LongBeachCulture.org CenterStage Blog

The Creativity Network, in partnership with the Museum of Latin American Art, is presenting a first ever Community Television Special and Town Hall Meeting, Re-Imagining the Arts in Long Beach on Saturday, November 3rd, from 2 – 4 pm. Produced by Really Big Boom Productions in association with Charter Communications, the goals of this two hour special are to create a dialogue on the future of the Arts in Long Beach and to develop action steps for recommendations to policy makers and the Creative Community.

This dialogue and exchange of ideas are part of a city wide effort to update the Creativity/Cultural Master Plan for Long Beach. It is our additional goal that this Town Hall meeting will kick off a series of community forums in each of the Council Districts to vision the future of the arts in Long Beach. The resulting dialogue and recommendations will be incorporated into any future Creativity/Cultural Master Plan and presented to the Mayor and City Council for consideration and action.

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A Conversation with Stan DeWitt
by Lynne Finley
(Special to LongBeachCulture.org)

The Grace First Concert Series began with the idea that a venue for live music on the east side of Long Beach would be a good addition to the city’s existing cultural opportunities. Now preparing for the fourth season, Stan DeWitt, Grace First’s music director and an accomplished musician himself, looks forward to the opportunity to once again bring a variety of concerts to the community.

LBC: What is the Grace First Concert Series?

Stan DeWitt: It is a series of concerts through the season held at Grace First Presbyterian Church. We wanted to create a venue in this part of Long Beach where people could attend a concert like this and not have to worry about parking, driving or even the cost of a ticket. Some of the concerts are sacred music, but others cover a large gambit of styles of music. We have tried creating a series that anyone in the community would enjoy.

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By Greggory Moore

If you’ve been to more than one performance at the Garage Theatre, you know that you never step into the same theatre twice. It’s a close space that is literally transformed specifically for each production that they stage. The seating varies, the stage varies, walls are added or taken away—whatever they deem necessary to get at their interpretation of the work in question.

Currently, the work in question is “Valparaiso” by Don DeLillo. If you enjoy the general subject area of his iconic novel “White Noise”, Valparaiso keeps you in happily familiar territory. “Valparaiso” is the spectacle of Micheal and Livia Majeski drifting without anchor on waves of technology, buffeted about by the media’s exploitative frenzy in the wake of Micheal’s embarking on a plane trip to Valparaiso, Indiana, and ending up (by way of Valparaiso, Florida) in Valparaiso, Chile. On the way, the snappy, serried dialog covers ground relating to how one finds identity in a culture in which the most far-reaching truths and deepest intimacy are found by many not face-to-face but radiating invisibly across empty space.

I read “White Noise” many years ago, and it failed to make any real impression on me; but for some reason “Valparaiso” does. In part this has to do with the fact that, in writing for the theatre, DeLillo can’t rely on a narrative voice—which in “White Noise” seems to me dry and not as clever as it means to be, infecting the voices of the individual characters—but instead has to drive his story onward only in dialog. The result is prose that is vibrant and alive.

But as well written as it is, unlike with (e.g.) a Tom Stoppard play, I’m not sure reading “Valparaiso” would deliver much punch; this is where the Garage Theatre shines. For starters, each and every actor owns his/her character. As the play grinds on, you believe that Steven Parker’s frenetically barren Michael (who is almost never offstage) has done over a hundred interviews in a matter of days; and that Jessica Variz’s Livia literally cannot suppress her instincts of aimless habit and confession. But even the smallest roles stand out, each getting a scene-stealing turn, and the cast interacts and flows together in the theatrical moment, gifting the audience with the illusion of bearing witness an unfolding and not a performance. The play’s extensive technical cues (lighting, sound, video, music) are spot-on, and director Jeff Kriese’s choices clearly show he’s got a grasp of both the play’s moment-to-moment detail and its overarching structure.

Because of the set design, I’m not sure if there is seating for even 30 audience-members, which makes this perhaps the world’s most extensively-produced truly intimate theatrical experience—and one I couldn’t recommend more highly.

