L.A. bulks up public art for sports events

David Flores’ mural touches on a new Olympic sport, skateboarding.

Artist Emily Ding’s work is part of the “Big Art. Bigger Dreams” mural project in downtown Los Angeles, commissioned ahead of the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. PhotoS courtesy of Street Art for Mankind

Image

By Richard Guzman

riguzman@scng.com

As major events like the Olympics and the World Cup approach and the eyes of the athletic world focus on the city, downtown Los Angeles is on track to create a dozen murals inspired by the intersection of social justice, art and sports with an ambitious project dubbed “Big Art. Bigger Dreams.”

“The goal is to create an outdoor, walkable mural museum,” said Gabriel Yeager, director of DTLA Alliance, which has teamed with the global nonprofit Street Art for Mankind to create the murals downtown before the Olympics.

The first three murals were unveiled in mid-May, and the goal is to roll out about three per year by 2028. Los Angeles, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, will once again be the epicenter of the global event in 2028, with opening and closing ceremonies happening at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, while competitions will be held at venues throughout the region. Los Angeles will also be among the host cities for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup soccer championship.

“The themes of these murals are inspired by sports but they’re really related to key community values such as women empowerment, education for all and micro mobility and green transportation,” said Audrey Decker, co-founder of Street Art for Mankind. The organization creates large-scale murals around the world with a focus on artwork that raises awareness for social and environmental justice.

“Major events in sports are coming up in Los Angeles so really the idea was to make people feel excited and dream bigger and unite as a community. Our goal is to create inspiration and excitement because we truly believe that art has the power to make our world a better place,” she added.

The first three murals were created by artists Emily Ding, Shamsia Hassani and David Flores.

Ding’s mural, which is visible from a parking lot at 724 S. Figueroa St., is about celebrating women’s empowerment with an image that depicts two young females with birds flying around them. Hassani’s mural, at Flower and Eighth Street, is about the power of education as she shows a female figure studying a pile of paperwork.

Flores’ piece, meanwhile, which is on a wall of the Los Angeles Athletic Club parking structure at 618 S. Olive St., was inspired by his love of skateboarding. It depicts three skaters riding down city streets led by a running French bulldog.

“My specific task was to pinpoint green transportation and athleticism,” Flores said. “I wanted to highlight the fact that skateboarding is the greenest transportation.”

While Flores is an experienced muralist, being part of this project was particularly exciting because not only will visitors from around the world see his mural, he’s also paying homage to athletes who will be competing here. “Since skateboarding is a brand new Olympic sport for me, this is awesome. It just warms my heart,” Flores said.

To find the murals go to streetartmankind.org