Downtown Los Angeles prepares for Olympics with new multiyear mural project
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 a new ambitious art 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 up with the global nonprofit Street Art for Mankind to create the murals in the downtown area before the Olympics.
The first three murals were unveiled in mid May and the goal is to unveil about three per year by 2028.
Los Angeles, which has hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, will once again host the global event in 2028 with opening and closing ceremonies happening at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, while competitions will be held at venues throughout the area. Los Angeles will also be among the host cities for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
“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 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 veteran artists Emily Ding and 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 women with birds flying around them. Hassani’s mural, located at the corner of Flower and Eight Street, is about the power of education as she shows a female figure studying a pile of paperwork in front of her.
Flores’ piece meanwhile, which is located on the 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, but 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