“Valparaiso” runs Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. until November 3rd. The Garage Theatre is located at 251 E. Seventh St. (at Long Beach Blvd.). Tickets can be purchased at the door a half-hour before show time or in advance at (866) 811-4111. For more information, call (562) 433-8337 or visit www.thegaragetheatre.org.

On September 8th a group of talented local musicians will be sharing their gifts in an intimate acoustic performance at the Carpenter Center to raise funds in support of Arts programs for kids in Long Beach schools. Justin Hectus, one of the event’s organizers, and a long-time supporter of arts and music in Long Beach, took some time to talk about the event.

Justin: I got involved when Jay Buchanan approached me and suggested that we pair up to bring these acts to a premiere venue in the city in support of music education in the schools. It kind of started with a conversation where we were talking about where the next generation of LB musicians will be coming from. We decided to start small, by supporting existing programs rather than launching our own endeavors from scratch. We’re also making the show very accessible to the public. Ticket prices are very affordable – $10 to $17.50. And, as I mentioned, it’s all-ages. A lot of us (fans and musicians alike) have kids and we’ve not had many opportunities to bring them out to see our favorite bands.

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By Greggory Moore

I had caught The Year Zero at Tour des Artistes. They were playing when I hit Linden. I was talking to some people and not really paying attention, but now and again I sort of tuned in and said, “That’s not bad.” So I made sure to catch them at {open} on August 2nd. It like taking The Pixies and making them more palatable to my mother. This is not a backhand slap at either the band or the parent: it’s just that the latter just doesn’t enjoy dissonance, sonic aggressiveness, and bizarro quirkiness—and the former doesn’t bring it. Instead, The Year Zero employs simple chords arranged in sequences a little too quick and jagged to be pop, flat-soft m/f vocals (f being the lead), and spare-sounding bass/drums/acoustic guitar/tiny keyboard to produce gentle washes of breezy, sometimes slightly danceable, laconic tunefulness. These days computer and the Internet make it so easy to check a band out, why wouldn’t you? There’s no reason, really, so you’ll be wanting this: myspace.com/theyearzero.

It would have turned out to be a great night for expanding my mother’s musical tastes, had she been there, because going on almost past her (but not my mother’s) bedtime was 16-year-old Alessi, a chanteuse (if you can call someone so young such a thing) that my mother would definitely prefer to Björk, despite the fact that both (i.e., Björk and Alessi) move their mouths and enunciate in much the same way. Alessi doesn’t have that bizarre vocal force. That’s okay—she’s not going for that; instead, she and her acoustic guitar spin laconic (really, the word fits both, really), aerated ditties too dark and offbeat to be what one generally thinks of as “folk.” It’s perhaps a natural temptation to talk about a 16-year-old artist—any 16-year-old artist—as “developing”; but I’m not that tempted. Art can be said to exist in a vacuum; it is what it is. Music sounds like it sounds—and I don’t care about the ages of (or much else about) the performers when considering what I’m hearing. Alessi sounded good to me (and it ain’t like I enjoy most of what I hear). A striaghtforwardly diffident stage presence added to the charm of her set. Okay, so the Internet still can’t really get that across very well—but again, there’s that music thing: myspace.com/alessimusic.

This was a Thursday-night show that started at 8:30 (I missed the first band, I Read Her Journal), and there was a pretty good turnout. I’d love to think that there’s increased awareness of cool artsy events going on at {open}. To that end, I should mention more Internet stuff: accessopen.com.

from Antonio Pedro Ruiz
Co-Founder of The Creativity Network

Graffiti has been with us since the Romans. Today’s graffiti is a representation of contemporary urban hip-hop culture, often practiced by people who know no other form of artistic expression. When a spray can is used to scribble gang symbols on a wall it is called tagging. When private or public property is defaced by unauthorized graffiti it is called vandalism. When the same medium (spray can) is used to create a colorful mural that depicts images and designs typical of how the youth see their world today, the artist is called a graf writer and the creation is called graffiti art.

This art form is recognized internationally as a legitimate artistic expression, when it is done properly and in an appropriate context. During one week alone in August 2007, there are exhibits, shows, book signings and competitions taking place in galleries and museums in New York, Brussels, Montreal and Seattle, not to mention Fresno and Norwalk. Some of these are privately funded through grants or individuals, but many are city-sanctioned and funded. All are open to the public.

