“Free Speech Movement,” detail from the 1960s section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural - Giclée Print

A limited edition museum archival giclée print by Judith F. Baca, reproducing a section from the 1960s segment of the Great Wall of Los Angeles expansion.

“Free Speech Movement,” detail from the 1960s section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural, 2025
Giclée print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 
10 x 24 inches (print); 12 x 26 inches (paper) 
Edition of 30 + 1 AP

Signed and numbered by the artist, Judith F. Baca.
Unframed

Free Speech Movement

The nation's campuses became flashpoints in the struggle over the democratic, collective right to gather and speak truth to power. As university administrators banned political activity and imposed restrictions on students' free speech rights, a student-led counter movement was born.

This segment depicts the moment in 1964 when 1,500 students and activists gathered at University of California, Berkeley to stage a free speech sit-in. Student leader Mario Savio stands atop a car speaking to the crowd: "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you've got to make it stop…" His words spoke to a generation of youth who could not stay silent. UC Berkeley campus police violently removed the demonstrators. Following this, Berkeley faculty voted to support students' right to free speech.

Depicted at the microphone is folk singer Joan Baez, daughter of Mexican and Scottish immigrant parents. One of the era's leading musical voices for social justice, Baez advocated for human and civil rights, LGBT rights, and the environment. She is known for her version of "We Shall Overcome" at the 1963 March on Washington, which became the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. Baez co-founded the Institute for the Study of Non-Violence in Carmel Valley in 1965, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Proceeds support the Great Wall of Los Angeles expansion and SPARC.