Mural Arts Institute Presents: Murals as Monuments of Public Memory In Conversation with Judy Baca and Jane Golden

Join the Mural Arts Institute for a conversation reflecting on the past and present of muralism, and the role artists and cultural institutions play in stewarding collective memory. Judy Baca, acclaimed muralist and Co-Founder of the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) in Los Angeles will be in conversation with Jane Golden, Founder of Mural Arts Philadelphia where they reflect on the field of socially engaged public art and commemoration over the past three decades, and explore the expansion of The Great Wall of Los Angeles, which Baca designed and painted from 1976-1983 alongside artists, community members, and over 400 youth. Baca gave Golden her first grant, which changed Golden’s life, and she has been  an inspiration for Golden throughout her career. 

Beginning with the awareness that the land has memory, Baca creates art shaped by an interactive relationship between history, people, and place. Her public artworks focus on revealing and reconciling the struggles of diverse groups of peoples for their rights, and affirming the community’s connections to place. Together with the people who live there, they co-create monumental public art places that become “sites of public memory.” Golden brought to Philadelphia the spirit of commemoration cultivated on the West Coast, now resulting in murals as the autobiography of the City of Brotherly Love and those who call it home.

This conversation will be facilitated by Netanel Portier, Director of the Mural Arts Institute.

The Mural Arts Institute is funded by The JPB Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.