Judith Baca's Public Art Projects and Her Use of Principles of Design

Wiew the video below about Judy Baca (Judy Baca, painter and activist known for her mile-long mural in Los Angeles depicting Chicano history, works on two public art projects in Southern California)
Video of The Great Wall of Los Angeles (Abridged Version) and read The Great Wall of Los Angeles: The History and Art of the Great Wall.
Since 1976, Judith Baca has served as the Founder/Artistic Director of the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) in Venice, California. She has taught studio art as a Professor of Fine Arts for the University of California since 1980. As of 1996, she concurrently holds two academic appointments: as Vice Chair of UCLA’s Cesar Chavez Center and as Professor of Art for World Arts and Cultures at UCLA.
As a visual artist and one of the nation’s leading muralists, Judith Baca is best known for her large-scale public art works such as La Memoria de Nuestra Tierra (figs. 8-25 & 8-26). Consider this work in relation to another mural, the internationally known The Great Wall of Los Angeles (fig. 11-26), a landmark pictorial representation of the history of ethnic peoples of California from their origins to the 1950s. Baca and her planning and painting teams of approximately 700 participants produced 2,435 running feet of murals in segments over seven summers, from 1976 to 1984. The Great Wall engaged over 400 young people, 14-21 years of age, of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. Working with scholars, oral historians, local artists, and hundreds of community members, it is one of the most acclaimed monumental cultural projects in the United States dealing with interracial relations. It provides a vibrant and lasting tribute to California and the unrecognized ethnic groups who have shaped this state’s history. Its half-mile length in the Tujunga wash drainage canal and its accompanying bike trails and park in the San Fernando Valley host thousands of visitors every year.
In your original post, please discuss:
1. Baca is famous for her murals giving voice to marginalized Chicano communities and for telling her stories in large-scale works. After watching the video how well do you think Baca succeeds at her art?
2. Baca was inspired in part by the muralist painter Diego Rivera. Rivera was a revolutionary painter looking to take art to the public. His style was direct and full of social content. Examine Diego’s mural Los Explotadores and then describe what you think is represented. How is the social commentary in Diego’s mural similar to Baca’s?
3. Explore Judy Baca's website. Read her Biography and Artist Statement, and view her Artwork and other projects. Choose an artwork to discuss. Post a link or insert the image into your post. Be sure to state the title. For large murals and projects, it is okay to focus on one section, as long as you consider it within the context of the full project. For the artwork you choose, discuss how Baca uses the Principles of Design (chapter 8). What is the narrative or history? How does her use of design help convey the content (meaning or expression) of her artwork?