twLF Mural

We're excited to present to you the three concept sketches and proposals for the third world Liberation Front (twLF) mural to be housed in Barrows Hall. This mural was fought for and won as a result of a hunger strike that occurred in May of 1999 when students demanded, among other things, increased funding and space for Ethnic Studies, the creation of an institute for race and gender studies (CRG), monies for student recruitment efforts, the creation of a multi-cultural center (MCC), and the creation of a mural in Barrows Hall. You can find a more extensive hxstory at the bottom of this page. We invite you to review the sketches and proposals and provide any feedback via this google form. All feedback will be taken into consideration in the final selection of a muralist for this project. Please note that these are concept sketches, and all content is subject to change depending on community feedback. 

Overview: As a result of a student hunger strike that occurred in May 1999, students reached an agreement with UC administrators regarding funding and space for Ethnic Studies, the creation of an institute for race and gender studies (CRG), monies for student recruitment efforts, the creation of a multi-cultural center (MCC), and the creation of a mural in Barrows Hall.  The demand from students read “we demand that a wall be designated inside of Barrows Hall for murals created by students and community members.” Carried out under the banner of twLF (third world Liberation Front), students and community members organized and fought for representation and visibility for marginalized communities, especially people of color, at all levels of the University.   To learn more about the strike, as well as the organizing that lead up to it, please check-out “On Strike! Ethnic Studies 1969-1999” (http://vimeo.com/23242564).

It is our vision that the mural will both embody the spirit of the third world Liberation Front as well as reflect issues and themes pertinent to students across the campus, particularly for communities of color and other underrepresented communities in the areas of representation and access to/in higher education, solidarity and allyship, and activism and social justice.  We have narrowed down the submissions to three artist proposals reflected by the sketch proposals below. We invite you to review their proposals and provide feedback, so we may take community input into account when selecting the finalist to paint the murals. Remember these are rough concept sketches, so any and all feedback is highly welcome and the sketches are subject to change.