I
~ tilt Pf'OJItl &I'ld !be utiIt.
_ It. wilbar.It any puticipI_
to l
~ sc:uIpa;n it -uw- tina ....\t't'eT blo' ~utives I
Ie. poiDltd ill ~ thr
pubIle ,..." III tIct. _ ~ of
d. the public:. I
Tbil ia 'Pl:lIuzwideJ ft nriIm of '
ill: ItIIDDizlc "'P.itl. e fa Lbt WI)' u1Itoaaue nobl _ ~ in '
if. III5*b UI the -oam ~ d wbidl ' ~ ~. !
pubIie an itIIIf. f'I'qlIind WI t1dlI~ -*Y _ _ i
"BIDeiaa ao-~ ill IZI imItI d Lbt bI.a1dIId - . h hal bmClU i
_ da
__ . .UIaa I:IOlhirlc
wllo _-.apMuIrt
. . -UI' add ~ lou at lind AlIfl iIldudiq 111 i
' elual dJme -l lOft tnieltt nact i
ItWS ...,. Ullht world but Wt10 fa blown '" Ul IIIOIIlDtI1UItcaloI lUI I
~ bIillf IIIade I iIJJPilJI-
stod.. Ia theM brutiab limn.
Ul.T.k T ot)'D 1 and • sc:ulpwraJ ,'
a lkyacnper'l JIiIh-
mtlapIlor fot
~1ikI1Dmiat ~IM. ueh lir .ccn:litianinI tYMm 1_ l
1bt briPtb' pClIltcI fftZlllt fi,.
thtrllWlC:ia!dilux:U. i
un: of a bta1lec. ~ UI a nuny Onr m"ftificenl uetpt ion i
pan: Ultu it parehed 011 • ~ lqll . pro\'" 1l1eImtrallooninta of th e I
:i 0.... ,10_
ilUIp In Il"ChlWClUl'll peclft:tIl: il rule. That', beel tlM \lit &rUsts. •
:
i
~
tPOI'U hup.
Lbt biI. buLb--a muir. of I
-=-u,
and
bobo _,... I'tCIlJa Emmeu Kell ,. or
VlIaJy KGma:r IDti AI.e:IandeI' "e- !
I.Imld. han 111 lIIIIIIIlIlIy rood
am. doWn. w~ IJ'UP of the izIto1W W«kiDp of ;
poUtie&l buraucnc,. P'O'"l' re-
Red Slw!uIft. Ilthind the dmc:er Iat.iorlal1ipa ilM , Iorioua. ciVic: -
i
I
I
bUazxizIa ~Y CllI poilu. , mmdedodta IOnw....... ,
'l
j
j -"DOili(lned elUUirl pro 't"idea a
~iiumY ~ t.etdnlp.
EIJIi(re fnIID Lbt 5o't'WI. Union ,
..1tlI _ a cIeadr btfon iU coI- "
tar-. lbty __ . . . , . rr- a .
'nllt ~ it • modem 'ra'_
Iioa d. thI aniM CIIIl: II do-!! «
"'Ol.UiJt . . . . 01 .._ _ f.ormI d.
-=ill md potidc:ai ~ bIIppI'Il
YIll,Il1f . . m Lbt at!iciaw.. piaoriaI i
i&Dd:* emeuizla'. IUIljen U1 tlw I1ltu:Irie 01 ..sal gptift +m1llClecl '
by tbIir p"aiitiWill. Tbty know
bow U1 WI'Q It.c:m iU bIK. II
On tht JI'lIUIld floor at down.
II old .. W I _'s Jab-Cmwry lOWl!', nn:t rm..w.e Worid Can - ,
~ 01 Lbt 1l'lri&l1cIIolk mimt. ttl'. Kocrtw and 1It!Amid., pIlDled !
""Om-.. llI" VelUq\Ia:r, pullflmt 1993 n lief·munl PUllity" I, iI ;
I pclI"U'"Uu: of lht d ~ ill Ult
faUCOQll c:lmII of OQDtempOnl")'
lift. 8on:laIr:y'. -BIlltMa Clown "
btluUfu!ly tHC\IUld., wUaIy fUnny
17t11-Cemur) SpIniIb CO\II'L In tht ..tire 011 tlIIt rhelDric:', hard)"
A1'Im'ICIII COUIin. lu Nh;eet. it the
pl"tdlear!llmlof mlliticuJu,lralilm in 1
II
. . . . forwvd 10 Wte iu plau I t • capi Wial. _ Y.
all paekiIIfd !
--. Tbt ~ bas reeei't'eCl iU
for COIlIUIIlpticll b)' \.lit public. U ;
A I1Iuic:aDa of evtry fllOralilW:: I
atnpe _ conViDeed that ll1e j'
. . . . . lIUdieaa: lOG. A few DeiIh· OlIIyfood 1M. is an thai. iI food for
bors--wtlo waIId IitI!)' Ila't'e pDf you. 111m it 1oUowI Ulu CIlrpOral.e: I
1iWe~"a~pIlit m\tftN wiIJ ebiIlapiaD (W,. an I
W I .-.s rood for buai-.
bad MIll p.:t ' " OIl the bIoc:k -
~ bid!)' wberl 8lroDIr:y 'l \;nil,.- it I taconMnla ti lll' tnp- I
~ _ fira B'Wdad.. It 1laa PIrar_hftt W I
'- - -- -- -'

Public Art
Ccr!UiJIv.ed tr- ". 88
t}'c:t; ....IIOM !cna IS utnpOlIted
hom 13l.h· Ctnu..-, paintinp of
qds rOl.:r.ll in till! PwtiIOtleW.l
C'!'LIpel nu t A. sist . luly-lht
C!:ll:"e!I f:o= ..'hie!: Los AqeOu
tabs its eaee, The t."'iplyeh eee -
InS IXI all e:o.:be:ra:lt I'tlid It ..
~ ·rUl.~ aJlpi.. .~ iI rGI -
eeee _ I V1:f'X!y ~~ lX-
_ .,.;:lh ne ~w
moan,y loot of ai:1t/;Dea l)'Jlieal o!
ilIroquIt pa:." ltiqI by Guido Rei
The cia'o::I:latic ll&!me:a o!. Ow
1)'mbol·1a.c!c ~i:r~
o! ~ fWai&l:: ieo:1. 11'$ doaked iI:
ezq-DiWy ar~ ~ 11
red ·aw:I·r~ 8ul!Cl::icbarmer, l
~ l:.alo bc:nowed ~ Jft-
O ·h rl!hiln imqa af an Azl&c
0e:t.1 PIC! • 1Mbopn,. beadpieer ~
Ce'i ved t=!Io-~ masQ.
n e UlpI'. ~l"u=r sil y e ·
wm,p an! JlCB'ofd tD .-!UP; tile
ffiaual erw.ture t;u ye...w.
cue!l u ~ l::rulk d ~ m
the labby bUIw sta:llb ready tD
H:ll! 70lJ up. llP-1:P-1O t!le: eeee-
.al ratms o! tbe ~'. 13rd
&lor. n.e.IJ"IDC! 1ri:Ip dC: I
n :.ber dlffC't'IU .II:C"t'f lbarI. the
. . . . other ~ PU--l. llDl!
tbI : ll eotIIiderabIy cJoHr tD !lome:
'I'bey'n toJ*(I aaalr fro:ll \be
wizlp ll! an ~., aaJc. u
cIep:atd en the bKt of a::I ~
qllIl'W dire:U:r be::la.U:l the mono
£~ ."UL
In ""tinit}'.MX - 1nC!)felIzDid
b<lve m .ed I do..ble ·eo~
~t. at ox. ce!r.l..,.1.lIrY
* fObcnD.. W"nill! UW beaUty d.
lhe n litl·mllTaJ pay••es thetic
l;tibme tD • =uluewwral mir.JI..iDI
01 fun)• • Afncan _, ~tino- a:ld
.ui&II.A:Iltl'ia:l ewWfW. th e ~­
.u-! UnlI t o! IOciaI har'mlmJ II
fulIlly beInr , ,,~ by. GO S\:b;ec.~
10. the eotr. n ~ preTlIpti vu of
bulinta. A t • but of the Wlal
bank builcliq lr. UlWn . -Unity "
n::::bly c1&:1fies the lXIllte:n "'1thi."l
. . . mu.
so m..eh IIOCial d.WoA;ue
toeIay w a piau.
• K~ fJ'Id .llrillll\Xl. "1i"Uy.~
1'1r,f l llf"'$ICIf Wor ld: Cen.lv .
-
W W.5lh SI.
tThe Poetry Garden'
...
p&Ulti:!& DOl'
N
eilher II I XIl1p-
UOTt. -rhe Poeuy Garde:!! -
fi 9S21 it IlUlW:! .. fu:leuonaJ
eIlYi:oeme:'ll CuiJ::ed as UI
inI GUlOcc::'llOll: ir: ..'h>e!I VU;lOn
c:e "l aM:t&lk Ill4 ra~
The pniu:, pnnwy ~.
Iicned fo~
an tlOsti:l( 5O-IOOt- b,. -
11).foo: COI::'".y&l"d adjamI:t til the
offia:s ar.c:l pllcia: crt :!le La:-.nan
FlllIlld.luo::t. ..-as1:1ta:xle:1 as I kiDcl
01 Vft'. -pocU1. pl.; llpCl Ul tU
pIObbc: in A:: C"..!:erwlM blair; lIJtt-
ino,!us;.."1Il ~DUl'~
u 6l:lRey.
l.0Ul.b(>n:.. Y illl U SOt.l - bu«.
AmencI.:l ania. SW: ~ tn-
&til!. I. piaee t.;'l Upir'a; til be I.
I!VilI&' c .....apbo:' of DOt!:inc ksl
UIn Ow ciemlIaI.tic i6uL
I: werts.
I.llla:lC iu clII:tlizl(
siIIlpk ,Itt crt
eIepll eJemelI:a. "'Tbt .
m.,.
10 SUSDAY. ~ Z3. 1991
CU vER 5TOH Y
tl:e
'1lMTr': A trip)'dl mural by Komar and ~kbmid. il!Im in deWL
is a..,itty satire 00. an and multicullu ralism in a ca¢tali:sI: econom y.
FWtTy ~~ deftly :::erps: .t
!loft o! c=fliaiIlI ~ ShIkr.
Rylf be:Jcbes of aokIaI-i::ard _oed ·
sWad lib tbe c:!:I;:lboc11s of f,D old
K_ EncJ.md nou.. f, p:rUrl'
WithUl · f, · p.rdeJI ~e.ll.t o f
PtrsiaiI a:.iDifou::-es: • 4.'"U.lI.I.t k .
:IlDIl1:lM:l11l.l ple'n~' .~ st~iIr
reca11J nri,._2001~ Rm -
EI.:I CoJlstnx:lj'risl. piaN U1: pub!ic
il;fa:"tllf,UOl:l tiosIu: f, ~ 1"0_ of
Ulthtopon1o:-pllic emelt }l1"lI u:n l f:lHm ble n :.he Royb l.l
stiCUc! ~vtiy one I.l.Oj) Ul -
0I.!lIr. liJl Ul tip: lbe hfo:ld.U'n:
~ o! • Spmlish MisslDn.
$I,.1f =tyL"'l!: eeo!o&ictlly Illl:llC
plfon:.s, t .appec! br • flII,(lIi!k rr. 1
-
C.t1ilorni;1 live ~ I;IPI'OPli.I.tl' 10
iU Sl'IIli-vid dl'RM. .tung. L'll!
Lou mOl'l'.
Two ir.$pit"J:~ Sftt:l pi,'ol.l.l 10
Utl' lia:g:1. One is ~ Anecdotl'
of the Jc;' .t potm by Ame:ic:Ir.
pot't W follael' S1.fVl'lIS. "'hid: the
artISt prominl'ntly ..nnttd or. u -
l"IIl'lie :ile!" Ibo" f thf baeU of thf
bl'ndles. Th~ othf:" is the I f:'lfnl
layOOl: of f, ciuslcal Islantit pari '
m.. prdfn, ....hich A."1DI..JIllIKnr..'
!:om c C"dbcoct
The S~!I:S pam: ~ LO:t
l'tiitio:lsl'lip be tWft1l Cltur1! mel
CItlt :ur. Th.-cI¢ tbr mqic&l 1Ul-
a;::or of f, jc ~ i:: th e wiIQe .
inVit- ness d Tm..--r. w c:vilW:II
f1meUctlof art iI drftl)' U5l'lUC.
A n 1sII.mic jlUIQiR-p..-dr.t. Itll. .
cioIed by hifh w:aJJs iIllli e.t.~
pil.nttd acccni!nc to ct:SUllll. iI
lIleet as a ~ aneu.:a:y
~ the brutal ~ fll Vi1ut-
lIlen: br)'OlK! iu fo:':ificaUClllS. l b
«=,,~"X'CtiO.:I bItt.ec ~ ccie::.:
~ .E::astc1l fann a:.i SteYftlS'
. CIlil' to . ~ ja:- \oIICe, dcmu:-
icIr: OVe'" the .o\JIlenan wil~
ti::.J<s twO dispI.nl.r c:z:=
Tbry are. ol CC\I:'Ilt. tU twO
~ WTed by .t.ll L~ im -
~ tO~ ~t:I".
pJofts a!>d memcr~ his ow:!
!listorT in ""The ~ Guden.-
bet be <klft all i:::I
st:mf t!w ~ ~
wa,.
tt.at I:lb-
imc f,
Jolo_-..
I.I:'pr et:~:xla c! ~
~t. 1ll" 'hicb &1lan m-..
• SUit _.......jIlai. ~rM Pwt.,., GIIr.
m . LGlt lU:lt F lt'" l do'Iiolt . H l.il
M
JlllCCOOIltril ....re,
o
btTf LootWIt :JlU'tI"llrti:,. a·
T I.a:l)la «public art III tllYT~
~h u tbf Otlen:f:lIS r"'p-
8ui14inc I.nC I l:'. a(lli!'. u:ll PI.::' of
ma;:.-onf of t !'!f h cttic R:=. thl'
otNl' cl IW':'y to:lSlflll.UON_ m
I.e apalllivt l.fn'UZO riOOl" or -
tirntd by Alem Smiti': II t.'ll' lIf'"
L.as A:lfelt$ Convf nuoo Cenle:'.
Tbt ~ rapor.sUlle for III tiltH
nlI'.ark.lblf Jr.'OIf'CI,.I hive rr~Cr
" 'OTks in whfcil thl' lOX1I.I "W.d: -
ftClUIlCI IlId phyri el.l l'nvlron!llen t
01 UI_1U; COn l flrt_ l'll ve llH r.
proI"llItlll!.ly f lll lfeG. T~: ellfi,e -
mtnl is tfY 1.0 thfU" ~erptioM1
lf vd of I Ccomplislunf'nt.
Yf t It's ... ort.'l t ::tP!l.ui l'.ttf t l'tal
c:or.s-..cIft'aUons of CO:tt.ul. Co not
't.OP at tM ph)'IiW. ~lUe.
$OCiI.!.. po!ltial. ~ ll:" an)'
othe: l(,Idfr:Utl.i i)' rrselrt:l:I blf
COlll1itioo of t.'lf t1lf- F'or the con·
tf:Xl. ol In)' wort of Il"l. public 01"
~. isproflll:lll1l y~b ~
O'.lr IS$UIl:puon$ abolIt &r. Itsel!.
n.- sww mcpJes cf p:Jl:l!Jc
of:':. 4ir~ thl':IlftI ves_1ll I:D
n.a.U "'-f,r -b)' bo:ir., clftpl)' Illto
tM eo."om:lO.'lIJ J'.tJ:l]eca. !;::\C-
tior:s &Ill! !llpKUtxlI'".s " 'l' bole! for
In Ill4 fa:- L'1:IU. I.CC lot th e:
reiltiolIsbl;> til t!:f somI rRlm.
~., WNt &:'t ;tst!f 1I".IIt:t
be Is CIt ::ICIf: bISlc job ~
fa:- f,ll) ' I1t:s:: ,.ito eel..., to be I.
citizlul of ~ _ O:iC., w~ is ...il.a~
p:blE &1"1. c!l'lT~.4s. c:
• For "'~ 011 :4r aN /tT-
_ ~ ~ An.· .'!tceia. TAtWWs
awl: ~.~ n.....,.
'*'rei' w ~Houl.al1t rl1 JJ
~ IOez:I S...•
-
ZSI-4ll2f.
~ E~ if = n-orr.

AMulticultural Mural
T
he fJ rncc~~ o f crem in/!: c mural is u
fasc:irut in.f:, complex dvna rn ic.
I(s abou t Itt ili:lj n~ nxmv forms
"f cornm unicario n. tr.tnsfo;min,t: ~
concept Irurn a writt en idea inrn a vieua]
imaJ!c. h 's anOUE tryi n.e. to ccnvcv [he
m~s:.I~c or stories while l1mn:mtly being
ale rt to the audience fm whom {he wor k
is inte nded.
' I'he .,j{j..(ool-h'\"· IO-ftlOl mural abo ve
t1csi l::nco t o he "i n H :llk d i n liC Li\'~
D unce BuiIJin:l:. was such a wnr k, th e
Fail Q lJ;Ifrc r prujn't of:J. Wmld Arts an d
C ult ur es n lu r~c ta u.eh! by c c lc brarcd
mur..list [tnlith Hacu. . Add III th aI rhc di m c nsi un of rime .
T he ctass initia ted the process bv rak -
i n ~ a hiuh-c~ c sc:lt in t he bui ld ina.
dc,,\cI\' t lh5c n' i n ~ dancers a n d pc o p k
who work the re comin/.: and go ing, nor-
i n~ ch:lngcs in liJ!:h t :;1.." uour" ClI )Cn~tl an d
..
PARTI\GSHOT
dusc d. :l1I th e wh ile t;!ki n L: ph" lCl'...traphx. sil!n ify in /.: cu ltures and peop le inrc rccn-
I hl\';n.!.: d efi ned rhcir audience from m.:ui ll~, :. Ill.:s~~e of 1-.'Tea t importance 10
r hnsc "h~cr" :It i(ln ~. the ~ tlldcllt~ Ill:ldc t he stude nts.
sc I'cr.11 :' ~~ lIIllfl t i"n ~ , I'rnpcHi nl! the I'm.. :\nd all t his OIXUm:d before one d top
jc ct (0 th e ne xt le vel flf h r a in ~wrm in .l! o f p" int had nurchcd the ca nvas.
t he cenccpr. while always the m:Hil-:llly The ralcmcd st ude nts, like t he: city
um.Jerpin n in;: dance . Those iue:J x we re they wen: ill u su:lri n~ we re amninJ!.ly d i-
rhe n de veloped into :l ~rfJ~'ho:lru f orrnut ve rse. T hey made u p a mult icu lt ura l
and further re fine d. me cca o f majors und cult ures. fro m a n-
- \Vc wanted [0 pm the wm k in tn a th rul'ulo.L:Y ttl dan ce , Axi.. n 10 Chicano.
culr ural conte :u ~h owi n ~ rhc d ifferent "me da$.<; rlJom dis cussion was cnnsranrlv
peo ple o f I.os t\ n ~c1cs mixin g in d aily nnim utc d. atl {l i n ~ anothe r dimension ro
life , 'i i~ n i fyin.::. the m eltin,!!: pe r " f rhc rhc p rfll,"C:Xx..
l'ity.- SOI y" U:JC:I, ~· Il . is mural." sa~":'I R"""2. -is like an ar-
l,;hacpillj!il-:d di~ tlf L.:\.. mll \'inS! ,,~'rn ,~X
:IOU the m ural rook on rhe sweep of hie- Ji~ t'lIlt'..:s wirhn c"mm{ln:ll i r~' of ide as." •
rIIry w the p re sent day. i ll \lstr~t in,l!: the d i..
\ c rsity "f th e d ry rhmu /.:h t he prism uf a H. J, l , ,,!rrl
nun-Europe an pcrspe nil'c . ,\ lI u !1l c r ,'isll-
....1 ::',,:'11 \\";1.. to link uuc Sl.:CIlC rn thc 111..' '' 1.
t :CL\ MAGAZINE W1 NTE'R 19!M
; .:
 ,
oj
, ~ ~ l
\ .1 .... ., ~ " ?i'
.~. J : _'; ..l :';; ~

-
.....
' .
,
;I ..
. '
.

". . . . ..i
,-
....., ~

Visitors pose by the World

Wall in East los Angeles .

R OPle express themselves in m~ny

wa ys. Artists ofte n use t heir paintings
to exp r ess how t hey feel about things.
Some artists paint their pictures on
canvas. Some paint on walls. Huge
outdoor wall paintings, or murals ,
are works of art t hat tell about th e
hopes and concerns of the people
who have crea te d them. Some cultures,
especially Mexican and Chicano, have
long, pro ud histories of m ural-making.
For man y Chicanos, people of
Mexican origin living in the United
 Finn isn a rtis t s
crea t ed t his co lo rful
pane l. A Diaiogue of
Alternati ves .

Sta tes. pa inting mura ls is a wa v to !let

in to uch wi th their root s. Xow, in t wo
cities in Califor nia . East Los Ange les
and San Diego. spec ial art progra m s
he lp people car r yo n this great Xlex i-
can tradition.
Judith Baca, a Chicana art ist.
be lieves it is important to remember
her roo ts. :\'1s. Baca feels that he!' dose
co n nection to her cultu r e has hel pe d
her to create beaut iful mura ls. During
the 1970s. Ms. Baca began severa l
mural programs in Los Ang e les.
Teena ge rs from the bar r io. or ne igh-
bo rhood. wor ked with her to c reate
more than 250 murals:
In 1987 in Los Angeles . .Ms . Baca
began World Wall : A Vi si on of the
Fu ture ~Vitholl t F ea r. This mural is
ma de up of seve n co lorful pa nels
created by Chica no a nd inte r na t iona l
a r t is ts. The pictures o n th e pa ne ls
exp re s s fee lin gs abou t peace. war.
c oop eration. interde pende nce. a nd
g row th. Unlike t r a dition a l wall
mura ls . t he se panels can be move d.
They na ve t r ave led t o Fi n land.
Rus sia. a nd Mex ic o.
Three of the finis hed panels are
Trium ph of the Heart. A Dialogue of

Alternatives, and T rium ph of the Hand s.
Trium ph oj the Heart sh ow s how people
from many ra ces can wor k together for
world peace. The candles in the painting
For many Chicanos. paintin g
mura ls is a way t o ge t in touch
with th e ir roots.
represent hope for peace and und er-
standing. A Dialogue of Alternatives
shows how artists can join together to
create a new language th at e vervone
can understand. 1liumph of the Hands
shows ho w people working together can
create good thin gs. The people in the
mural look to th e pow er in their own
hands for hope an d change. _
by Claudia M. Caruana
In 1990. Ms. Baca's Trium ph of t he
H~nds pa nel was sh own in Moscow's
Gorky Park.
THE GREAT WALL
More tha n 600 peop le. includ ing
450 teenagers from nearby barrios
and 40 scholars. helped C hicana
artist Judith Baca create The Great
Wall of Los Angeles. This sp ectacu-
lar mural. which is half a mile long,
is in California's San Fernando
Valley. The work of art W3.S
paint ed during five summers and
co mpleted in 1980. It s.h~- ' .... ::,~",,::
local histOry and de scribes the
con tributions and st ruggle s of
California's diverse. multicultural
reside nts-from prehisto ric time
until the late 19505.
 L. A. T H1ES
7/2 7/ 9 3

Journey Back in Time

Atthe Baldwin Park Rail Station, DC! Art Prof"""rJudy Baca PaysH~tothe Area's Indian Heritage
w..
By ZAN DUBIN For the BaldwiD Park
TlWU nAf1 ....rru anwcrk. she wanted to
B Artist
ALDWIN PARK-
j ud y Baca did
portray an "authentic" mel.
..truthful" vision of the ar ·
a liUle daDce here ea's biItary.
the other day , a vt:r'f old Et.c.hed into the weath-
little dance. end adobe· like cmtra l
In the dry heat of a arch iI the word Slilnigna.
midday sun, Baea st:i:pped the Gabrielino name for
along a concrete footpath the area. and a quote from
tha t represents cenmonial La tino l Uthor Gloria An-
steps performed by early u idul ' "This la nd was
California inhabitants:. the Mexican once. was Indian
Gabrielino and Chumash always and is. and will be
Indian'. opln."
Th e winding lane is part Le ttering on the plaza
of "DaNa l~ {ln - floor speI1s out, in English,
dilenous Dances ), the th e statement ''When the
public ar lwork she ee- Indianl died. the villages
siIned to spruce up the ended,"
Baldwin Park Metrolink When the Spanish ar-
eemmuterrail Ntion.. rived. Baa aid.. so1dien
"l wanted to put memo· raped scores of Gabri dino
rr into a piece of the land" women, Incl udi ng th e
chief's wife. The chiefs
thal once was home to the
Indian culturu. said the protest.I led to his decapi.
Los Angela: muralist, La· tation. " It was in that cli-
tino activist and UC lryinf mate that the Miasion San
Gabriel wu founded. she
art professor. She bopes to
have the project finished ...... stone
A
N

mound, like one

within a few day&.
Central to &ca's desiCn the Gabrielinos would
is the 2O. foot. high re-ere- . have de:siBna\ed as a place
ation of an archway in one wall of the nearby San of prayer, embodies a feminist ideology the arttSl
Gabriel Mission. Beneath it stretches the mission's worked into the project. It is a tribule to Toypurina. a
abstracted floor plan, etched into the eo1ared eceeeete of 23-year-old Gabrielino woman who tee a revcn against
an open plaza.. From it extends th e footpath . which links the Spanil h missionaries. she said.
shel ters where commuters wait for trainJ. '"I'oypurina was depict.ed (by the Spanishj as a
Located at the comer of Downing Avenue and seduetrea and sorceress because she organized large
Ramona Boulevard in the San Gabriel Valley, the groups of native people to fight th e Mission San Gabriel
$60.000 projeel is part of the four· year. oId Art for Rail and bring it down. For that, she was banished from her
Trao.&il Program ins'JtlO".zd b:.. t..'1e t.A. Cc::&l}' Me~""C · nauv e land. I felt it was approprlatt to PUl her back into
polilan Transportation Authority. To date, 65 artists her own territory."
have been comminVmed to adorn stations throughout "Dana IodiImu" wasa eoUaboration lnvolving Baca
Southern California. and_
at LA architects
_ MebJteeUKate Diamond
and
"We believe it', important to make the train system
DOl onl yefficimt but attractive and user·frie'Ddl1'.n said Gusta'VO Leclerc of Adobe LA
Jessica Cusick. rail -art prc:cram directot. "It', also really Typical of her mural-making
important to . . _ provide commw1ities with a sense of metbods. 8K:a abo iIlterYiewed
ownership in the statioDs. N e.tJrie:l.iIa aDd other residenll of
Baldwin Part. a quaint, 1argeI.y
B aea., who was chosen for the job from amoag roughly
25 other artists, bas been involved in mural· making
for as many yean. Among her murals is the half·mile·
Latim town of '70,000.
"In the procea. I dn'eIoped a
Ioag "Great Wall of LA.... purported to be the world's . , . of wba1 was IQi:nI on
«
longest. She has eveseee creation ab:Iut 200 works as with the wheNe p1ace.... she said. aDd
p&hered quota she embl amned on
a founder of two mnrrieipl.1J.y funded mural programs in
the arcbw1.y . Amcng the residents'
statements. "u this pl.aee wu good
enoucb for me to grow up in. then it
iI sood enough for my children"
and "'The kind of community that
people dream of, ricb and poor,
brown, yellow. red, white, all living
to«ether."
 To further " personal ize " the
train station. Baa imp1'inted into
the concrete beneath each of four
ToypumJa 'was banished
from her native land. I felt
It was appropriate to put
her back Int o her own
territory.'
JUlYIIACA
UCI art professor
shelt=., (als o ~-"18' floor plans of
California m issions ) such phrases
as "my mother" and " am i
Gabridino," rendered in Gabridi-
no. Chumash. English and Spanish.
At the shel ter farthest from th e
main plua are the words "memory
and will pcwer," w hich "are what
any cult UZ"e- the ones living then
and those living now-bas to have
to prue: Ye itself," shelUi.
So fa!'. community response bas
~ y been positive. Children
dance akm.g the footpath an d peo-
ple driviDg by give thumbs up. said
Chris Wille , job supervisor with
Rock and Water Scapes. the proj .
eet's Irvine-based contrac:tot'S.
"'I'bey dig it.; they think it 's an
awful fancy transit station," Wille
wd.
• Baldwin Park J(etroiink lt4tion is
IocaUd at 3825 Do1oning xee., Ba1Jj.
win Parle, at 1M COT'RotJ' of Downing
A WftIU' mid Rarrumo. BoW.mmt.

UCI Professor
Honors Indians
ti C JrviM an profrnor
Judv Bag is spru cing up
the Baldwin Park Metro-
link commute: rail station
with public art wor k that
pays homage to tribes th at
inhabited the area. the
Gabrielino and Chumash
Indians. Featured is a re -
cre at ion of a San Gabri el
Mission ar chway. F l
 TONY l>.\.RNARO I Los Alll ein Tl- .
Artist Judy Saca re-created archway trom Miss ion San Gabriel at Baldwin Park's MetroJink rail st ation.

UCI Professor
Honors Indians
uc Irvi ne art prQjessor
Judv Baa is spr ucing up
the Baldwin Par k Metro -
link commuter rail sta tion
with pub lic artw ork that
pays homage to tribes th at
inh abited rbe area, the
GabrieHno and Chumash
Indians. F eat ured is a re -
creation of a San Gabriel
Mission archway. Fl

Judy 8aca's " Danza ~ ..
is a coIIabcntiYe wark of a't.
Muralist
Honors
American
Indians .
• Art: Judy Bece's 160,000
project to sp ruce up the
Baldwin Pa rk Metroli nk
rail station puts 'memory
into a piece of land.'
BylANDCBJN
nMU n AfT • • ITD
rtist Judy 8aQ Gid li.ue
A
&
lWJce in Bald-,;rj., h-k tile
other ~. ;II ''ier'7 oicl Ii'Ole
""""
In the dly hat of i. ~ :.m.
8Ic:a skipped akmi ~ eeeece
fooqath that.~.:= ctn::=:Ii-
aI . . . pa1'ormed 07 c:-,:, CaJi·
fon:m mbabiWlU, the ~
and 0wlDab lDdial'&.
'Jbt wiDdiDI laDe Is pan ~
"Dam J.ndl.rmq" (I~G.iBenc ;a
.0.-1. the public art":lOr'il: me
desiped to 'PJ"IICt up the Bakiwin
.....
ParIr. Metrolink eonllr.a\.a':all N -
, wanted ttl put rneIA.;;.,- y ~to •
pieee of the 1and~ that ~ _
bome to the Ameriem:i Indian Wi ·
tuNI:, aid the 1001 An6..xs m\~ ­
itt. Latino KtiYist a:xl UC 1niIw!
vt prof _ . She hci=a to =.
plae firUIbmI touches 0Ye" the
nen two weelu..
~r.ral to Btu', 0eIiIn 15 lhe
2O -foot .hi,sh r e-er eatio n of all.
an: hway from the neari)1 San Ga-
briel Mission. BmuUt it ~..retches
the miKinn'. a~ f1c(l;' plan.
eWM:d inUl the eo.IomI eonco"et.e of
an gpm pLaa From il ~ tbe
foot path. _Md1 1iniuI pel~
wben: c:or:ammas WlIi.t for~
L ocated at the comer of 00 1lOl:.·
_ A YUIlle aDd Rarilor::; &0/01 .
"ud in 1M San c.~.cl Vailey.
the $6Q,Q(X) prqeet Is ....""i 01 W
4. ,._ -0101 An fot Ra£ Tr.nli~
Protnm irDtitut«l 0] the L.A.
Cown y Metl'opoUcan TTanspon.l.
--
lion Alrthcril.y_ To 41te.·~ art1st&
bave been ~ to ado.-n
-.aUDn& ~ Southern Cali-
'"We ~ it', ir.Jponan. w
a.b the train &~ DDI. o.oIy
eftk :ia ll but ~ and IUC:"
friISldIy ," aid JeIIic:t o..act. n il .
an pracram direcmr. ~l>:". ~~
really ialporUnt to . . . provi(>c
QlIClmunities With .. R nIIe of owt; .
ership in !he stations."
Baca. who wu ebosen for the job
ff'Oll1 aIDODIl"OIChi}" 25 other art -
iIU, bat been inn ),nd il: mu-
rai-muq for abo ut. • QlWU:
ce:nwry. AmDnI her zunis is 1M
hal f-mile -loa( nCr n t Wali Df
LA... purpxud to be: til:: ':'1'0:;0"1
M
~ 8M bat ov <::---.. ~t
of abcU 2lIO wcna as c. ic=dc:" 31
two munir:ipally furllk'u m;,o:~ ;4-0-
JI'tIN in Las Anfta
FOI' !.be Baldwin pJl..-'.:: ~=Il. .
aile wanted l.O portl"aj ';M1 w::UU~"l '
UC" and '"truthfuJ" viIiar:I 01 tilc
am', history .
we:l~j esc-
E
S~
te.bed iino the
be _like ce!lU'llI. ardl l:.- tho:~
ee GabrieU::.:; ll<ll:t': i"o:-
the Ira. aDd , qUlXC i~ ~~
autbor Gloria ~ -rbil; i.oIilCi
.... Moican Met. ~ lndia.,
Il_ ysand is. and Wili On ipin.-
Lettering OD I b .:' .. Iuo: nccr
. ,111 OUI.. in EncIW!. IN: Nl(: ·
men", nWhen the Indiw~ died. Uu:
viJ1alt'S ended...
When lhe Spanish arrtv-...:'. ~
Aid. aXdien raped :oc= "" Ca·
bmllno women. In el udi tli the
ebIel""l WifL The dlId':; ~~
}ed to his <leelipjta tJon. I t =:- In
tbat tIimate that UK: ~ San
Gabrid _ foundeQ.; ~:;akl
A Slone: mound. .~ ~ one ttl.::
Cabrieanc. would ~7C ~rn'l~
u • place of pray er. =bodie= a
femin ist kleoIocY the :l.~t 1'llT."iced
Into the prn;ecL. It Is 1". trib-..itc to
Toypurin.a.a 23-YUf . ~d Gl:<Jn w ·
DO -.oman who led a -even ar ~.sI.
the Spanish miaioaaric:..4 ::ill: :iii(.
" oypurina wu depico.<:z: {b;; the
Spanilhl u. ~ :cd :;or -
c:eraI beo::alaIt the ot.....~ lati"
crouPS of rwin peopk' 11) fi&h:. the:
M\uioll San Gabriel ;,.,-,c ~ 11
down. For thaI. she .....e.; ::-:;;!::beQ
from her IllI tin IIi1Ki. 1 felt I;. ....:a
appropriate to pu t her ~ ~-:';C
'Ieu.c ~. BACh, t:'S'..
LOS ASGf' :" TI~.1ES

BACA:Art
Pays Homage
Continued fnm F8
he r own territory."
"Danza Indigenas" was a couab-
oration involving Baca an d L.A.
architects Kate Diamond of Siegel
Diamond Architects and Gusta vo
Leclerc of Adobe L.A. Typical of
her mural-making methods. Baca
also inte rviewed GabrieHnos and
other residents of Baldwin Park, a
largely La tino town of 70,000.
"I n the process, I developed a .
sense of what was going on
with th e whole place," she said,
and gathered quotes she embl a-
zoned on the archway. Among the
resi dents' statements, " If this plac e Cent:raI to Judy Baca's work is a 20-foot-high archway. re-created after
was good enough for me to grow up San Gabriel Mission, from which a footpath links commuter shelters.
in , then it is good enough for my
children ": "T he kind of community
that people dream of. rich and poor, dance along the footpath and peo- "They dig it: they thin k it's an
brown, yellow, red, white, allliv- ple driving by give thu mbs up, said awful-fancy transit station," Wille
ing together." Chris Wille, job supe rvisor with said.
To further "personalize" the Rock and Water Scapes. the proj-
train station, Baca imprinted into ect's Irvine -based contractors.
the concret e beneath each of four
s helters (also bearing floor plans of
California missions ) such phrases
as "my moth er" and "I am a
Gabrielinc," rendered in Gabrieli -
no , Chumash, English an d Spanish.
At the s helter farthest from Ute
main plaza are the words memory
and wUlp<TWeT, which "are what
any culture- the ones living th en
and those living now -has to have
to preserve itself," she said.
So far, community response has
reportedly been positive. Children
 I Z MAGAZINE
OCT OB ER 1 991

mural 's planning and exec ution. Young people often work
W01t1EN close ly with mature artists in large-scale artistic expression.
As a medium of publ ic art. munls have impact far beyond
traditional amsnc produclS in museums. and other tradition-
POLITICAL al an worid instinnions. Their presence on inte rior and ex-
terior walls of major buildings makes them e asily acces-
Iarxc
ARTISTS IN sible to
them.
numbe rs of people who live and work among

Chican o anisTS in part icular have mad e a unique con-

LOS ANGELES: tributi on to this expression of public art . For more than 20
yea rs in California. Chicano mu rals have tr ans fonned
Thousands of dreary walls into vibrant expressions of cclcr-
JUDY BA CA'S ful artworks that reveal the cultural identity and as~iralions
PUBUC ART of the Mexican-American corrununiry. Los Angdes. with its
enormous Latino popul atio n. has been at the fore fronT of
the modem mural movement. Well doc umen ted in nat ional
BY P AUL VON BL UM and rea:iooal books and articles. this work has co llect ively
added a dramatic dimensio n to the broade r tradition of
T VARIOUS times throu ghout tbe 2 01h c entury, the American political alt.

