Judy Baca's Great Wall: 1960s Opening Day at Skirball

If you track things to do in Los Angeles that mix art with real history, mark October 22. The Skirball Cultural Center opens The 1960s: A Generation on Fire, an exhibition of new work from Judy Baca's Great Wall of Los Angeles, and the opening day runs from noon to 5 PM.

When: Thursday, October 22, 2026, 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM Where: Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049 Price: $0-$20

What the Great Wall is

Baca conceived the Great Wall in 1974 as a monument to the people of California, a visual history of ethnic peoples from prehistoric times to the 1950s. She went on to co-found the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) and became its artistic director. The mural was SPARC's first public art project. It was painted over five summers on the walls of the LA River and employed 400 young people and their families, working alongside artists, oral historians, scholars and hundreds of community members.

What you will see on opening day

The exhibition shows recently completed mural sections about the 1960s. These panels will later be added to the existing mural. Alongside them you will find drawing studies and an immersive video installation.

The panels come from a newer way of working. Baca's team, which includes researchers, digital assistant illustrators, muralists and junior muralists in training, developed a mural scrolling system. It lets more than 400 feet of artwork be painted, moved and viewed inside a single room, so new sections can be painted indoors and then travel to institutions, galleries and community spaces.

The decade itself is the subject. The new sections look at the moral courage, peaceful protests and cultural awakening of the Civil Rights Movement (1954 to 1968). Activist Tom Hayden called the young people involved "a generation on fire," self-described revolutionaries linking arms across faith, race and identity. The exhibition asks what we can learn from them as we try to build a more just society.

Planning your visit

The Skirball sits on North Sepulveda Boulevard in the hills near the 405, so build in time for parking and for walking the grounds. The listing gives admission as $0-$20, and it does not say which visitors pay which amount, so check the Skirball's own site before you go. Opening day is a good slot among the LA events this weekend and next for anyone who wants to see the panels first.

Browse more arts and culture events across the city, or see what else is on across LA neighborhoods. The listing is on Discover Los Angeles, linked in the sources.