The program at Homeland Cultural Center is for serious graf writers who are interested in pursuing and refining their art. All painters are interviewed ahead of time, to determine experience, skill level, etc. Designs are submitted in pencil ahead of time for approval. Many of those who have participated in this program over the past ten (10) years have gone on to careers in graphic design, art direction, scenic design and related fields. It is not uncommon for a participant in our program to have had encounters with the law in the past, but the purpose of the program is to show them a better way. As graffiti or hip-hop art is becoming mainstreamed, and more prevalent on film, television and in advertising, the market for skilled graffiti writers is expanding.

The murals at Homeland are on the portion of the facility that faces inward, toward a semi-enclosed patio. None are visible from Anaheim Street, and none are easily visible from the new Mark Twain Library. The walls of the facility that face directly upon the MacArthur Park grassy area are intentionally kept mural-free. Someone has to want to see the murals in order to do so.

All of the participants in the Homeland Cultural Center program are Long Beach residents over the age of 18. We currently have a crew of between 15 and 20, of whom approximately 8 to 10 are onsite at any one time. Some are there to paint, some to observe. No one who is currently on probation is allowed to paint at Homeland, and they must provide their own paint. Violent images, gang symbols and profanity are not allowed. The only cost to the city is payment to the coordinator, an award-winning graf writer who has been in charge of the program for 10 years and who currently works for a large graphic design corporation.

While the argument is made that Homeland merely encourages spray-painters to go out and commit illegal activity elsewhere, the opposite argument can also be made. Homeland Cultural Center is very important to its neighborhood, and the immediate community values what goes on here. The artists and dancers who use this facility take great pride in identifying with Homeland and everything that it stands for. Our graf writers know that if they get caught tagging or doing illegal graffiti they will be banished from the program. None of our current participants wants to risk being told they can’t come back. Homeland itself is occasionally tagged, like many buildings in the area, and no one hates that more than our own graf writers.

Homeland’s art, music and dance programs reflect their community. 40% of our residents are below poverty level. 65% didn’t complete high school. Our census tracts show a population that is 39% Latino, 34% Asian-American (largely Cambodian, Samoan and Hmong) and 22% African-American. Everyone knows someone who is or has been in prison, and everyone has a close friend, neighbor or relative who has died by violence. This community does not enjoy access to many artistic or cultural art forms or disciplines, and what resonates with the people of this neighborhood, especially the youth, is contemporary urban culture, which manifests itself in hip-hop, krump, rap and graffiti.

By Greggory Moore

1. “These guys fucking rule,” gushed an attendee of the Leviathan Bros. as she left their record-release show at {open}. Then she stopped on her way out and retraced her path a couple of steps to emphasize her point to co-owner Sé Reed: “These guys fuck-ing rule!”

And it certainly would be hard to deny that the Leviathan Bros. are very good at what they do—which is employing piano-sounding keyboard and drums to produce jazzy space-age lounge covers (or mostly covers, anyway—I’m not sure) of material ranging from David Bowie’s Life On Mars?” to The Beatles’ “The Inner Light” (which I liked better than the original, surprisingly) to the Sex and the City theme (which I liked better than the original, not surprisingly). Some ’50s noir film played behind the duet during their set, which wasn’t nearly as charming as their extremely deadpan stage banter. Check them out at www.theleviathanbrothers.com.

2. A recent Tuesday night at {open} opened with a set by And the Furies Say. The sound was too big for the space, but that didn’t stop one from appreciating the sextet’s tightness. Their basic two-guitar/bass/drums foundation (although sometimes one of the guitarists played five-string bass) was layered with cello and French horn (!), resulting in something that was punchy fusion meets Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Take a listen: myspace.com/andthefuriessay.

Later, duo Chris Schlarb (guitar) and C.J. Boyd (bass, harmonica) played long and delicately loping pieces with great control and rapport, the kind of music you can float on. myspace.com/cjboyd will fill you in on what I can’t fill you in on in words.