A mural has served as a majo r medium of political

co mm entary and cri tici sm. Rooted in the Mex ican
mural renaissance of the 19205. man y comem-
pomy muralists have created works of impressive anisnc
stature and dramatic social impact. Tbese artworks typically
call attention to social ills and reclaim rbe neglected history
of marginalized peoples. Abo ve all they express the hopes
and frustrations of millions of peo ple.
Soc ially co nsc io us mu rali sts thro ug hout the co untry
view their an as a powerful means [0 foster social cohesion
and political awareness in working class and ethnic com -
munities. They usually seek nei ghborhood panicipation in a
Women artists have been extremely promine nt in the
mod em mural movement in so uthern California. Its par-
ticip atory flavor and democratic character have increased
the oppcnuniries for wo men to achieve wide reccgninc n
for their artistic ac:complishmcnts. A pivoral fig ure SiDCC the
early 1970s is Chicano muralist . teac her, and community
acti vist Judy Baca, Her combined effo ns as a muralist and
anistic director of the Soc ial and Public An Re source Cen-
ter (SPARC) in Venice. Califomia. have brought her nation-
al acclaim . Recent reviews of her work in Signs from th~
Heart: California Chicano Murals by Eva Cockcroft and
Holly Barnet-Sanchez and Mixt d Biessings by Lucy Lip-

~" ':' ;;;:.;a;• • • :

' . ;:" . ~ .
•
-

10
 Z MAG AZ I N E OCTOBER 19 91

--
, • b -

DIVISION OF TilE B/,RRIOS So CHAVEZ RAVINL

pard have enhanced her high stan ding in the

progressive m istie community.
Born and raised in the Los Ange les area,
Baca developed a commitment early in her ~ ...
care er 10 a collaboralive artistic process
roote d in her involvement with the Chicano
•
I
movement of the early 19705. Her wort as
a community an teacher brought her imo
contact wi th young people f rom diverse eth-
nic backgro unds. many gang me mbers
among them. She felt deeply attached to
these young people. ident ifying with Ebcir
spirit of ~bellion and sympathe tic 10 their
daily slIuggles for dignity in a host ile, racisl:
society. These encounters led to the (onna-
tion of the City wide Mural Project, which
produced hundre ds of murals throu ghout the
Los Angeles a rea. man y of whic h she
directed herself wirh the extensive panicipa-
tion of these young men and wcenen,
These initial projects established Bac.a as
a major publie anist whose work encom-
passed a communal process CUlmina ting in
vivid. socially consc io us imagery. As she
has regularly rcrec. the images produced
are the final pan of the entire proceu-and
no r a t all rbe mos t sig nific 3nl. The co l-
labo ration itself empowers yo ung peo ple to
rake co ntro l of the ir own lives and imbues
them with the respec t I()[)~ de nied them by
n"""
71
 Z MACAZ IN E OCT OBER 199 1

American sccierv, Th is feature of Baca's work has enduring

political impact even as the act ual images fade through
time, weather, and the general atmospheric pollution of the
Los Angeles basin.
In 1976. Bata organized and d irected a mass ive team of
young people. includ ing rival gang members, 10 produce
one of the most monumenla1 projects in the en tire hist ory
of an. "The Oreal Wall of Los Angeles" employed dozens
of white. Asian. African Ame rican. and Chicano youths [0
produce a people's histo ry of California. Located in a flood
" control chan ne l in the San Fernando Valley. [his mural is
the lllll!est out doo r mural in the world.
The most remarkable accomplishmem of the Grear Wall.
an ongo ing project throughout lhe 19805 and 1990s.. has
been the cooperative efforts of the teenagers in volved in the
project. A politica l anist with a comprehensive ed ccadon at
vision. Baca implemented an amazing instructional process
that forced t he young paniciparus !O confront each other 's
stereotypical pe rcept ions of their respec tive etbnicities-an
awesome c hallenge for teenagers with hisl:o ries of mutua!
i
a!'1tagonisms and violence, She used com petent and sensi- I
tive schol ars 10 provide an accurate hislorica1 perspective !
for her young c olleag ues before they began the ard uous
process of de signing and implementing the ;;IOI'k itself. Par-
ticiparus in the Great Wall learned a splendid co mbination
\
of histo r ical, artistic. a."'Id social skills. which have served
most of them extremetv well Ihrou£h the cresem,
Influenced by the g~l Me xi~ muraiislS Diego Rivera.
Jose Clemente Orozco. and David Alfaro Sique ircs. the
w ork is a panoram ic view of California history from the
perspective of ind igenous and immigrant groups. A striki ng
Contrast to "official" histo ry, the mural pan e ls progress
!
-
.;.. -
~
. \
 Z MAGAZINE OC TO BE R 1991
from th e origin al Nativ e American inhabi tants to the
present. A major theme is rbe oppression against vario us
ethnic groups whose contribu tions to California have been
as profound as they bave been ignored Similarly. Ihe mural
bighl igms the acc om plishments of many ethnic heroes
whose lives and works sel do m grace the text book s o f
public and private schools in California or elsewhere .
Bacas commitment to the neglected history of her ow n
Chicano community finds dramatic expression in the Great
Wall. The bombing of Pearl Ha rbor spawned enormous
wartime hysteria througho ut the United States. Mcst tragi.
cally. this hysteria caused the unconsciona ble and unco n-
stitutional incarceration of I IO.OClO persons of Japanese an-
cestry on the West Coast. 3 theme portrayed in one of the
Grell! Wall pane ls.
Less well known is tholl incidents of racial violence w'ere
common throughou t the nation during the earl y 1940s. The
annosphere in Los Angeles W3S tense and vo latile. especi al-
ly against the large Ch icano population. In 1942 the press
promoted fears of Mexican crime. focusing especially on
yo un g Mex ican-American me n wearin g " zccr suits ."
trccsers flared at the knees and tight at the ankles. 'The Los
..l\ngcles City Counci l passed an ordinantt prohibiting the
wearing of zoot suits. and police roamed Chican o areas
making searcbes and terrorizing the populatio n. In August
1942. a young Mexican-American was found near deaIh by
!he Sleepy Lagoon just outside the city. After his deat h.
police used the corpse as an excuse to round up 22 gang
members and beat confessions out of them. Several were
convicted of murde r and Other serious criminal charges:
only later was this m iscarriage of justice reversed.
"
,
j
f·I /'
. I
w'd "t
A simil ar episod e occurred the follo wing year. when
sailors stormed intO bars and other establishments. beating
young Chicanos and tearing their zoot suits from their
bod ie s. C ivi lia n an d mi litary po lice e nco uraged tb e
ram page. eve n assisling the te rro r by arresting young
Chicaoo's on baseless charges. The local press meanwh ile
intensified the hysteria. The riot eventuall y ended. but the
consequences aff~ted southern California for decades to
come.
Judy Baca has captured this deplorable historical reality
in a Great Wall panel known as "Zoot Suit Riots" (figure
l). The work highlight s the black. Gestapo- like boots of the
local police. an image with uncomfonable contem porary
resonance in light of the savage beating of Rodney King by
the Los Ange les police in early 199L The artist's focus is
StaIk and unsubtle. a powerful reminder of the repress ive
history of police misconduct thro ughout U.s. history.
A com panion de tail in the Great Wall updates the history
of oppression against the Chicano community of Los An-
geles. " Division of the Barrios and Chavez Rav ine- (figure
2 ) re veals the human conseq uences of various polit ical
decisiOf'.5 made by elite forces in Los Angeles. The con-
muction of a freeway for the benefit of suburban com-
murers split a long-establ ished OIicano comm unity in IWO.
fosteri ng fam ily disrup tion and frus tration and generally
diluting the historical stability and cohesion of thaI com-
munity.
The 1958 move of the Brook lyn Dodgers to Los Angeles
simil arl y wreaked social and emo tional havoc on the
Chicano ne ighborhood. City po wers constructed Dodger
Stad ium in Chavez Ravine. bringing enormous profits to
 Z MAGAZINE OC TO BER 1991
Dod ser owners. doubtless a far grea ter concern than the
resu ~in g disl ocation for the Chicano residents of the area.
Once aaain. Baca has used the power of mural an to reveal
the polit ical and human real ities con cealed by the glitz of
LA's entry inro maj or lea gue base~1. . ,
More recen tly. the art ist has pain ted a major mural In the
central California town of G uadalupe. where Chicano and
ot her ethni c farmworl.:ers work for major agribusiness inter-
ests. Consisting of four panels. the Guadal upe m ural high-
lights the people whose e ff~ ns truly u.~erli~ the ~a 's
com mercial and cultural achievements. Ethnic Ccntribu-
tions to G uadalupe" (fig ure 3) emphas izes the d iversity of
the town. Baca 's depiction of various immi grant Latino.
Chinese. and European wo rkers and shopkee pers reveal a
rocre accurate account of Ca lifornia 's historical develop-
menl than usually portrayed in textbooks and o ther instruc-
tiona l materials.
In 1987. Baca embarked on another la rge-scale par-
ticipatory project concerning the issues of peace. human
cooperation . and global interde pendence. Lik e her previous
effons . this mural wa s initialed by involv ing people of
diverse backercunds. Bac a held brainstorming sessions with
historians. ~holars. reac hers . students. and o thers who se
feelings inform rbe entire effort, - World Wall: A VISion of
the Future Without Fear" consists of a series of 10 ' by 30'
ponablc panels that envisio n a future world radically dif-
ferer n from George Bush 's "oew world order.- A travel ing
installation system enables the wo rk to be re assembled
anywhere. reflecting its highly public character, Wo rld Wall
premiered last year in Finland. w here local artists j oined the
projec t by adding their o wn vis ions about a peaceful and
humane world future. Later in 1990 the mural went on to
the Soviet Union . where it was exhibited in Moscow's
Gork y Park, A Soviet artist added another panel to the ef-
fon . continuing the pan icipatory process.
Four of the work's projected se ven panels are now com-
plete. A panicularly striklng panel. photographed in Mos-
cow, " Triumph o f the Han ds" (fi gu re 4). illustrates the
transfo rmation from a war to a peac e-base d economy re-
quired for global peace and soc ial ju stice. The mural's mul-
ncctcred people realize their own power by se izing the
mil itary machi nery. dem a ndi n g the " peac e d iv ide nd"
aboned by the Bush adrni nistranca's repressi ve domestic
policies and brutal military adventures.
Baca 's commitment to participaricn has led her 10 Si2-
nificamly broaden the definitio n o f public an. Realizi';g
that visual images alone. however poli tically critical. are in-
sufficient. she has pio nee red the cre ation and ma inte nance
of alternat ive artistic institu tio ns. In 1976. Ba ca. painter
C h risti na Schlesinger. a nd filmm aker Donna Deitc h
fOUnded SPARe as a m ult icultural an center to produce.
exh ibit. documem, and preserve public art works. In the en-
suing 15 years. SP.-'\RC has become one of the nation 's
most succes sful institutio ns fo r pclineal anists. Baca's in--
tensive effons as art istic director of SPARC have been cru-
cial to that Success.
Th e Soc ial and Pu blic An Reso urce Center pe rfo nns
meny function s of vital impon ance 10 the progressive com -
munny, Its mural resource cente r. for example. contains
16.000 slides of m ural s from aro und rbe world. including
7.000 slides of Ch icano murals in California. This docu-
74
me ma tion project encourages communication across com-
munities. cul tures. and nations. enabling progressive artists
everywhere [0 le arn fro m one another and e nhance the
power of mural art in their respective locales. This resource
is largel y unavailab le else where : the es tab lished med ia.
univers ities. and m useu ms rarel y bother with artwork tbey
regard as epeemeral and politically suspec t.
Baca's jnfl uence on the SPAR C Gal lery equal ly benefits
progressive artists and activists in the Los Angeles area.
Unlike private an galle ries. SPARe is a nonprofit ent erpri se
showcas ing artists ty pically exc luded hom mainstream ar-
tistic institutions. The SPARC Gallery also emphasizes an
with soc ial and po litical content. which sustains a centuries-
old tradi tion of visual political criticism. In recent years the
gallery program has p resented e xh ibit ions o f works by
Afri can American women artists . Los AogclcslNew York
urban acti vist an, views of homelessness. graphics by Sout h
Korean student protestors, recent Chicano an from Los An-
geles . and many other socially committed art works.
Perha ps abo ve all, Baca's most enduring influence as
SPARC arti stic direct or is the continuing mural prod uction
program, Under SPARC au spices. scores of murals have
been produced th rou ghout Los A ngeles. gene rally incor-
porating the collaborative proce ss that chara cterizes Baca's
mural art. Sin ce 1988. SPARC has adm inistered a neighbor-
hood pride: program fo r the city. with mural wo rks directed
by profess ional art ists with the assistance of young people
referred by sc hool s and social se rvice agencies.
One typical SPARe ·sponsored examp le is an effon in
prog ress by Sandra Drinnin. Entitled "Ibe Living City of
Los Angele s" (figure 5). this work continues the traditi on of
wo rking people with young people in the comm unity. Thi s
work will be completed on a su permarket wall in central
Los Angeles. in a ne ighbo rhood popula ted by Lat ino s.
As ians. and African Americans. Murals arc no panacea for
the vast complex of urban problems in Los Angeles. Never-
theless. the y encourage commu niI)' youths to develop artis-
tic and org anizing skills . prov iding tremendous significance
for person al and soc ial change.
Thi s focus also extends 10 yo ung children. AI the recent
exhibition of B aca 's World Wall in predominantl y Latino
East Los Angeles. SPA RC amnged for elemen tary school
children 10 parti cipate fully in the festivities . Figure 6
sho ws Neighbcrheod P ride Coordinato r Alan Nakagawa
discussing the won: with a group of children. lbcy tOO
have the opponuni ty to ex press the ir vision o f a world of
peace and ju stice-opponunities oflen denied in their in-
stn utional se ttings of school. church. and elsewhere.
As an art ist and comm unity organizer, Judy Baca has
had a pro found impact on the political an world of Los
Angeles and beyond. Her murals complement her leader-
ship efforts in bui ld ing alternative cultural institutions. She
has es tablished the highe st standard fo r progressive artists
througnout the United Sta tes and fortified the stature of
women artists in the broader stru ggle for a decent and
humane soc iety. Z
SP.~ RC is conducting a membership dril'~ 10 snppon its multi-
faceted C'lIllIIral and artistic ocnvities. iflcllld;fI/l Ih~ completion
and fllnh er exhibition 0{ Jlldy BDC'o's ~ World Wall." Write SPARe.
685 V~nice Sl Id.. \'enice. CA 90191.
 "The World Wall: A VISion of the Future without Fear,"
An Interview with Judith R Baca
Frances K. POW
In • recent issue dIm Angela MJJgadne Judilh F. Baca
was refemd 10 as "'the \<Dice ol che srreet~)eyd community
""""""' ;px.d by tho _ _ Itt ..nd."' The descrip-
tion is &II accura&c one. Currentlyan assistanl prolr:ssor of an
at the University of Calibmia. Irvine. and anistic director of
tho Social and PubUc An Resou= e-< (S"'RC). >he Iw
tried to keep alive and in me public eye the cultures and tradi-
tions of the many difl:rcut peoples of 50lIthcm CaUlbmia.
Baca was born and raised in die Los AnceJes area... She
dcscn"bes her early years in Pacoima• • 5Uburb oi Los A1J.
gdes, as ... time when eYet)'body was ~ very hard at
just being American."' Edmic &fOUPS ~ 10 '1J&cnd in," 10
dowDplIy their diffeJeoces from the nile CXImInLIIli1y. This
meaDl speekinc Eaa1ish. prdeRbIy wiIbouI an acceDl. Olil-
eeee from Spaaisb-speakinJ f.unilic:s who were lIIIIlbie 10
masaer d:lc E..aclisb . . . . ill r\cmrncary scbooI: SOOIl bmd
lhc:msdves tabdc:d slow or rewded _ bdd Nck.
FunmaIdy hi' Baca. sbc bad • quick miDd aDd amodler
who bdic¥cd $lJOIICIY in the wlue of ,... ......... In Ihe I96Os.
afier canpIdiac hiIb scbool. she earoUed• • SIUdio an: majo£
at Calibuia Stale UDiYaUy at NonhridF. Ew::n then she
was COIItCrlXd abouI the rdevance 01 bet an. a coocem dull .
was prompu:din pan by her fiuniJy's douba abouI her cboscu
probsioo. What impKt wooJdher an brc 00 reallik? Wbal
woWd it mean 10 her grandmolher? How praaica! was it wbc:n
it came lD earning a living? Thillaacr cp::sOon led her 10 minor
in hisIory and educatioo. disciplines thai: pn:Md invaluable in
her Iaref work.
The I960s were important years br Baca. People of color
were beginning 10 agiwe on campuses across die counuy fOr
African-American stUdies, alicano scudies. HarM:: American
srudics. AJian...A.mcric Sbtics. s.:a pWc:4:ad in Ibe mug-
ga cI thisdecade and became C¥en more axwinccd thai: sur-
Frrmcu K. PohI r«dved her B.A. ond M.A. tU8rus in an history.from lhe Uniwniry of British Colwrtbia (Jbncouver) tutJ
lin Ph.D. tkgree ill Q1T history from lite llniwmry of CaJi./onUo, Los An~ks. SM Iw publisMd 0 s~ri~s ofonidu ""feminist
an ~ an history in IN Uniuti SImu; * Hbman s Building ar Ihe 1893 Mbrld 's Columbian &posilj,," in DriallO; llIIIithe
I~ onisr MirellD &mil'08lio. Her book Ben Shahn: New Deal Anise in a Cold War Cl inwe, 947· 1954 , KW m :DI11y ptb
lisIttuJ by me University of Tam Press. SN is cunmrly an auisIant pro{enor of an history ar 1bmona CoII~ge.
fAl:WTIRS \bI. XI, No. 1 e 1990 FJOIT£RS &IIofiaI Ct*cIiw
viva) br pc:opk: of color" meant the prt:SCmllion of their vari-
ous cultures. " 1f )'OU deDy the presence of another people and
their culwre.," she has commented, ''and you deny them their
traditions. )'OU arc basically conuninif!8 culrum genocide.")
Baca had experienced such a denial at Northridge, where
wesern EuropeaD an bad been held up as the model for aU
an. Noone told her about the: MeUcan mwaI rrtOYement, about
Diego Rivera or Jose Clemence Orozco or David Alf.uo Si-
queims. The surrealists studied included the Spaniards Joan
MinS and SaJ'Iador Dali bul: not the: Maican Frida KahJo.
From 1969 through 1974 Baca worked specifICally within the
Oaicano and MeUaoo communiIy cryinc ~ reYerSe Ihis denial.
W~ her B.F.A . in baAd, she IaUIhI ata CaIhoIic high school
where she orpniz.cd her first munJ proje:a as a 'WrJ 10 briJIg
_
an,
~ S h e _ ..
JOF:ther SIUdenu from d iflereal oeia;hborhoods.. In thc: sum-
mer r# 191O, Mille Vo'Of'kinB b 1be Lo5 Aa£des Rccn:alioD
aDd Parks Dtputmalt, she agreed 10 take on 1be CUr.I cast
r# ClfPoiring aDDlber mun1 am r# twmry oaIykids
_ from_
buI also about understaDdinc the put aod making COIl-
nectioos betwceD the past and the praenL
b.tr
Rcaliring boch the educarional. and 1be political power of
rmnIs, Baca submined to the Los AJlBeIes City Council in
1974 a proposal b' a citywide mural program. Forty murals
would be produced each year. c::oo.oerinc a radius r# om- a
hundred miles in r:very ethnic communiry in chc: city, at a cost
of approximately $L5O,OOO a)UC. The progfUI was funded ,
and Baca lBVeled from me black comnwniry to the 0Ucan0
communiry to the Thai cornmuniry to the Chinese communi·
ty, _ ........-. hmne _Ie, and nogotiatine wid>
ciry officials. OYer 1be course of iu aisIcnc:e (1974-1984) the
program funded 250 murals and empkJyed KXXl crew mem-
ben. Bacaacquired \'a)' early on, lbereb'e. bolh thc: admiJl..
 "'hI 3S

bition. Sevm JO' by 30' mur:als au be hung OIl the opposite
sides of the original panels. and an additional twemy-eip
smanermurals (10' by ICY) can be Ioc:aIed on the bmeeD tr.m-
inc:devices projectirc at right ansles from the outside of the
main Slt\JCtUre. Baca wanU these smaller murals 10 be ere-
alai by chiJdmJ. Viewing the murals. re:Jding the documema·
lion ~ their creation. and serine the addition 01 new visions
is i'*"ndtd 10 make rhe expertel'llce oIthis exh ibition an acIiwe
one. an experience IhaI will ,.nI1d the message rI the murals
Ihcmselves-that people 01 an ethnic, culnml. and nalional
backgrounds musI bqin 10 WOfk &ogdhet if work! peace is
10 be achiew::d.

WORLD WALL

NEW 'NOALO BALANCE HUMAN BASED

SYSTEMS TECH NO LOGY
NON-VIOLENT M ISSILES 10 STARSHIP
RESISTANCE WEAPONS CONVERSION

TRIUM PH OF TRIUMPH OF
THE HEARTS THE HANDS

Fip~ 1. Abrid II6ll ~ dtOMlilfl.


BACA' T'bey we:Je diflerml in the sense dw the brainsIorm-
iDe b 1be World w.u" b:usc:d 011 just ODe .-JIobal
c:oaftict. for eumpIc. we bad speakers come calk ., us nor
. . . . hisIory but about tbf:; arms race. ~ Mel a wtde ct.y
011 lhe ~ « the American &rIaIa1. And we Jearr.:d alxu
the MX missile, Then we had anocher dIy wheu people came
., speak., us Ibout NatiYe Americ:aIl c:onccps rL baJanc:e and
whII cheir poinr of view was 011 why the wortd had &'JCIal
OUI «baIaDCe. and why we were in {our cumut:) sirualion
euvUO'pnmglly and in ICJ11'lS rL conflictberwem nIboas. .. -
The b:us was not: an hiSlOricaI cwerview. tt"'lC..br~. b!.a. very
spDcific b:us on the cooccpl eX peace. Vk had scmcone come
aDd mIt. 10 us about parallel systanS aDd how one orpni7a
• pwalld systan that ooukI mlM alongside. mainsuam ecce-
amy. aDd lben how the Cf'OSS(JYC'" could occut when: )'OU coukt
acnWIy sutwert themainstream economy aDd ab$orb it _
-sysoom.
~ abo had brainstorming sessions about OW' owa dreams..
F« .......... we <tid ...... worl<shops ....... . . . . . -
ltu:lfded dreams br • number U moatlls. VC used me Sa-
rrdtl teemiquc in wbidJ }'OU ask: )'OIUIdf • question before
)'OU sk:ep and then )IOU t.ec:p • DOItbook by )'QUI' bed and )'OU
r=ord wbal )OU are dRaminc. '\bu abo do thcIe little aer-
ciIcs in which )'OU by and prac:tic:c: I QIIaIlila ia.
were dramil:lc- Wb:II was iraJesti4 was that wheD we were
whaI )'O'l
doiac this ..colk:cti'o'e dramiJ:l&" we JOI very similar imaFs
fICGI people simuhaneousty. 1"bcre was CDC wc:ck wba1 QUI
ti . IfllUP «tMUy peope _. . we JOl • imIp:s Ihal Mft
chc: ~ WIler. ~ across wafIU'.
We abo did • whole sccticm _ . . bniD:s8DrnWlc about whII
peece MS or .... we IhougbI tuu..l-bi:sed lettaiOkltY woukl
do. And as we did Ihe5e thinp we phered all this inbma-
lion and Slancd 10 c:aqotizt: it in 'Various . . . In oc:her words.
)lOU aMdd group this inbmation abouI how we were, !he col-
k:clive imlgina of wNit we thoughl the world would look like
as it wastransforming, what • SCX'tely would have 10 do, what
kind 0( stages it would have to go ItuTxagh lO come 10 peace
or balance. . . . II bcamc: clear that all this inbmwion could
be divided into twO major categories. !he spirinW and the
1MICriaI. and dlat these two categories could tben be divided
_ pmeIs that roWd be named as we hatoe named than, (with)
pae:nJ CIlqOricaI lides br bodies 01 inbrmalion that came
frnm diu coIlccti'o'e grouping. All the lnbnn8boD from Ihe
braiDsbming sessions came in • really tudom order. Or-
paiziDc it u.o specific carcpies. giviac cac:b pad • tide.
*-, __ the work thal J did with Mao (Wuc:rbr•• Los AD-
&des pXitical aaivisl and political carblaiIll. ThcD we
bnJucbr whM we had come up widl bKt 10 me group and
funher imagined each one of dIoie ,..mom
!'OfU.: ~ how long • periodti timedid cbese tJrainsIorm.
. . ta:IIoJIs wicb the group ol bty-five peop&e cake piKe?
BACA.: We had tweDry weeb. ~ would 'MJril: all d.y OD
Sardays.The morningswoWd be cIaoIed 10. more thl:on:t-
icaI dilculsion. wish speakers brouaht in from tbf:; 0UI$idc.
~ in the . l1eaUOOllS we woukJ work on dw:: ....,.. *p,pliza-
~ IIQd dcYdopmenc ti the imagery. The emphasis u me eo-
tift: program was training people 10 be nwraI painras but noc
decorative painters. And in faa. It the dose of this training,
~ could hive nude anything-. peri:lrmance, a book, •
video. They wouldn't oecessarily have 10 make • mural. The
I'bhl 41
pnx:ess of wortiDB from die YeI')' geaeraI down 10 Ihe more
specific is the concqJt that I u.oe beea.dewdopiDc in this nttaI
~ prognm. which is i'*'""cd to Ir:actl people bow 10
di=ct ct.nae. hcMo 10 SO Ihroogb. traabiilMi~ pocas l-J
efIieca c:haee in themseha aDd therebc mates than more
abie 10 make • piece m. has some kind rL U ilPOWd lUa. base..
_ of ... people ..... _ _ m11y """'" " ' -
11baI) •• . I \1WOf"kc:d out Wer it*) the (mal imaFs- Some d
them were not two-dimc:nsiona utisu, Otawing was DOC their
skill. Some ol them were ~ pcopIe. Some d them
were media people, Buc ew:rybody panicipartd in the coo-
ctp"'lIljzarion and conaibuted iOmClhina.
POHL: How f&r Uong an: you now .on the piece?
BACA: I hZ"C • full-scale maqueUC-ODC: inch to one fOot. J
~ one panel c:omplc:tc and two pands nearly c:omplde. or
me bu' remainin& pneIs J have dtawinp b " Nonviolem
Resistance.. and I'm missing " New \\brld Sys&ans"-wfUctt
are all Ihoac peopie-fo-peopI corM:nIions lie juscX:e: aad aJO-
vivWiry and an aid 10 racism-"Hwnan·Bascd Techrdogy,"
aDd " Missiles to Starships. Those three need II'IClCe work and
Of
more coa c:qxii.lizabon.
POHL: '*" Ihc:R atIY panicularly difficult bmaI or
ir:::orq.....UcaI probk:ms thai: c:.DC up in die ecune ol die dis-
cussiont? .
BACA: When we were initially dIinkirw .!xU doiDs this b
abe GrcM Pcac:e Man::b. our paobkms ~ UIOi'1t1WS. How
could we mae the pieces in time and what kind d treabDeII:
could we give them so 1baIl:beyc:ouJd be pained YeI')' qWd.:.
ly aDd wicb 1arze iUDbers ol ~ ill Iddition 10 me ini-
tial am. allihe whik beping • COdinuity ti imIp:s? If 1herr:
were going to be ~ paods, bow cou kl we wort. • series
d Iit:amS through Jhose ~ paacls and SliD I-.: conti nuity
belwem Ihem? J ta.d Deed sDnilu lssues on 1he GtaI WI."
I had diflere:nt people each summer. and yet the piece ta.d 10
. • . match the pm'Klus piece in termS of iu Sl)'listic lrQt-
menl . What hcld it a1110gether was the 5tT\ICCUre I Ct'CIted and
the syslCmalized . pp1tcation , SO thai the bodies could dwlge
and the hands could clwige but the application remained the
same . So that was one ol the issues .
On '1'he \\brid Vtall" I also led a whole series of work-
shops called "8e)tlnd the Obvious Symbol." wtw we fiJund
was that we ta.d huDdreds of examples aDd knew \'CI)' well
how 10 image c:oafIict and violence and that those were the
first images that came 10 our minds.. But imaging peace was
more difficult. In ocher words. we could define peace by say-
iDe the abacDce d war, but we couldn't say what it was. ~
couldn't say what it kd:ed like. Vk got stuck. As. Ibis poiol:
• studatt said "What is peace? EYeJ}'body s.ittiDc around and
wau::hiDs 'IV?" ADd Ihai we really realized thai pan 0( wbM
was happeninc was cbat the media and the ~ ambiealad-
lUre in p::umJ supponcd . very ..aonalistic. Q)lupc.1itioe., Yio-
iaIl situatKlaal kind u politics. It was much easier b us 10
see the world as • soccer mak:b. or-. ixlcbaI1 pme than t:)
see while would happal wbal we weft: wotting c0operative-
ly. whaI: we chanp:d the rules rL the game. ThinkiDa u peace
was YC:l'}' hard 10 do, it required mudl more etative thinking .
I drink this is me reason why. inherently, we (1$ • society)
doo't u.oe reaDy strong imagesor very clear ideas .bouI wtw
it would be like if we were \loUicing on an international rooper-
.live level lOr the development of . suucture or • model fOr
 4

POHL: ~ you thinkine abouIthe viewing of these: murals socially conscious public an . I f . group wants 10 do an ea
by an imanational audience when you were working through Jocic:aI piece in wtUcb they absolutdy transbrm the ~ in Sal
your imagery and symbols? ta Monia or, on III international ~I, take on the desuuctio
8ACA: Definitely. But the wir. mat we set br ourselves. and of the Amazon, then there's the money. Pub lic an of this t)'J1
my idea abouc "Tbe \\brld Wall," is dw: the inraior piece is fraught with di fficu,lties., both orpnizational and fi~
is an American vision, and while iIs a"dicace will be inIema- We need more of this end of wad, though, and havinc iii
tioaal, out job is 10 come from u American perspccti~ I mooey there would be half me ban1e woo.
think that tbc: most profDwld thiac about die piece is _ it
is lD come from a mlllrindcul2J paspeaiYe widUD the UDilaI NarES
sa.s. wtUch is of a:lW'Se • miDoriIy posirion The cuerior
IDIU'&ls wouJd thea do die work of each alUIID)' spcakinc spe- l I*lokGec, ........ 1'tMu.~ lM ~ ...... 33 (O:I:Ibcr I!ilII
cifically lDiIs ilatllMX:cal-Jdicnce So I dd1't miad diespeci- llI.
_ct ;,. 1. JrIdidl; ~ s.c., "'Our PIII:lpk Iuc"
I..... EaaD- (t - I
....... __ o-. ~. .. c...a .. Cll n·DN. 1IIiIed by Dull
POHL: H.w:)'OU decided wtUch cnuntries)'Oll wouJd like 10 till JCIM MIl ~ ~ (s-k: The ItAI e - PI-. 1915). 6:
haw: the piece visit yet! 3. Ibid•• 61
BACA: Actually, that will RO( be br me 10 decidc.. A JEld -t. a.c:. is _ !be &c.d of ~ 01_ AJDmc. ea.-i! of _ An
or turd wilJ be Sd up thai will pq:oinI1be places in 1beworld Iac.• ..s _ I..of .uplc$ M_oIe-"I'Oftlf An Md bu ......
AJtI;
ia _ ~ ~ oa _ ' oI lhcToma RMra e -. L A. TllIi
at this moment tha1 are the most signific:anlCCIlWrieI in termS Form Ibr cb£ Am. _ ~'. LA. 2(0) eon.m-, a.t 1Ilc Hal..., ~
of coming 10 some relationship with each other lOr peace. In dowmnI ... !he Am. III
other words. wtUdl counaies are the hoc. spots. I suspect the 1. A ck:Io:ripUon ollhc InlIlIJ QIl be; b.IIId in M6llUIr br GItd a..a.l
SoYict Uuion and Latin America will be among mem, and ., e..-llOUcfu.~(LOI A.....: Scdal and PIIblic An fl&:Iouft
~. MJ). nc _ _ ........ by £~ CocmofI as! Rc*n Picnoi
probably some Ewopean aJUnUy. I would lib: 10 ICC it SO 6. a- ... ...,. t.-. ~ ... d. cirywicIe _
10 Mexico.. pRIja f"'Nc:4fPbcw buod Prick,
by ~ Brdey. MID. ill 19II. _ _
POHL: Who is goias lD be 011 die boanf?
BACA: ThaI is wbaI we are wortiDB 011 ricbt DOW. ~ are
abouc 10 bin: a ~ iJr the project aDd are aOO JCUia&
ltOJO. tpwbrjons iJr eIqIaU, pcopk who make Ibe JOIdy d
_m......
SUOIXlO -.. _ pojca. A .... IidIaId . . _ _ aD _ _ -at
......... _cily. lll l!ill9 ~

7.
JIIIIicc
~ _

a- Md - r fRD lbc CriMiIral -.a ~.. .....

