The Great Wall of Los Angeles mural in the Tujunga Wash is so called because, at a half mile long, it claims to be the longest mural in the world. Artist Judith Baca undertook the enormous task of depicting a capsule of California history from prehistory to the 1950s, which includes "ethnic peoples, women and minorities who were so invisible in conventional textbook accounts," according to the Social and Public Art Resource Center, the organization that realized the mural. This piece of public art history is currently only visible from Coldwater Canyon Avenue between Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Street, but a plan to build a pedestrian bridge with solar lights to span the wash and allow viewing of the mural has now been approved by the LA County Board of Supervisors, reports the Daily News. The whole project is expected to cost about $1.3 million, but the county's only kicking in $181,500; the rest of the cash will come from the city and two conservation groups who want to see this big beautiful thing appreciated.
Pedestrian access is something that SPARC has been trying to get back for years (it was originally supposed to be completed in 2011), since the wooden bridge that previously provided access fell into disrepair and was removed. The new bridge was at one point designed by wHY Architects (that's what these renderings are) and supposed to be made of things found in the river—bottles, rocks, you name it—making it extra environmentally friendly.
· Great Wall of Los Angeles mural OK'd for pedestrian access [DN]
· wHY Architecture's Art Bridge Coming to Valley Glen [Curbed LA]
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