3. A day later Fingerprints had an in-store event featuring Tegan and Sara. This was my first exposure to them (I was there doing a Gazettes story on Fingerprints, which just celebrated its 15th anniversary), and they’re not half-bad—and quite good at doing what they do, which is something along the lines of how Siouxsie and the Banshees might have sounded had they been more poppy and driving and sans the dark influences that produced bands like The Cure. The eponymous sisters played acoustic guitars (though one was at times on glockenspiel) and were joined onstage by another acoustic guitarist and a bassist playing one of those basses that are like electric basses but are acoustic (y’know?). The treat was the intimacy and the energy that generated—a perfect fit for their very charming sisterly banter. Anyone there just for the music most certainly would have been annoyed at how much the two talked—the whole thing was more of a lounge show than a mini-concert, really—but I’m guessing most of these fans are equally fans of Tegan and Sara’s personalities.

4. If you live in or near Long Beach, you have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to opportunities to take in a wide array of excellent live music being played in venues so small that you could literally reach out and touch the performers (though generally you really ought not to do that). So if you like that sort of thing, seek it out—because it’s always here.

By Porschia Baker
Special to LBC

Constructing community bridges linking creativity, unity and education, the Westside Mural Project proves reputation alone is not enough to assume you know the Westside of Long Beach: there is always a story painted behind stories.

Located on the Westside of Santa Fe Avenue, on a cement wall between 23rd and 25th Street, the Westside Mural Project, inclusive of students, artist, educators, and young professionals, is gradually painting a mirror reflection of their beautiful community in celebration of the Westside’s cultural diversity, heritage, and community improvement. Supported by the City of Long Beach’s Seventh District Youth Council, Long Beach ARTS Council, Long Beach Police Department, St. Lucy’s Church and some residents, the Mural Project’s goal is to illuminate the area and engage community dialogue, especially with the youth who comprise twenty five percent of the Westside population.

“Basically we want to use the Mural Project as a pretext to organize and educate the youth so they could empower themselves and better understand the living conditions they are in,” said Mark Canto, Mural Project Art Coordinator.

As a resolution to stopping racial tension and violence, the Mural Project budded in 2005 after the murder of two youths. Two years later the Mural Project is still laboring, out of love, to expand its nonprofit project to include educational institutions and garner more residential support, from everybody including the elders. However, expansion has been somewhat curtailed because of the lack of youth involvement.

“I think the problem with the lack of response, from a lot of students, is because their creativity has been hindered so much. I think the reawaking for them is to share their thoughts, ideas, and make it into something concrete by incorporating it into the mural,” said June Kaewsith, Mural Project Coordinator. “I hope to eventually get more students involved so we can find a way to open that creative gateway again, which has been closed off because of institutionalized learning.”

With educational workshops incorporating history and literacy, through the use of visual art knowledge, the Mural Project facilitates discussions, reading and writing, which are crucial to centering the youth around the value of having and being part of the Westside’s diversity, as well having an outlet for creative expression.

“That’s our focus: educating the youth about each other because we go through the same problems no matter what color you are, what creed you are or what religion you are,” said Daniel Salera, Mural Project Coordinator. “We Just have to understand each other.”

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Live at {open} (2226 E. Fourth St.), June 23rd ’07

By Greggory Moore

A confession: I am not the biggest fan of live music. That’s why I didn’t catch all of this show: three bands in one night is a bit much for me. And so I ambled in partway through opener Wayne Everett and Friends’ (I don’t think that’s an official band name) set and didn’t pay close attention. But that’s no negative reflection on what I heard. Everett played acoustic guitar and sang his tuneful songs while capably backed by a drummer and a xylophonist. My exposure to them here certainly will not cause me to avoid them in the future. I know it doesn’t sound like a rousing endorsement, but that’s mostly about my lack of focus (and my unwillingness to pretend I took in more than I really did). For more info, focus yourself on www.wayneeverett.com.