_ ,..... ...., bid kI _
.. ~ .... "-'It..

eriIIria. n.: r.._

~

g10bal confl ict their CODCCrD. For ~, we are taJkiDB II) _ .,. _ wi6 _ _ ftICllIIdI cc.6d be; ,....,.. _ dle _
_ ..... " _ . - . . . mM.........,w. Tbey bria& ,... . .
&- _
c.e.ao.~

• . ally
__ ....
.w, 2. 1 6llailies.
~ " all --..s _ ~ ...
IIJgCthcr scboWs there 10 diIaw specific policy as it afkts.
.. fa -t - a d _ _ in die - . d o - l i
Y)'. ~ educaaioD. We would also lib: lD bN: as
'-Pc. Caliinia, Baa _ tpneific IIiIay 01 this '--ten. a.
membecs a number of promiDaIC women of eokK from ...-lilly, _ A.K u. ., btwda" ~ MdI .Ibe .
duou&hout me UDiIed States who could help us with visibili- . , . . 01 fIi'cIt
IIbor ill ~.
1)' and fwx1raising. The baud would also ultimaIdy be resp0n- 9. nc ~
w
....__ r-n -v.brId Wall: A VISion 01. f'ti
sible tlr me tmd, security, aDd disIribuUon of the piece and turl .....--. fac. I typae:ripI ...uabk from Itlc. Social IIId Pub&:
would decide what wouJd happco with it when it l'tl\Ir'ned
~ e - (SPARe) (IU!.).
n n. ~ _ ~ 011 April '11, 19t9.
home. I would like II) see the '4rious murals so&d and me u. a- _ -primiti'lOt- hc:re ill. poNlM -.e. - - . . M
tirsc miIIII
money pa _ • fund that woWd caabIe adler artias II) produce or "'prilaU milld.w
 ,
,... Life/Arts
•
TEUVlStOfVC4
ElnUfu. ll.' / CS
C. . . .. . . ./C6
H_ try eo.aIclc }'oung
piQ,,;s' "'"~tRrs 1M
past/CS C

he ' World wan: is n ot

L T co mplete until d ialogue

oc c u rs. It is n ot a static
niece silting i ll a m useum .
- JDdlth Ban

........................... r _
Venice artist is taking wia.-. .....
So-. Mwoo .... u.. Ilo-iuo .-.101; ••
... MANocI it> i.....n ......." -
aM .......:I ift\o u.l_ tionod
..ioU - 11>0 oklilo aAd w...t
.... .....:l 1O _ CIlia bK_ her murals on the road
...... 10_ " , . ,. ...... ...... ..,.. Hoco.
....
.... . . _ A I n i " 104_
fouM
...... c1
' ;' "_ -"
u.l.N ....._ _ lho
• 1_
"",NMt cos-"""io
ud W.<Ola1oo
"' . . -
.uu- ..-on. s-w.. ~ "'-'-n oo.q-.
.o\ ..ma.J . . . . -.01 &100 US8R
A ~ U 1lece _ . f _ _tad io ...

,..,on.. .
o&oodio,
t\nt
onitt 10 ....... 1ooII;"r , • •
I!oonob'• . - l io .
_ .... .......... Mdo aooo:if_ .......
R . . - _ _ . --...c. n - _
_ ..... . .., . .... . bIi-I _ ......
-rt.. ...........,.u.,...... ·,';..
- - . l o llloflt!; . 1iPL
"' .... IM s.riot,... ....
.... _ ..... ,..." . ... "-I odooMil

.....
........
~et
u..u.,___.-s....o
tM OW\ ...... _
.,. e-..
........ ... ' - - no.. io ..... TiIon
'-.
___ _ __ ' - it
1'1100 .... io dooIt .. IM ......w w.n-

.................. .....,
..... .... , . . • ....,L .u...Iy . s-Jo

......................--..
AJlno- .... ... _ " - ,' ....

. . . . . . lies erel'ted a Ii8nt rru.l

wl105e ~ oeDiC;t the CI'I8n,eS
--
... . . t_

.... ......... -s
_
..... ... nioliaf; "

"'. _"_io&loo ~-_

i l _ l O tM-a 1ll
, . - - ..... U-Io _ _
. . . . 1i.. K _ ~
.on. ' WwId w,.g· it
....-...
tr,.
......Mi1
....... _ Itit_ .~,...
............. _ . " , . . . aaoilo
........ IM
_ it _
_~
~iD ._. """''''''J
'ot.. ..." Uwt 1IoaooutlboI.' Of _ . I
.
...... \My ..,. .... but I _ t IDn-aak
........ .u-. .......
..................,.,
~ • • ....., . _

............... _'-,....-.0
N--. . . .
' -..pI ..........Jbui...-.·
u.._ I o t ~ I _

tt..
"G_t
it the IIftiot _1M> ,.,...."" the
WallJ'-,,-"-"~
'""" t"" Mhto • R". . .......... pOlo ..... _ M .O
 Mural FROM PAGE C I I
tM 0Il.Aai0: _&My 01 CaliIonia
10 lb. p 'OCr••, coMKtId .... IQ gn1 fOl' the tR.......
r.- ~ ti-a to lhot ~ the .""9~ ol Mqor - city.
UI' Oo .itJl. .. h.apI to pmlaaw Tom Bn.dMY. otr. . . . . . _ 11_~.hul B..
loca l i.Ler-,.eW . ,mo"", ~ lO ....hbottoood. _
...... 10 NtIliDIt. tbt -..pc.
. . . . 1M· 1
CIo -too fre-
' ~o-;,.
_ _t*- " - ............. tIMo
! k.ila tJ.a. . . . ~ an:hitKu 10 help
q_tu.. ..... peiM. &be _ _ u. _ . . . . a por$oI~ -.lulu IQU-
E........u... ball
...... • daat ...w dapin lbt ~
I .... T ujoap WMh fIaod.CIllDtnll ....... 01 ...... ...,. ol ..... cMBce- SPAKe
d0.3. . . . . . NonIa H oUywood. I..o- ~ .. tIMo . . . . . P I' ToNI la1b trido paopM
Ii... -C_ W.n- ;. til. . . . . . -w ,.;w iD t.be -w. ..,. b w", •. - . . , ....
.nun.! .. tIMo ..w. MaN lMa B.a, ...tIo b. . ....... . . . . ,... 40 ;..
auo )'IDadII ,...,. _.,. edmic f~ CaIilomioI s-. u---. a ~ ~ ~ flOfld-
~ ~ it_ ty. Nor\Iuiola.. ... .-lW lid b,. u. u.s. Dip," t 01
r... - - . ~ - u d 10 d.,"_ t.It.o
.u
UN utiatie dincwo' of
.."'...... ...;t!a doe Nnic:uI
- . CNdn to- co LA." .......01-.-..·
......
v....'. s.w . . ..,... Art
~_..--
I.- A.....• .u.ic: JI '
u... SPARC. • -"iJftI6t _
......
fA p •• "
R - . e -, s.."bll - . so-iDtitaI - . ......
m-.
-..e .......... '-P~
_
,. .

.... Loot.i_ popIolIe..a-

witIl . ft alf'"uy r.. ..., .n-
&ldk
w-ol
d-

_ . _ ...u- ~
,
_

of _ . lt
Then
C*l"'"l
ll" , ,' ;0

_ .tMt
_ wiIaait)'
diIbI"lto ........... of
hen ,....
........_ ~e:dMbit ­
- A. ftTJ' biK pen 01 wbat I ...
pu bl ~
i... _
i<- _ p
_ k.o _0.
.... .' _ .. to d_loop c _ _ . . .
_ " . . . . Moout ~ 0- of ...,.
, .... r........... wMt lMJ- ...... rlMlly aaked. ' 1.0 ~

_ 01 . . . . .. ,.....
I ry'" - . I ~ with ~ . bout thu_l_ . - • .....,.lIoody . ittia,: . rouad
.....'" t hai. 150 lOieoee it _ tMI~.....,. ....... TYr.
l...-Md .. 1916.. It ' - aa ..._
do ... 0 1 _ u.- 16.000 ph<>-
tJw;r tIIIouP,,· S-..,.. r-.u,., 1M poap _ ' .....
SM '. \eltiac tIM..- &- 1Mi.- _ . _W.-J pro-
tM~""'POd _ _ 1t _ fIII lOud ........
SPARC ;. a.-.d ill tM ok!.

--.y ....
iate tM ifttenwu-aJ _ . . . . . 1I1Iid ....
V_iw Police S t.eu-, wlwn .... -n.e Worid w.n.·
""-r ~ 'World Wall' ;" a 1*"-
I I...... ... dotuoI p.e.
ut. Ie. edliIlit it dle .... . . . .p\Ior .. dYe u- ...
(Ii
r...-.jIoil. ......... _ tUt~ WotGry,. a-.,.. -It a I I _
...... _ ...'1 ..... _ on. .... rw the _ _ GriP- . . . . . . at auetIy tba ri lE h t
-equ~. a-
jok-. -We ..uy - . . d f . - a P_ .... r "ao;d tIUa p..,jaet
~ _hen _ $,000,...... 11ft ,...,. ace> POd _ . _hen
M " peopIoI .1wI . . . . . Wi,
....Ir.•• . . . . . . 10 ~ t he C'OUMIy
~. Th.
'01' ..u.
or' . fti, . ... . p.
an ,,_iftC d .... n . the
'W aD' it a CIllIlaKtioIl b u _
1'- y - . IICO SPARe , f\Uld.
eel by tM city of U. ~. ~ a- 10 aeaw . In¥- ~ ..0 - IMn • d ....ioa..·

o..-~ 01. Cukunl Main.

1M N.tioeaJ EDd_t for
0. Arte. Ca1iI-a-. AN e-n.
cil. Hic.dai IIDlI. tM Nco FOI,lII:
d.tion• .-ocJC' ol.hen. bee"n
- N.i,h bo, hood P rid••C r• • t
W. UI U~.· NiDe .......
ba¥e bMa =-tl',-..:l .UId u_
oOter 15 ... is! ~
 ~ -:t'&
Judy s.ca l~' In n.. of _
sewerIII ln b WORLD WAlL,
NaIl"""
P rr ' ra_ - - . _ of
on....,.1tle
e-ty ~ ~
G8fdenI ttn&CJI MIy 6. e.:a
II biked by her ~ Mr• ..t Mo'"_ Fenrl

A Panel
Discussion
BY K ERRY BLANKEN SH IP
'The W:wtd WaD: A VISion fA the
Future Wltbout FaD'. A porl4blt
mural un dis:p/4Jat tht SnUx GardDu
at titl 5.B" Conty Cowl'thbwst throwglt
May'
artist Alexi BegIov, and one by the
FIJUlish Arts Group.
Baca has been irIYotved in 5eYeIaI
mural projects and is the founder of
SPARC andof the city ofLosAngeles's
C~ MunUs Project. Her acrylic
on canvas panels in 1Jtt MJmJI Wall
(Including, so far, "Triumph of Hearts,•

I
t is l'IOI: without much effort that
the art conununity continues its
att emp( 10 spread peace ~
out theworld. Anexampleofone ofthe
most ambitious efforts ye! can be
viewed in the Sunken Gardens at the
courthouse. T1tt HOrld WIlll: A V"lSioJI
of titl Fftblrt W"rtfImd Fear combines
six portable murals that together try to
picture a future of global harmony
"Non-VIOlent ResisIance.~ '"Triumph of
Hands. ~ and ~Ba1ancej show a mes-
sage that SPARe hopes to :sprN:!1O
other activist artists and communities.
For example, "Non-VIOlent Resist-
ance" encou~ change through in-
...........
dMduil commitment and commw1ity

1Jtt mmd Wall is a direct desct'nd-

through ~ conten\pOl"al')' gl0- eat of the Great WaIl of Los Angeles.
balissuesande:xpbringways in which the nearly haJi.mile-long rmnI in the
communities can learn to rT\OYt Son F""""'" """. prod""" by
beyond war andconfIicL SPARe. thaJ dePcts the history of
Conceived in 1987 by the Los Azt. California from an ethnic viewpoint
gdes-based Social "and Public Art ~ From the Great Wallof LosI\ngeks 10
~ ~, Tht H0rid Wall, when TM"1%rld Wall. Baca has expanded
compW:, will consist of 14 lo.fooc by her bros from barrio and urban em
3O-foot paneis-seYen by Chicana art· cernS to e'obal issues. 1M nbrld Wall
istJudith F.Baca mel &eYeDbyvarious willtn0'e from Santa Barbara10 Mex-
-...o.w........._""'. ico..(.anada. South Africa. Korea. and
ing lJ"aVds abroad. 'iJ date. six of the 14 Japan. wj(h SPARe highlighting perti-
~ ... ......... h ... hv1l;,...." ............ RI.«...... .,_ '~;... ", -m"""""..." _
 NOVEMBER 14,1991
\ULU1oiE 22, NUMBEB. 38
SlSO PERCOPY

Towards a
World
in Balance
SiDct the late ei.Jhties.. 1.01
Aasdcs D:1walistJady B_
ha been s t 1rOd: op w.l.l
w.u, l huge trudinr manJ.
whole cnmded narntift sAd
aIIIlpln symbolism fonD .
visionary depiction of our
worid in ba1aDct. HWU w.o
owamI==ly"_
IIDd F'mJmd, -.rhcn: anisu
dlert conaibuu:d to it. In the
£ira R pxnt or. two-put
dialorac with U'[ hisrDrian

IIId theorist Marin Roth. Baa

diIc:as.cs the proj«t aDd its
I l'IIIIifie:ati 0Q5. 1D
 - --_ . _ , _. ~ _ .. _ ~ ---

be W.rlJ W.U i • •

T
~bY-.ca-r-
it> ~p...te<l
=snllar
I. ......
cOlDpo lOd

...
Ill .......
j , e.naIt/~

te, ..-ill
_ _• of
of
paa.clo ...I. io
iAR:tl-
;.
" ," Towards a World in Balance A conversation with Judy Baca: Pan 1
~ ,-ok."- br B o.tICI
.e"'''' lo r .. I .,d i cr l BY_ADnt
an..u . O. d•• i • • id" of <I•.,
iDlUlbtioo>.nIl l>< Boa',
_ "" d>c ......... ..... br cIoo
po.... Eu h poul be....... , AI
_ _ lib: • ftosh...cL ! aad ril
Yes. -Bal"""," .. <he-
I'Ctftatn ... R1l_
""tcr ' tunc'" . 0 oc. .. <CF
n ; the • .-Id di
tlt.o, . ~

~ . . . . - . : . . - dwy
rilr....... ....do.
• ~ of ""'",.,..on..
dpe<l:l al_.....- I. d' e "ot l, ph"o ' ''f ..,,! . - .
~ .M. the II
;"'0 ""
"',.. .-kI ..., .......
II....,. it · !>o ,.,-u., 'pi r ;, ...1 10
"'"

,.,J:
I. 1916• • , ....p of puce ia....l-.l ia -nias: Me- .....llr . " . ;" br ....- ..,..... <II.... I tncd ,.. ""'..
•cri ...... boH 4 i . Los " .!cle l AIIClt. . b&1aoa..,....." ......., _ Wt <ore diid _ .... JC. ""' nd ' - 'Iococ..........
pia..-6 d>c Great ~ M.......
m. .-W
;. &100 d>o. .Ia.occ of!
In......
I>-c . .. onm _~. oi pan . ! n ,. , o'; lI. r• . I . -o: u <i ,~'!

_I
.._ _ m~ d>c "'"' ~ ba. ,, _ .... ~,.., I tndr like 1 &I ........ C-...,.. II ~

W ..I..",.,OII. D.C .
;".;"..l Boo ..
... -'iI>! ·5.000 _
_p._
' " fo.... . ... We.. eo , .. t..
n . ........,
(go
ciry.~ ....:1
• •
"I
....
thx addrc. do<
rial ""I _
._• •upoi.. <s,.
•• d
_..... co M ioyo l... <1 i •
~J _ . . . , .. _

.. , -
..-ni"•.du, ' whac I linr coUcn.:.d
01 1 .... huowr of , ,,", ....r
~po. ... doc...&a. .. ..... ....ra ... it.

'Iocn !"'O Ioc¥,.....,.. ,

""
, Ion:

_
.... bcp<>"';<11 d>c ~ ttl bodo... - ,. Fow I ..u.: .......-..s ...uo.- oil
..................... br.....
. " nt. , .. b... ..0IIl0d "
I
.-pit. ~....,. oi l
s« i
Hanok" Qlb __ •• l d. \ V" li ke
o( . peru_
u lk .1>0.,
~.......-.r -.4lI _ ~ • ....., I c.. ~ bo•." ' M tlo." ., -,.
F"~ &"""' po..--.l"" "... . ~_ ! . . . __ '11 ... -.~_ ..
......cIt. r..... --..... ...... .,. __ • • -..w ..... ! ,a. ", H .. c o~ en J'C.,; e G.lf
........IIy Ilad " - pla--:!. ~_ _ ~ _<rl l \Io· e ' , .... ,
~ &a<:o ""!u .. -tr. _ . . ....lois 0. ... I 0 , • •• i k id, ~o!,!.
dc0600l '" _ _ .... """ - . • tlt.e AnII . M I. doo","," l oildi"... _It.uol <rl eqoaI ~ _ , poniOpooed cIIro.P ...... n · ......
o.c. tho ....... clore. ytan. '11' 1
O.lIe. fa .. re ,,",",lIle . nDa ... umtivc 01 rrri _ plo 01 ... u npc .lIu "'C d id " " /U ... <11.
, . .....rtd • n ricer 01 cIli
Ioi• • Dri
" n ••• i
i ti
ri. i ri
...- 1""I. de S ,..,~Wy i. do.
; liu~ _ 0 1 1 991- . 1 s..a Jo6oiea.
ti , n. ~ .,.j "--
c-r eta.p .. ..,...,....,..
doc ' Dd ind l i. h • ,.
";"' 1«_
Ho.n.. """"'=h io . . . ... r.c. tim I ioo;wdu 11... ,......., the ioroocb..

1 r -. And i'
~ 1imt :,OO"'"-lo
en ·
....... ...,; .r I • l'anlKU coisc _ _ W-U 1nDIiormt ~ n i...."" .. U , IDb. 1 ,.. " '0
f_
_ " ' ·AV
Wieho'" fur ." a... of .... u.
W....... _ ol llac:a·. ~
" 0111.. 10 191" . her • ...ric, of
. . . . - . - "' . . . . .
tI.. iDdi..;. hlt l in ' h l.. ,e. ...... _
u.... "'.n. i" " • • • nd ..
_

_..
-.......-. ... -n .. ,..,......... ...u.. . ot:ol ,...;..a. .. EaK Lao co. ....i ry . tIt.. . it. tlt.e , Io bol •....,..., .. ..... . -1Ii. ... So. J
"'...... and ~ .-..a- .....pIa.. rIM -.riiRc ...tIl. - - - , .. u h d poopl. '0' d. fi .., .. o... of
. ad " l"" pri .n• • _plu i ,.. \Iodr. IIi
d u e ,..- Tbc W-U W.Jl ill ~ P""""" I '"'" lletrio, _
...id, u .."dod tu,ro ri.. . . d
. 1. 1>o•• , e .ym boli • • ., . o It..,•
1>iti_
!>o.... 0 .. too, il·
~ Go.< WMlf{t.. .....,..., th<K . . . . aad tt- ...--
..... toCIIt foe didos- ' - ' aU ....., _ tIId "..., . ,
It.urio, • • pac. i
It i •• • o rn . ' . " i .. in ... ,. .1. , ...,.0 fi naU, . _ '" "' 1
I C"l"
" " of
-...
f r o... the ... ,i•• , .......... _ . wall "' ....
i " , II... Wuh d..i...CC ... o.l i. th e S...
pl... .,. d ' 0 i.. clo d.. . nit.. f.o", f VtIlcy.l.. -.......
T lIi-p

--- I.. . h' pc-1111loo. lic •• _ of..... ...n, pi

lt.ie" . ... 10 10. peop l....... .... - I
it fer _ ..hal. ...
' . a- ....... ,.-. is. is
...

- . odocr.-w iII ..... ,....;.n. p<Uio,orit: .... """ ........ tho ._ to • ..". that dlt loJ-. i •. JOIl pe o ple . i" in, • • ov.d ! fo r - 11.1• .,••: 1 hod i.,f.., · i
8tc:t o..r.Jflw _...-pIc&cd rho i
h i.. lon'.
"' i" " 1 of <I,• • i,,. The .. or\r .1 v,..... Ii « ...u, .....doioor lV? - Wloon I '-tcI ..... I ......... (WI d>o Hopi ~ ,., 1
fnr: foor. "Tn ph c/ ....
"Tri _pIt. "'
HoncIo:
I ..,..,.,
I
Han,' .~. cIcada 1I .-.iJI to It.c ~
..d ° N oII_Vio lu ! R..i
19JOs. (1loo'" dItcc

• bin rIIc", tn1 o&.dr _1oaIf

..... D>CbpbarictIIy
that _
of .h. W .,41 w.n,
c/ Iiala • [ ,ho" , h,. - Thor'. I, . ru•• i. !
I
-w. , ...... paui""" .....lI y bori." .· So . I
n ;, 'J d , lIi.. c i." . bo " , 100 0' j
..hich d>o Hopio - "
I ,h. "...
.bou,
,hoot h. .. 10 ..." '0,•••
"""'"- <he ....nd bad It.ca>mc .....
II
11.....
10

(Tlt.i . I.., p..... 1 fi " ,U r 1 • miIo.) ..-,kte. .. . arc-.cnbool _ eooaId <ic;ocl ocbYC . 000000ptS.1Id i m. _....' "',.. .,f probkm it
.-plcud;" 1991 o.M it "'" been I' fo r . r i, ..l o f . . ... . '0" .o !>o i poacc ;"-'Mr\ _I· ...., _ ciao iRfonnt""" ...
""""" i.. f ial • .,d d th e Sovic, ...., _ _ Th. w U W.U i'
UlIioD.ju. tho c/ 1990.• t "'"
ITOOP of fi o., i. h . " i. n - J .. h, j tn.
'""""" .It.oott
011 in
.....,..
..,ri . d o.. ! .. i, 1t. • ki.. d of m il.

p... . Th. ol"'"i n, i. i., ,It.. ...... na,1

.boIo,
di ,..,.,; o.,.1 foc • • •• hn o.! li k. . talk inoretot\.bwov,
tl>c . boo
prcoenoo
JI"'t"'.
of- I
i ".r. ...

to Iool
...hu " ' ''' .ho
lin
.,iq
10 . .. n ....1 •.,d
ioi_. <ion_<t.n.f~. ,cch·
W . ..., . no, It. .... io,
Saaki . Sirkb. l..ii ulonb .nd Ioaro ! !hi -w.
Boc:t-. ,..... _ th • .,d th e -11 .1• .,..' p. .. I, for dlc ~ of· ,.· ondthtfI .pi ,; l ' nf"",,.Ii... " nov r h. Sv.
~hri "J r i_ p. i d • p l I I"'''''i• • '01- op,..... •• th i•• pain 10, ."d '0 d lop i ", •• •• of i,. \\ 10.. I ,h. Hopi. .. id diu " . .. " Om•.,
""Ii~ -DWope '" A1lCrflOa-' ! ~ -=u.,lilrc _ oil1ioa ,It.." ......."" doc cas< tad ..... 1><• •", . .l", ol! i", ,,,.d i... I)' ; . hD.. ld !>o , n .,h i., ;-. dl tI ,h ~
.... <hi<••'?'"~ oitlt. rho othcn, do ll. .. in .... po. prod _• •io.. d ~ "'hcn.cvcr poooilt.lc, _ ' 1'l""'W'" lhuuftc, ..... w . pcoce I ~ .... d>o rr-Ift......
..... ~ lt.iwl .. J - r IttlOIDdcloc-'<l....:lir·' oay dcor try",u-.u i' ... ..... i. """"" ill .... _ . thitl l in in cH, . hu .... . • h .... ld be ••• d <inr . n ... ,h ..
It . . . ........ liOtl.tl ........, r 1. o.it. n. i" .n u lt.l" if peod .o the proper di ..c ti o• . Of ........., e....w _ hw it.tuth . J"U' ,;J!I I " ' 1"< doc: . .. ti ..ie . I k.p< 10 01
u.a".t!u' .........,.. lboe M puICio .....:h-...,. .. clo.o, _ rbat·. _ .....,.. pc,.;lt.Ic looco.-c/ . ..d •• ,.. ° Ah . .. c ' • • • • bi• ••d . bo\tt "'- aw<y dIiIdrm tIC It.ciIIJ
tnodcd "" ..... s....;., lhoioo., ........ ";1/ ,,"YO' . . . . . ""'"" _ , - - bon ripo _ . ..... "'- ~. oj

I
dupostlibilloicle ....... fcrUo. ,..et. 0 Ito...... it _ the f'I"O<B" '" '
Alai Ilqoo-, . RuoIitQ ania ...... wi_ wha,',
i<oot looppaood ";r!> I , .h ie. i' l • ., d ",.i . tt i ..,." . 0.. : ........... clo.il<Il"UI- of color. AhD.
~ It.td _ .... her J"-! 1990 the G.tIf W ar...... ............. .......... l
eo .ld 100 (tI l< pcrtgpI....- <jW.. tcftoomnr· <lot. i thctc _ doc wlde '" et.
tnp"~,era"
~"Tbc End of doc T -oinh
..... bthc -w.
Wlt.u , k. W...41 W.u dou .
.\100. ,..... pr oc . .. of .000_ 1t.M-.....,,""'.....,.,.;,,"....
""'l"'""iWoc the fnr: , - ,......01 i ...... _ ~ ""th d>o corth '
1 d..tn>erioo of th e omo. larn--
~. _ were coIlcctin~ . ~ .
ea....,.: _ the cthilliDtlo 01
W...U Well .... M _ _ •• Co rky I ., ll, i...
oI poodt; wltidt. by
~. Ii...,...
_m . ro' " .... ttl b o 0 the W...u i ••d 0 ' . I0" . ...I" F i. 1t. .,., .
Wei. I _ doc- ·,._ ... I W.. RtttCICI <a.I<i it>. Lli
of""..
~
f ~ ~-'-
rhio poood.

---,
l

.0_..
_
cemnl a...~ perilaPO '" «tItral l doiI ~ .. I ~ :
-.. ....... irl u. Loo """""""'I
PotIt.. ltl April 1991, til oia poodt: "-I ......m,cIoc ,..-1:hot: aoy
ooci' 'l' wi ll " YO' <0 ia wicIo its 1LOtio<:apo. wi<h ""'"'""' with _ I "" .
,\Ad aU<rl cIoi. cidoiIIcd 0 - .
~ • .....,.. ..hieh .. the-

....~ ....""<!od ...

wlle<. It - .
w........
<11. p'1~u d.l. R.ou before the ood. , •• ••hie.-. h, ltau for.

cdai lt.i. &.- ...

pu..r..1 .....Id i" ..... fo",...,. .

I
r....c
.,;u....., £cor. la tbe W.IJ I
rido
"""-
i• •,.. o f eh

l_ ......,.......
.--.,
tloc
1t.iP col "'It.ort
Ioild ·. lou .
, friaod c/
;, /'OIily ' ' ' - political
01 1.....
pcc .. ll~ . d ...
,\\at w
H. -----
---_.-
...... ...... ...
..... - ~

Jol,: ~ s.-p. bc:r .. tbc Said>- w... _ '-" rcdcfiooed J'CK'" <0 i
. . .u . . ~IGLllcry ... I _ ........... OI'Cict:tl~
cnoAtII lIr' iaLOd and d>c- - .
the ...,.

•
1 nutcd pi leo tIi "'forlo.t....
. Ad ta " . d ,. d' '';d. ;. ..,. w.
---.
- - - -_
- ..... --- -
 -"'" of diolopes on _ _ le-
-0<1" alt. I. "'y- p.ocI. u.. ~ ofcllc--.l~ ff"i<d .. wiUdl is -soo-".... ~. .......0.-1 i1Df*C. I lib ... ~

-
If •
...sa..c 01 ......,. in.dicotcS duo .... ke du o u n<li . t1t IS p<>o.&iblc. ... en: mcy joiD • co=maai<)" of in arc. buolDi., ••.,. pJl[Flic:ll_ I the piooa ... ....... ""
. ..,...;.y ot lbe worid ;. 6Dcd n.....,..l a..., io clIc it'• T'bat'. -toy I like ....,.J paicnq- l els. I ...,,1 il '0 opc n ' c _
....idt. ....... ,.... ..,u...-...,......., <U reborth of the . .... i -. it'•• ~ ~ ~. ~ IE-...I. WI .....Rin, .
. . . . . . W. IY"C p -....- docft ·• • w.a daiW It .... . . AJod i. m e · S o.. -v ... I.,,,, ~ .,.ftidl it doc ~
..........hcn. _ ;.r CaIifaroia.
W. · b _ .... if .. c ph.... d
_ ud .. a--...:
""""'" o:bI<looooaoe ...-..., ~
io . . . . . It-......... _ e· pu d . a c 1""Uo!
WiDd. of W.. _ hic.b. _ up
m.-p dac oly m ~
MA What
•u: bdliad ~n
icIoca aDd idcoo
..ph of the Ii peopl e i" . h. .......101: I ...... ,
flS:IUfWC ... be ~ IIr •
00' IIr' "'1' (alb.• •• " -he> .. " or
"'"_u..... They 1 f t .....,. • ......Iu ... 1bc --1' ...
"""""
-
. ont'CUy,..., coaId rcplCDillo the
-OIlil. - v -. We dlcot' hold doc dli1d.. whid> is how Hc.f"- . . 6tlood dyinJ w-. daa. 1. sl-dd . 1oo be I'I:IoIbblc lor

--
bib: ..-yrbuIc ...... doc ..a. IIOd .., i.-: ",bold d>c JOI-. bow d>c lDiuileo . .. (..eKu .0 .... . . 01 . . I, it . ..., d>c powc.- or die "I lflOn oopftiIanlCd .~.

.'.b.co PO" all u.- ~ boot .....w boo ... t.e-- -"! bz to na,
b..aodI.. obo . - a fr_ doc ~ po ' =J1 ln ,..;tIl Inc
......... ..... _cml=p~ IN: tfCIotd wiUt doc "'"'" (m'C. So. e..- W.a I olwoyo ..... .... - die bad of n.c tlI.rd •
Y-. n. " ..... of w . B- it doc - . vioo> ..;u tud ;,
..... io d>c _ pli5ca...... of wbo
io bciBJ born I t the
. . w...., yqeQbk. U>d plaaa • <I.e ", . le .,,01 fe m alc lool... ce--
"'omct>, a"'"
..
ICn;lOO d>c ..,. of d>c poia .......
nri.rio of nd . ..d_ _lCt\I.~J1)"_¢ut
bi, Dck dUo fIilc . baaI:"""" .....,.Iuado
!ha'C arc. n-. -.Id he ~' of ..
. to..di", ,h . u: . ,,01 I' d OIl'. · .\.11
I
I
~ • !T' hi!:i><'r k~cL

J. Corn • • ~" .. h on d b. .....

--
~te . here ill1 tile ... ...~ I . ,,01 ..'loll
dxated <hat dooOcE?
.."..n.:r they t.J.ncc the fit< of the

MA A.. d d . e · T ri ..",ph o f .he

rho.. ... ' he tloree pl.a .. , 10..
I Cf'C<:D bon tha t 01_ rcocIo like •
bUd: oa. ..
it.1ooD IUc.......Jt: of
blood .ac! oil. I, '. like I ri~ of
wi"d blowi"J . ero... I. a dscoo pc
rip.. CVU'J"Oft< J'C' in ... . bi, cirdc. I MR ADd in the 10.. N fIC
S_~ partbcir hondo ......' I ...... ~ I'II>ot IUft thc foctl....
AIld ' he.. J'O.. ·d te e . ll , Iocle
......o.rfuJ Iinl. hando, thcoc Iittl.
l J_
.odi<llCltlFinl.
'0 the II-.u Wd l ,n
nc!. ill .\ 1_ _•
Hurt' , Ho.. did thcoc .......u.c I , ,,01 i' .-ou.ld fill ,. but in front- be-.. 6qcrs. 1Nbll)' lui 1uAdI. ! lI'IOSf ..,.,.nd~· in Us, l..oo An

foea of the thru ............. ond the

_ ....n (t!le Indio" ..,:th bni<kd
I'
i"" J co eOID e . Oou. ; - d.e J i.." j kccpinr the " Cuodo contlinctl-1re
riell of lup 5prcJ "ith dWr
linhd ' oJ e d... . lond
ha i. ], ..100 ho ld n ndl,.. • • nd .. loa whi cl. chq ',e p1'DtcctinJ io I""'"
n.
Jli:m.&n,n<d whi 011 rhac
nriaus ~!u>d, I'd .. ~.. ' Lool:
.. rhac 1Iando. ..... fi"JCf _ ...,
.i a Jl e fi" I '".vc..,.
. i" , I. loud
Who _ TC the . udi. ...... . NI
did ,n.l· r..c,: Fu, •.,,,,pl•. ,
J""""", ~....... foy, poneil , ,,01
Fi" nioh o..e fo. ",.d • Io <l~e ..
"'praeR' the cliff.:rent '-'" of d>c I oM l>ca...m.l. Carr-- ... tel'. rich .vhido it in dtio rrouP'~'d-""" cil"Cle .n d . c••d o• •he oil< (~
....mol. An d , he l"'..UlJ l>1Ick mole I J"'I'C"- of low bcinc .bIc ... _ rhcmod_ , p.... co .. (e . . ..co . I re", ....
tipe .. ho NO off .... hi. i<>un>cl' i ... ohio ..-.y-· W. """"" ~ IlInd j li rai,, !!" tb.crc ~IICN"J '0 <he
. ttolDp. aied by IIi. G .nd hi. 'I "Tl>e otniIo.iar e-
of the tbcre. We b...e -..b """ ... """ c>do:u>rra .bou,doc l'unre
ae
.... 010... n
.",. 11 fi, .. OD the 6pa ..... booed.... p"~ ._. ll. i. '.
lut ... lSO fcc I of do.... PC' " .u... ! i.. . "" ""'.ind ,
~ '"""" ..ma. ,D ~ him., baa". au will k. , h.... So. sp::akcn were tt.. -u..
ODd "'" dlra......., Ikr n.u of die . . ••. of...,. W..lJ. Wdl runt.. . pin. it'l • ph« eMftCd..... ",-, .nd 'o'Cfbo1 d i~ fr>r
W ..... of W • . \\'boll did .... .,. _ I JIll II> ICI ~. audiocn<c to c:qocncnoc.
die port . . die \\...... 01 W . _ I I ICC the "'T ri .... ph of .h•
.. TIre ilDalel ca• ., ..... o f .a.-.:I "')" __ . """"'. .......DCd Haado' ~ • a -y -.Ie of .. n-c """" ...diaM:a
...,.; . , '0 ... lr.c • colte;'e <:I' e- docirIiaM irD&o!NmaIly, "'" u die 11'" , 11'", ........ very diffct-t. ladad. doer .....
l ori ... tio. o f doe ~ ...e of i.. te , pa.. of ae p ......... ..... _ _ ~ o.. _kft ..., .. diffe ....' w , •..,e'be• •her
~ J ~_~ f ..-h .,. p i ble, 1 d>an.acn _ tu. who oarc .. I _ _ a - . .ploot for orloa. ....
tnNf-..ti- . TIroe ID .... ...... pbooopapll wilido IlCZ"eCO _ wUdo thuc are dolbr tryiaJ to x~. ..th the It·
poIa' i <laC a.1 to -..h I . , te..... _ _ doc . 1aDCC5 of lrilIIl lDd n. .......... ""a W...
pc 1 d.oiee- ...d w , i . ia wUc die ..,.. will 1M:. I :ally Iikcd tfCICatiIl. ft ' l'or c.umpIc, 10 } DC....... m. people ..
. 1 ,.. • diffi .,., h o . c . ... 01 i . m- . . ....... ""JCd-.. docy ...... .. tbe ......oc ~ .......,

