One man’s wall is this woman’s canvas
College of Arts and Media
Visual artist and muralist Judith F. Baca will present a free lecture on Thursday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in North Classroom 1130 on the downtown Denver campus. Baca one of the nation’s leading muralists, is legendary for her large-scale art works, such as the internationally-known The Great Wall of Los Angeles, a landmark pictorial representation of the history of ethnic people of California from their origins to the 1950s. The mural, which included approximately 700 participants and totaled 2,435 feet, was created over the seven summers from 1976 to 1984.
In 1974, Baca formed the first City of Los Angeles mural program, which produced more than 400 murals. Since 1976, she has served as the founder/artistic director of the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) in Venice, Calif., and 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: vice chair of UCLA’s Cesar Chavez Center and professor of art for World Arts and Cultures at UCLA. Baca was commissioned by Denver International Airport to create a site specific 50-foot digital mural for the central terminal depicting historical stratigraphy as recalled layers of a land and its people.
Research and extensive dialogue with the Hispanic people of Colorado took place over two years enabled her to compile the historical imagery used in this work, “La Memoria de Nuestra Tierra (Our Land Has Memory),” which was completed in 2000.
The lecture is presented by the College of Arts & Media’s Department of Visual Arts, the Art History Student’s Association, and UC Denver Live!, in partnership with the Denver Art Museum’s Alliance for Contemporary Art. Visit www.judybaca.com to view more works. For more information on this and other College of Arts & Media-related events, visit www.cudenver.edu/cam/events, or call 303-352-3500.