Week 9 Reflection

The artist that most made an impact on me during the presentations last week was Judy Baca. She is a famous advocate for murals in the Los Angeles metro region and is a muralist herself. However, the work of hers which most impresses me is the Great Wall of Los Angeles, which is one of her best known works. While its official name is "The History of California", the mural does a fantastic job of depicting the evolution of the Chicano community, especially those in California. This wall could be understood to be a tribute to the Chicano community in the United States, as the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural was made by hundreds of different artists with a special focus to bring attention to marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities and women, by depicting their respective struggles and making their struggle a part of history as well. The mural also makes an effort not to diminish significant actions against marginalized groups, such as the interment camps for the Japanese during World War II, the civil rights movement, or the treatment of refugees during the dust bowl era. The sheer length of the mural itself is a remarkable task by itself, being over 2700 feet long. The fact that artists used this opportunity to depict a more realistic take on history, even the parts that tend to be forgotten or ignored, shows that while the struggle for minorities to be fully integrated continue, there still exists the notion that their voice deserves to be heard.