--
,-..,.....-..,....., ,.,....
' IUI"" " _ AKrilka of yo...
--..if,.,.. <:boo.- II> be . ........
'0
.....u tb.roo , h .... ,.......... of
~ ! ... ,.,...,.. oJ liMed
",100 fl Y. oJ'.. J oOD, .......r . I' .
pm. ... J'C' d>c _ - , ..' 1:0
m-...ti<>o:Ial ,
"'ll>Ir in•• 11
no.,
1 people..
'JC.' .... to In~ she world- i .. I bodies ...dcr pr...-c- """""'. u th e middl e ;. I dlanonc . ...ho ;. ."""c..... oi Irudr ,... 01
.............. ,.. "-'" it. "The ........... _ .......... G..- W.t1 .....,;"C ... _ _ b.ItlOo "'to . _ _ . boIa the pIo...... '"
......nr ""'"' wido .... ItlOI:l>c< ... procao I bdi_ it tlo.at ,.... ..._ ..-tI .., ....u..d · iaoidttI........• ocria 01 .. adoi n.... _ "'"' r'"" 0."'" me · ", .. , i.J of ,
>do • ...,. thor dIcJ' <qIlcniaII doc fin . _ ,..... .U .. ItO iDdioidul ud I ~ it lao 011 d>io IIOC02JC rip. d>crc • • _ _ Io<>b .. ..-orido 1/r doc ..........
",I. n en tben .re icc pba Q. >a d d .c. )"0" ...... . jo in wim ....f'Jl'. TiIcr rnIly Iih<l ... pcrah .......... . . .nd COOl Ie"' pl docir thi. yc J <>e u . . felli.al
hiuonal prccaM_
hido ' re "'y- ......,; .... IIld hich
-., lrloooninI 0UIIidc my
he ,;".. I .... pain';,,! thiI pond.
at
1ooltiIl, ...
""". odo... people b.>.... do<>c. ......
,II... r a g ...... jo in ...id. I he
flOC anodic< . """" I-fIClCe' "'err
pbrsicaL So, _ '01 J'C' '" d>cIc Iinca
ond ....·01 1iN:..... ""'" die II'- if,
I
power. And Den '0 hc r it
p"lllli.., hi. Iolndl ..... r fro'" Ioi.
Iood.
.. ...Ioe" pc opl. ' fl u ded ,
..... fe••"c. 100" .. 01 ill .he W
",.11 " e n• • " .... . c ry in . . ..
rhe'. arc "" cch'"i . ,, 01 red eO"' III.... i.,..
I" ·Tn ph of m. tloo'OI'lCpenoa io m.-.. ofrt.c 1'hac w..-tJ. W.IJ ... ...ti.... Then. in tho s.o.;•• Ulli.....
. hb b ,h e, Ife ... H.....• "'" four &,....,. d>o Icft- cird. ond
aIJoo"od
fO p , ioI. W
_ OW" ...... 00' fur ....
no< .n on....
imo,u., of il
bo~. Ii",ple '<leu. Th
• tdlioJ of
- • populotB.~ (.., w
o rJ ' o nd ••• ..,...hi", i . ........on ~ ..... eocbb.oldo die ~ upccII

""'"'" 6e<p, dorIl urtb. Ab.o:wo< • IiJh,- . a .. dl_aocl thco 0 .... ...,u.;",. o.... )'Ofl brak in, 1""'", h_ . - """'"P pr-. dtc 10 e'e ..... "n f.mi li•
ntbe """"'ond ...... which_1I dI.onct.:r "'I1b ..... ~ ..... path ;0 !he d ul l .Ild ..............lac ;. 01 pri ..... ill an ! dlIns< .h. So.i.. U ni on doc t hI
~ a-. an::bc<ypical icna,... for ~ he will &nd _ ocr die O.. L TIre.. "" Q lIt abo.., .. h at il toward bol~ t don ' , "'ad <U "'o..., <:allOciai . nli.. In""
lC . . . . . ...... female. n. _ io bon.- ... ......... hi... U>d thcD, of £coio liltc. Some ldclo ..... 't ........ try- idea lb... i' it • l i.. pl. ....... <i• • In Mooc o ( COlIne • •h.re
, 011 ill ea...,c. """ m.n it doc c:oonc. <bey will CO doc oat IU'd il be c ..,.e i, hll n ch • "iJ prim... li la", co i ' , chi• • a • the oddiDoot of d>c Sarin pelId
Alai Bc:ro laJI ...... .
o<Idruoa 0 - """ mood> •
tb.c Soviet U _ . F"lfloIir .
a c Piau " e la R.u . w.loa"
"'ori:iar"-dau l udicace. Lati
"-cb tt.. .... - - - . a _
_ the prira..,. pcOfIIc ........
io ,"e. u n Los ' cI.. co
......,.. ebild.e pa...... .
£omilia.. r <l..., dM: JOrity ..
pcOfIIc hod probobty. -
..... the M....- ofC"_ . .~'
Art ia Lao~
I
,. ........... _._-
... -
-.- _.-
~ --_
 * .'
• ".Sad I .i' ;- t ..- . ' --. ', · ' s ."...

Towards a World in Balance

A conversation with Judy Baca: Part 2
SVNDRAAOTH
I
........ At yo u 1tD_.J
<dI< down ... _ die two-dry " ' -

I
do II a- irIsuIloticaol lilo w..u w.u WMI has • ......., rc:loOoooohip _ bo.... bu d. b.. tled . ... p . ....ny .... of m,n..;,. thinp. I ,.. oi
F........ orp.,,;a
w""" W<lol1.m~_Fi ! <he
W'JJ. r....i1i... ..-c u4 "1"1""
.....,...,.;v, ;",.......... ..
..tb .... .....nI ..._ . iJILot fa.' li.."j in D ' all .... ammc. like I«iAJ ..... .,......, i .. the .......
_ b.owo
_ for ';";reel l
,.lI ,....., lhc they~._
. Il. I
loa. p ille

... .... Noo OllJr_

aDd ch ilcl ..
"fI'"""-' '' ~ . die ...... M...oua ........... aad . . &co
•
"'"" dial
e.'1 .......
~----
_, u tlicr ..ork . clu ccl to , .... bri., i. to • • i
ill NII _
lioaal
_oc. yo . bow. It i•• 1 ,.. •
-......r 0riDc0<........
..... . .." .. h"d
So'Iiu 1.1..i _ "" . lo
lOTS d i ce wi.h . n
ked
i
<1
!
.... . ......... . . doon:_ • . . - iotuneial. nlatiou. n . W~ . ~ I lib i W-U ..., tIM: N _ AmcriI::ao>. ~ ~ ",pi ru. il !
... . _ r- . a;- &
W.ll taka wltn llancd .. doc WJl aka • ...,.,...:I pc.... an ......... ao! .. ~ doq booc DalI.aI r
"'__"" _ olio"""""" _ ""'" p\ooM.. Do rMsc
_ · · wor i

...... .... '"'""' , -,...--

--W...-.l ..-...l • - ' ... ..,..w-l J '" E. Loo .vp. iI ... - . h . - . S O ...... doq
. " ,iI. - ' docci<T 01Loo ....... wIoido .I-.I'eaplc ant .. _ tolUbcn...., P'O"P ia ~ ,.,..--- !
...,..
.....--....,
Ya.. no..
..- ... noIrar..
<kiD'
'*'"
....... '--,....
..100 u-
.---
M;..n.;O,
' Ooy n..p. ...
• ~! ,"",-""'.'
.... - - . r A - . l io ..,.
..b.ido .....,. "".....
~
....... a.
po,... .....
_ I r o··.. loc •
0l£1r" ... ..
.. \'- . ~ utisca loa... ...... 1
........ I . . ~ . bot they .'"
,..-..ar......_ ia, " ... Uoc .... II ••d ..... 011 m..., _ ..,... d-.I ....,. ic iItIrIaaody.
....... ' h
-.....I ...-ac....a.c.., '-
__ """.J ....
I ,..

. ..... . dIoldn.-I ...., ilooII J W..u W Jl lou . .ilia in _ .....-n.I rlioc-"" tbe:r lIII.&Ioo TMy ,u
lUI • ,""- I t:IWU: it 01 -.nl -.k, ...aido _ -.pc- • ...,. ofof _ ............... 'I1Ic:I:> rhoaao _ _ _, ic 10 tha. dICir ...t:
.........,... _~-* ..... ..li... d i . ..... JCOI'" plUc i .. ............... wi pt cocrilooc<i IocT'd of iaIonoolliOll ~ f..- ..-ld , be ... ~ ol
' - ia Loo AJlrlco. .. Iocrc dot
dUld.... Ion .. , I ,.. 1>«..
...-....l iado.l " - ...
t n -k, aad . pplia i , OG ...
ia ..".o....t ocalc.. 1, ...., bcijJ
.... • n.inI WCltlol ,...,. .. m.
•d . li....tlip fO tho ..;_

............ ,.....
rtbDo.l:oip it • ..., snodicd _
. TIle

.... .epI•• , "pl..." .. ha I i... .

""""'P period. na
p ,. ~
on.!
r . .. ..pe . i u.1
..... IIOL n doer. dlcy
.., ..idl , ~.i. ow .. ""i"
c1iff. .. tI. p
S
.
lo. ...... dI.. coBI.
,... 01: lbo IlBIftl ~ 0 - me
JD"o . . m1lftIs " - .,....j drIrf
.....bWoy in dIc cicy. n. 1
U .. itod S,uu, we are real l,
pooilioocd .., do....,h """' _ ....
' '' ' ..''..i 1 .. ole. W. bu••
.... tho ,... d. lb

eabIos aIlowt oM
I-r••• The
"'-II.Ii_'. or- of pol.- """
fO ~
...... i....
illf . 11.1< c. Il , be

I .. G ... d.h. pc• •&.. . . .. ..

fto .. <lIeU
...... ..,.- 01
upcrieac;o. th ....
no... ...
.,..;Ac otyIa 01paitoQrlJ: <hoy nood
..........&ed ..,. w. daM:
<PIopo tN1 0<ltI0rftd
_ , u-e people >Ad
....
Ih.
...
. . . . pooi _ ... - .
01. . "\ridtt",....,.. M - "
U "';tod S.._ ...... odoa ClIl- - .
.....
-u. .. <boer draa
_ Wt.c do .,...rhilI.k _
k ""1IOd _

_
...., ... .....n-. iIlfonaa tion,
... llod to JO to ,....,.z•••
so
IOIIrOCI
like I. tun , f• • II, . l~" .... .d
. ....... "" ............ _dooc

....-. nc, .... ....,............

iD clro:Calof-. "'- ~_
W e . .bocbct
.....
__ _
.
t
'*'"f.
....--. ...
....... _ _tho)'
....
. .... lIioail.ariD. a.d .. tJa..-
,t r"""--'""""""
....... n- dlcn ....., people '.
__000.-..._ Ot SPAKe - . - .... W-UW ,.... ........ .... 6Mlly. eoUabon.....
fSori. 1 • P . Wk 1011 R_ . n r .IiI:E ..... ............ ariiet ~ TIM: Go-
Ceo.., ). lIt_,lot • of
c:loildruo oJoror-a4 ...,. talboI
1"_' __ M alOCIttIIiDJ *
..-l ore
""-- It .. _ 01 .... few ..... ca.pk.. . . . . - - - - projoa
for loccw.... ill th. pcopk. ill <.It..
........... &.. tIM: p_ _
F'di pi. .. . .. dw: ~ ..
i. 1990 iA G...o.I"pc • • 1Ud. io ,

_J_
..... r...n,
. . . '-'e ADd
";110'-
--.lafaI
.,....,w1lioL.a..tlIIoI_ .....
......
m....
.... .. ~Ma.o ol ...
_____ wid. ........ 'T1Ioft
.. •,.-u-. ,....01""- ....... 1
'*"''*' ' ' •
10• • ~ !I.

.. n.
- ' " .f Leo
:.......,Ieo ..,. ...
G••• • W. U i.. Los
bit

....... ...,. W
All 01 doc-. coI.IciooS
.-... doo h_ r this pbec i.

ao! ~ .....w Ilk. Whol doct

bcln.. IiocoI

l ,..ad> om"d _ . doiW",. ;.

.......... doiWrc_ ........
i.. rebtioaslloip .i
n diuus. in ....I..j~p ..
.,
Maico. _ portoopo iIo ...........
~ is • 1IoipIr .n..n..I ,0-.
,.........,
...... i
_ • • ciIly.
ou:. ... ~
_ fot
..
"'
onL
!IcaaK ..... of

n . W.,u Woll i . OIl.

. . He _
~Ur. ""n
• rcma<bllk doild•
..u_ct.h.i", ... . . wP
r
··_WcIo....
"" 1a
edWc ~ if; io • coIIecoM""-
of ,!I.. " i ..o.,. of • ••lti.,b.i•
m-Doul p;eo _ .... Jlobo.I
sco rn p~ , i .. ....I... d m. kes i .
....,. ~ abou< liM: Iia <boo l!Io<
&no nsI "'-"'I 01: die W""" W....
R.u.o czhibili-. ..., aJJod • loo:aI ,..p.la.i..... I' ' n<ludu 100'
~ .t.o.- people'. ~.
in.Ioctcaet,. "ffermL I. """ ... re ly
......edi> ,.. form. Ii..... ..Glorie.l
...... --.. ..bid>io ..... """ ia
r.- ..... Proc""""'- .... tbct Iai. th ey no.. e-lol ,...;c.;, in .
ia dIU ..0-...,. took pi.... in

"" ....... ........... _'*"' __ boa-. iIl octti.. S:

nnl
U ... .... ..i. Il •
itUwmotion. n>edl• .,.......... . t><l ....
..ch....lo(, f... . p," ..r i ..
m ,
_ ', bo
Wnr. i emli.... i.
Put of m. W-U
..h ~ ............,;c.Apia, ir'.
bnwocn oWK If'oupo. bot iI aIoo
coUcbona-. 11. io _ . nIib
..... work ito du" i' Ioob fot <he
--.,&.. ...........
p1.ce. So II•• Los ""ro lu ...d
G.doIupr:,...,.. . . twO_
bas to do -..ith lb. r"..... 01 doc

IIot ..,. boooiaIl, .pply .... __

--'Oty _ _ peoplE. I ....
i"•.,u •• d I.. wloa' .&.. 5....;••
Uai-, SoII.rJo AJria ......
(as Casooda io dc¥cIopiaJ
.... _ _,........
Caood..
,.....!I.o ,.' 1
............ .,.-.
. . ....... .... ......... . ......... lIlitld

f'"'OCUS. I. ........ 1 S..I d

............ 1. . . . . . . doaoJas
"""' _ _............ N...... ripa)
.. dois_ of . . V..... I w p . b.. w
. . tIM: Gr-t W.... 'or .-..pl&. I . .tcrioIo ... doc paad otlOI ....,.
osbd a..;.....~Nacm. ....... WIooc all. doct tac:b _ • ""... . -..Do pcriool of D_ fw
"-oria -Aa.ria•• alI " . d lop ..... ,10.
00.... f • ''''';. 'Y
<.It..f...._.n:! if ...,.
..o.!c.. 1 . 100 off9
fi oiQ
'0 bcl p "'• •
"'lp .her ...
...
"'i.
__
Loliao &. .,.; '" p."';'d.
IU.....,....-for ou_ p!• • CII.ia.cK pau; n.
lO.re. f... . 11 or ri... i. dI . co ,.,.. t •.,. ' "

.-..,........ _.......
Iaiotocr ilI.. .... 192Go. '!looT ....w ioI.fonuIlioo i W-U Wol/ is ...p .Tioc • oemi• ..-tilloi'1!>Y
,.,.s ao! ..... .....w _ . -..........u' _

_--
~
rloc CCTIOiolI.cDd,. poiato
loiS eoUabon...... TWca io ooci.ti d <.It. 1<1. It.. . • ..d ~ ..I..n d ""JOI.i..S . ..

_----
.._.
bca ol '1 . ... •"........~ mcoplc.
leoo. dlroDid•• 01 hioIh• •

-..-----
....,. ... - - impasto t&Chni<I....
a-. So.1 ..o:;,.S ..,;, toko IOtld I don '....... u-.. 00 """ "'"
.... dUo role .pia .nd d lo p ............ rhitlfs Iilcc duL So, ther.
th~ . .. w.. pr r i.. p u••• n d . .. ,h . di• •• •e f .It.. phr. ;•• 1
.. .....,u,o--., _ ,- ~ -
. ",0.1:
- ,.
.1>0". ,hi • •i f.. r thoi r c
'-110
i f rI.e w k • • he
.,..--. ..... -l>vo ooI>cr

.....,... = _ ,T.
- , _ T.
'R +'... +R"a¥* , Ih '__ tt-=5 4 &3 - 5 a. ' ·' = · of<

.................. t.-kc ....... ~"- "-"P'"

,... . _ I won oopdo... .. r-r T... <in i C.......,.. n ., •••• 1 .... doc _ Mdil>on
I F e do... ;.f _ .100.... -....r-.J. "'-' .,..baIo 100<::.,. ioIiOaI ... to . . Sc>oieI: li__ at ...acm.l pOtlca ... Ioio ..,... _ """ Scoria,.....
--...me.--.,;m
I.Dd "" we arc ~ to <011
...... of cbe ,.....w.riDos 01 th e . .......
~ _ . . !ocr: I!lMi!is oudl
. . ~.J of 1990. wloao,....
mOl Alui B. ' ..... . 1ylM: we e"
p<:ti'.:t... nmIaDolio 10 . . . . . . So
ofl"...b.., , ~.. ,.... ...
I J a li. 11;1"11.". \\..... h
other', d; ~ 0 .. of m e ... uetp ' ally dil5coIIt I&Dpap ........................... 1iaIe . I .m-l <be - - . I a- ;., M
lhiap I -u,liIr.c ob-. ~ ee that nlmodr .... peapIt b>Dor it. _ I , .",.", b", . 110 of''''
h. ;" <be_ . it .... IlIindo
is lh.. _ .... N1~by .... . . Whot lo=d>far io.~ .J<-! to do rbc "'...... """ we oJ! "'L h ,ribl. ti ", . ,..
anod>er. TIw is p.nlr .. ~ I NO'<
<><>I,. cumpIct.oo:Ibrolm,. pio<cs ""
. . Yu. nor•• r• • " Iy fi • •
...illin of do..- ill th e w•• ld
..1>0 i. thiDki"f . bo.1l ' he ' <lU I
~....,. dwI ~ to &rod
__ = ...,nII..
we",
Itm<Ua cbompopc. "'"
foe • ride in _ .
Sowle< 11"
dUnkinr onlr
he" peopl. ..
.bou.
their prob
far; I doa 'I ..... to f......lOI.te Ih<- ~ doc ....,..... ond. I lbiak, ... &nil. ..bo YOUId be ";!lin, to co w••• d Mo.c... .0 look for how 10"" IOod Itld lI>OnIr:ho.<
idcu is> en. Uai oocl Sola by myocl£ that .-.Ily iIlB...,.,..;I. . . &co: 1Ibo' _ _ • ", "'"'-W wloo .... work ~ blc o... _-. .~ "".k< . nd. m. .. . ",d rood fh .
, ....... __ .. ~ idooo abuat: r-r...w or ..........., 0( the f.""m... I", th i. """... ph... .
the .......tonulioo 01. -'et7 of coon olmac<be ~ n-. .,;th the ;", paoo;hlc bur"""'""'r.
bdaDot -..idloaI:........, • • me,.
ore thi..n.. ia .do" ._tries,
wIuo. """r .... taliUc obo& .......
..
..... ~ .. ho""..
... ...... aa::Iooap by Ie..... 1 was • mincic dvt J ~ __ . ble •
1f.e1 fu . hco 1 ' 0' hack ... th . COiDO . , ' " - . .th • ,...,.... .
~

dioc.uio.. _ wiIm ...,. dIiM U"","" .sa-. Alai --W....l _ bi, I t the w.u Wdf. Sh" " -
•dn..mc. ....t I -W .... Ioi'" btitlJi"'I m-.
.0.- . . _ _
........... .....,.
-Wo k if

....... doc"...;o.. il "" \.

~-r
..
bod boa""'" -e- ,..._ to
doc ti,•• of tIoi. iDO, .l " f o r
"'I"''''''''"
.........a i"
ol ,.........
u. u el ....

~ .... J..." dariBr .......

--
do.t I' .............. f • dl.e uoa pl. . o,, ~ of . he N o<
$oriel ti d e .. .",. Ed of doc ~ ... IoM _ bc
hll.d ..... " - oWe., ~ thiI ~
T . -ti m Cu...,.- uod di e
__ .--.,
doo-w- ... Go<kr Pon.. ..Ir.icb is •
f iD.D.i.1I _ i. -Alleno .tiTc ...do • C10C loold", . - ud ..... do< _ _ of M ~ 0Nr ••
..... I &-I '"Who!'. i - to i, .cnnll,. h . ppc... e1 e1id I
!be ripr" <be r- y"" "'-". ....d..... "'d .by ud 10o . " ....
. . Y0<1 o, pO. ld "'do the duo kiDd '" ~ was ,......, boa> ,-.blL TN . .......... hod .
"01Ip of w oo Ti
d.iffu cady
" oraots
do p"'. .....
bKk """ fonh .rri", hi'" to occ ....roW" ...., idOl. sa d .h. ", . ...
tb . f., u.c i " puh .p•• "'0'. ulbd with poople ...,-" .... _
s->et ..... Y _ b .. Ioopon.I "'"Y'-if d>= was Joop.. I iD M-.nd ~ . incd her ~
6nr.m.. io._ _ 011990an. they bop", '0 _
the ponihility '"
........tofiDdh.
,... W . . . . . . . ...., .........

---
_ ..... ---
_--
_---
..-.. __ ..L.-....-._
--..--
_
j"". p " i"'J •
B.....'" hi, m .. ral dou Many pcvpIo bopn '0 hoJpJ""'r. 1
.......... . """"" ol ,~.,;m. i.. .."'.... ber ho.. , h...ot hn . bo
"'.Yf<
.;. hoy, f•• •.

.. _-_ _-.-
bWod ...... """ -hliac ~J"""L ... , . p d•• WII'U W. U i'" Go.ky

--
-.
_---
~~-

.-.-.--
...

-.....-.
. . Dap.ir. A 1"""' _
dcopU. He....u.- dooo """, .. th .
",.,;:""""
~
_ .Hope
" h I ..... k i. oc'!
r!x s-ict 11. . ripa
J

.1 ....,
Pori< ....w'"'" . bou< Judr""""'"
.........1." •. n.., ..
iel• •hi. is .
per-. ...... briap loopc ....t Fa
..... pft of i........... " ' liCe. M_,-
piopI< c:o=c 10 doc ....,..me: "" ...
pari:; ......,. pcoplo"""" - . . -
tbiak doc:n to • 10< 01 there oecc. oD<II bro.p. that dUlcl ....
bcc:o_ people arc ~ <ha' t.d< """'-- <hey ........" to os-
..... dUIclrc,,·. miada .t>d eyu 10
dI" .....10. Whe " JMy' ' ' ' It
doc """"""- I ..tdoid people om!
dN:ir ...... ill . , , _ .,job be<
. ......'L T... kJoow. fl
.... "'.... on MOOC'O _ . 10o
...
.....
opc""" , J _d, ..co iwed to r
/lowcn &- peopIc., pnieM .....
i. ,001< fo ... pcopl. ' 0 C" 'Y d ••
fl ... . .. h.ck ,.. ,h . ... . p'i .... .
pCOfll< ..ho ~ ..d toide ~
....lIdo I aale. .... ..bo ha.a ..... tbcn: .,jJ! be ~ ...-;... ..... 10ClUId ..u_ pbcwoc ""'" oM
.. Ri,I" .. . ..d I tlliaL •• • dlcy doOded '" _ .......... -.r .... U>t:c:teK. In doc Soooic:t du, ..... old mICIoi• ..,. It .';:11 i. "'"' ... ........,. 10 JMy ohcir "'f'PO'"
, c II&1•• that l"' ac l os u.u-,I idot<n:i6c:d Alai Bc:p.
_ . ,... bo l•• Wh u th . Fi do 're: plocc"""" <hat it .;u .. ~ """ m.b for her l-inc ~
~ n..F

~,. • •
d ....eD .. Ai.. ti ....
doi. , i a., .,....i0oi.
th..
_ 1oJu:r1 ..... wtoidl ........
-to • IoiIc distuoot ... ...., .....
pc:opk ~ ia ""~ioIc&.
~ oadAlWoi
~ oad
'" N odat
s...- Lacy•
............ J.ool ~ D f"..-.L
....,.,0I __
"""-w.r
......"li.' _ud • IoiJ lou
--..I
. 0I . ~

...u.
.,....,....., ... ~ R-iooo
.......><:i ,,, JILli. Kiril l
100
. 0ga. N...uniq Be,....·I ......
~ ~ e-..Io<,'"

'"'
I ..... ornoopd ' " J-.Iia ~
D .... , . h. Ie.. ....i bl "
........ [ 1 1'1O- 1 9'91 ~ . _ .-,I<
'P'U' UJf o f ..do d.,.
i. """
..... poia<a'I _ _ ...,....
tbi.,. " ido
10 do • 1'locy _ -.. .. .... ... dolt dooc air=. n.c: ...... :r- -w-l doc oniI< .. 1>0 hod boJpcd .. fr.eczi<or ...w....... ...............
. ;~ 0
....." Ic: fipn it ..,;., '0 • _ k 0 0 I Mosc_ ' U'eft . . doc s....m .IlCptio.,;:_ . acl ..... foe bccM • .I 10• .,<1 (IICOpI• • ped:
" oILoboro te ...""'. . oliffu .
p........, u rla. bcc:o_ q, doc
Fmaislo r-P ........ Yen< cal«.
6doI poio8n'" ' "" b ul
_
r._
"'
bo:iar locW
• ........,.
obtrip- ... .
.,...._1iR
lor .. """"'"" d
0..01 . .
aidai,.llI ... ' 0' • ride '0 the
...-;0. •• • Ill'" tIou. " U e
~ dnauotic .........1fII ia
wWcb " " spoke: ao Rasiaa .u
ha.a loeco. •• friead.. .. wilOt doc
U.."", S<:r<a lot oc:-.I-.lu.
W. . .k"" Kitill...... . ..ho ....
..",ponti l,.
.boou: doc Worii W'" " .... Iib .
li ttl . f'j . .

,.", i . I.u ·, dwop.. p....... - - . thi>oI< _

..u..
..........., u- doo. doiDr cooaId
..
i", the• •

-
poiaa<n. ""'" doer .... '" ..- _ --., it tboir t-.. Alai .. £.acIid>. ~ G.Iiooo IoIoooi. oIf ..... Soric:, UAiOll tha' dod. liftt
"P wido ..-.a doer 011 .......... J.aob \ike.... biiad ..... e..-iia.o '" "'-rib< <be n . ...d.d. ..... . w"p
. ill 0"",,.
. ,.......:1. TMU pooaeI is • kiooI of m• • thll Alai """'" i " the: .. c:n .. H o.... 1.e1 hou. of .. Ur. _ """" """""' 01.....·. - . 1 cr- W'OI'K• • " d th" f.... i... will
Nordic ;"'.,e. p."",.,.;.rie ud
biJhlr ."..bDIit:.
.. Aa odd "';,..;.lcrq beca_
w...p In<lIlItiot>. TIM:n:_I ....
of
lie,
,k o p... ti", i. m. ..
beCIIII C "" .....I•.,d,.
i., rioi . .. ~ ; " dtc: - . of bceo",," .... n ... 0•••idu p, n d.
1990 . This ci-. Boco irrmlJcd """ Pcopl. looo ...ci. bope lou, . h...
W...u W.J/. -hich ,on.. l...d h•• <hey think of dI. w orU W.O. they
MIl Y"".....,. oold that ,.- fd .
the f;i....iIJ:l . ni... upcri""""d •
..... ..... pa.o.do -en
aoy <:ODl:It'f bet--
.,; ........
2tUItI. ,..
poiD Krico 01CUI_
''''.;0 coU.d n, £.~ of .i.
;" his ..... roo.. paocla, ph.. thl r ianioh an dUD1 .. onochcr poooibUiry• •
p.n ol-<:<lmpl.,od . ..li er in ,he hc:ucrfu...... !!

_ n. .... ~
 Judith F. Baca:
Community and Culture
in the United States
...
•
-
• jcorra F.BACA is known nationally and internationally as a muralist and a
public educator and has taught in the University ofCalifomia system since
198 1. Her commitment to community-based an making led her to foun d.
along with filmmaker Donna Dieteh and artist Christina Schlesinger. the
Social and PublicAn Resource Center (SPARC) in the mid-1 970s in Venice,
California. Through SPARG, Baca has not only facilitated the creation,
preservation and documentation of public an in the Los Angeles area. but
has also provided a space for the images and voices ofpeoples ofcolor. She
has coordinated two major citywide mural projects in Los Angeles and has
organized, along with the staff of SPARG, symposia and exhibitions that
draw attention to the multiplicity ofcultures that make up the greater Los
Angeles area and the nation arlarge. Her most famous mural, The Greal Wall
ofLas Angeles (1976-1983) (Figures 1,2, and 3) extends for almost haifa
mile along a drainage canal in the San Fernando Valley and documents an
alternative history ofCalifornia, one that acknowledges the presence ofNa-
tive Americans. Asian Americans, African Americans. Latinos . Chicanos,
gays and lesbians, and working class people. She has brought her coalition-

,,
•
building skills to other parts of California, indudingthe farming communi-
ty of Guadalupe, just north of Santa Barbara (Figu re 4), and the city of
Baldwin Park.just east ofLos Angeles (Figures 5 and 6). She has also taken
• these skills and applied them to an international project, The World Wall: A
VuionoftIu Future Wzthout Fear (Figures 7 and 8), a series of!0' by 30' porta-
ble murals that has traveled around the world, joined by similar panels
painted by artists from the host countries.
I first met Baca in 1988, when I invited her to speak to a women's studies
class I was co-reaching at Pomona College. I was impressed by the nature

K'"-s StsuDa. 1996 C 1996 OPA (On!neas Publishc:n&soriaricm)

Vol 25, pp. 215-%117 Amsrerdam B.Y. puNished in The NetberiaDds
Reprints anilab&e direc:dy &om the: ~ UDder 6cazse byGordoa and Bn:::ac::b.
Ph"""""yin, pamiaed by - . . oaIy ScicDce PubIisbcn SA

• PriDccd in ~
216 FRANCES POHL

. " .:::
• •j':

- -::~ .:
,-.
. ~

. •"..::, 1

Figure I 77uGrt4t Wallo!LosA",elG.1976-8S,aaylic:oDconacte,lS·x2,43S·, Tujunga

Wash dninageanal. San Fernando Valley. Group photogn.ph. summer1981 (JudithBac:a
in center or foreground group.)

of her work and her commitment to education, and subsequently orga-

nized a retrospective exhibition, judiJh E Ba&4: Sites and Insights,
1974 -1992, for the Arizona State University, Tempe Art Museum in 1992
(it appeared the following year at the Pomona College Montgomery Gal-
lery). I interviewed Baca in her studio in Venice, California on July 10,
1994.

In a December 1993 interview of a Bill Jensen exhibition for the Y"l1lag.

Voice, Peter Schj~ wrote: "There is DO art community, only more or

the art
.
w"
less an art ,s ociety.,::".. Society is formal. Community is soulfuL Many in

a community
-.
are so soul-starved they convince themselves ofbelonging to
wh en they rea11ydon'L The art world is a fairly savage social
•
 JUDITH F. BACA 217

and economic zone where values are always in doubt and often in con-
flict." What has been your experience of this "savage" society and where
do you see the "soulful" art community? .

My first thought is that the "savage" art world truly is a non-community.

There's a certain brutality to it because it co-ops the truth of community
and uses this language in such a way that people, particularly students, be-
come extremely confused about professional group life. They talk about a
professional group life as opposed to a community, which I would define
more as a group ofpeople who have sharedvalues, mores, perhaps share a
geographical space in which they ha ve to live in some way in relatedness
and connectedness. I think what the art community is really about is dis-
connection. in the sense that we really fosterindividuation.Wefoster com-
petitiveness. We foster within our an schools and universities the sense of
inscantly disconnecting people from where they came to engage in the cre-
ation ofwhat is called a "universal aesthetic." and that"universalaesthetic"
is essentially a western-European aesthetic and it's very specific. It's gee-
graphically specific, ethnically specific. It's intellecrually specific. And yet
we call that "universal" and what happens is that people become very iso-
lated. Right now we are recruiting the creme of the crop from our ethnic
communities, for example the Chicano community. We're recruiting
California students or people out of neighborhoods and we are putting
them into the university and, as we recruit them and bring them in. we
foster the disassociation from their origins. We say to them, "this is the
highest form of achievement." It was put to me repeatedly-the highest
fonn of achievement is to disassociate entirely, in totality, from where I
came from. This means that, essentially, we're talting California taxpayer's
money to recruit Califcrniastudents out of California neighborhoods so
that they will never address the most salient issues. the most diflicult and
incredibly troublesome problems. We take the best of them and we take
them away. Essentially we're doing a brain drain of those places, so that we
can never solve the problems that plague those communities. We have a
continuing cycle offeeding people offinto this never-never land or non-
space of professional group Jife. Basically what it means is we serve corpo-
rations with those people. Those kids never come back to where they came
from. The biggest, biggest struggle in all of my life bas been to stay con-
nected in somry to where I came from . They've offered me every kind
of ima ginable1@ody ifl would leave and even got as far as telling me rm a
failure because 1 haven't.
218 FRANCES POHL

What I think is the future for w in terms of education is figuring out

how to approach in a connected W;J.y what an-making is about-conneaed
to the source ofyour own culture or ethnicity, connected to the geographic
place that you came from. People would criticize that by saying, ·You're
localizing and .therefore reducing the dialogue. You're keeping people
from approaching global culture,· and so forth. But in tru!h global culture
is coming back to the same kind of solutions that we need at a localleveI.
We bave to work again in groups ofcollective consciowness. I would take
our university system and teach kids cooperation. I would teach them re-
latedness. I would honor where they came from. I would teach them to
stay sourced in wbat they know and their own cultures, and we that as the
basis for teaching. And by doing that you do a number ofthings. You teach
them that achievement does not mean ignoring issues ofhomdessness or
gang warfare or the failure to educate large masses of people. It doesn't
require looking down on the work ethic of the working class.
This is asmming that these students are coming from backgrounds that
allow them to think of those things as imporlanL
RighL And I think I'm talking about the majority here. I'm not talking
about the tiny, select number ofpeople who go to university who are white
and upper-class or upper-middle-class. I guess rmjumping a step ahead
here to parity and to equity. We're wing a tax base for our educational sys-
tems that comes from the majority/minority and whether i(. in the
California State University system or the University ofCalifornia system or
the community college system we bave to educate those people or our de-
mocracy will fail. You can't any longer in good conscience continue to re-
cruit from the majority/minority group without addressing this issue.
When you say "majority/minority," are you saying that '~orities"are
actually the majority?
'That's right, Los Angeles, for example, is seventy percent people ofcol-
or. We bave to begin to address educa,ting according to the tax base or we
are stealing money from the people. And it is my opinion that we are steal-
ing money in an incredible way from the Mexican population. We have
recruited for the University of California system-all nine universi-
ties-2,889 Chicano students. We bave graduated over two million Chica-
no students from California high schools. These statistics are for 1993-94.
They are alarming. I don't think we can swtain any longer these highly
rugged individualist notions. We can't. We have to cooperate because.we
can't live here together anymore.
 JUDITH F. BACA 219

It seems rather than cooperating in the face of shrinking resources,

people are diggingin and becomingvery resistant to sharingthose dim in.
ishing resources. How do you think more of the people ofcolor ofC~or­
ni.aare going to make it into a university system that is state-run when the
state itself is becoming increasingly reactionary in its attitu de towards
people ofcolor? Are more people ofcolor going to be allow~ in or do you
see that if they do come in, they're going to be turned into these individu-
alistic kinds of people? Do you think that there's something much more
radical that needs to bappen, in terms ofedncational systems in general?
Are they salvageable ordo we really bave to look atsome otherway ofedu-
cating people for community-oriented ways of tb.i.n.ki.ng?

