LATINOPIA THIS WEEK: MURALS, MURALS , MURALS! JUDY BACA ON THE GREAT WALL MURAL, SONIA ROMERO ON THE MACARTHUR PARK URBAN OASIS MURAL, WAYNE HEALY AND DAVID BOTELLO ON THE CHICANO TIME TRIP MURAL,” AND GRONK AND WILLIE HERRON ON THE BLACK AND WHITE MURAL.
With the official first day of summer this week, Latinopia thought it would be worthwhile to showcase some of the many murals to be found in Southern California–murals easily visited in the summer months ahead. We begin with an interview with muralist Judy Baca as she speaks about her famous The Great Wall mural. Baca is an acclaimed artist and muralist and founder of SPARC (The Social and Public Art Resource Center). She is perhaps best known for designing and painting, with the help of many assistants, a half mile long mural in the Tujunga Wash in Los Angeles, California. The mural involved the work of more than 400 young people.Here, Judy speaks about what led her to muralism and what The Great Wall represents.
Sonia Romero is a graphic artist,muralist and print maker. In this second profile on Sonia and her work, Latinopia explores Sonia’s public murals, in particular the “Urban Oasis” mural at the MacArthur Park Metro Station in Los Angeles, California. As the video reveals, Sonia did her homework, observing life in the downtown community of MacArthur Park and then patterning her mural around the life activities she witnessed.
Wayne Healy and David Botello have collaborated as a two-man mural team for more than forty years. Working as East Los Streetscapers, they have created dozens of murals and public works of art. Here they discuss their first joint collaboration, a mural titled Chicano Time Trip.
One of the most recognized murals in East Los Angeles is The Black and White Mural which is also known as the Moratorium Mural. The work was created by Willie Herron and Gronk, co-founders, along with Harry Gamboa Jr., and Patssi Valdez, of the art collective ASCO (Spanish for nausea). Latinopia asked Gronk how the mural came about and about the imagery he and Willie Herron put into it.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia!
Tia Tenopia