Greater California were the headliners. I first heard about the sextet (two guitars, bass, drums (played by turns with sticks, brushes, and mallets), organ, keys/percussion) in last week’s article in The District Weekly (the most well-copy-edited periodical in the Lower 48). Think Pavement meeting The Beach Boys in the milieu of gentle ‘60s pop psychedelia. This band live is studio-tight; and the songs, despite often consisting of multiple sections, adhere to an accessible pop structure. Changes in dynamics abound without cutting into a natural flow, and jams are never very long. Almost everyone in the band vocalizes, often at the same time and switching off the lead. A guitarist switched to vibes for one tune, and guest backing vocalists joined in. The closer was a cover of The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” featuring Wayne Everett on lead vocals. “If you don’t know this song,” Everett (I think) said before they launched into it, “you probably shouldn’t be in this room.” Point well taken. I know the song, but I’m not a Beach Boys’ fan—and I’m not Greater California’s target audience. I like them a LOT more than I do The Beach Boys, though, and you might feel the same. Find out for yourself at www.greaterca.com.

The middle band, Matt Death and the New Intellectuals, was definitely my favorite. Mr. Death was the guy singing like a cross between Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) and Mike Ness (Social D) and playing a Gretsch (?) hollow-body treated only with simple, “classic” distortion and reverb; while on this night the New Intellectuals were represented by a fellow (David Maust, I believe) on a Farfisa organ who was able to milk that unique sound for all it was worth, filling out the bass-less tunes as efficiently as Ray Manzarek often did for The Doors. The songs were short and generally medium-slow, with a clear ‘50s influence (often having a discernible doo-wop rhythm). The music doesn’t seem retro, though, but rather what the ‘50s might have sounded like were artists then able to have time-traveled to glean some present-day sensibilities. These songs were all meat and no fluff, cutting right to the point in terms of both structure and arrangement. I found myself completely surprised at how taken in I was, how much I found myself moving along with the beat. For a couple of songs the drummer Friend of Wayne Everett sat in as an “honorary New Intellectual” and was a perfect complement, helping take the ad-hoc trio on a fantastic, soaring jam. This is a Long Beach band, so all you homers really ought to see wassup here. Are they this good on record? Presumably myspace.com/mattdeathandthenewintellectuals will help me answer that question (once I get out of the world of dial-up, anyway).

I am sometimes struck by how many great artists are virtually unknown. “Great” is a matter of taste (in the arts, anyway, if not in (e.g.) sports), of course, and percentage-wise I personally don’t find all that much greatness in world . . . and yet, great artists abound. Some of them come through {open}. Find out if you agree by stopping in sometime: accessopen.com.

by Sander Roscoe Wolff

LBC: Lets talk about the event… Did it start out as a regular CD release party?

Marisa: Not really. I new I wanted it to be something big, something extraordinary, so I brainstormed what I would want to go to as an audience member and I took the steps necessary to make it happen. I had a bunch of Sideshow Oddity paintings underway and I had been planning on having a show with them for over a year and, since the release party was happening at Koo’s, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to display the work and release the album all in one sha-bang! We’re [also] going to have a burlesque dancer, performances by a guy who hammers nails into his face, and also Count Smokula, who is known for his Vaudeville act. A mime is going to be there, too. I’ll be performing at 9:30pm.

LBC: Tell me about the other artists whose work will be exhibited?

Marisa: Ginger Ivy (founder of love ginger creations) has been sewing stuffed oddities that are over two feet tall each. She’s going to be displaying, and Chris Ballard is making a huge painting special for the release of the new album. It’s going to be a surprise as to what it is, but he got an advance copy of “I’m the Queen” to gain inspiration. It’s going to be themed off the album, but I won’t know what it is until the night of the show!!

LBC: What attracted you to the idea of painting sideshow oddities?

Marisa: I’ve always been interested in human oddities. Intrigued by them, really. I just started painting my favorite oddities, and pretty soon I had a collection of them. The new works are actually tight sketches on mat board that have been mounted on a fabric panel, so it’s a mixed media sort of thing, something garish (the oddity) mixed with something sweet (the fabric). Although, I would argue that the oddity is also sweet. I don’t even see their deformities anymore. To me, they’re more like interestingly shaped people, quite lovely, in fact.

LBC: That’s something I remember noticing when I saw some of your paintings: That they seemed lovingly rendered, affectionate, and not exploitive or grotesque.

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