I think all of the above. Every aspect has to be dcalt with. I think univer-
sity systems as a whole .w ill come under greater and greater fire. This last
year alon e Cornell University, Stanford and the University ofCalifornia at
Santa Barbara bad hunger strikes and walkoutsjust for the Chicano popu-
lations. These rwenty-year-olds now are getting in there and they're say-
ing. "Wait a minute." They're becoming much more nationalistic. They're
coming n ow with a very strong resistance to being assimilated and what I
think is a very hcalthy rage. At the political level we are not making great
strides, but we are getting people into key p ositions. What is going to hap-
pen is we're going to take the money away from them. The same way we
had to do it with the arts councils and with the National Endowment. We
had to attack the very premise of their funding to make them open it up.
An African Atnerican scholar and organizer years ago told me, judy, you
keep expecting justice bere because you think that if you are just logical
enough and you convince people of what is j ust, they will simp ly open up
the doors. They're never going to give it up easy. It has to be a struggle."
So I think there's a two-prong approach. One is to start attacking the
funding base of the university syste m and the educational system in gener-
al, and th e other is to start organizin g at th e student level, Now the count-
er-move of those opposed to change will be that they will abandon
education, which is what is now happening within the local schools. The
Save California Bill, sigoed by 600,000 people, basically says that any child
of an immigrant wbo is now illegal cannot be educated. It alsosays they are
not eligible for health care. People are running for political office 00 the
basis of taking away those immigrant rights. Essentially that means that
there will never be an other Amalia Mesa-Bains [California educator and
artist]. Th"':"'Itne~et be another Judy Baca. We're looking at now an en-
Ore generano~
220 FRANCES POHL

Oleay, now take that logically to the next step. We have eighty percent
Latino school children entering into the Los Angeles city school system. A
h ealthy number ofthem are not documented. I don't know the.percentage
exactly. I guess we cait't measure it. But eighty percent of students enter-
ing kinderganen and elemen tary school right n ow are Latinos. Oleay, let's
not educate them. Let's cut them loose . Let's put them all on the stree t,
even p eople who have been here twenty years-my grandmother was here
twenty-five yean and was never documented. You've got Chiapas in about
ten minutes. We're going to have a ~ mtStizD riot. We're going to have
armed resistance. How long do you think it will take these heavily armed
kids. who are now cut loose from the school system, to turn the guns away
from shoo ting each other and begin to come after those who are responsi-
ble for the conditions in their lives?That's what's going to happen. It's not
sman to do this. It's not smart. It's stupid, If they reall y wanted to do
something about immigriuion problems, they simply would go after the
employers who have a great addiction to this cheap labor source.
So we are talking about three areas ofresistance: stu dent protests, politi-
cians saying, "Either do this or we take away your money," and people as a
whole ""ring, "We don't want to pay for -your schools anymore and we'll
collapse the entire educational system." Reactionary people will say,
"Tough. We don't want to educate anybody." There will be a different kind
of opposition to educational institutions within the Latino communities.
People are saying more and more, -We .d on't want to do this. You either
have to open it up or lose it." They have to see that they have access to
education and that it's part of what they can do with their lives. No one
should ever underestimate the commitment of the Latino community to
education. They believe that education is the ticket out and they 're going
to be enraged as soon as they get that they can't have it. And it's becoming
more and more clear as the numbers become more extreme.
I've been thinking about why this is happening and I can predict a few
things. I think armed revolution is not out of the ques tion if there is a deci-
sion to destroy the school system and not to have access for our people.
Recent repressive immigrant legislation, which will be eventually thrown
out as unconstitutionaJ. may just push people over the edge. Fifteen yean
ago I went before the Los Angeles city council and told them they had a
gang problem that they had to approach now, and they said, "It doesn't
effect us, we don't have gangs in the Valley.· The heads of the committees
were from the San Fernando Valley. I said, "You will." These San Fernan-
do Valley councilmen refused to 1001: at a city-wide problem. Los Angeles
is now the gang center oCthe entire United States and right now is putting
 J UD IlH F. SACA 221

satellite Crips in Arizona, for God's sake. We have satellites moving out to
Albuquerque. I was in Albuquerque last week talking to people about the
Crips and the 18th Street Gang. If you don't organize them and educate
the m, then they will educate and organize themselves, because they are re-
sourcefuL And if you don't give them an alternative, then they will create
alternatives for themselves. Simple.
But giving alternatives to this many people means giving up some of the
power, access, education, wealth, and all those things that a small number
of people have been used to having all to themselves fa.; all these years.
Yes. Sharing resources, not getting to come to dinner and eat it all You
have very. very intense resistance to this. and I tliink that's what you're see-
ing right now. Our major funders in America-<he Rockefellers, the
Fords-are all now taiking abcur the civil society and saying, "Enough of
this ethnic identification , enough of this nationalism: because we're not
talking about what will create a civil society any longer. We want to now
fund p eople to talk about the spaces between us. We don't want you to talk
about your own identity any more, because once you get too far into that.
then there's no place for us."
Pdlike to retunl to an issue you raised earli= Manypeople argue thatthe
key to anistic or aesthetic greatness lies in transcending the material
world, which allows you to gain access to this notion of the "universaL"
How do you begin to take that aparton a day to day basis in teaching some-
body an making? How do you, instead, encourage connections with both
one's immediate family and a larger community?
In a certain way I think it's easier to teach them connectedness than the
opposite. When students come to the university they're in the process of
building self-esteem, They're in the process of building an identity, and if
you honor the identity they come with, if you tell them, "value what you
have in your own pocket," you aetually build a healthier human being. For
example, a young Korean woman came in with a photograph. It was a clci-
sonne medallion given to the bride and groom of two stork figures, one
red and one blue, with a macrame cord. It's hung in the households of Ko-
rean families as a hridal gift to bring good luck to the bride and groom. For
the student, it was just an object, one from which she was completely disas-
sociated. She thou ght it was pretty but she didn't know the meaning of the
object. She was going to use it in a still life that she was constructing for
painting. I looked at the piece and said; "You can't make anything until
you know it, until yo u understand its meaning. Have you ever asked your
222 FRANCES POHL

mother?" "No. I don't really know what it is." TI1at objea had hung in her
household every day and had been so devalued by the culture at large that
she never thought to ask the question ants meaning. So sending her back
home for an interview with her mother and a discussion of its meaning
made a far more valuable conneetion for her to that image. It became aero-
ally a reinterpretation of the American experience through a Korean posi-
tion, a one-and-a-halfposition (someone with Korean parents bom in the
U.s.). She could then we that image and aerually begin to understand the
power ofits sources and why it resonates. Why does it move her? Why does
that particular sound move you? Why are thowands of kids listening to
banda music and dressing in western-like vaquero .oudits with the great big
buckles and the hats and the boots ? Because it's a very nationalistic move-
ment. Because they say. "This music makes me cry."Why does it make you
1:Ij'? Why does it move your spirit?
So you need to do two things: number one, you need to affinn their own
experiences; number two, you need to te:aeh a respeaful honoring of
tradition. Now this is absolutely counter to everything we are taught,
Within the art world we believe that whatever is new is better. Innovation is
prized above all other things. making art about art with a new twist. The
standard way of teaching at the university is to ask people to source in
some other artist. Who is your influence? The references are usually to
white men. someone who's hot or current. Students are then taught that
they mwt follow in that line. So what if you said, as I have tried to do with
my classes, · Forget thaL Make a tattoo. Study African scarification. Study
the aboriginal marking of bodies as imprints on their soul What would
you imprint on you r soul? Make a piece of work that has function within
your daily life. Make it functional." That's another no-no. Ifit's functional,
it's not art, Set u p problems, ask kids to take the resources of their own
culture and their own experience and bring them into the class and share
them. Talk about the experience ofothers, which is, interestiriglyenou gh,
a common experience. whether you're a dominant-culture person or an
ethnic person. Talk about the commonality ofimmigration and what that
means. Honor a traditional form that is thought of as folk an or not serious
art, Look at tattoos and grafliti and spray can arL Look at spray can art
and see what these young people are making with those cans. which are
incredible pieces of work. Study popular art that has to do with low-rid er
cars. By doing this you shift the emphasis from a world that is commodi-
fied and controlled, a marketplace. You take away the very hasis of art
making as commodification. a practice to feed an elite. and think ofit as a
practice of h ealing. Make no object at all, but simply concentrate on the
 JUDITH F. SACA 223

process. Devise a process that reminds you of the tradition of ritual sand
painting or that is sourced in that and then apply it to a contemporary time
and make no objea.
Do students sometimes respond, "But how caD I support myselfas an art-
ist making this kind of.art?"
Sure. I think there1s a great push now within the state university system
to give stud ents pra etical skills, to male them employable. But my beliefis
that if you want to be employable. then don't become an artist. Become a
graphic designer, become a dress designer, become a hundred other
things. Focus 0" those things that are practical skills that can be used. Aau-
ally. if you exercise yourselfand your intellect in these waysand also devel-
op more theoretically or conceptually. in the end you are much mere
em ployable as a fine artist as well because you are interdisciplinary. You
can address the most important issues ofour time. Youare problem-sclv-
ers based in reality. Youare not carrying on an intellectu al dialogue for fun
and your frien ds. You can talk to your mother and father and are, in the
end, a much better human being. You·have more practical knowledge with
which you can serve the community and make the arts relevant again. I
think artists have made a terrible mistake over the years. It never served us
to be "inspired by angels," to be mythological creatures who are somehow
touched by the gods. A dealer said to me once, "I only want to show artists
who are touched by the gods." I remember her telling me that I wasn't
touched by the gods. So I thought, "How do you get this touch by the
gods? Who are these gods ?" Then I realized it was probably some white
critic and if that white critic liked you, then you were touched by the gods .
So I began to value. instead, what I understood and knew. I was terrified
to death that I was going to be completely unemployable and completely a
failure. There were no models for me to look. at as a woman artist, as a Lati-
na, as a person related to community, so therefore I figured maybe I wasn't
an artist. That was aetually incredibly liberating because then 1 could in-
ven t myself. These kids have got to invent themselves.

What about you own community, the one that has allowed you to survive
as an artist?
On a spiritual an d emotional level there has been a community of
wo me n, so me within my own culture bu t many not. Donna Dieteh was in-
credibly important in th e process ofme growing up to be an artist. She was
doing the same thing but came from a completely different experience ofa
very wealthy family..And Christina Schlesinger. Both taught me something
224 FRANCES POHL

incredibly important. They taught me to perceive myselfas entitled. I stu-

died entidement with those women, because I had never seen anybody
who felt like they deserved to have things. They really knew about enter-
taining themselves, getting what they wanted, feeling that they deserved to
have those things, and I learned that from them. -
The women's community at critical points throughout my life has been
really, really important-all of us struggling against male identities within
the arts, there not really being places for us. And then parallel struggles.
I've always been v~ connected to the African American community be-
cause of being bom in Watts. I grew up in African American and Chicano
communities and developed very close relationships with key African
American women who made present the parallel struggles ofother ethnic
groups so that I could see things rationally. It widened my world. And then
most imponandy has been an intergenerational connection with women
and men older than I, like [actor] Gilben Roland. He was absolutely an
amazing model for me.

How did you meet him?

His wife called me. I had just done that Bill Moyers television piece and I
was working on The Great Wall of Los Ang.1es (Figures I, 2, and 3) and Gia
Roland called me up and said, "I want to work for you. I want to take
photographs. Can I follow you around? I'm interested in what you're do-
ing." I dido't know who she was, and so she showed up and literally every
day of my life for nearly ten years she was with me. She cooked, too. Not
only could she take photographs, but she could make wonderful memuJo.
She fed me and fattened me up all ofthese years, making wonderful Mexi-
can food . Then, ofcourse, I met Gilbert. Gilben was the VlUfl"TO' the ulti-
mate VlUfl"TO. He had grace and was a man who refused to depict the
Mexican people in a denigrated way. He was the "Cisco Kid." So many
people later modeled what it was to be a Latino by virtue ofactions he took
in his early films. His favorite words were honor; dignity, courage. He was
stalwart, patriotic. All those things.
So I had friends who were eighty. And then I had friends who were four-
teen, who gave me a sense ofthe range ofthe world I lived in. They really
gave me a sense of perspective. I think thatnunured me. Jane Rule [Cana-
dian writer] was the only lesbian I ever met in the early 1970, who was to-
tally connected to community. notjust an isolated women's community but
a community filled with all ages and types ofpeople. All these people had
in common an incredible grace. Minnah [Agins] had the same grace. You
.know, this is really making me emotional because so many of them are
 c;
C
o
~

Figure 2 11u Grtal Waf! of LOJ Ang,zlJ. 1976-83. The 1930s: The Illusion or Prosperity.
 ' ..
~.
/ .

'.
"T1

~
o
m
en
(3
:z:
r-

Fipre 5 71v t;mI Wall "'1M A"fIIn. 1976- 85. The I94Os: Japanese InternmenL
 JUDITH F. SACA 2Zl

dead, the eighty·year-<>lds and the fourteen-year-olds. I feel such a sense

of loss for Gilbert. H e died the way he lived, too. Right to the en d he
wouldn't take his damn boots oil! Minnab was important, too . She gave me
a sense of a historical context, She told me about the hunger strikes and
the bread strikes and the Detroit auto workers and I felt like I had met all
these characters. I Could see first-hand what they went through to do the
most basic things, like.get us unemployment insurance.

Was this in the 1930s?

Yes, 1930s, the intellectual Left of the thirties. Minoah was the con tinua-
tion ofa long line of people who used an. When I put together her retro-
spective for her memorial I looked over the range of all these prints. It was
an absolutely wonderful chronology of Left an making and issues that
ranged from the 19305 or late 1920s to the 1980s, when she died. You
could see the preoccupations of the Left. through all these different de-
cades. I learned strategies for survival from the fourteen-year-olds and
eighty-year-olds, and also from staying connected to the humblest peop le,
people who would not necessarily do good for your career, and with m y
&nU~ .
Have your experiences with these people affected th e way you approach
your own work as aD artist?
Cenainly. One thing they have taught me is to r ecognize the unrecog-
nized seats of power. like the woman who looks out her window and
watches the kids at the hus sto p. That's a key role in the way that communi-
ty moves. She keep s them fro m j u mping out into the street. The gang that
occupies the park, even if it's usually only a few little guys. Some of them
are often much more harmless than they're perceived as being. Acknowl-
edging these people. It'sjust the same as saying, "That tree is there. " You
don't pretend that the tree's not there.

And you don't try to cut it down.

No. You don't say, ·Well. everything would be just great about this piece
ofland if the tree wasn't there." Instead. you come into a space and begin
to figure out who's who. You look at the synagogue down the street, the
passage of these p~ple on a weekly basis past the site where the mural will
be. The school. a!If the movement in and out of people who come from
some distance. The local people across the street and their investment in
being middle-class. Understanding what it is that they valu e. who they are.
228 FRANCES POHL

Recognizing those with -the power and recognizing who's there. And then
recognizing what is u nder the surface, almost like a spiritual half-life in the
ground. Why do people get drawn, for example, to those exquisitely beau-
tiful sites along Galiano's Coast where the Haida have been coming for
potlatches for a few thousand years. People are drawn to those places and
they have a certain presence in the world by virtue ofthe spiritual invest-
ment of people for centuries. That's why you need to know what has hap-
pened there. You need to know who was there, who's there now and what
is op erating on them from another time. It's like digging up, revealing,
digging away layers of information to the source ofit.

Your words remind me of the series of murals you did for the farmwork.
ers' community of Guadalupe, California.
Yes. The imagery in those four murals is an uncovering of the roots of
the place. The ethnic contributors panel shows the Chinese as well as the
Mexicans. A Swiss-Italian marble angd from the town's ce metery is the
source of the central image in the Futun 4/ Gtwdnlupe (Figu re 4). Yet Gua-
dalupe is also like every farming area. Farmwerkers' issues are interna-
tional issues. I respect both the Iocal issues and their international
ramificatio ns . I want to build associations, relationships. I was taught to
make family and to honor the family and that's what I do with the site, I
make it family. I tty to create order within that family, to develop some
kind of community in order to approach the issue OT the site and to be-
come makers and problem-solvers together.

Do these families ever become dysfunctional?

Always is probably the case! Of course. that assumes that there is a per-
fect famil y out there somewhere. '

Then there is that other "family" setting, the classroom or university,

where conflict and dissention has increased as increasing numbers of
people are coming in who want to see their identities reaffirmed and their
cultures studied? How do you deal in a constructive way with this inevita-
ble confiict?
Well . right now there isn't really any resolution e xcept that if you're in
charge, you win. People are not saying, ' Okay, how do I make room for
inclusion?" University pro fessors often suffer from the same absence and
poveny of thought that OUT students suffer from when we don't teach
them relate dness. We don't teach them to connect. So who we have reach..
 JUD ITH F. SACA 229

Figure4 1'1u Fuluru{Cu.4IltJ.upe, 1988-90. acrylic on wood. S' x 7'. One cfthe fcur pae-
cis on the history and futureol'Cuadalupe. CA. Municipali ty ofGuadalupe. Photo: Cia
Roland.

iog and who we have as models are people trained in the old system. who
really believe that individual achievement is to be valued above all things.
'0
We should begin as scholars address in our writing, in our thinking, how
we're going to move into this 21st century. into a really different time. I
mean it's astounding how different it is. I have an incredibly difficulttime
keeping up within my own culture, with the changes. as it becomes " Lad-
no" as opposed to "Chicano" and Chicanos come into positions of power
and they have to reevaluate themselves because they can', speak for El Sal-
vadorans. I don',
the whole.
to'"
• .
'0
if one of us can ever begin speak an y longer for

,
230 FRANCES POHL

Where do yon see a commonality coming into play? Is it possible?

I guess what I'm advocating, for the most part, is working in smaller
groups. We have to go down to smaller groups and <hen we have to make
these liule pods that have to make a relationship with another pod and
then you start to create spaces"between you. And I think the spaces in be-
tween have to do with our incnrporation ofeach other; 17le Gnat Wall is a
pretty good example of this process. It was important for me when I got
<he group together to represent each of the ethnic groups and then put
them into a whole, and to move <hem between learniog about.each other's
cultures so <hatChicano kids were not encouraged to work only on Chica-
no history. In a similar way, our ethnic studies departments need to make
relationships between each other, Every ethnic studies department should
have within its core curriculum requirements that are relational studies.
What is common about African American and Chicano history? Where do
<hose relationships really make sense? You can build that into curriculum.
You can build it into committee structures. It allows people not to fear a
kind ofcentrality within each culture. I used to really believe in integration
in totality and I don't think I believe that anymore.

You want relationships but DOt iDtegration?

Yes. Not integration in the total sense, all ofus together, one planet, one
people, all hnlding hands I don't think we wiD. Not in my lifetime. I've
worked really hard for twenty-five yearS to make things different and I've
watched most of the gains rolled bad.

What about these gains? You've done local work, but you're also out there
on the national level, dealing with the National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA) and with national commissions. There appears to have been, at
least until recently, an Iaereaee in NEA funding for community organiza..
deas. Is this good or bad? Where do you see it going?
I think the NEA is not a good example because you probably would not
see more money going to community groups from the NEA. But you do
with organizations like the Lila Wallace Fcundanea, the e. e. cummings
Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation,
<he Warhol Foundation. The James Irvine Foundation is on <he cutting
edge for its funding of community-initiated projects.
I'm working in a group now called <he Tourism Industry Development
Council, which comes out ofLocal II of the restaurant and hotel workers
union. This group formed to change the tourist industry vision ofLos An-
 JUDITH F.SACA 231

geles. It is the opposite afthe Convention Bureau, which puts out videos
that say you can come to Rodeo Drive and to Universal City and they don't
show one person ofcolor. OUT program is very different.·It takes tourists
around the city to places like The Gnat Wall. People are .enraged about it.
We got calls all the way from the U.S. DepamnentofCommerce. They fear
that community-based people will destroy the tourism industry in Los An-
geles, which means, basically, that we will share part of the wealth. You
want to kn ow what happened to Rodney King? Let's go out to Pacoima
and the Foothills Division police station and hear the perspectives ofcom-
munity leaders. People are being given an alternative for the first time.
And all of the tours are sold ou t during the World Cup soccer games. Yes-
terday I addressed a group of American Studies scholars from Syria, Is-
rael, all over the world. There were forty chairs of American Studies
Departments in various universities all over the world at The Great Wall.
They want to know about race relations in America. They want to know if
there is apartheid here. They want our perspective on what is happening.
It's pretty exciting. There are spaces in between being made.

Do you see any down side to the increase in funding for community-based
ventures by the foundations you just mentioned?
Absolutely. The Lila Wallace Foundation bas been the most problematic.
They've been giving major amounts of money-5 million dollars-to the
Mark Taper Forum to expand their audiences. Not to build a Chicano the-
ater in Los Angeles. but to put Chicanotheaterunder an all-whiteboard of
directors that comes from the very basis ofpower and authority in Los An-
geles.Hke the Chandlers of the LosAngtUs Times. You're never going to get
that board ofdirectors to change. So what do they do? They go to a Mo:ica-
no, Jose Luis Valentino, who was at the Los Angeles Theater Center
(LATC) with the Chicano theater. Mind you , he's Mai<mw. That's very
critical because a Chicano would never have done it. A Mtri&anc will. Be-
cause they're not born, raised here. They don't know the politics. They al-
ways feel like they can make an alliance with the Anglo. They don't have
the history of racism from birth, so they're a little more negotiable. So
instead of giving him the LATe when it goes under, the Mark Taper Fo-
rum says, "Hey, there's a talented young guy. Let's get him.· So they got
him. They bought Chicano theater. Five years from now there won't be a
Chicano Theater Center. There won't be a parallel group to the music cen-
~er that is ethnically run and governed and developed. There will be an
inCorporation within the music center ofChicano Theater. When he leaves
they'Ujust get a replacement, Maybe at th e end of five years they'U h ave
232 FRANCES POHL

one Chicano on the board. They'll have all of our mailing lists. They'll
have Latino theater with out the control of the Latino population. There
are many examples ofthis kind ,o f funding, which is not about self-empow-
erment, Now, people would argue with me vehemently about this. But I
hon estly believe that the only thing to do in terms of cultural d evelopment
in Los Angeles is to develop parallel institutions of equal size and stature
for the ethnic populations.
But wouldn't you end up still having to accept money &om these same
institutions? I ha'I'C another quote I wanted to read to you from Octavio
Pars recent collectiou Essay. on Maican Art (1993): ~'The idea ofpuhlic
art strikes me as a sentimental nostalgia and a dangerous anachronism. .•
Public art has invariably been the religious an ofa state oro!a church as
powerful as a state. By definition, there is uo such thingaspuhlic art made
by isolated individuals or private groups•• • • The phrase 'revolutionary
public art' Dot oaly contains a coD~dictioD but is, in fact, meaniDgless
.• •only through an abuse oflanguage • • • is it possible to speak ofa rev0-
lutionary art sponsored by the state."
Well, there's some validity to what he 'says. Yet if you look at The Gmu
Wall, it received a certain amount of public dollars but it also received such
a patchwork offunding from so many different sources that no one source
could control the conten"t of the piece. American philanthropic giving is
not the same as Mexican philanthropic giving. They have no philanthrop-
ic giving in Mexico. They have patronage and they have government
spons orship, which is very direct, We have this other thing called nOD-
profit giving. I think it's still possible, with multiple funding sources and
with an artist who is uncompromising, to create work that does challenge
the status quo. I think my Bald win Park Metrorail Project is quite revolu-
tionary (Figures 5 an d 6). It really chall enges the whole colonial mission-
ary sys tem.

Did the people in charge know what you were doing?

Absolutely. Because I explained it to th em. And because there were
enou gh Latinos in that group. There were also people from Arkanqs
There was an African American woman who came from the oldest black
famil y in Baldwin Park. The head of the Department of Educadon for
Baldwin Park was Latino. The mayor himself was a twenty-four-year-oJd
graduate of Harvard. a Latino . There was a Chicana. a working<lass
woman from the faaory region. on the commission. I had four or five solid
people behind me who said, "Yes, do it, It's about time somehody talked
 JUDITH F. SAGA 233

..:
~•
i
I "0
8
••
'"
~
,,;
.e"c
'i
:E
•
'"-'--"
. ,.....
.."
- ~ . - .-". : . .. ,!!!,
. ~ .~ . . ~:...-.~;;~.:: .~£ -. -.~. -"
:1;,"-. "·" rr. '
I. .

I ,#, ~!/ ~.
•- •
• , '(

'l. .j t " .lot

:
,
--. . . -"
u
"
.
. I.
-<: ', ' ~
\ "
".
'"
•
"0..
""';
C

. . - ; ~ .•'. :>t
.!!
-e
~~ .
•e
" -e
" •
. ... .. :
•:z•
.;

-
0>
0>

,;

~
-
:.§
.!:•
~
1!
.e
j
.ll
~

Z
~ FRANCESPOHL

abou t the who le issue of the m<stiftu or mixing of races. The only problem I
had was with one of the Catholics. The woman was working<1ass and vely
Catholic. She j ust wanted to make sure I wasn't going to offend the padn
from the local mission. And then when I turned him upside-down on his
head in one of the images, I said, "You know, Lupe, I'm turning him up-
side -down and, I'll tell you the truth, in native sign language it means
' not'." And she said, "They shouldn't have done what they did."
Who, the padns?
Yes, the padres. That's what she said,linaiIy. Right on, Lupel But I gave
them a complete an historical lesson. I brought the research in. They were
with me through the whole process.
-so they were n ot only engaged through the whole process, but had deci-
siODamalring power, rather thaD simply beiDg in aD advisory position.
That's right. It was remarkable. Not to say they were all liberal and in-
credibly progressive thinkers. They said , "We want you to do something
on the missions," and I think they thought "Taco Bell" They wanted my
name recognition too. They wanted to say they had Judy Baa in Baldwin
Park. It's interesting. They didn't really get what that meant. They just
knew that I was a famous mural painter and I was a Chicana and had
worked on projects with young kids . When they told me the subjea was
the missions, I said, "Okay, I'm going to do the missions but I have to tell
you, I'm going to do the truth." ' Well, we wouldn't expect any less; they
said. So when I started developing the information I started bringing it in
because they met with me as I was progressing to the design. I started to
tell them the numbers ofpeople who were murdered, the numbers of na-
tive people lost. the loss of their names. It was really also about my passion
for what I was doing and my belief system.
I brought in Vera Rocha , the chiefof the Gabrieliiios who lives in Bald-
win Park, as an advisor for the project. And they know her. They've always
known her because she had pow-wows in their parks. And she has rwenry-
twO grandchil dren who who are all native people there. Her fu.mily grew
up in a mission. Her great-grandmother made candies. She hates the mis-
sion . She wouldn't even step on the ground. She stood on the outside wait-
ing for me when I went there to pick up niaterials. So convincing people
was a combination of my passion and my abiliey to articulate it and Vera's
ability to speak to what it meant to her. The mission father's didn't partici-
pate except to impede the informational Bow. But I had historians who ,
helped me and I just started bringing in material I said, "FIrSt let me tell
 JUDITH F. BACA 235

Figure 6 &UJw;n.- Sl4tWn. 1993. Loading platfonn. parking lot with plaza
in background. sle-'COlor Plate 11.
 236 FRANCES POHL

you what I'm going to do. Do you know what an archaeological dig looks
like?" "No," they say. So I had to go through all these photographs ofar-
chaeological digs. That's how I began. I showed them photographs ofar-
chaeological sites. I really like the way they look. "I think this should be like
an archaeological site," I said. "We're going to dig it up. We're going to dig
it up and we're going to putit back in the ground. We're going to puJI away
the layers of the earth, IiteraIly, and see." Then the forms in the ground.
the shapes of the mission, the native village, became the design in the con-
crete. And they really liked that. I was listening to Lupe talking to SOme
kids on the dar of the dedication. She said, "Well, just think of itthis way.
It's like she took a big steam roller and she smashed everything flat, " which
was a pretty dose description ofwhat I didl I wed the language ofthe red-
necks in the piece: "It was better before they came." And then there's GJo.
. ria AnzaIdl1a sandblasted into the big arch: "This land was Mexican once,
was Indian always and will be again." And the words of this extraordinary
young Asian woman, who said. "You know, it's not the adults leading only.
it's the youth leading too." And so I wed that too.
I had such a good time doing it. It was diflicult working with the eon-
tractors. And the commjssion.fough~me on a couple ofthings. which I lost.
I lost the benches in the plaza area. I wanted people to be able to sit in the
plaza by the monument. And I wanted them to be able to cut 1IDfI4liIDs. I
wanted edible food in the planters. I did get the oak tree. which represents
the indigenous people. and I got the cactus. but not edible cactus, and I
didn't get the benches because they didn't want people hanging out. So I
didn'twin everything. But I really felt like it was successful. And they seem
very happy with it. The mayor told me. "I go to the Metro station and I sit
on the bench and look down at my feet and it says ' memory' and 'will pow-
er' and I remember what myjob is today." That's how you preserve a cul-
ture. It can still happen.

Fogurc7 (Top) 77>t WoridW"u,A y.......f "";w.,. W...... _.1987-92.AaylicoDCID.

