"Speakout" this website-presentation's title, is derived from the artist speaker series created by John Baldessari in the mid-1960s, during his tenure as a full-time faculty member at Southwestern College . This Friday night event, officially titled "Artist Speakout", was a venue to bring in influential art world figures, from outside the campus and the community, to speak on art related topics and to interact with students in a more informal manner. Noteworthy speakers from these events included Light & Space artist Robert Irwin and custom car designer & illustrator Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.

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An artist lecture series had existed, in some capacity, since early in the creation of the SWC Art Gallery back on the Chula Vista High School campus. Earlier lectures involved faculty, curators or exhibiting artists lecturing on art topics or speaking in relation to an ongoing exhibition.

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At this time, the term "Speakout" described, generally, when a group of disenfranchised people gathered to tell their stories, speak their grievances, or to plan their actions. A notable speak-out occurred in March 1969 at Washington Square Methodist Church in New York City, where women assembled and spoke openly in public about their experiences with (then illegal) abortions.