For other things with the acronym "SPARC", see SPARC (disambiguation)

SPARC (disambiguation)

SPARC may refer to:*SPARC, a microprocessor instruction set architecture* SPARC Innovation Program, a research program at Mayo Clinic and its "See-Plan-Act-Refine-Communicate" method* Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition...

.

The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) is a non-profit community art

Community art

Community Art could be loosely defined as a way of creating art in which professional artists collaborate more or less intensively with people who don't normally actively engage in the arts. Community arts, also sometimes known as "dialogical art", "community-engaged" or "community-based art,"...

s center based in Venice, California. SPARC hosts exhibitions, sponsors workshops and mural

Mural

A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...

s, and lobbies for the preservation of Los Angeles-area murals and other works of public art

Public art

The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...

. According to its mission statement, "SPARC espouses public art as an organizing tool for addressing contemporary issues, fostering cross-cultural understanding and promoting civic dialogue."

Inspired by the Mexican artistic movement that spread the social gospel of the Mexican Revolution

Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...

 through muralism, SPARC was founded in 1976 by muralist and activist Judy Baca

Judy Baca

Judith Francisca Baca is an American artist, activist, and University of California, Los Angeles professor of fine arts...

, (who continues to serve as artistic director), painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 Christina Schlesinger, and filmmaker Donna Deitch

Donna Deitch

Donna Deitch is an American film and television director best known for her 1986 film Desert Hearts. The film was groundbreaking as one of the first releases to depict a lesbian love story in a generally mainstream, albeit art house, vein but with positive and respectful themes...

. It was an outgrowth of the "Friends of the Citywide Mural Program", a community organization

Community organization

Community organizations are civil society non-profits that operate within a single local community. They are essentially a subset of the wider group of nonprofits. Like other nonprofits they are often run on a voluntary basis and are self funded...

 dedicated to supporting Baca's work with the Los Angeles Citywide Mural Program, a city-funded project to beautify city walls and divert the energies of youth in gang-afflicted areas. The initialism "SPARC" was chosen intentionally, as the organization was intended to "spark" "a movement toward identity and justice."

In 1977, SPARC took up residence in a two-story Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 building that had served as the Venice jail since 1929. The SPARC building features a gallery, five artists' studios, a darkroom, and houses Baca's archive

Archive

An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...

s as well as those of Minna Agins.

SPARC's first project was the monumental mural project The Great Wall of Los Angeles, which is one of the largest murals in the world. It depicts scenes from the history of California

History of California

The history of California can be divided into several periods: the Native American period; European exploration period from 1542 to 1769; the Spanish colonial period, 1769 to 1821; the Mexican period, 1821 to 1848; and United States statehood, which continues to the present day...

 on the side of the Tujunga wash

Tujunga Wash

Tujunga Wash is a stream in Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, providing about a fifth of its flow, and drains about...

, and was created by thousands of volunteers, most of them school-aged. Beginning in 1988, SPARC undertook a program called Great Walls Unlimited: Neighborhood Pride, which painted 105 murals in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles.

The SPARC website hosts an archive of digital images of Los Angeles murals (currently in development), as well as a discussion forum.

External links

• Official site
• Debra J. T Padilla, Executive Director, SPARC KCET Departures Venice