"*So 10' x SO" panels. ~:J~ IamDarion at SaDIa Buban County Courthouse.
!D additiDDlD tbcfour paucbbyllaa~of"'H...u.-, Triua(>Aoftlw
H.n. and N".".w.lmIlcrir m). chis imnlb tiOn included anistA1aci BegWs pazu:l71w
E"" .ftlw n-N<4 e - , (1990) 00 lhc brld'taod the paoc1Dio/Qp< ofA1umDlioc (I1lllO)
00 tho brrigluby FuuUsh_JuhaSaslO.sab-Uisa Loob, aodAno MatioIauri. Soda!
and Public: An ResourceCcmcr. Photo: Bob deBris.
Figure 8 (BollDm) T..""",,"'f""Hum. 1987-89,AaylicoDCID.... 10·x !O·. Socia1aod
Public Art Resource Center. Photo: Gia Roland.
 1\
JUDITH F. SACA 237

C O N N.C Tl VE AE STH ETI C S, AIll T ", 'TEIll INOI Yt D lI "' l ISI'I } S ill.
As a critic in the nineties, I am not really interested in writing catalog
essayl or art reviews. w hat I am concerned with is unde rstanding the
nature of ou r cultural myt hs and how they evolve-c-rhe institut ional
framework we take for grant ed but which nevertheless determines our
lives. One question that has preoccupied me, for instance, is what it means
to be a "successful" artist working in the wo rld toda y, and whether the
image that co mes to mind il one we can supp Ort and believe in. Certainly
it seems al if tha t image is undergoing a'radical re-visionie g at lhis lime.
Th e dom inant modes of thin king in our society have cond itioned
us to characterize art primarily as specialized ob jects, created not for moral
or practical or.social reasons, but rather to be cont emplated and enjoyed,!
Within the modern era, art was defined by its auton omy and self-suffi- •
eiency, and by its isolation from the rest of society. Exposing the radical
autonomy of aeseherics 11 lo mtthing thu is no t "ne utral" but is an active
participant in ca iulist ideolo has been a rimar accomplishment of
t e aggressive ground-clearing work of deconn rucric n, Autonom y, we
now see, has con demned art to social impote nce by turn ing it into just
another clan of objecu for marketin and conI um tion .
amc prod uction and consumption, competitive self-assertion, and
the maximizing of profiu are all cru cial to ou r society 's notion of success.
Th ese same assumptions, leading to maximum energy now and mindless
waste at the u pense of poore r countries and of the environment, have also
become the formula for global destru ction . Art iuelf is not some ancillary
phenomenon but is heavily impljcated in this ideology. In the art world,
we are all aware of the extent to which a power-ori ented, burea ucratic
professionalism has promoted a one-sided, consumeristic attitude towa rd
art. ln srlturional models based on n oti ci~s of prod uct develop ment and
career achievement echo the stereotypic patriarchal ideals and values that
" "
hIve been intern.lind by our whole culture andmade to pervade every
G.ifi4 experience. It is nor hud to sec how the inl1ituliorn and praClices of the aft
world have been 'nodded on the same configurations of power ana profit
that support '1a maintain our socie~Y'1 dominant worldvlew. Th is - busi-
ness as usual" psychology of affluence is now threatening the ecosystem in
which we live wilh its dysfunction al values and way of life; it is a single
system manipu lating the individual into the spiritually empty relationsh ip
of the producer to the prod uct.
Many people arc aware that the .ystem isn't working, th at it is time
to move on and 10 revise the destructive myths that guide us, O ur entire
cultural philosoph y and its narrow ness of concern are und er int ense scru-
tiny. Among snhu, there is a greater critical awareness of the social role
of art, and a rejection of modernism's bogus ideology of nClllrality. Many
artists now refuse the notion of a co mpletely narcissistic exhibitio n prac-
tice as the desirable goal for art , Fo r inua'nce, perfor mance aTlist Gu illenno
G6 mez· Pena n ates: "Most of the ...c rk I'm doing curre ntly comes, I think,
from rhe realiu tion that we're living in a state of emergency. , . . I feci thar- -.
............ ....
more than ever we must step outside th e strictly art arena; It i. not enoucii
to make art . In a similar vein, arlS admin istrator Lind a Frye Burn ham na
M
-
claimed that gallery art has lost ill resonance for her, especially gallery art
by what she terms "white yu ppies.- "T here is too much going on outside, ~
she says. "Rcal life is calling. I ca ll no longer ignore the clamor of disas-
ter-economic, spiritual, enviro nmental, polit ical disaster- in the ....or ld
in which I move." Perceptions such as these are a direct challenge to th e
artist's norma tive .e nse of his or her role in the world: at stake is one's
personal identity in relation to a particular view of life that ou r culture has
J;,
made available to u ~,
Th at the art world 's values, structures, and behaviors arc in great
ferment has been evident for some lime, and the deconstructions of the
eighties continue to reverberate pr ofou ndly. A climax in these up heavals
was reached for many with the cont rovers ial 1993 Biennial at the Whitney
Museum of America n Art-the fi rst multicultural and political Biennial-
which demon strated that the art world is-undergoing a dismantl ing of ill
professional elitism and th at its closed, scM-referential ranks are under

heavy siege. Much o f t he new art foc uses o n soc ial creativ ity rather th an on
self-expressio n and co ntr adicts the myth of the iso lated gen ius=private.
su bjective, behind closed doors in the studio, separ.He fro m o the rs and the
world. As I shall ar gue in this uu creativity in the mod ern wo r l
go ne an In an with ind ivid ualism and hu been viewed stricti a n th etics Will tied
indi vi ua p enom eno n. I believe this conceptio n o f art is o ne o f the things
th·at are now cha nging.
As t he work o f ar tists w ho are d iscussed in this book makes clear,
there is a d istinct shift in the locus o f creativi ty fr o m the auton om ous, self-
contained ind ividual to a new kin d o f d ialo gical st ruc tu re that freq uen tly is
not the p ro duct of a single indi vidu al but is the result o f a co llabo rat ive
and interdependent pr ocess. As an ists step ou t o f t he old framew ork and
recon sider w hat it mean s to be an artist, they are recon stru ctin g the rela-
tionship between ind ivid ual and co m mu nity, between art wo rk and publi c.
Look ing at art in ter ms of soc ial purpo se rather than visual style, and
sett ing a high priority on ope nn ~ss to w hat is O th er, causes many o f ou r
cherished no tio ns to b rea k down: the vision of b risk sales, well- patro nized
galleries, good reviews, and a large, adm iring audience. As Richard Shus-
.
terman writes in Pragmatist Aesthetia , "T he fact that ou r entrench ed
. publi shed in the cata log of his exhibition at th e Whitechape1 Art G allery
inst itutions o f an have lo ng been elitist and opp ressive does no t mean
that they must remain such.. .. Ther e is no co mpelling reason to accept
the narr owl y aest hetic limits imposed by the established ideolo gy of
aut on omo us art. ~
In Feb ruary 1994, I had occasion to tape a co nversat ion wi th
the art dealer Leo C aste lli, in w hich he co m mented abo u t t he Whitney
show: - It was a sea change, not just any chan ge. Because I had to accep t
the fact that the wo nderful days o f the era that I pa rticipated in, and in
wh ich I had played a su bstantial role, we re ove r. ~ In Has Modernism
Failed? I w rote , "G enerally speaking, t he d ynam ics of p rofessionaliza-
tion d o nOt dispose artists to accept their moral ro le; professionals are co n-
dition ed to avoi d thinkin g about pro blems th at do no t bear di rectly on
their work. ~ Since writi ng th is a d ecade ago, it seems as if the pictu re has
changed. The politics of recon ceptualiution hilS begun, .nd the search
for. ""' Iscnda fOl' an has become .. conaciouI aeuch.
COHH I C TI VI AIIT H IT' C h AU A" I. ' N D I V'D"' A~lI H
.In cOfllidering the implicat ions of t his · sea chang e: one th ing is
clean-to be able to see Cl,lrrent aest hetic id eolo gy as actively co ntr ibu ting rc ,
the mo st serio us p rob lems o f ou r ti me means break ing the cultu ral trance
and requi res a change of heart . The wh ole fram ewo rk of mod ernist aes-
to the objectify ing conscious ness o f the scientific world -
view; like scien tists, artists in o ur cultu re have been co ndi tio ned not to
wo r ry about the ap plicatio ns or consequences o r moral purpose o f their
activ ity. It is enough to genera te resulu. But just as the shortcomi ngs of
" obiective ~ sc ience are becoming apparen t, we are also begin ning to ~ r­
ceive how the reductive and neutrali zin g aspects of aesthetics and "art for
art's sa k e ~ have significantl y removed art from any living social co ntext or
moral imperative excep t t hat o f acade mic art hino ry and the gallery sys-
tem . We are beginni ng to perceive how, by disavowing ar t's communal
dim en sion, t he romantic my th o f au to no mo us ind ividu alism has crippled
art's effect iveness and influ ence in the soc ial world.
T he quest for freedo m and au to no my has been now here belle r
mari zed for me tha n in these comments by the painter
in Lon d on in 1983:
The Imiff is not respomible to .nyone. Hissocial role is ,!Social; his only mpon.-__
sibilit., consists in ,:III altitude to the work he dots. There is no rommNni, . tion
with . ny public whlftlonJel'. The .rtist ' . 11 ,u k 110 questioPl, . nJ he m.kcl no
Jt.tcmel1tj he offen PlOinform. tion, . nd hi' WICI rk '.nnot be NUJ. It i' the end
product whichcounts, in my ra le, the picture.
Mor e tha n a de cad e o ld, these co mments by now may sou nd hope.
lu sly out of da le, bUI in a more recent inle rview in Art Neun, it was d ear
that the artist had in no wa y altered his views. "Th e idea of changing o r
improvi ng the wo rld is alien 10 me and seems ludicr ous, " Baselitz said.
"Societ y fun ctio ns. and always hu, without the artist. No aniSl has ever
changed anylhi ng for ben er or wane. ~ Hidden behin d the. e com ments is
....................,..01...
the pen on.1 and cultural myth that has formed the anisl" idencity in che
 _......
Plaubm wrote .t die ~ 01 11M modern en" -daM OM CU CAl,. bear
it by 1voidinl it. And diu can be doM' by lim. in lhe world of -"." Por
Jean-Pau l San re, the ea-i.fencial trut h of the hum . n . iroltio n WI' iu con-
tingency, man', . en' t that he doe. not belong-i. nOt nt ecnary-to the
unlvene. Since life Wif arb itrary and meaningleu. Sartre advised th.t we
mun . J1 learn to live without hope. and the English w rittr Cyril Connolly
summed up a whole cultural t lho. of alienation with these no w legendary
comments: "It is closing time in the gardensof the West. From now on an
artist will he judged o nly by the reson ance o f hi, loJitude and the qua lity
of hi. despair." Writing about thi. form of ~ntological distrust. this vote of
"no confidence" in the universe, Co lin Wilson in An lntrod"ction to the
NnJI E:tisttnt~ IiJm refen to th e parad igm o f . lieRu ian as the "futility
hypothesis" of life-the nothingness, estrangement, and alienation that
have formed a considerable pan of the image we have of ourselves.
My friend Patricia Ceuc, who teaches at the Kansas City Art
Institute, now refers to this particular mind-set as "bad modernism.- In a
course she gives on refl"1lming the self, her students are in struct~d about the
danger of believing that humans(whether they are artist! or not) are some-
how outside of, or exempt from, a responsibility to society, or to the envi-
ronment. Wehave been taught to experience the self as private, subjective....
separate, from others and the world. This notion of individualism las so
completely structured artistic identity and colored our view of art that even
for an mist like Christo, whose public projects such as Running Fence and
the more recent Umbrel/oU require the participation and cooperalion of
Ihousands of people, inner consciousnessis still dominated by the feeling
of being inde endent, solitary, and separate. In an interview in Fwh An ,
The wor. of .lIIrt is irtlu;onAl'A"dprrh.ps il7rspomiblr. Nobod, nrrds it. Thr
UlOrk isAhugr indifJiduAlisricgrstJI rf tb.t ~ 'i nrirel, drridrd b, mr.... Onr
of thr fl'"ttItrJt contrihutioPls ofmod"." .tt is the notion of itrdifJ;Ju.lism. .•.
I think thr .rtist CAn do .",t.bing h r "'lUlU to do. Tbis is",h, 1UJOuld Plt tlr r
Aeupt . wmmiuion. Independrncr is most importAnt to mr. Th; work of.rt is
.. JeTr. m offrredom.
" "
, amno.._ of IrwcIom" m. ---u.. CfC' pc_t mon1
impennv. t hlt eontin Ueli to be llnndiahed politici lly II we"' .. philo-
lophicilly in . 11 the modern u aditionl 01Wenern thoulht. It revu N r&tt d
loudly in the int ense controversy that r&V'd for senTlI Yelrs over the
proposed removal of Richard Serra's commissioned Iculpmre TIlled Arc
from ill iite at Federal Piau in downtown Manhattan. Although con-
ceivedIpecifically for the site, the seventy-three-ton leaningcurve of
weldedsteel, which was installed in 1981 by the government'S Art in Ar-
chitecture Program, proved so unpopular and obstroclive to local office
workers that they petitioned to have it removed. Al one employee of the
U.S. Department of Education stated at the time: - It hu dampened our
spiriu every day.11 has turned into a hulk of rusty steel and de arly,at least
to us, it doesn't have any appeal.It might have artistic value but JUSt not
here ... and for those of us at the plaza I would like to say, pleasedo us.
..
favorand uke it away."
Serra's response, awash in the spirit of "bad modernism," was to sue
the government for thirty million dollars because it had - deliberately
induced" public hostility toward hi. work and tried to have it forcibly
removed. To remove the work, according to Sem, was to destroy it. Serra
sued for breach of conlract and .iolation of his constitutional righu: ten
million dollars (or his Ion of sales and-commission, ten million for hum to
his arlistic reputation, and ten million in punitivedamages for violation of
his rights; In July 1987, the FederalDistrice Court ruled against Serra, and
in March 1989, the s~ulpt ure wu removed(rom the site.
What the TIluJ Arc controversy forces us to consider is whether
an that is centered on notions of pure freedom and radicalautonomy, and
subsequently inserted into the public sphere without regard for the rela-
tionship it hu to other people, to the community, or Any consideration
except the pursuit of art, can contribute to the common good. Merely to
pose the question, however, indicates that what has most distinguished
aesthetic 'Philosophy in the modern paradigm is a desire for art that is
absolutely free of the pretensions of doing the world any good. -I don't
know what public art is, really,- the sculptor Chris Burden once said. - J
jUst make art. Public art is something else, I'm not sure it's art. I think it's

about a social agcnda.· Just u disintere sted and ·vatuc-frcc· scien ce con -
u ins no inner rescraint within iu methodology that would limit what it
f« ls entitled to do, ·value-free" ae. theticism reveals nothing about the .
limiu art should respect, o r the commu nity it might serve.
Moderni st uschetics, concerned with iculf u th e chief source of
value, did not inspire crcatin participati on; Nither, it encouNiged discanc·
ing and depreciation of the Other. It. non relatio nal, ncninteracrive,
nonparticipacory o rientation did not easily accommodate the more femi-
elne;...lves of c~Md comp anion, of te eing and ~es ponding to need..The
notion of power that is imp lied by asserting one's individuality and having
o ne's way through being invul nerable leads, finally, to a dcadening of
empathy. The model of t he artis t"u a lone genius suuggling against society
does not allo w us to focus on the beneficial and healing role of social
interaction, nor does it lend iuelf to wh,~ p hilosopher David Michael
Levin calls · enlightened listen ing," I listening thac is o riented toward the ...
achievement of shared understandings, As Levin writes in Thc Limning
Sclf. "Wc need to think about 'p ractices of the sclr that NnJm rt",J the
essent ial intertwi ning of seU and other, self and soci ety, that are aware of
the subtl e complexities of th is intertwining.·
Ce rtainly the sense of being isolat ed from the world and alone with
one's creations is a commo n experience for artists in ou r culture. the result
of modernism's hiscoric failure to conn ect with the archetypal O ther. As
N ancy Pras er pUll it in her book UnrNl, Pr.eticcs: "The monologic view is
the Roma ntic individu alist view in whic h . ..• solitary voice [is] cry ing o ut
into the night againn an utterly undifferent iated background. .• . Th ere il
no roo m for a reply that could qua lify as 11 differe nt voice. T here il no
roo m for interaction ." "T he artist con siders his isolati on, his subjectivity,
his individualism almos t holy," nates film direct o r Ingmar Bergman.
"Thus we finally gather together in one large pen, where we stand and
bleat about our loneliness withou t listening to each other Ind without
realizing that we are . mothering each o ther to death ." "An canno t be a
mono logue," the French writer Albert Camus o nce wrot e. ·Contra ry to
the current presumption, if there is anY'J!I,anwh o has no right to solitude,
it is t he artist."
..
.,
" ,0{; ~ U·of ~hich brings me directly to the question of whether art can
build commu nity. Are there viable alternatives to viewing the . e1f in an
individu alistic manner? And if '0, how docs thi l affcct our notio n of
",ucccu· l Can arti Stsand art insti tutions rcdefine th emselves in leu spec-
tato rially ori ented waY' in order to regain the aperience of interco nnect-
edness-of subject and object intenwining-that was lost in du alistic
"Enlightenment philosophies, w~jch construc~ "t he world as a spectacle
to be o bserved from afar by a di, embodied eye?
"When Cslifornia artist Jonathan'Bo rofsky and his collaborator,
Gary Glallman, traveled in 1985-86 to three different prisons in Ca liforn ia
in o rder to make thei r video d~u mentuy Prisrmen, they did not go in the
mode of network reporters intending to oburve It a distan ce and then
describe the conditions they found. Instead the y went to listen to the
po.onen in o rder to try and understand their plight. The y want ed to
unde rstand for thems d ves what it mea~ to be a prisone r in this society,
to lose you r freedom and live you r life locked up in a cement box,
Borofsky and Glauman invited prisoners to talk about thei r lives and . -. '. ,
abou t what had gone wrong for them . In the video some of the priso ners
, hare poem l they have written o r .how ertwo rks they have made. Co n-
versing with the video makers, t hey describe the cppressiveoess of life
inside a prison, where everything is programmed and people never get to
talk spo ntan eously about t hemselves because no o ne is interested. Th e
knowledge that one is being heard , according to Glassma n, creates a sense
of empowerment.
In Suu nne Lacy', The Cr;yu 41Q Ni/t, performed in Minnea polis o n
Mot her', Day in 1987, a procession of 430 older wom en, all d ressed in
black, sat down together at table. in group s of four, to di. cuss with each
other the ir accomplishments and disappointments, their hope' and fears
abo ut aging, in a ceremonially o rchestrated artwork. A prerec o rded sound
track of thc voices of seventy-twc wo men at t he tables projected th eir
reflections loud e~ough to be heard by the audie nce. "We're no lcngee
sitting home in the rocking chair and knitting, like you t hink of grandm as
in the old day•. We grandmas aren 't do ing that anymo re," comm ents o ne
of the wo men o n the audi otape. · 1 think "a lot of senility comes from the
..
fact that nob ody asks you anyt hing, ~ Slates another. "No body asks you ro
speak. Prett y soon, you lose your memo ry. I suf fer a lot from peopl e nor
tisrclling to me. ~
Empath ic listeni ng makes r oo m for t he O ther and d ecentr alizes the
ego -self. Givi ng each person a voice is w hat builds community and makes
U I soci.lllly respo nsive. l neereeuc n beco mes the medium of expressio n, an
empathic way of seeing t hrough ano ther's eyes. "Like it subjective am hro-
pologist," w rites Lacy, "[the artist enters] the te rrito ry of the o ther, and ...
beco mes it co nd uit Ior [their] Cl[ perien cc. T he work becomes it metaphor
for rcl:u ionship-whteh has a healing power." When there is no quick fix
for so me of o ur mo st press ing social problems, acco rding to L;r,CY. the re
may be onl y our ability to witness and feci the reality taking place around
us. · T h is fetlingneu is a service th at ar tists offe r to the world," she says.
After Mierle laderman Uk cles became the un salaried, self-appointed
art ist-in-residence at t he New Yo rk C it y Sanitation Department in 1978,
she went o n rounds wi th sanitation wo rkers and fore men fro m fifty -nine
municipal d istn cts, talk ing wid, them and gwing to know them. He r fim
piece of art wu a performance wor k called TOI4Ch Sanitarian, whi ch went
on fo r eleven months. D uring that time -,s.he visited the five boroughs of
Ne w York and shook hands wit h 8,500 workers. " It was an eight -hou r-d ay
performance wo rk, " she sta tes. "I'd come in at ro ll call, then walk their
rou tes with them.... 1 did a ritual in wh ich I Iaced each person :and shook
their h:and; :and I said, 'Thank you for keeping N ew York C ity alive.' Th e
real artw ork is the ha ndshake itstlf. Whe n I shake h2. nd s with a sani tatio n
man ... I p resent this ides :and perfo rmance to t hem, and the n, in how t hey
respond, they finish the art .· TOl4chSanitation was U keles's first attempt
to co mm unicate as an artist with the workers, to ove rco me barrie rs and
op en t he way to u nde rstand ing- to bri ng awa reness :and cuing into her
actio ns by listening.
Art tha t is eoered in a "listeni ng" self, t hat cultivates th e intertwin-
ing of self and O ther, suggests a flow-th rou gh experience w hich is not
del imited by the self b ut extends into th e co mmu nity t hro ugh mod es of
reciprocal empath y. Because this art is listen er-c ent ered rath er than visio n-
o riented, it canno t be fully realized th ro ugh the mod e o f self-exp ression: it
" "
can o nly come into its ow n th rough d ialogue, as o pen co nversatio n, in
whic h one listen s to and includ es o ther voices. For many artists now, this
means leu ing previously exclude d groups speak di rectl y o f t heir own
exper ience. Th e audience beco mes an active co mpone nt of the work and is
pUt o f t he proc ess. Th is listening o rientation challenges the d o minant
ocula rce ntric tr:ad ition, wh ich suggests th at art is an experience available
p rimarily 10 she eye, and rep resents a real shi ft in pandigms. As David
Michael Levin states in Modernity i". d the Hegemony of Vision, "T his may
be the time , the app ropriate historical mo ment, to encou rage :and prom ote
a sh ift in pandigms, a cult ural dri ft that, to some extent , seems alread y to
be t:aking place. I am referring, o f cou rse, to the drift from seeing to listen-
ing, and to t he historical potential for:a paradigm shift di spla cing vision
and installing the very-diffe rent influence of listening.·
New models pur forw ard by quantum phy sics, eco logy, and systems
Iheory t hat de fine the wo rld in te rms o f interacting p rocesses and rela tional
fields call for integntive modes o f think ing tha i fCK:uSo n the relati o nal
natu re of reality rather than on discrete o bjects. Lacy Slates, " FCK:using on
aspects of in teraction and relalionship rather than on an obj ects calls for a
rad ical rearr an gement in ou r expectations o f what:an artist docs. ~ It calls
fo r a d ifferent app roac h to maki ng art and requ ires a di fferent SCi of sk ills.
To tra nscend the moder nist, vision-ce ntered pa r:adigmand iu spectarc eial
~p i Slemology, we need a rcf raming process that makes sense of this more
inte ractive, irne rsubjecrive p ract ice which is emer ging. We cannot judg e
the new art by the o ld na nda rds. " Informed by an interact ive :and recep tive
no rmativity, list ening generates a very d ifferent epiJterne and o nto lo gy-:a
very d ifferent meta physics ,· writes Levin.
Mod ern ism 's co nfro ntat iona l or ientation resulted fro m deep habits
o f t hinking th at set in o ppositio n sCK:iety and the ind ivid ual as two con-
trar y and antago nistic catego ries, neither o f which cou ld expa nd or de-
velop except at the expense of the o ther. T he free :and self-sufficient indi -
vid ual has lo ng been t he ideal o f our cultu re. and utislS especially have
seen themselves as qui ntessent ial free agents, pu rsuing their own ends.
BUI if mod ern ism , and t he art that emerged with it, developed arou nd th e
noti on o f:a un iq ue and separ ate self, the art generated by what I have called

"connective aesthetics" is very differ ent , As I have argued in The Reen-
chlHl lmt nt of Art, radical relatedn ess has dramatic implications for our
undemand ing of art and con tri butes to a new consciousness of how the
self is 10 be defined and experienced. For one thing, the boundary between
self and O ther is fluid rather than fixed: the O the r is included within the
boundary of selfhood . We arc talking abo ut a more imersubjeerive version
of the self that is attu ned to the interrel:lli~nal, ecological, and interactive
characler of reality. " Myself now includes th e rainfor est, writes Austra-
M spectatorial dist ance of the aud ience, or by empowe ring olhers and making
lian deep ecologist John Seed. " II includes clean air and water,"
The mode of distanced, obj ective knowi ng, removed from moral or
social responsibility, has been the animat ing motif of borh science and art
in the modern world. O bjectivity stri ps away emotion, wants only the
facts, and is det ached from feeling. Objectivity serves as a distancing de-
vice, presuming a wo rld that sunds before us to be seen, surveyed, and
manipulated. H ow, then, u n we shift ou r usual way of thinking about art
so that it becomes more compassionatd H ow do we achieve the • ...orld
view of atlac hment M - attachment to and conlinuit y wilh the world- that
archetypJ I psychologist James Hillman talks abOUI ?To see ou r interd epen-
dence and interconnectedn ess is the feminine perspective tha t has been
missing not only in ou r scientific thinki ng and policy making but in our
aesthetic philosophy as well. Care and comp assion do not belong to the
false "objectivism" of the disinterested gaze; care and compassion are the
tools of the soul, but they arc oft en ridiculed by our society, wh ich hu
been weak in the empathic mode. Gary Zukav pUISil well in The Sellt of
the So"f, when he states that th ere is cu.rrendy no place for spiritualit y, or
the concerns of the heart, within science: politics, business, or audemiJ.
Zukav doesn't mention art, but until recently there has been no particular
receptivity there either.
N ot long ago, I had occasion 10 share a lecture pod ium with the
critic Hilton Kramer, who proclaimed, with the force of a typ hoon, that
an is at its best when il serves only iuelf and not som e other purpose.
Things Ihat in his opinion have no relation to an are now being accepted
and legitimized as art when, aeecrdi eg to Kramer, art is incapable of solv-
ing any problems but aesthetic ones. I would argue lh:al much of the wo rk
CO NN 'C \, '''" .. ,H'Il"U, ........ u 'NO ''' ,OUAlll"
included in this book contradicts, absolutely, these comments. H owever,
there is no denying that the art world subtly disapproves of artis ts who
choos e interaction as their medium, rathe r th:an the dise mbodied eye. JUII
as creativity in the Western wo rld has been based on an unders tanding of
the self ., autonomous and separate, the hegemony of the eye is very
strong in our culture. We are obsessed with the gaze. At Ihis po int, 10
challenge the vision -cente red paradigm by.undermining th e presumed
them aware of their ow n creativity, is 10 risk the comp laint that one is
prod ucing not art but social work. Person ally, I have never heard of a
social wor ker who was inte rested in shaking hands with 8,500 sanitation
wor kers, or who tri ed to orchestrate a pub lic convers ation among four
hundred older women abou t aging. Social workers proceed qu ite differ-
ently from artists in what they do.
To all these objectio ns, I can only say that co mparing mode ls of the
self based on isolation and on con nected ness has given me a different sense
of an than I had before and has changed my ideas about what is important.
My con clusion is that our culture's romance with ind ividualism is no
longer adequate. My own wor k and thinking have led me to a fieldlike
conception of the self th at includes mo re of the environment-a seJfhood
that releases us into a sense of ou r radical relatedness. It seems that in
many spheres we have finally come up against the limits of a world view
based only on individualism. In the field of psychotherapy, to give just one
example, James H illm:an, in his boo k Wt 've Hlld 4 H MnJ m J Ye,m of
Psychothtrapy-And the World ', Getting WOFJt, cUligates therapy for
encoun ging us to disengage fro m the world. He maintains that therapy
increases our preoccup ation with individual fulfillment and personal
growt h at the expens e of any concern for community or the communal
good . Many hackles have been raised in the the rapeutic community by
H illman's assertion that therapy has become a self-impr ovement philoso-
phy wh ich tu rns us inward, away from the wor ld and its problems. Psy-
chot herapy is only work ing on the "i nside· sou l, according to H illman,
while outside, the build ing., the schoo ls, the streets, are sick-the sickness
is out there. The pat ient in need of healinc is the "'orld.
 Co nnective aesthetics strikes at the root of this alienation by dis-
solving t he mechanical division betw een self and wo rld that has pre vailed
du ring t he mod ern epoch . Worl d healing begins with t he individual who
welcomes the Other. In Ukele s'. work, for instance, empathy and healing
arc the pu " meters, th e test of whether the work is, in fact, bein g carr ied
OUt paradigmati cally. Th e ope n hand, extended to each worker, evokes
q ualities of generosity and care. We need to cultivate the compassiona te,
relonional self as thoroughly as we have cultivated, in lon g years of abstract
thi nking, the mind geared to scientific and aen hetic neutrality. As more
people acknowledge the need for ~ new philosophical framewo rk, we are
learning to go beyo nd o ur culture of separation- the gender, class, and
racial hierarchies of an elite Western traditi o n that has evolved through a
process of exclusio n and negation.
With its focus on radical individualis m and its mandate ofke eping art
active and ecological models emerging in our ec ue re. 1 believe we will see
over the nat few decades more art that is essentially social and purposeful,
and that rejects the mod ernin myths of autonomy and neut rality. 'This
book bears witness to the increasing nu mber of art in s who are rejecting
the product orie ntatio n of consumer culture and finding ever mo re com -
pelling ways of weaving environ mental and social responsibilit y di rectly
into their wo rk. In this complex and 'lVon hy endeavor, 1sincerely wish
them well.
Il IHI Q G ItAP H Y'
,,,,,,, 1'1 ...,. Uor. .!y " ..,,, ,,, ' - " DiJ.... '" • • J e.oJ,,1ot c..." ..,.••., S«MI n.t.,. 1oI;""..""i"
V.i." ,;" 01 Mi... ...." " .." I ' ' '.
(J .b li~ ,S .u. If.. MoJ....I,. r.iJ.JI 1'1. ... Y.. ,~ ."., L.........' 11I. .." ••d IIlHl...... 1'1 ;'

separate fro m life, modern aesthetics circumscribed the role of the audience
to that of a detached spectator-observe r. Such an can never bu ild co mmu- Hilt"'.... j,"' "., M;,k,,1v..... " . \I'. ... II.J . 1f..J..J r .." .( f" 1'ltotlto..r r- .... J ••• _ 'J~ e m;.,
nity. For this we need interactive and dialogical practices that draw others _If. 1'1. .. Y 1cH •.,.o<:oIli." 1"1.

into the process and challenge the notio n, in t he words of G ary Snyder, that ........ D•• :.I 101;'110<1. no L"' ...... . $./f; f'...Mol C....... S«MI O'..,....J , ~ . c/o,... 0(..,,,.,.1'.... 1'1. ...
~only some people are 'talented' and they beco me ani su and live in San Y..... oM LoIwIooo: ..... ,1<01••• " .,.

Francisco working in opera and ballet and the rest of us should be satisfied _ ... . Il0J0,oiIy _ ,i. 1f"'_1"V;'-. ...k. lt , .... 1.0> " III rI." U..... ""y01Col;(",oi, , .....
I " ).
with watching television.- Co nnective aenhet ics sees that human natu re is
","",,,_.. lido ,...• . - ~ L-, 70 A., 0d004,. btl C-"riooI •••
deeply embedded in the world. It makes an into a model fo r connectedn ess

._-
101..., IiKkwd,I"l.
and healing by o pening up being to iu full dimensional ity-noc just th e
. " . " e. Social con text beco mes 11 co ntinuum for imera cricn, for a
process of relating and weaving toge ther, creating a flow in which th ere is
no spectato riel distan ce, no anta gonistic imperative, but tither the reciproc-
ity we find at play in an ecosystem. Within a listener -centered paradigm, th e
old specializatio ns of artist and aud ience, creative and uncreative, prc fes-
sional and unprofessio nal--disd!,ctio ns betwee n wh o is and who is not an ·{"lupi", wirh the Ml!14CAJ,mk fo."", ' of h"prrv;o"l l_ boDIrl. Ih, ...tho. CIxxJI'I
to ,limi". r.. fOO!lloltl f rom her tlIriri",.
anist-begin to blur.
To follow this path, 1 wou ld argue, is mor e th an just a matte r of
personal taste; it represents the opening of an experimenta l space in which
to institute and practice a new art that is more in tun e wit h th e many inter-

. "

' 0 , ,," e N FO' ' N' GOO D AND H'" " HA<"') E,,,II. C"w ;U M' i m
To search for t he good and make it matter: this is the real challenge for the
an ist. Not simply 10 transform ideas o r revelations into matter. but to
make those revelations actually mauer. This quest is measured as much in
Ihc Inll hs we attemp t to cnflesh as in t he clay we might aesthe tically de-
. ALMst, utlS!ic works not only inspire the viewer but give evidence
of the artist's own st ruggle to achieve higher recogniti on of what it means
to be truly human. The works eejesn menu to the artist's effort to con-
vert a pan;cular vision of tru th into his o r hcr o wn marrow.
As I meditated on the theme of Ihis book, I found myself thinking
about territories, bot h public and privatA hoUI political turf and defini-
tive lines, those tha t exclud e and those that include. I began to reflect o n
the earth and all t he red rawn borders t hat we who are involved in public
art must bring to the map if there are to be positive new directions for the
world's cuhc res. f fo und myself co ntemplating, as any artist might, t he
correspo nding territo ry- the terrain of the sou l, that sacred space withi n
the self th at must be acknowledged and tended, t hat dr eam space where
Ede n and womb are ritualistiu lly related, where co nception is possible,
where we can receive in o rder to give again.
Th e d ream space of the so ul is the real terrain tha t we should map.
If no t. then nOlhing else thJ t we are fighting fo r o r against has any possi -
bility of transform atio l): not the milita rism th at we resist, not t he opp res~
sion we deplore, not the toxic waste d umping o n the land of the poo r, no t
the racism o r the sexism that we expose . N one of these con cer ns can be
taken on unless they are examined, acknowl edged, and co nfro nted within
the inner terr itory of t he self, the earth Ihat, in facl, we are.
Th e sou l is t he seedb ed of ou r actio ns. Every thing that we co ncep-
tu alize, create, o r desHoy hll its beginnings there. Wha t we see cultivated
and thriving in the o uter terrain is a ma ~i fest at ion of our inner creative o r
..
destru ctive impu lses. T here is co nnected ness betw een what we see in the
world and who we are, between who we are and wh at we do. T he artist
tends th e private garden of t he so ul and gives evidence of t his process pub-
licly t hrough the art th at, in turn, inspires o thers to tend t heir own gardens .
Th e often-liked question as 10 how one mo ves from being art in to
activist I llnd interesting, because I d o not make the separatio n in my own
mind. For me, the two roles exinll a single entity: t he ar tist jJ t he activist.
Indeed, within the African tradi tion, t he art ist's work has a fun ction just
like everything else in the world. As the mask is for festivals, and the
grou nd-d rawing for marking a sacred space, and t he dance for healing and
dra wing energ ies to o neself, so, too , th e rit uals that" we perfo rm and the
monuments that we make have a functi on: t he t ransfo rmatio n of self and
co mmunit y, which is the extended self. Art is a necessity, IS the poet Audre
Lo rde says, not a luxury. Th e assump tion th at art co uld be so met hing
separate from the life that sustains us, th:r.t art is indeed a luxury, is I I false
a theory as the notion that t he cu rer terrain can undergo tran sfo rmation
without affecting the soul. And yet, many believe that the places outs ide,
in the world, are the t rue sites of change. N otio ns of separa tion and c rher-
ness are ingrained in Western thought, and it is this very way of thinking
that has wreaked havoc on the cult ures of t he world .
While no single culture has :r. co pyr ight o n tru th, perh aps embracing
an African view of t he intrinsic co nnectedness of all things would help us
to recall t he mother fro m who m we have'al l co me. And in remembering
her, perhaps we can begin mo re profou nd ly to "re-member" ourselves.
T his charge of remembering the mo ther is imp ortant because without it
ou r cultun l and crou-cultural amnesia is never liftedi ou r common hu -
manit y is never fully acknowledged. We never k now wh o we are, and
having no tru e identity, we end up like a perso n wh o suffers amnesia,
fearing every face tha t is not the exact replication of our o wn. And some -
times in our despe ration, we even fear our o wn face. We never develo p a
sense of co ntinuity o r who leness among peop le. Th e cultures that remem-
ber t his co nnectedness are recalling the crucial element that has been part
of ou r su rvival since ou r beginning.
Th e artins who remember o ur-co mmon humanit y and inn igale
recogn ition of o ur tru e natu re are those like Anna H alprin, who wou ld
have people 1ivi"l "ith AIDS and thoN,,110 Ire not a/llicud Wdc d..
'0 " u .

