In 1999, the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, concerned about outbreaks of violence between youth in the city, provided SPARC with funds to create a Summer youth program that would bring together socio-economically and ethnically diverse 14 year olds from all over Los Angeles with the goal of increasing cross-cultural awareness. The Shoulder to Shoulder program was developed and conducted at SPARC over the course of a summer. SPARC developed multidisciplinary art curriculum focused on facilitating dialogue on critical issues facing 14 year old youth . This included painting, writing, theater performance, and digital imaging in the UCLA-SPARC Digital/Mural Lab. Over the summer, approximately 125 students were led through the curriculum by artists Ricardo Mendoza (muralist), Monica Palacios (writer/performer), and Pete Galindo (theater director), supervised by SPARC's Artistic Director Judith Baca and Michelle Marsh of the Human Relations Commission. New friendships were formed, stereotypes were dissolved and the sentiments of a growing generation were voiced. The program was so successful that after it concluded the city commissioned SPARC to memorialize the dialogues between the youth in a city-wide banner campaign which included the youth's artwork and writings. Each banner depicted a partnership between two youths of ethnically and economically difference and included their artwork, and what they said or learned from each other. Click here to view the Shoulder to Shoulder banners.