Artist Judy Baca is fighting charges from former employees that she improperly benefited from a $5 million grant related to the expansion of her iconic mural, Los Angeles Great Wallaccording to a report Los Angeles Times.
The accusations come from 10 former employees of the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), a Venice-based nonprofit that Baca co-founded in 1976. Several former staff members, including two managers, told the outlet era Baca blurred the lines between SPARC and her private business, Judy Baca Inc., and personally profited from the grant funds used for the mural expansion.
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Baca, 79, vehemently denies the accusations. during an interview eraShe and SPARC board president Zojeila Flores said the funds were used appropriately and that any compensation Baca received was consistent with the established arrangement between the artist and the nonprofit.
At the center of the controversy is a $5 million grant in 2021 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of its $250 million monument project. This funding supports the expansion and preservation of Los Angeles Great Wallis a 2,700-foot-tall mural in a San Fernando Valley flood control channel that depicts California history from the perspective of women and communities of color. The expansion, which extends the mural’s timeline from the 1960s to the 1990s, is expected to be completed in 2028.
Former employees allege that Baca required SPARC employees, whose salaries were funded in part by a Mellon grant, to perform work unrelated to the mural expansion, including tasks related to her personal commissions and studio operations. Pete Galindo, the former director of the Wall Institute in Los Angeles, wrote to Mellon University in 2022 alleging misuse of funds. Carmen Garcia, former executive director of SPARC, said she resigned after raising concerns about grant management.
Mellon Foundation confirmed to it era It received Galindo’s complaint and dealt with it under a third-party grievance procedure. The foundation declined further comment and has not changed SPARC’s funding status.
Baca denies assigning grant-funded staff to individual projects and says commissions distributed through SPARC follow an approved fiscal sponsorship model. SPARC said Baca received commissions for certain projects and the nonprofit benefited financially from the arrangements.
The report also details a review of Baca’s compensation. According to tax documents cited by the tax office eraBaca’s annual salary increased from about $50,000 before winning the Mellon Award to more than $200,000 after receiving the grant. Board meeting minutes reviewed by the newspaper show that SPARC voted to keep Baca’s salary consistent with her previous salary as a UCLA professor and to draw additional funds from the Mellon grant. SPARC said her compensation remained below market rates for nonprofit executives and below the commission she could independently claim.
People are also interested in more than 350 items for sale in 2021 related to Great Wall Head to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Although the purchase price was not publicly disclosed, two sources told Caijing era It’s $1.5 million. SPARC said Baca owned the archive and later donated $521,000 from the sale to the nonprofit.
Other concerns cited in the report include SPARC’s rental arrangements at its Venice headquarters and how often the nonprofit exhibits Baca’s own work. SPARC said the sublease was consistent with its agreement with the city and the rental income was reported on its tax filings.
Los Angeles Great WallBegun in 1974 and completed over five summers with the participation of hundreds of young artists and community members, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Baca is widely considered a central figure in Los Angeles mural art.
In her response to the allegations, Baca blamed the complaints on disgruntled former employees and said she remained focused on completing the mural expansion.