em h in a da nce in an attempt to break down the barr iers of fear. They are
those like Suzanne Lacy, who would produce a-crystal qu ilt of wome n
whose cho reographed laying on of hands helped change the patt erns of
their lives and make visible the bonding and power among them . They arc
those like Mel Chin. who woul d move us into the mystery of metaphor by
wo rk ing with scientists to develop hybrid plants tha t absorb po isons from
the earth into lu ves whic h can be plucked from our children's surround-
ings. Th ey arc those like the husband and wife team N ewton and H elen
Mayer Harrison, wh o have collabo rated for over twenty years, and Mierle
Lederman Uk eles, artist-in-residence of the N ew York City Sanitation
Department, and Sheila Levrant de Brerreville, and Peter Jemison, and
many more who recognize the illusion of du ality, the miracle of collabora-
tion, and the beauty of making truth matter.
N one of this is to suggcst that the aesthetic qualit y of any wo rk
need ever be sacrificed. 1 say this know ing that it is a critical issue of public
art projects involving community participants wh o are not necesurily
artists. Someho w, it is Ieared, the parti cipa.n ts' aesth etics will bri ng down
the quality of the wor k. But since the a.eSl~etic is determi ned by the artist,
perhaps this is not th e ultimate fur of thoic 'who are leery of the new,
more collabo rative public an, Perhaps the greater fu r is that elitism will be
destroyed, that the fun ction of art will once again be recognized, that
freedom of expression will carry the impulse and stark beauty of our first
breath, and that our own relevance as human beings will come to be seen
in the meaning of our acts. If this is what is so fearful, then we must con-
tinue to make such an and to redefine the ways in which th e making is
ilself a celebrated process.
In deciphering the mystery of th is process, th e blues for m. or for-
mula, from African American cultu re can provide insight. As ethnc-musi-
eolcgists tell us, the blues has thr ee lines: the first line is the call, the second is
the response, and the third is the release. The second line might be the ume
as the first but with some slight variatio n, and the last is a departu re. The last
line rhy mes wit h the first and, essentially, sets you free. Th e whole notion is
tr anscendence, as exemplified in thi s stanza I compos ed for illullration:
" "
H' . . ~ ~ C ~ . ,, ~ ... . ~ "<> ,, ~ " D .... .. . " .. ~ . . . ..
W"ter W. ' t rYOH. in!, 50 blHt
Iu,. t· • .. .
w.terw.ter yoH . in', 50 blHt
, .-;
I do"t c.htdt~d for mystlf.nd thtr~'J . slty in yOIl.
T his for me-call•.answer. and r~l eue-is a metap ho r for art itself
and the po tent ial that it holds. Th e ca.U is i~!ted by the experiences we
have wi* the wo rld, by the ~u man condi tions and predica ments wit hin
our terrain that arou se our interest or consciousn ess. Next comes the
response, the artist's creati~n-th.~ attempt 'to name, recognize, and insti-
gate change thro ugh his or her creative expression. But the artist's creation
is not the.end of the process, as it.is often thought to be. The process con-
tinues as members of the community experience the release, th e inspiration
that allows them to enflesh the message and begin activating change in
their own terrains.
Th is basic human -to-hum an int eraction signals the symbiotic rela-
tionship among human beings. When we understand this, we can go on to
bette r appreciate the breath dynamic between ours elvcs and the trees. We
can understand our relationship to oceans and ozones and other zones
within the universe.
Th e blues form is not about being down and out . Th e blues calls to
and transfor ms the hcllerer; and cont inues on to tran sform the community.
It makes those singers willing to "work the sound" into new and knowin g
...
'
people who go about the business of makin g the truth man er. Bessie Smith
could not leave halfway th rou gh a concert, We, as the communal singer,
cannot afford to do it either, Th e poet Maya Angelou reminds us that our
dept h of experience is in direct propcreicn to the dedication of our artists.
Indeed, we art ists have to sing the second line in such a way as to signal the
possibility for variation in the song. We have to create relevant art , art that
invites iu audience into the creative process and empowers them. We must
sing in suc~ a way as to promise our lis,teners who would becom e singeu
that the third line is a breakthrou gh, proclaiming without a do ubt that "I
done checked for myself and there's a sky in you."
It seems to me that in order for this transformation to happen, we
artiSlS must prepare ourselves to respond creatively and appropriately to

the calls in ou r enviro nment. Th is is no small cho re, especially for those of
us in the public realm, who find ourselves taking on challenging, often
emot ionally draining issues; wr iting and rew riting proposals to obtain
funding for projects; meeting for what seems like an entire lifetime with
artistic collabo rato rs; add ressing communi ty participants and relentlessly
rallying their interest in the project; gening no funding at all, or just
enoug h to present on ly half of the envisioned project; meeting again with
collaborators about the meeting on the meeting; encou ntering those critics
who themselyes have not decided to be imaginative in their ow n work;
and, lut but no t least, never finishing because we are still actively listening
to the community's respo nse and remaining sensitive to the sounds and
feelings in both the inner and ou ter life.
To be an artist amid all these cur rents is demanding. How is the
artin to prepare? Development of one's crah and keen awareness of one's
surrou ndings are important but are hard ly enough. To be able to make
tru ly visionary art, we art ists must have in our lives the crucial element
called dream time, th at is, time when we leave this world and go into our
own sacred space, seeking the grace needed to create ou r work . Dream
time holds the turm oil and tr auma of the wo rld at bay and allows the
vision to be Runted and the huling notes to an une us.
Some sound levels in the world 's chaos can be deafening. Our wor k
in the ou ter terrain C;l.ll beco me so demanding that we think we cannot
stop 10 medit ate. But this delib erate pausing is also part of our work, and,
in reality, it may be the on ly thin g that distinguishes us from those com-
munity members who simp ly cannot make the time to take this inner
space. Yct they are depending as much on us to hear the calls and to sound
the fiut respon ses as we are depending on them to form a chorus for the
snnr; in ord er tn release the healing and magnify the mnh. And as odd as it
may sound, this is the native territo ry of th e public artin. It is a space (0
which tile community, time and time again, banishes us for its own salvn-
tion, a space that we ou rselves eventually choose as a healing haven and
hallowi ng cave. The snul, a difficult but necessary terrai n of retreat. hnlds
the hlucp rint . or nne might say the "blues -p-in t," of the world we inhabit.
.0 uu e" ' 0 _ , .. . 100011 " Nil .... . . .. " ... ...
Th ough the encoun ter with dr eam time is enlivening, it can also be
frightening. Th e problem is not our descent into the sou l; it is ou r erner-
gence, or coming forth . Once we emerge, we muse begin reconc iling what
we have come to know with what we n ill sec in the wor ld. We tell ou r-
selves there is no time to retr eat; we tell ourselves anythi ng to keep from
repeating the ritual of departu re. But if we do succeed in avoiding future
descents into the soul, we will more than likely fall into the trap of making
art thaI is simply creative rather than tru ly visionary.
Th ere is, indeed, a distinction between creative art and visionary art.
I! parallels the difference between the artist who is an ob server; or reporter,
and one who is a participant in the creative process-a matter of invest.
ment or sou l involvement. Q uite simply, the visionary artist has not
merely sight but vision , the light the soul makes to illuminat e the pat h for
us all. Th is noti on of the visionary being apart from life, going into his or
her dream space, is not synony mous with the Western not ion of the
mystlc's separation. The vision ary an ist in the communi ty wor ks in the
fields of the person al self, dreams time and engagement with others.
All art ists are able to display their craft without the exert ion and
engagement that marks a perform ance from the soul. An artist can simply
project his or her persona while remaining detached from the performa nce
and the audience. But if you arc · working the sou nds·--if you are in-
vclved in somethin g that engages you; confronting your own prejud ices,
fears. and limitations, rather than merely presenting whal you ~ lread y
know ; feeling yo ur own discomfort and taking that discomfort into the
tcrrain where the trU th exposes you-then you are quite possibly in the
territory of thc vision. You are close to grasping the mystery of the heal-
ing. You are then, only rhen, within reach of the gift that you can bring
back 10 Ihe world.
Once you have glimpsed this vision, then you arc indeed a part ici-
pant. And the du ality between you and your aud ience, you and you r
work, becomes an illusion . And you have written a poem. You have do ne
a performance. You have eofleshed the beauty. You have made it mailer.
And the communi ty, taking par t in the an, co mpll'les the last line of the
blues refrain, initiating a new reality.
 " ~ ..~;:--:--~-------------------------~T'---------------""'
,, . .
. oCoC.~'H" '~""H " _H
LOOK IN G AIl,O UNO: ) I R L' " eart h, and treat it badly. Lacking a sense of microcosmic community, we
WH ue w e A ll,f . W H U f we C O U L D ae . HCy . Ipp d '
LOO KI NG A Il,O UN D
l've spenr a lot of my life look ing, but less of it look ing around. Ar t history
and the ~ rt ....orld " m ~ k e prog ress, ~ fows ing on ~n invented vanishing
point, losing sight of the cyclic, panoramic vie....s. And of course it's not
easy to be visionary in the smog. Mean.... hile, H aael Hend erson's "t hink
globally, act locally " has become a truism- an overused idea importan t
enough to remain true. T he notion of the local, the locale, the location , the
locality, the pf.. ce in art, ho....ever, has not caught on in the mainst ream
because in order to attr act sufficient buyers in the current system of distri -
bution, art must be relatively generalized, detachable from politics and pain.
The social amnesia and antihiSlOrical att itudes tha t characteri:r.e ou r
society at large aUKt the art ....orld as ....ell. ~ C h a n ge increasingly appears
to be all tha t there is.... Th ere is no sense of progress ....hich can provide
meaning or depth and a sense of inherit ancc."' But, perhaps because we are
at a retrospective moment in hin or y- nearing the end of a millennium and
jun past the five hund redth anniversary of the most heralded po int of
colonialism- many of us are loo king back to find solid ground from ....hieh
to leap forward, into the shifting futu re. It seems significant that what the
historian Lawrence G rossberg calls the - ver'y cornerstones of historica l
researc h~ can also be called the very cornersto nes of the art to which this
book is devoted: ~ a pp rec i alio n of difference, underst anding of comexe.
and ability to make critical comp arat ive judgments on the basis of empathy
and evidence."!
Ecological crisis is ob viously responsible for the current preoccupa-
tion ....ith place and context, u is an ongoing noslllgia for lost connectio ns.
The G reek recr of the word "ecology" means home, and it's a hard place
to find these days. Precisely because so many people are not at home in the
world, the planet is being rendered an impo ssible hom e for many. Because
'"
n,_, .., _::;:..".O."_c..C.c.oCoC.O.~.O.-----"":'11
we have lost ou r own places in the wo rld, we have lost respect for the
fail to pro tect our macrc ccsmie global hom e. Can an interactive, process-
hued art bring people ~ c1oser to hom e- in a society characterized by what
Georg Lukacs called "transcendental ho melessneu - ?
Not since the regional art or thc thirties have so m ~n y people looked
arou nd, recorded what they see or would like to sec in their own environ-
ments, and called it art. Some have gone beyo nd the reflective function of
conventional art form s and the reaedve function of much activist art .
Those who have been at it for a lon g time are represented individu ally in
this boo k. But they also have heirs and colleagues among yo unger artists,
writers, and activists who regard the relationship between people and
people unlike them, between people and place, between peop le, place,
flora, fauna, and now, necessarily, even atmo sphe re, as a way of under-
standing histor y and the futu re.
The growing reulticuhural" (and cross-cultural, inlercultural)
W
contributions of the lut decade have ope ned up fresh ways of understand -
ing the incredibly eom plex politics o r nature. Cch ure and the concept of
place arc in fact inseparab le, yet peo ple (and ideologies) are often left out
of art about land and landscape. As Ken neth H elphsnd hu observed,
landscapes (wh ich I would define as place at a distance) "carry legacies
and lusons· and can create ~a n informed landscape citi:r.enry.-·
N ational, global, collective narratives are especially accessible
through o ne's family history- by asking simp le questio ns abou t wh y we
moved from one block or city or State or count ry to another, g ~ in ed or lost
job s, married or didn't marry whom we did, kept track of or lost track of
certain relatives. A start ing poin t, for example: simple research about the
place where you live or were raised. Who lived there before? What changes
have been made? have you made? Whcn was the house built? What do the
deeds in the county records have to say about it and the land it stands on?
How docs it fit into the history of the area? H as its monetary value appre-
ciated or depreciated? Why 1 When did you r family move there? From
where? Why ? What Nati ve peoples first inhabited it ? Docs your family
have a history in the area, or in any area? Do relatives live nearby? Wh ~ t is
'"

diUerem now from when you were yo ung? Wh y? H ow does the interio r
of you r house relate to the exterio r? How docs iu style and decoration
reflect your family's cultu ral b ae ~ grou n d, the places from which your
people camc? Is there a garage:? a lawn? a garden? Is the flora local or
impo rtcd? Is there water to susuin it? Do any animals live there? And on
a broader scope, arc you satisficd with the present ? If not, arc you nonal-
git for the past or longing for the futu re ? And so forth .
Question s like these can set orf a chain of perso nal and cultu ral
reminiscences and ramif1 t ations, ind uding lines of thought about inter-
link ing histories, the unacknowledged Ameriun dass syst em, racial,
gender, and cultural division s and co mmon grounds, land usc/abuse, geog-
raphy, environment, {Own plannin g, and the experience of nature that hu
made a "return ~ to it so myth ical. When this kind of research into social
belonging is incorponued into int'eractive or participatory art forms, col-
lective views of place can be arrived at. It prov ides ways to understand
how hum an occupants are also part of the environment rathcr than merely
invaders (but that too ). Accord ing to Wendell Berry, the most consistentl y
inspiring writer on Ameriun place, "I be concept of country, homeland.
dwelling place becomes simplif1cd as ' the environment'-that is, what
surrounds us. Once we sec our place, our part of the world, as flll'l'Oll" di" 8
us, we have already made a profound divisio n between it and ecrsebes."
Rcal immersion is dependen t on a familiarity with place and its
hinory that is rare toda y. O ne way to unde rstand where we havc landed is
to idcntify the econom K: and historic al forces that brought us wh ere we
are- alone or accompanied. (Culture, said one cont emporary arti n , is nOt
where wc comc fro m; it's where we' re coming from.) As we loo k at our-
selves critically, in social contexts, as inhabitants, users, onloo kers. tOurists,
we can scrutini7-e our own part icipatory roles in th e natural processes that
arc (nl'ming nur futures. Similarly, the study of place oUers access m expe-
rience of the land itself (and what we call "nature" ] as well as to current
ecological politics and a sense of responsibility to the future.
Jeff Kelley has distingu ished the notion of place from that of site,
made po pular in the late sixties by the term "eite-specjfic" sculpture: ~ A
site representS the constit uent physical properties of a place . . . while
. 0 0 1\ H O U " D , HI ~ 1 CO U'D I f
,
places arc the reservoirs of human cc mem.'? While place and home are
not synonym ous. a place must have something of the home in it. In these
chilling times, the concept of place hu a warm feeling to it. Th e implica-
tion is that if we know our place we know something abo ut it; only if we
~ k now ~ it in the historical and expcriential sense do we truly belong rhere.
But few of us in contemporary North American society know ou r place.
(Wilen 1 asked twenty university studen ts to name "their place." most had
none; the exceptions were two Nav ajo women, raised traditionally, and a
man whose family had been on a sout hern Illinois farm for generations.)
And if we can locate ou rselves, we have ne t necesurily examined ou r place
in, or our actual relationsh ip to, that place. Some of us hllvc adopted places
that arc not really ou rs eKCept psychologically. We have redefined place as
a felt but invisible domain .
In contra st to the holisti c. earth-centered indigenou s peop les of this
hemisph ere (who, over thouu nds of years. had also made changes in the
land), the invading Europeans saw the natura l wor ld as an object of plun-
der to be conquered, eaplcited, and commodified. They import ed denial,
still a prevalent disease amnng the ir descendants. The causes of the ex-
hausted resources. Ihe scarcity of wood and arable land in an "old world~
were never ack nowledged; old habits werc simply reasserted in the "new
world. ~ Although a sense of collective loss spread through this COUniry at
the end of th e nineteenth century, when most of the arable land had Men
parceled OUI, most people in the Un ited SUtcs tod ay still want to believe
that ou r resources- water. topsoil, Ic rests, fuels, oxygen-arc inf1n ite. Not
unrelated is the scant attent ion paid to Ihe ways ru ral and urban spaces arc
struc lured and how they affect our national psychology. (H isto rian John
Stilgoe says tha t in colonial New England. towns planned in odd shapes
were seen as disorde rly and were "more likely to har bor civil and ccclcsias-
tical u n rest." ~
Today, according to Rosalyn Deutsch, space as a reflection of power
relation s (produced by social relations) "is on the political agenda as it
never hn been before. 0' This is tru e for art ists who have been "Iraming"
landfills. shopping malls, parks, and other social context! for many years
now. Yet the overall tone is not exuberant. I' ve been stru ck by three recent
1 ,,~)' 1/ 1"1'1'" ,,1
nnming phenomena: First, the posrmod emise impulse (now at least a de-
cade old. and supremely rerroacrivc in its own right) has spawned a
plct hnra of exhibition s. art icles, and books called re-viewing, re-visio ning,
re-mapping, re-Ihinking. re-pholOgraphing. Second, the thles of exhibi-
lions about land and natur e are becoming mdaneholie and even apocalyp-
tic: for instance, AgAinst Nat.. re. The Demoraliud undscdpe, The
U nmd1l: mg of Ndfll re. L OSf J/{UJlons, and Usopi«; POlf - U fopiA. Third, the
terms - terrilo ry.- "laud,- -ca rt h,· "terrain,- and -mapping- are also
ubiquitous in both theory and practice. Th c map as a micro/macro visual
co ncept has Io n); been of interest to artists. and particularly 10 "co ncep-
tual" and - eart ll- artists fro m 1')65 10 1975. O n o ne hand , map ping the
turf can be seen as abetti ng surveys. f('net'S. boundaries, zo ning. and orhcr
instrumenlSof possession . O n t he o rher hand, maps lcoIls us where we arc
and show uS...here ....e're going.
Und('rstanding our cuhural geography will be a necessary compc-
ncnt of t he reinventio n of nature . We need to stop dt'nying difference and
pr('tending a woo zy universalism Ihat masks and ma.inlains deep social
diviswns . W(' !lav(' 10 know mo re about o ur relation ships to each other, u
put of the cult ural ecology, to know where w(' stand as artislS and cultu ral
workers o n hornd('ssness. racism, I nd land.....l ler. cultu ral, and religiou s
rights. wh(,lher o r nOI we ever wo rk dir ectly o n the se issues. Because they
art' linked, to be ignoranl of o ne is to misun dersu nd anoth er. Yet such
awareness demands extensive visual and verbal (and local) research th at is
not includ ed in tradil ional an edu cation . Multicu llUra.1st udies espC'C ially
need to be inco rporated into :trl abo ut history ;md place. If only wh ite
histo ry is studied, rhe place remains hidden. For instance, when I taugln a.
s('minar o n land in Colo rado. I fou nd I had 10 include the way land was
used and conceptualized by the origina.l inhabitants, the t ragic histo ries of
Native lands and lives and of the co ntinuing suuggle on Mexican land
gr ~ O! s. the roil'Sof black farmers and cow boys, Ch inese n iJroad and
agricultu ral work ers, :tnd Ih(' desert internme nt of Japanese Americans
during World War 11.
White America. has been deeply affected (so deeply it doesn't often
show o n the surlace}by t he [and-based traditions of Na tive and mestizo
cultures; colonists inhcritcd agricultural sites and techniqu es and survived
'"
' OO ~'N " uO ...." O W .. . . , w, ' '' , W .. . . , W , ~ " ...." . . .
by modeling themselves o n Indians even while wiping them out.' The
resurg('nce of mainstr eam interest in Nati ve culture in the Ian few yean
(a proce ss that began in the sixties) is partl y due 10 India ns' grass-roots
strength and pr ide at ha.ving survived, partly bolstered by their ugc at the
COSt in Native culture, health, and la.nd. But it is a.lso a prod uct of the
growing recognitio n among Eurc -Americans that the five-hundred-year-
old d ream went awry. Th e search fo r place is the mYl hiu l search fo r rhe
nis mund i, for so me place to stand, for so m('thing 10 hang o n 10 . (St n('ca
art iSI Peter Jemison has uid il is not the f1a.g but the pole and cagle on 101'
thu mean so m('lhin g to his people; th('y co nnect earth and sky, bod y and
spiril.) At the same lime, a. de-idealiaaricn of natu re ana of Nativ e an itud es
reward natu re is necessary because anYlhing ser o n a ped estal can SO easily
be undermined.
A responsible a. rl of place must be pari of a ('entering process. Wave
a.ftc r wave of exiles is still co ming thr ough t his land, and we have made
internal exiles even of those who arc iu natives. Th e immigra. nt pop ulation
in the United St.ues (all of us) hu no center, no wa. y of orie nling ilScif. W('
tend to presume our ancestors had one, but my fa. mily. fo r exampl(', con-
sund y moved around; from the 1700s o n, few genera. tion s stayed in the
$;lm(' town. Wh('n :t place-oriented sculpto r says, " Plsee is whu you have
lefr,-' I' m not sure whether she means · a.1I tha t remains" or - Ihat which is
I('h behind."
Although an hu oh('n been used in the pasl as propaganda fo r
colonialism and expansionism (('specially d uring the nine ttenth-cenlUry
moveme nt west], and much contemporary public art is srill prop aganda for
('xisting po wer stru ctures {cspeeiaily develo pme nt and ban king), no better
med ium exists in this society to reimagine nature, to negotiate. in Do nna
Ha. uway's wo rds, "the term s o n wh ich lo ve of nature cou ld be pari of t he
solution rather than part of the imposition of colo nial domi nation :tnd
environmental dest ructio n." !"
T he upper middle class (fro m which the majority of arliSts emerges)
tends 10 confuse place with natur e, because it bas the means and leisure
time 10 ind ulge its wanderlust, to tr avel to sites of beauty, difference, curi-
osity, to have second homes o n sho res, in mc un tnina, o n abandoned farms.
I...ey R. 1.,pp",J ' O OUN G AO O U N O ..... oo, .... u, ..... , ,, .... c o,,' o ..

But u rban envi ron mentS are also places, ahhough fo rm ed differcruly, mo re A ny ntw k ind ofart prltCfict if going to havt to lakr pltttt at It alf pltrlilt/ly
likely to spawn the multiple selves th aI case cross-cult ural co mm un ica- o/lu idt oftht II" V1O rl". A nd hard a f il if to m ..bfiJh ontstlfin ,ht .. r/ woTld
tions, that in h CI are the resu lt of cross-cultural cc mmunicarion , Tho se of I~JJ o"rClmHcribtJ Itrritorit f ..re All Ibt mort frAughl wilh p~ril. OUI there, '
us living in any b ig cit y l od ~ y are co nf ro nted by a vast mirror wh enever mOil art.im art neither w dro me nor rffulivt', bUI in bere if " PO I ~1lfi"lI)'
we step ou tdoors. II rdl ccu us and rhose who. like us, live on this co m' uoffoe.." n8 cocoo n in w hich .. rtists Are dtludtd lItlo fer ling imporl"»1 for doing
mo n ground; ou r ap pearances and lives often d iffer, but we can 'I look infO only wh .., is UPUItJ ofthem. Wt conlinut / 0 1.. 11: abOHI -nt w f orm J· bre"HlC'
the mirro r witho lll seeing them 100 . The recip roc al natu re of cu ltural Iht nt'W hlH been Ihe fn/ifizi ng fe lifh of th r " vam -garde fin a it drla ,hrd ilulf
co mmu nicatio n is th e nail j ames Baldwin hit on t he head when he said. f rom th r !nf" nll'y. BUI il may be th ltl /Iu te n~w fo rm, ItTt only to br fOHlld
bu ried in Jocillf ent rglt s nOI yet ru ogniz rd "J .. rI. t)
MI( [am nOI who you thought I was, t hen you are not who you though t
yo u were eith er.- II
N o t allthe var ied [but still no t varicd eno ug h) fo rm s th at have com e:
T he dialec tic between place and c ha l1~e is a creative crossroads . I' m
to be called ·pub lic an Mdeser ve Ihe: name . I wou ld define public U I as
experi menti ng with the ideas ske tched above as tcaching tool s, as wa ys in
accessible wo rk o f any kind thaI cares abou t, ehallcuges, invo lves, and
which teache rs and stu d ents can co lhbo u te to find th eir places: an increas-
co nsuhs. the aud ience fo r o r with whom it is mad e, respectin g co mmu nity
ing number o f M li ~t s arc becoming involve d in .\imih r ideas. l nlu tely
and cnvsrc mnem. Th e o dler stu rr is n iH priv ate art, no matter how b ig o r
ime n liscip linar y and multicultura l, th is line of inq uir y and production
exposed or intrusive o r h yped it may be. In o rd er 10 so rt OUI whe re we
relat es to co ntexts and content rat her tha n to style and tre nd s. My models
srand at th e moment, I've: made a necessarily ten taliv e: list of the existi ng
are the arti sts who se co ncep ts o r place and hislo ry includ e peo ple and fo rm
genres o f "ou t look ing " art aUOUI p lace. T hese He not inrend ed as frozen
th e grass roou of mu ch interacti ve or " new geore" an-from Ju d ith Baca's
categories, and ma ny obv io usly overlap:
C rtll' Willi of LOJ Angtft " which b rings togeth er teens fro m d iffer en t
(Uhural backg rounds to create a mu ral o n t he non whit e histor y o f C:tlifor·
I. Wo rk s pr epare(j fo r cou ver uiona l indoor exhibi tion (insu llalio ns,
nia, to Micrlc Ladcrman U keles's wo rk wuh the New Yo rk C ily San it:uiOIl
pholog rapll s, co ncept ual art, and p rojecr proposals) Ihal refer 10 local
I) CI'.1rt mcn t exposing ho w we: mainra in ou rselves and manag e ou r wasre
co mmunil ics, h islOry, or enviro nmelltal issues. Examples are Deborah
(,ln cl wilh whom); fro m John Malpcd e's small-scale examinations o f
Urigh t and N ancy Go ucha r 's Chicago 5,o ,-ir$, N ewt o n and H elen
homcle:ssneS$ 10 N ewto n and H elen Mayer H arrison 's large-sc ale enviro n-
M~yer H arr ison 's p roposed Bo uld er C reek Pr oject, and Rich..rd
menta l rescue attemp ts. Anis rs envision (.1 verb tha I embraces a nou n) a
Misne: h 's Bravo 10: Th~ Bom bing of Iht AI1l ~ ri". n Wtl/.
process that res uln In an artwork.

W l·HIl, E WE AIH
2. Trad itio nal Outdoor public art (no t " p lun k an,Mwhich has simply been
enla rged and d ropped o n the SiIC) that d raw s ane:nlion 10 rhe speci fic
I've: h"e:n stTuJ,a:lin\; wilh rhcse ques tions fo r a long lime. In 1C)(,7 1 wrote: characteris tics o r Functions o f th e p laces wher e il illlcrvcnes, either in
t hat llisu a l art wa ,~ hn vcring at a cros sroad s Mthal may weltr urn Out to be
p redict ab le lee ..ticns such as p uks. bank plaz u, muse um gardcn s, and
tWO roads 10 one place: art as ide a aocl an as act ion ... . Visual arl is srill co tle: ge campuses (such as Andre:w Leiceste r's mini ng memo rial in
visual even wl.en il is invisible o r v is i"n~ ry. · l/ In 1980 I wro te: r=ro~t bUfg, Mar yla nd; Ath e:na Tacha's Memory Pn{/J in Saraso ta,

'"

FJorid ~; and Barbara Jo Revelle's Pt ople 's H iuory of Colo rado, in
Denver), or in unexpected and sometimes inaccessible loc.:l.(ion s, such
as Streets, store windows, a cabin in the woods, a laundromat , a golf
eco rse. an office. a supu market, a crater in the desert, a residential
neighbo rhood (such u Charles Simo nds's imaginny landscapes and
civ;liu tions for " Linle People" and David Hammons's H OIHt of fin
F" t"rt in Chnleston, South Caro l;na). Th is group would also include
innOvative and officially funded public art and memor;als wit h social
agendas and local rde rences, such n Maya Lin's Vielnam Veterans
Memorial and Barbara Kruger's Linle Tokyo mural at th e Museum of
Co nte mporary Art, Los Anj:;e1es.
3. Site-specific ou tdoor artworks, oh en collabo rative or collective,
that significantly involve th e community in execution, background
information, or ongoing fun ction. Examples are officially condo ned
graffili walls; Joel Sisson's G reen Chair I'roje" in Minneapolis; O livia
Gude and Jon Pounds's Pullma n Projects; n Chicago; th e Border Arl
Workshop in San Diego and Tijuana; Dr. Charles Smith's African
American Heritage Museum in Aurora , Illinois; and works by nun y
progressive muralists.
4. Permanent indoo r public ins t ~ lIalions, often wa h some function in
regard 10 the conlmu nity's hisrory, such as po n office murals across
the country and Houseon Conwill. Estella Co nwill M;ijo:r.o. and Jc -
srph De Pace's The RIVers al the Schomburg Ce nter for Research in
Black Culture in New York C ily. Th is group also includes history-
specific commusury projects Ihat focus on ongo ing educational pro-
cesses, such as the C hinatown H istory Project in N ew York C ity and
the Lowell, Massaehusclls, national industrial park.
$. Pe rl o rm ~ n e e s or rituals out side of trad itional art spaces t h ~t call atten-
tion to places amI their histOries and problems, or to a larger comrnu-
niry of ldenlity and experience. Like street posters, stencils, or Slickers,
'"
. o o ~, .. " " O" " ~ .. ~ ~, """, , ~ o" "
these work s oflen function as ~ wake-up art, ~ a o l:llyst 10 eeneenve
actio n, Eltamplcs arc Suzlnne Lacy's Thr te Weeki in Ma, in Los An-
geles, and Guillermo G6 mtz.-Peiia and Coco Fusco's The Year of lhe
Whi,e Star al several sites in the U nited Stales and EtlrOPC,
6. Art that function s for environmenta l awareness, improvemen l. or
reclamation by transfor ming wastelands, focusing on nalural histor y,
operating utjlitarian sites, making parks, and cleaning up po llution. An
eu mple is Alan Sonfin's Time L.."dJCape of Nr"W York Cif"
7. Direct. didactic political art t h ~ t com ments publ icly on local or na-
tio nal issues, especially in the for m of signage on tn nsportation, in
parks. on buildings, or by the road, which mu ks sites, events. and
invisible histo ries. EKalllples are REPO history's sign pro ject in Lower
M ~n ha tt an , David Avalos, Louis H ock, and Elizabeth Sisco's San
Diego bus project, and Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds's HO$l pro jects
al muhiple sites.
8. Portable pu blic-access radio, television , or print media. such as audio-
and videotapes, post cards, comics, guides. manuals. artists' boo ks, and
posters. Examples arc Carole Co nde and Karl Bcveridgc's book and
posler work whh Ca nadian un ions and Paper TIger pub lic-access
television . demonn ration art suc h as fhe AIDS quilt, and thc Spu l..de
of Tramf orma/lon in Washington , D.C,
'J, Actions and chain actions t h ~t travel, permeate whole to wns, or :Ippear
all over rhe eountr y simultaneous ly to highlight or link cuerem issues.
Examples arc John Pekner's stencils in the Bronx, N ew York; the
Shadow Project, a nation wide commemoration of H iroshima Day;
and Lee Nading's highway ideograms."
For decades now a few artists have veraurcd 0 111 into the public
context and made inter active, participato ry, effective, and affective art
rd ating to places and the peoplein them. Since the late fifties there have
'"

been atte mpts by artiS!s ut ili7.ing fo rm, materials, particip ation, cont ext,
and co ntent (e.g., H appenings by Allan Kaprow, Cl aes Oldenburg, and
Ca-olee Schn eeman) to escape from galleries and mu seums . In t he sixties
Ihe gerund (t he grammatie.al form of process) o vercame sculptu re, .....hich
began su tte ring, leaning, hanging, fo lding, stretching, acting out, and
ot her .....ise mut;uing and mobilizing. Since around 1966 there has been a
body of .....o rk that questio ns all of the struct ures by which an exislS in Ihe
world -c-rhe modernist myths, the com modi ty SUtuS, effects o n t he ecol-
ogy, male and whit e dominance, the precious object, the specialized o r
uppe r-class audie nce. and Ihe eultu ral con finement of an ists t hemselves.
Pnalleling the develo pment of a socially aware experimen tal an
since the sixtie s, a fu gile mo vement for cultural democracy has recogni:r.ed
art as useful, tho ugh not neecssarily ut ilitarian. T hanks in pan to the
wa rne" '5 art moveme nt, which si nce t he earl y seventies llas emphasised
social struct ures as form al innovs rio n ( more women make and write abo ut
p ~ rtici p uory public art than men), we have seen a broadening of the no-
tio n of pub lic art into a nurturing as well as entertainin g, pleasure-givi"g,
o r critical enterprise.
By the late eighties, rather surprisingly, this impe tus was relatively
accepted Into the mainstr eam, t hough its antecedents are never acknowl-
edged . nUl the n: is, in fact, litt le fully realized " new genre public art " o ut
there yel. The relationships between anist and community have \Isually
been serially monogamous. Th e art ist (who may live in situ o r may have
parachuted in) goes o n to so met hing else, and th e co mmunity is often
insufficiently involved ro co nt inue o r extend the pro ject on irs o wn. Too
many m ists who had hoped to help change the world th rough making
issuc-o riemed art fo r larger audien ces in more accessible places have be-
co me disillusio ned wilh the accomp anying bureaucracy. " Public art sucks "
is the o pinio n of one much -respected and lon g-commiucd public an isl.
Another rclls me she is finished wuh public art after worki ng for years o n
a project t hai was fully ok ayed and fund ed until an officially co ncocted
glitch appeared and .....iped ;1off t he screen. Idealistic ani,!S all over this
co untr y arc being strung up with red tape, marty rs to rhe hopdul cause of
a truly pub lic, interactive, participat ory, and progr essive art . T he money
' O O~ I" ~ 40 0 "" 0 "" .. " . wI , " "" .. . . , "" I ' 0" ' 0 II
and energy that shou ld be going into the mutual and collective ed ucation
of artists and bureaucrats and aud iences isn' t av:tilable.
O f the peopl e I've written abo ut since 1981 in my colu mns on art,
politics, and co mmunity,II most arc still o n t rack. Co llabora tion and o rga-
njU l ional suppo rt seem to sustain outreach energies, while "success" and
the auraction of co nventio nal venues lend to weaken grass-roots invo lve-
ment, even as they offer higher prof1le o ppo rtuni ties to work in public. A
few highly visible progressive art ists have been able to get their messages
across to truly large, thoug h not necessarily broad, aud iences by expandi ng
t heir media access.
Th e ar t worl d's novelty express tr ain, which often rewards the
superficially " new" and igno res tho se who are in for the lo ng haul (un less
their produces arc n leable), is part ially responsi ble fo r the au ritiO'1 amo ng
pub lic artists, 1S is the polit ical and econo mic climate. Even as it fails to
reach its goals, however, hit- and- run (o r hug-and -sldle-off) art offers
tan talizing glimp ses of new entran ces fo r an into everyday life.
Mod ern ist art is always moving figuratively into " uew'trerrain,
tl"sting " new " parame ters, demandi ng " new" pandigrns. It remains to be
seen whethe r t he " new" genre publi c art with which this book is Ca ll -
ccme d can transcend the boundaries [and the co mml" rcial demand for
novelty) that shelter o r imprison even th1l art which moves out into tlie
wo rld. Altho ugh I've used the wo rd as much as anyo ne, I' ve come 10
understand that a truly pu blic art need 1'1 0 1 be '" new " to be significant,
since the social eerucxts and audiences so crucia l to its fo rmatio n arc ,,/_
w.,s changing. As I go OV ('f the ecological art that has been made in the
laSt t wcnty years (especia lly the ephemeral landseape art of the late sixties
and early seventies, and the spiritually orie nted feminist art of t he seven-
tics), 1 am simultaneously hea rtened by ils variety and disappoi nted by its
communicative limitalio ns. Helen Mayer Har riso n says, " We havl" n't
spok en the voice of the river; cultivate humility..... T he interactive aspl"cts
of the o Ulreaching an -abo ul- place that has been developed duri ng the last
few yurs may be fragile and tenta tive, bUI they are budd ing, composred in
a renewed sense of memory, ready to blosso m if we can creat e a welcomi ng
o ut-of -an conte xt (or them to venture into.

