Social and Public Art Resource Center Names Pete Galindo as Director of the Great Wall of Los Angeles Institute

The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)’s board of directors announced Pete Galindo as Director of The Great Wall of Los Angeles Institute, an 8-year initiative to extend The Great Wall of Los Angeles monument, a mural started in 1976 by SPARC’s co-founder and Artistic Director Judith F. Baca. An artist, educator, and community organizer, Galindo brings extensive experience including a previous role serving as SPARC’s Public Art Director overseeing the Neighborhood Pride: Great Walls Unlimited Program, and recent experience as co-founder and CEO of Civic Center Studios.

The Great Wall of Los Angeles mural is recognized as one of the country’s largest monuments to interracial harmony. Designed by Baca and painted by artists, community members, and more than 400 youth between 1976 and 1983, the mural features historical events through the 1950s. The mural is located on Coldwater Canyon Avenue, between Oxnard Street and Burbank Boulevard, in the Tujunga Flood Control Channel of the San Fernando Valley. Galindo joins SPARC as the organization implements an ambitious effort to preserve and significantly expand The Great Wall of Los Angeles monument and continue delivering on its mission to connect and engage the community with the project.

As Director of The Great Wall of Los Angeles Institute, Galindo will oversee community partnerships and youth engagement, supervise curriculum development and support programs at the institute, and will be responsible for ensuring that project milestones are completed, including the installations of each decade at The Great Wall of Los Angeles mural site inside the Tujunga Wash. 

Galindo attended Ulysses S. Grant High School, adjacent to The Great Wall of Los Angeles, and daily walked past the mural and witnessed the artists working on the project.

“The opportunity to launch The Great Wall of LA Institute and implement a successful plan to realize this vision and ensure its sustainability and growth is a goal I’ve worked and trained for my entire life,” Galindo said. “The historical reckoning of the last few years have more fully revealed the relevance of Judy Baca’s vision, and I want to ensure that through The Great Wall Institute we’re training the next generation of artists and activists.”