Los Angeles has long been deeply connected to art and culture in all its forms: from film to music. Among the many ways beauty is created and celebrated in the city, street art stands out as one of the most powerful.
Of all the murals you’ll find on building façades across L.A., one of the most important, both for its historical significance and sheer size, is The Great Wall of Los Angeles. Painted in 1978, this monumental piece stretches half a mile (2,754 feet) and stands as a living testament to the city’s rich multicultural background.
The Great Wall tells California’s history through the perspectives of women and marginalized communities. Created during the Chicano Movement, it highlights often-overlooked stories of Native Americans, religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ individuals, and civil rights activists. Artist Judy Baca led the project to fill a void in public art representing L.A.’s diverse heritage, making it a lasting cultural landmark.
The mural begins with prehistoric times and moves through pivotal 20th-century events like Chinese labor, the Holocaust, the Great Depression, Japanese-American internment, and civil rights movements. Designed in the style of Social Realism, each section was crafted by different artists under Baca’s guidance, using dynamic lines and figures to create a vivid, unflinching narrative of California’s past up to the 1950s.
More than 400 people helped paint the mural over six summers, with their names recorded on the wall. The project also involved 40 historians and 40 artists who contributed to bringing it to life.