W >!E R E WE CO U L D BE
T here is no reason to cut the tics tha t bind such an to its home in the com -
munity, which at wor st con stricts and regulates it and al ben shares ils
concerns, offering rt Jp0>lSt-iblt criticism and support . lnstt ad, the task is
to establish an add itional set of bo nds radiating 0 1.1 1 to part ieipam ccmmu-
nities, audiences, and other "mugina lizc:d ~ artists, so that the art idea
beeon-es. linally, part of the Center-not an elite center sheltered and hid-
den from pu blic vit w, but an aceessible center to which participants art
allr acttd from all sides of art and lift .
To aUtet perccprio n iudf, we need to apply ideas as well as forms
to the ways people see and act withi n and on their surroundings-in muse-
ums, parks, and N ucational institutions. Ideas catch lirt in dialogue, when
onc person's cyes light up as anothe r conjures imagt s. Art iudf, as a dema-
terialiud spark , an act of recognition, can be a eaulyst in all areas of life
once it breaks away from the cultu ral conlinemcnt of the muket realm.
Redefinition of art and artist can help heal a society thal is alienated from
ilSlife foren . As Lynn Sowder has said: "We mun shift our d1inking away
from bringing grcat an 10th e people to working ""ith people to create art
that is mean in~fu 1. " " Feminism and activism ha\'e created models, bu t
we've barely touc hed th e depth of complexity with which art could inter-
act with society.
To change the powe r relations inherent in the way art is now made
and distributed, we need to continue to seck ou t new form s bu ritd in social
t ntrgil'T not yet rl'Cogni ud as art. Some of the moSt inleresting an empts arc
those that reframe not -necessarily-an practices or places by seeing rhem
through the eyes of art. T his, too, is an idea that or iginated in the mid-
sixties. At that time such "lo oking aroued " was the product of a rejection
of art as "precious objects. ~ as more w lff lilling up the world. Thc idca was
to lookM whal was already in the world and transfo rm it imo art by the
process nf .~ cc i n g- n a m i n g and pointing ou t- rather than producing.
If the rat's lIest of prob lems that accomp anies any foray out of the
StIJdin has deflected marr y artists from new nr old genre pub lic art, tlO
artist who has ventu red out returns without being changed, and charged.
l-low cnn we bu ild these changes imo art education, into the career
,"
'<><> ~'NG . ' <>UN" W" , O, W, . 0' W"'" w, U H> , ,, . .
mechanisms, into the possibilitiu dll t a life or nt making holds for Ihose
temp ted by such risks ? With Iew exceptions, the an schools 'l.1ld depart-
menu in this country still teach a nineteent h-century notion of the func-
tion (or funclionlessness) of art . Th ere arc a few Rart in a social context M
courses sprinkled arou nd the world," but they remain overwhd med by
conventio nal views. Mon art studen ts, even sophisticated ones, know lin le
o r nOlhing about rhe history of attemp ts to break dow n the walls. The
Iacr is, we nctd 10 change the syste m under which we live and make art .tS
citizens and as art workers . We art laying OUt the ingredients but still
look ing for the recipe. O nce there are morc coo ks, everybody will usc the
ingrtdients differently. We cou ld be Rtt'aching Rfuture an -not wllal's
already been made, and nor nCi;tssnily in institu tions. Wecould be propa-
gating rhe sources and comexrs of the an thai hasn't been madc yCI. This is
where thc absolutely crucial multicultural and interdisciplinary compo-
nents of an about place come in.
Cul ture is what defines place and its me.ming 10 peop le. The apoliti-
cal and "cu ltu rd ess ~ cultu re in which moSt of us live in the Unitcd States
inevitably leaves us placeless. Tod ay, in tht nineties, some artists have
ventured to make known a broader sense of culture as a pan of our lives
t!Jat's nOI hierarchal but temporal, ongoing. Some art Iu s become a catalySt
or vehicle for equal exchange among culture s, helping us find our multip lc
selves as opposed 10 one-dimcnsional stereotypes. Regard less of class
and oppo n unity, we all harbor several identilies- religious and political
af/'llialions or lack thereof, cultu ral and geograph ical backgro unds , marital
or parental status, occupation, and so on. To learn to U St these multiple
idemitie s, not just 10 know ou rselves but to empathi 7-c and work with
ot hers, is one of the lessons an interactive art can offer. On e of the work
gro ups at the "Mapping tile Terrain" conference summarize d: Acn hetics M
shapes relation ships between people. Co nstant negot ialion s of life arc
reenacted and released in art. You can't do communi ty work un less you
listen, usc intuition.
H
Community doesn't mean und erstanding cverything about every.
body and re s olvi n~ all the differences; it means knowing how 10 work
wit hin differences as they change ,1nd evolve. Critical consciousness is a
'"

process o f rewg nizing bOlh limita tion s and po ssibi lities. We need 10 col-
laboratc with small and larg e social, pol it ical, specialized gro ups of peo ple
already info rme d o n and imme rsed in th e issues. An d we need 10 teach
them to welcome art ists, to u nd erstand ho w Mt can concretize and en vi-
sion their hoals. At th e same t ime we need to co llaborate with th ose wh ose
bac kRrou nds and maybe foregrou nds are un familiu to us , rejccting th e
insidiou s noti o ns o f "divc rsiry" thaI simp ly neut ral ize diffe ren ce. Empalhy
and excha nge are key wor d s. Even for int eractiv e anworkers who have
all the r ight ideas, elit ism is a hard habit to kick . N o thing t hat exclude s the
places of peo ple o f co lor, wom en, lesbia ns, gays, o r working peo p le can be
called inclusive, un iversal, or healin g. To find th e wh ole we must know
and respec t " II th e pans.
So we need to weave a relat ion ship and reciprocal theo ry o f multi-
plicity about who we n e, wh at is ou r place, and how our cu ltu re affecta
o ur enviro nme nt. We need to know " lot mo re ab out how o ur wo rk "HCC IS
and disa ffect s the peo ple exposed to it, wh eth er and hn w it docs and docs
1"'1 co mm unic ate. T his tOO ca n be bu ilt into experim ental educ atio n in
bot h an histo ry and stu dio co urses (the two rem ain absurd ly separa led at
mOS I scho o ls).
To return to th e not ion of place, art can no t be a centering (grou nd -
ing) device un less th e artis t her self is cente red and grou nde d. This is nor to
say th at th e alien ated, th e di sori ent ed, th e derac inarcd. t he nomadic [i.c.,
mos t o f us) cannot nu ke art. Bill SQme po rtable place mus t rest in ou r
souls . Perh ap s we arc luck y enough to hav e so me sust aini ng ch unk of
"nature" 10 nou rish us. Per hap s the cit y is just as satisfy ing. Perh aps the
stu dio is the d en wh ere we lick o ur wound s, dr eam u p images, p lan new
slrategies, gath er the st reng t h to go om again. Perh aps t he limitalion s o f
the ivory gallery and th e pag es o f art maga?in es arc stu nting th e gro wth of
an art that d reams of str id ing fearlessly into th e streets, int o the u nkn o wn,
to mcer an d mingle with others ' lives.
As "onvisionaries;' art ists sho uld. be able to provide a wa y to
wo rk :I~a inSl the do minant cult ure's rap aciou s view of nature (~ M :l n ifcH
D estin y"), to reinstat e th e mythical and cuh ura l dim ension s to "pub!ic"
exper ience and M th e same t ime to become co nscious of th e ideolo gical
...
IOO " N~ " OUN O W" ,ot W I U ,. ",..,., ""' ""OU' " Of
relat ion ship s an d histor ical co ns tructio ns of pla~e . Wle need artists to gu ide
us rhroug h the sensu ou s, kin esthetic resp on ses to topography, to lead us
into the archaeology and resu rrect ion o f land -ba sed soc ial h islory, to bring
o ut multiple read ings o f places that mean different things to d ifferent peopl e
.1ml at d ifferent time s. And th ere is mu ch we can learn from the iron ically
labeled " primiriv e" cult ure s "b out u ndersta nd ing ou rselves as part of
nature, interd epend ent with ever ythi ng in it-c-hccau sc natu re includ es
ever ything, even techn olo gy, created by humans, wh o arc part o f natu re,
Wh:lt wou ld it be like, :ln art produ ced by th e im:lgin:ltion :lnd
respo nses o f its view ers or users? H ow can art acriv sre loca l act ivities and
local vnlucs ? Wit h ade qu ate fund ing reso urces, publi c art ists might set up
social and po litical spaces in which energies cou ld come to gether. di alogue
and alternatives o r oppo sit ion co uld be concretized. Thcse mig ht be seen
in relat ion to rhc famil iar "f ramin g" st rategy, in wh ich wh at is alre.l d y
there is put in sh arp relief by th e add it io n o f an art of calling atten tion.
«Parasit ic " art forms, like co r rected bill bo ard s, can ride th e dominan t
cu lture physically whi le challe nging it politicall y, creat ing o pe nly co n-
test ed terr ains th at expos e th e tru e ide rllities of existing pbces and spaces
and th eir function in social co nt ro l. Another set o f possi bilities is art thaI
activ ates t he co nscious ness of a place b y subtle markin(;s without disturb.
ing it- a boo klet gu ide, walking to ur s, o r di rectional sign s capt ioning the
hist o ry o f " hou se o r a fam ily, suggesting t he dep th s o f a landscape, th e
ch aracte r of a co mm u nit y.
Art is o r shou ld be gen ero us. Bu t arti sts can on ly give what th ey
receive from th eir sou rces. Believing as J d o tha t co nnectio n to place is a
necessary co mpo nen t o f feeling clos e 10 peo ple , to the eart h, I wo nde r wh at
wi ll make it possible for arti st s to «give" pl aces back to people who can no
lon ger see th em. Becau se land plu s people-their pr esence and absence-is
wh at make s place reso nat e. Ahe-narives will have to emerge o rganically
fro m th e artists' lives and expe rie nces. And th ey wo n 't u nless a b roader set
o f option s is laid out by th ose wh o arc explo ring rhese " n ew~ ter ritor ies.
The arti st has to be a parti cipa nt in process as well as its d irecto r, has to " live
t here" in so me way-physically,sy mbo lically, 0 1 el11 pathet ically.
NO TES

WHOSE MONUMENT WH ER E!
Tl" iJ ", ,. ,h" " "1 ..... p,.d,d ,. my ''''' ,",o''' in, b<>o~ Th, I.• " .f ,h. /.<>,,1 . ' U8 1.1 C ....RT I N A M ....NY . C U lT U MEO

1. I. . ..." . " G•• "t.<,., ~""I<d ;. C •• " . I.ip.' '', To.... 1'." . 1" (M'n. " po>l' " U.,•• "i" <>I Mlft,,,,.,, r" " .
1' 00)• • . 11

J, K•• n" h It d ph, IId. ;n I:.,nft" h lMph. nJ ",.I f. ,ft M,...."".

' Col. .. J.: V", • • , . / .. A.... .., .. Lo.J"" , Using lhe term "public art" in an ~ u d i e n c e of many cuhure s brings diller-
(Bo,Jd ' ,. Cn...." ~l • • h" ,. ' '''1), pp, " ' " ... . "
cnt i m ~ges to mind in e~e h of us. Perh ~p s some of us envisio n the frescoes
"'·,.d, 1l ~"' r, n. V."" Io'1 .{ Aw'" . ' C.. I,. " •• J ,11,,, . 1,. .. (S,. F" "" " o: s;., ,, Cl. h Ilo<>~ , . l'lt ~~ p. ll.
and statues of the [t~lian R el1~; s s ane e or C hriSlO's umbrellas. while oth ers
j . J.r l 1:. <11" . ~ ., i. 1'1 ... .· 10 II.. JI,.J.,•• , . ,I (S, . I'". , ,,, o: II"dl"" h C,.",
I... ,h, ..."'. ' ~" ). p. ). . .
sec t he mu rals of Los Tres Grandes or the ritual sand paintings and totems
AI'hnulh I ~" "''''' '01 M ,h" ,u hi", 0,10" I ",.I 1(,11,1" ...o, ~ •• pi",. I h••, I " . , d '"'.T ;o"lh" lo"", ,h"
,ml'' ''' '''' c1"y . 1Id ' " 1" w.pol>ll,h, d . ",100, of Nativ e peoples. So meone s~id t h~ l the purpose of a monument is to
~.John~. S,II.",. C I.• ~J" ." ofA """" , 1) 1(},. I'" (N,... H,.,••nd 1.. ...1"": y,I, U.'''''''' p,,,,. br ing t he past into t he present to inspire the future. Monuments may be
Inl l), p. <I ,
like the adobe fo rmed from the mud of a place Into the buil din g blo cks of
'. M.... I, . O,.,,,h.-Un",. 0 ,.,101' ''' ' . '' r . hli<A" i. N.... y",k G ,y.- ,. 0 . , r" ". , d. ,1.0 " , 11 r " l. ' o. " .1 societ y; their purpose may be to invcsngarc and reveallhe memory co n-
. 1 (N, .. Yo ,~ ,"", N, .. ~lu " • • ,. ' '100). p. ' " .
tained in the ground beneath a "public site, " mark ing ou r passages as ~
people and re-visioning official histOry. As art ists creal ing the rnouum ents
• M" rA •• """''''' ... I.... "III~". .. J.I A• ••'(Cm.... C. "f.
· N , •. >lII,,,,," N...... (""""'.. ~ . "r CAli , •• • of t he nineties, the ultima te question far us to co nsider is, What shall we
... . ).0 1'
choo se to memorialize In o ur lim e?
' ,, ,,. . ,.' 1)<'• • , J. " ... ." " J '''' ''' '. C,.. ••I ' . ~ J Il'...,. n,.1.. . ., ~ ·
J. II" . .. . , .· A C ,,,", , M•• ,I,
O ver the pnst t wenty years ~ s .1 public artis t, I have been stru ck by
10, II.... .
'_ .f Nol'" (N,.. Y• •~ : Ro."'d", ''''' ),, 1'' I ~' _n.
how our co mmo n legacy in public art is deriv ed from the "cannon -in-rhc-
I I . J,.... ft,....... .. ., "d..., ' , " U ).;. C", _ lf
" ' . , " ' . 'f "' ~ .0.1.· M.I.,,,.I,.,"II..,,,,..,. , d. R" k Si",o.,o. " .I
"' ." , W,I ~ .. fS. ;., ~ ,"'. M" • .' <:"''''011 ~"". 1,n). p, I. par k" impuls e, which causes us to d rag Oil! the rusty cannons fro m pas!
I} 1.0" R I ,p~ .. d. ' l h, t"><. ,,,,, ,. Ii' '';M '" A" ,' i. 0 .0" " (N, ... y.,~ , f•.• • nu""" I " ').~ . lll ,
wars, po lish them up, an(l place the m in the park fo r ehild ren to crawl over
at Sunda y picnics. T he pur pose was to evoke a l ime past in which d' e
I I 1•• " . I.,,,,.. , ~ , ' 11,,, 1'" ,,,.,,, A" , . d 1'. I',i<, i. ' 110." /II.... nO ' ('01 , ), ,-11 ,
"splendid lriumphs" and "struggles of o ur forefathers" shifted the co urse
" I. lot, h,' lh•• ,ly " ,""". ",,,i<
'I>,h",d T",;,.. " """ i ",· 101" i. , Cui," " o( Vi."h, l"f. · N ~C '" )ou,• •','
of history. These expositions were meant to inspir e an awe of o ur gre.1 t
I' " 1). ~" " ••, I." ,
~ " .1f ...J • • ", h" '.p'."~ '. '"' ' p, ,, ,,, m, d;.,..", m,o, p' ''''''' I•• m p'''''' '0 publ' .
10"", '<li" " "P"""''' '" " po,,,, ,• •• , 1,,, ,. " ,I., ,, , 0 1'0. '" ,h", . " 00: "," , . ,II~ d no ." 'lu"" .•• nation's power to assert its militar y will and prevail over enemies. Runnin g
" ,,,.,,, .. , ll", i., u.'",
,110, ''''' ' h, ,,,,, h , ~, ..hoi, , p"" u",. h" ;• • I"I ...,, h h.,d "1'......"
o ur hands over the po lished bro nze, we shared in these victor ies and became
". I. "'1', ,,1,,..,,, ,1.""'«1 ,,,, .. ,,, ly ' 0 ,h" ,uh!<" m, " .. ,. ,,", V,II.,. v."•. I. TI" " r,..,... . . d 1. M.,." ".,
cnlisrcdio these causes. Never mind if fo r us as peopl e of colo r they were
,~ II , ,," M'r" 11", 1,,,,, ,, ,,", ,y.. !'"" .m ·~h~r'.~ ,", ' , ,,,1. , 1'1, .. G' n" ruM;, """ .' "'l'."'" hy ,h, not o ur forefath ers, o r even if the triumphs were often over our own peop le.
c.li(o.".. ( .o!l". ~ I "'" , lid C"f" . O, ~ I, nd . "1 0 " ,. . 0" I ' . , ",
A more co ntempo rary example of di sp!~ ying cannons in th e par k
I ' . l.yn. S... d" . " . M, ppinS ' "' T, m '.- 'Y. 'f <><;o",.
occurred dur ing the prom enade of military weapons 0 11 the M ~ lI in W~ sh ­
II . l'h, , ~ I, " ..,,,, f,om • """ " lou . d, d " D,,,;. , ,o. 11<11 ,. 1.>,. .... f. ~hnd . i . ' ~ « : " 'SO' ,' ,h, .Id« i, ..... ingron, D.C. , immed iately aftef America declared victory in the G ulf
d.f " . " ....,,, h" 'p."d ,. NOI,h A",,,K,. ' 0" "'" ' . d.d,o, C on,• • i • . M, II... U. ,• .., ,,•. U ~" "" ' 1 01
M ."" ~ u"", , A., h, ,, ,. •"d ,~ , (;. 1'1"," ,. (;011" • • 1A", . nd (;" h" O.~ I,nd. ' '''''''l .,h , ,, . War. In an exhibition prepared fo r A m e r i c ~ n families in rho adlo ini'll;
Slllil hso n;al1 Insnnnion Ha ll of Science, a grandfatherly voice (sollnll' "g

, . '"
,a

rcmu kably like Ronald Ru gan) soothed us into believing the war was a
bloodless, compllu:rized science demonstra tion of gigantic proport ions.
Young American men with adroit reflexes trained by:t video -game ClillU re
demonStraled our superi ority as a nation over Saddam H ussein th rough
video-sc reen slrategic air strikes.
From the Irium pha nt bronze general on horseback-the public's
view of which is rhe underside of gallopi ng hooves-to its more contem-
pou.ry corpo rate versions, we find eumpln of public an in the service of
dominance. By the ir daily presence in our lives, these artw ork s intend to
~rs uade us of the justice of the seu they represent. The power of the
corpo rate spo nsor is embodied in the sculptu re su nding in front of the
Inwer;ng office build ing. T hese grand work s, like their military predeces-
sors in the park s, inspire a sense of awe by their K;lle and the importance
of the artist. Here, public art is unashamed in its int ention 10 mediate
between Ihe public and Ihe developer. In a - lhings go do wn beuc r with
public u t" ment alu y, the biue r pills of developm ent arc deli vered 10 the
publ ic. While percent -fer -art bills have heralded developers' creation of
amenable public places as a positive side effeel of Kgrowth," every inch of
urban space is swallowed by skyscrapers and privatized inlo the so-ca lled
public space of shopping malls and corporate plazas. T hese developm ents
predcrermi nc the pub lic, selecting O UI the homeless, vendon, :tdo leseents,
urban poor, and people of color. Planters, benches. and other· public
arllen;ties Karc suspect as potential hazards or public loitering places. Re-
cent attempts in Los Angeles to pass laws 10 stop or severely restrict push-
cart vCIlI/cdorCI from sd ling tloItJ, fr ut,u , pa/ef tlf. and raJpadoJ made
aelivists of noruggreesive merchants who had silemly approp riated pub lic
spaces in lar ~e1 y Latino sections of our city. Vendt dorcJ, loved by the
peop le for offering not only pop ular produ cts but familiar reminders of
their hom elands, provide a Latino presence in pub lic spaces. Any 105$ of
bottf nicaJ, mtrcadoJ, vcndtJo res, and things familiar reinforces segreg:!-
non. as ethnic people disappear 10 anot her corner of the city.
Los Angeles provides clear and abundant eumplcs of developmen t
as ,1 100110 colonize and displace elhnie commu nities. l nh mous develop-
ments abou nd in public record , if not consciousness-Dod ger Stadiu m,
.... OU .. O"u pun ,c u , IN ' N' " ' . CU' ' U"' '' ' OC" ..
wh ich displaced a historic Mexican community; Bunker Hill, now home
to a premier arts center, which displaced aeorhe r; and the less well docu -
mented hin or y of how four major freeways intersected in the middle of
East Los Angeles's Chicano communities. O ne of the mOSl eatastrc phic
consequ ences of an endless real estate boom was the concreting of the
enrire Los Angeles River, on which the ciry was fou nded. T he river, as the
earth 's arte ries- thus atr ophi ed and hardened-ccrened a giant scar across
the land whic h served to furth er divide an already divided city. II is this
metap hor that inspired my own half-mile-long mu ral on the history of
ethnic peoples painted in the Los Angeles river conduit. Ju st a$ yo ung
C hicanos la UOO battle scars on their bodies, the Grtaf Wall of LOJ Angeles
is a tatt oo on a scar where the river once ran.' ln it reappear the disa p-
peared stones of eth nic populations th at make up the labor force which
built our city, srarc, and nation .
Public art often plays a suppo rtive role in develope rs' agendas. In
many inna nces, art uses beauty as a false promise of inclusion . Beauty
ameliora tes the erasure of ethnic presence, serving the transformation into
a homogenized visual culture: give them something beautiful to stand in
for the loss of their right to a public presence. Two N ew York - based
artis ts w('re selected to decor ate the lobby of the new skyscrape r of First
Interstate Bank in downtown Los Angeles. To represent muh iw hur alism
in Los Angeles, they chose angels from the Basilica. of Santa Maria dq;li
Angeli near Assisi, h aly. Th ey then lacked eth nic emblems ont o the
Europ ean angels, "b orr owingKthe pr e-Columbian feathered serpent
Qucrzalcoetl from the Au ecs, the cro wned mahogany headpiece from
Nigerian masks, and the eagle's wings from our N ative peoples as "em-
blems of a variety of cultu res." Th ese symbols replaced th e real voices of
people of colo r in a city torn by the greatest civil disord er in the United
States in decades. At the ded icatio n, which loo k place shortly after the
rebellion (the Los Angeles riots of 1992), black and Lai no children un-
veiled the angels in an elaborate ribbo n-cutti ng ceremony . Hailed by the
developers u a great symbol of · unity,- these artifacts stood in for the
real peopl e in a city terrified of the majoril Yof its citizens. Tragiea.lly, the
SSOO,OOOspent on this single work was more than the whole eifYbudgel
10 fund public murals by et hnic arlisu who wo rk wilhin Los Angeles's
d iverse C hinese, African America n, Korean. T hai, Ch icano, and Unl NI
American neighbo rhoods.
Nn singk view of public space and Ihe arl Ihal occup ies il will wo rk
in a mct ro po li., of multiple perspectives. While compeliliorl lor publ ic
space ~ro w s daily, cult unl communilies call for if to be used in d r;l.mali-
cally d ifferenl ways. Wha t co mes into qu estio n is th e very d ifferenl sensi-
bilities or ord er and beauty that op erat e in different cultures. When
Cilriuo, for example, loo ked lo r the firsl lime at £ 1Tejo n Pass, he saw
pOlelllial. He saw the po lent ial lo create beau ty wit h a pcrso nal vision
imposed on thc landsc.ape-a bc.auty th.at fil his individual vision of yello w
umbrellas flunering in the wind, march ing up tbe sides of rolling hills.
TIle land became his canvas, a backdro p for his perso nal aesthetic.
Native peop le might loo k atlhe same landscape wilh a very differ-
cut idea nf beauty, a beauty withoUl impositio n. T hey mighl sec a per'[ect
orde r exemplified in nature itself, imegral ln a spirit ual life gro unded in
place. Nature is not to be tampered with ; hence, a plant taken requires an
offering in return . Richard Ray Whi tman, a Yaqu i arlist, said, ·Scienlifi-
cally co hesive-I am the ato ms, molecules, blood , and du n of my ances-
to rs-not as histo ry, but as a co ntinuing people. We describe o ur culture
as a circle. by which we mean lhn it is an iht egrated whole .-, Maintaining
a relatio nship wilh the dun of one's ancestors requ ires a generatio nal
rcl.u io nship with ,he land and a respectful rreatmcm of ot her life found
011 the land .
O r perhaps N ative peoples could not rhink o r this area with ou t
recalling FOr! Tejo n, o ne of Ihe nrs t Ca lifornia Ind ian reservations esob-
lished ncar t his site in rhe Tehachap i Moumains, placed the re to " pro tect"
Ind ians rounded u p Iro m various neighbo ring areas, most of whose cui-
l ures have be en en tirely dest royed . In C hristo's and the Na tive visions we
have IWOd ifferen l aeSlhelic sensibilities, as divergent as the nineteenth -
century English manicu red garden is from t he rugged natura l New Mexi·
can landscape of the Sangre de C risto Moun u ins.
Perhaps a less benign implicatio n of C hristo's idea is that landscape
untouch ed by man is "un dcvelopcdland." T his is a coruin uario n of the
'"
co ncept o l " ma.n over natur e- on .....hich Ihis count ry was founded, a heri-
tage of thought t hat has brou ght us c1ear·cuning in first growth fore us and
co ncrete co nduiu t hat kill rivers as an acceptabl e meth od of flood co ntrol.
T hese: ideas find rheir parallel in the late mode rnist and poStmodernist
culu 01the exalted individual, in which personal vision and originality are
highly valued. As a solitary creato r the artin values self-expressio n and
"artistic freedom" (or separateness ral her than co nnectedness). H e is
therefore responsible o nly 10 himself rather t han to a shared vision, failing
10 recon cile the individual to the whole.
Whe n the nature of El Tejon Pu s-a place k now n to locals for its
high winds-asserted iu elf d uring C hris to's project and up roo ted an
um brella planl ed in the ground, causing the tragic death of a woman who
had co me 10 see the wo rk, C hriSto said, "My pro ject imitates real life." I
co uld n't help musing o n what a diffe rent project it would have been had
the beautiful yellow umbrellas march ed through Skid Ro w, where L05
Angel es's 140,000 ho meless lie in t he rain . Art can no long er be tied to the
no nfuncrionalist st ate, relegated by an "arl for art 's sake- t yranny. Would
it nOIhave been more beautiful to shelter peop le in need of sheller, a ges·
tu re and state ment abo ut ou r failure as a society to provi de even the most
basic needs 10 the poor? Why is it nOt possible for public art to do more
Ihan · imitate-life? Pub lic art co uld be j1/Seplmtbfe Iro m the daily life or
the people for which it is created . Developed 10 live harmoniou sly in
puh lic space, it cou ld have a fu nction with in the co mmunity and even
provide a venue fo r t heir voices.
For t he Mexican sensibility, an impor tant manifesta tion of pub lic
ar t is a wo rk by Mexican artis t David Alfaro Siquciros o n Los Angeles's
hist oric O lvera Suect. Thi s 19J 3 mural, pain ted o ver fo r nearly sixly years
by city fathers becau se of its portrayal of the plighl of Mnicanos and
C hicanos in Califo rnia, is currently in resroreeion. Siqueiros depic ted as
the central figures a mestizo shooling at the American eagle and a crucified
C hieanoiMexicano. Whi le Ihis mu ral is beco mingM useo·ficd, with mil-
lions of dollars pro vided by t he Gett y foundat ion lor its preser vation and
re-presentatio n 10 the publi c, it is impo rtant to recognize t hat the same
images would most likely be censored if paint ed today on Los Angeles's
'"
r
streets. T he subject maner is u relevant no w. sixty years later, as it was
then. Murals de picting the domi nat ion o f and resistance by l os Angeles's
Latinos or ot her po pulations of color provok e the "me official resistance
u they d id in 19) ) , Despitc t hese s l ru &gl e~. mur als have been the o nly
interventio ns in pu blic spaces that art iculat e the p resence of erhniciry .
Arch ile<turc and cit y plan ning have do ne litt le to accommod ae ee mmc ni-
tics o f colo r in OUTcilY.
As co mp<:litin n fo r pub lic space has gro w n, pu blic U I po licies have
beco me calcified and increasingly bur eau cratic. An Ill,,! is um::tio ned h...s
lost th e polit ic,,] bi te o r th e sevent ies mur,,1s. Nev ertheless. a rich legacy of
murals ha been produced since Amt r;,. Tropicltl was painted on O lvera
Srreet by the maest ro. T ho un nds o f public mu rals in places wh~r~ people
live "nd work have become tanGib l~ pub lic mo num ents 10 the shared
ellperience o f cOlnmullitit's of col or. C hiuno mu rals have provided the
l e ~ d t' r sh ip and the form for o ther co mmu nities to assert their presence and
artitu lale t heir issues. Today, wo rks appear th at speak o f child ren caught
in t ht trnss fire of gang warfare in the burios of Sylmu , the hidd en penh-
lem o f AIDS in the Sout h-Central Afriu n America n co mmu nity, and the
sn uggles o f i m m i~n t io n and 'Issimil:u io n in the Korea n co mmuni ty. T hese
mu rals have becom e mo nu ments that serv e 'ISa co mmunit y's memory.
Th e gene ration s who grew up in neighbo rhood s whe re the land -
scape was dcned by t he munl mo vement have been influen ced by these
wo rks. Wit h few avenues o pe n to training.and art p rod uc tio n, eth nic
tecn ilgers have created the graffit i art that has beco me another met hod o f
rC5ist ing priu t iud pub lic space. As th e 11m visual art form ent irely devel-
o ped by yo ut h cultu re, it hn beco me the focu s o f increasingly severe
repr isals by aut ho rities w ho spend fillJ-two m illion doll. ,., an nually in Ihe
Ccun ry o f Los Angeles to abatc what they refer to as the - ski n caneer o f
soc ict y.- It is no ilccid cnt thilt thc proliferat io n o f graffiti is co ncu rrent
wit h the redu ct ion of all youth recreat ion and nl S programs in the schoo ls.
Work ing with communities in producing pu blic artwo rks has put
me into co ntact with many o f t hese yo uths. On o ne occ asio n, 1 wu called
to a loca l high school after having co nvinced o nc of the yo ung Grc.t W..ll
p roduction tcam members t hat he sho uld retu rn 10 school. The urgent
mU la ge from the boy in tht' principal's o ffice said, - I need you to come
her e righl away because I' m going to get Ih ro wn OUt of school again.·
My deal with the boy, fo rmulated over a long merno rship, waslhilt he
wo uld not quit schoo l agilin with out talk ing to me firn. I arri ved to find
the principal towcring o ver the young (bolo, who was holdin g his head in
a dcfiant manner I had seen ov er ilnd over in my wor k with the gangs.
Th is stance, reminiscent o f a wurior, called unce remo nio usly - ho ld ing
yo ur mug,- is abou t maintaininGd ignity in adverse eirt u msu nccs. The
p rincipal was co mpletely frust rated . " You' ve writte n o n t he school's walls
and yo u simp ly d o not have respect for ot her people's pro perty. Tell me,
would yo u do this in you r ow n house! " I co uld n't help but smile at his
adm o nition , d espite the serious ness o f th e situation. This boy was an
imponant gn ffiti arti n in his co mmu nity. I had visited his house and sct'n
t he walls o f his roo m, where every inch was co vered with his int rie:u e
writings. Two differ ent notions o f uea.uty and o rd er were o per~li ng , as
well as a disp ute abo ut o wners hip o f the school. Th e bo y's o pinio n was
thilt he had au thetiully imp roved the propert y, nOt d estro yed it.
At [h is ti me the co nd itio ns o f ou r co mmu nities are wo rse Iha n t hose
thilt precipitated the civil rig hts activ ism o f t he sixtics and seven ties. Fifry-
two percent of all African American children and Iony-twc perc cnt o f all
Lati no childr en arc living in po vert y. Dropout rates exceed high schoo l
graduation ratt's in these co mmun itics. W hat, t hen, is the ro le o f a soc ially
re-spon sible public artist? As the wealth y and poo r are increasing ly po lar-
ized in o ur soc iet y, Ieee-to- face urba n co nfro ntations occ u r, o fte n with
eatasirc phic co nsequences. Ca n pub lic art avoid co rning down o n the side
o f wealth and d ominance in that co nfro ntat ion? H ow can we as an isu
"void becoming acco mplices to t o lo nizatio n? If we chose not 10 loo k al
tr iump hs over nations and neigh bo rhoods as vict ories and adv ancements,
w hat monu ment s co uld we build? How can we create a public memor y
fo r a many -cultured societ y? Wh ose sto ry shall we tell?
O f great esr interest to me is t he in vention of syste ms o f " vo ice
giving" for tho se left wil ho ut pu blic vee ues in which to speak, Socially
respo nsible art ists from nlarg inalizcd co mm u nities have a pariicular re.
sponsibility to art ieulate the co nditio ns o f thei r people- and to prov ide
~--~ . __ .._.. ~ - - -------- _
cata lysIs for change. since percepti on s o f U$ as ind ividu als aT C tied to the
co nd itions of o ur co mmu nities in a racially u nsophisticat ed soc iety. We
canno t escape t hat respo nsibility even when we choos e to lrYi we are made
o f the " blood and du st - o f ou r ancesto rs in a con tinuing histo ry. Being 11
calalyst for change will change us also .
We can evaluate ou rselves by rhe processes w ieh w hich we choose
to make an , not simply by the art ob jects we create. Is t he artw ork the
result of a pr ivate act in a pub lic spa cc~ Focusing on the object devoid of
t he creative pr oc ess used to ach ieve it has ba nkrupted Eu rocc ntric mod -
ernis t and posl modc rn in traditi o ns. Art proces ses, ju st as art objects. may
be cultu rally specific. and with no single aesthet ic, a diverse society will
generate very different form s of public art.
Who is the public now that it hu changed color? H ow do peop le of
various ethnic and e1u s groups use public space? What ideas do we want
to place in pub lic memory? Where does art begin and end ? ArtistShave the
unique ability to transcend designated spheres of activity. What rep resents
something deepe r and mor e hopeful about the futur e of our eth nically and
clan-divided cities arc collaoo n tions that move well beyo nd the Ht ist and
architect to the artist and the histor ian, scientist. environmentalist. or social
service provider. Such collaborations Ire mand ated by the seriousness of
the tasks at hand. They bring a n nge of people into conversations about
their visions for their neighbo rhoods or their nation s. Finding a place for
those ideas in monuments thlt are constructed of the soil and spirit of the
people is the lOon challenging task for public art ists in th is time.
N O T ES
I, n... G... , 110/ too ".f'In.,.;"' , ,......, lo4 ~ . " . .. 01j_. ,~ , ""'~I 1_' l~k...
.........,Io, ~ I, • ' _ _ ""r'~'''''' 01 of ;,,' K." . _ ,..... _"'
k,,'.....,1I<""'J.. tK k, •••1II. , 1m " ' 01 C.I""' ·, ~I._, I
,..;.-" 1... , _ I" Ik l ooi" « I k i. ,h. Lot " "".1" A_ ."",,01 .k
".
.. _ _ __..
........ ... _--
CO M M O N W O R K )J~ff Krllr y
Ov er the past decade, those of us interested in a serious and challenging
pub lic art have heard often of the benefits of collabo ration between u tists
and archite<:lS. Th e convention al w i ~ d om is that ul i st ~ bri og a fresh. uncn-
cumbered sense of design to architeclUral projects, and that the peculiari-
tics of the artist's ego-tenter 50mchow enliven the otherwise conventional,
corpo rate'sqJl t environments arehittcts come up with too much of the time.
The artisr is assumed to be Irccr than the architect. and freedom is assumed
to be art. The architcct is rcgard ed as a relative technician by comparison,
constrained as he or she is by the legal, fiscal. and material lilllitations of
the trade. The idea is that as artists and arch itccts ·eo ltabora te~ architec-
ture ""ill lx: made mort human, or at lean more art-lik('. Art- likenes.s is
assumed 10 be mor e humane.
Conventional wisdom aside, true colbboratinn among artists and
architccts rarely happens. Given the stereotypical ways in which we sec
each other. it's no wo nder. What passes today for collabo ratio n tends in
fact to be a frustrating process of co mpromise and co ncession. Th e archi-
tect is almon always in charge. and artists, wh o arc paid very little for their
services. often must fight for recognition as members of a ~ design team:
Moreover, in Our society the conditions arc not ulually safe for collabora-
tion to occur. Th e loss of professiona l identity is at stake. and in corpe n te
America, professional ident ity is often all one has. Given this territor ial
, 4..11. 1" , antagon ism and the bureaucratic hassles of the public sector (which i~
,h. PO"""'" of .. _ ...
usually the designated "client - in 11 public art{archi,ecture pro ject), many
l
artists have simply given up and gone back to the studio.
Perhaps the most typical misunderstanding archilecu have about art-
isu is that they want to build "art " into the project,or that they want to make
the architecture iuel (; that is, that artists want to play at being archi' ects.
There is some truth 10 this. Perhaps the most typica l misunderstand ing
'"