LongBeachCulture.org CenterStage Blog

Thursday, July 27, 6-8pm is the scheduled date for the next Long Beach Creativity Network Mixer.

It will be another great opportunity to meet other members of Long Beach’s growing Creative Community.

Details to follow.

We received the following:

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Deb Barrett and work for Grace McNamara, Inc. We are producing a trade show at the Long Beach Convention Center August 15-17, 2006. I am writing in hopes that we might work with LongBeachCulture.org for some of our special event efforts for the show. We are looking for several artists to place strategically on the exhibit floor where they would be working on a current piece of their artwork in exchange for a small space to also display other pieces for sale. Ideally, I am looking for 3-4 artists for each day working from 11:00-4:00 PM . We do have some flexibility.

We are also looking for solo musicians and/or small combos to provide entertainment during the show. Specifically, I am looking for 3-6 solo musicians to play for a 2-3 hour period on the exhibit floor during show hours. The exhibit floor is open 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. These musicians would be placed in the park and cafe areas of the floor to provide ” background music” for the attendees.

I am also looking for a small jazz/band combo for a welcome reception to be held on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 from 5:00 PM to 7:00PM. I am possibly looking for another small combo for the exhibit floor on Monday and/or Tuesday from 2:30- 5:00 during cocktail hours. Please contact me at your earliest convenience about your interest so we can discuss the particulars further.

You can reach me at 630-557-2357, via e mail or fax at 630-557-2357. Thank you.

Regards,
Deb Barrett
Grace McNamara, Inc.
630-557-2357

Deb Barrett
P.O. Box 169
46W681 Elm St.
Kaneville, IL. 60144
P 630-557-2357
F 630-557-2355
www.debbarrett.com

INTERIORS EXPO West Coast
August 15 – 17, 2006
Long Beach, CA

Antonio Pedro Ruiz: I hate to respond to long responses to my postings but what the heck, this is about dialogue, so here goes. For the rest of the readers, see Sanders original posting down further in the Press Room.

1) What is the grand vision for a culturally vibrant and diverse Long Beach?

Sander’s reply:I’m not sure that what we need right now is a ‘grand vision.’ I think that, first and foremost, we need to have a process of self-discovery where we, as a community, explore what our values are, and what we need. We have failed in the past because individuals, or groups, assume that we know what the people of Long Beach want or need. We don’t. We need to ask, listen, and learn. We need to know what’s happening in our neighborhoods, in our communities, and find ways to nurture and support what we already have. Then, and only then, can we formulate a ‘grand vision.’

Antonio Pedro Ruiz responds: You’re right. But so am I. What we need is for someone, everyone, to ask questions and demand answers. We need for the Arts Community to stop waiting for someone else to come up with both the questions and the answers. Then we need, even if it’s a few, to be the leaders who will step forward and take all of that and make it into a Grand Vision. If there’s no goal or goals, if there are no objectives, if there’s no plan, then you can forget about it. It’s going to be the same old thing; a lot of walking around in circles, going nowhere. 

2) Who will build it and will they all come?

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By Greggory Moore

Some musicians are looking to catch on as widely as possible, right down to finding that perfect group name and that catchy hook. None of these people were featured at {open} Saturday, as the two groups who played didn’t even bother with names, let alone “songs” or hooks. There were just five people interested in making their own sounds.

First up was the duo of Lewis Keller and Cat Lamb.

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This is an exciting and heady time for the Creative Community in Long Beach. The Tour Des Artistes this past weekend; long after the vendors had packed up, there were still people on Broadway, Elm, Linden and First. There was an excitement and euphoria that was contagious. Then there was the community meeting on the Art Exchange Project last week and at the Queen Mary there was an exhibition and competition of graphic design, animation and web design sponsored by the Tech Point Committee of the Chamber of Commerce. Gallery openings and live theater everywhere. There’s talk of an Animation Fair for students. And this doesn’t even include all the small businesses that have opened around town featuring the art and craft of local artists. You could almost get drunk with joy thinking about it.

It’s against this backdrop that the Arts Council for Long Beach is set to launch its Strategic Planning process to define clearly its future mission. The Council, formerly the Public Corporation for the Arts, has been here before. Back in December 2001, the Council issued a Strategic Plan 2002-2005. The mission statement then was summed up simply:

“The Public Corporation for the Arts fosters excellence in the creation and presentation of arts and cultural endeavors by supporting arts and cultural organizations and individual artists. The PCA provides access for families, children, and the community to a broad spectrum of creative expressions and cultural experiences by building strategic partnerships and programs that weaves arts and culture into the fabric of our community.”

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By Greggory Moore

I had never heard of FOUND Magazine, and I’d never been a fan of “found art,” reading the side panel of a cereal box and such. So lame. But I was promised a good time, and so I showed up at {open} fashionably late but on time to see show #28 on FOUND‘s nationwide, 40-show Cavalcade of Thrills tour. It was not lame; no promise was broken.

The premise of FOUND couldn’t be more basic. To quote from their Website: “We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids’ homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles—anything that gives a glimpse into someone else’s life.” How does this translate into a show? Yes, I was wondering that myself. Brothers Davy and Peter Rothbart (et al.) are responsible for FOUND (though I’m sure they’d cede top billing to the material itself, whether found by themselves or sent in by kindred passive voyeurs throughout the country), and the show I saw was simply two segments of Davy sharing “finds” and like material broken up by Peter and his acoustic guitar. Sounds like it could be lame, right? Read on.

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Chase Frank, inventor of the Songwriter’s Supper Club that has thrived lo these many years at diPiazza’s, sent us this:

June and July will be the last of Songwriters Supper Club. I am touring alot and soon I will be moving out of state and my time is short. It’s been a good run, don’t you think? Thank you all for playing, coming out and keeping live music alive in Long Beach.

Don’t be a stranger, now!!
xo
Chase Frank

(watch, the oc weekly won’t even write the last few shows up!)
Here are some of the upcoming and final shows. If you want to play, and have played supper club before, write me, we’ll get you in!

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by Sander Roscoe Wolff

At last Saturday’s Last Saturday event in the East Village Arts District, I wandered around and shot some video. I edited it down to about 5 minutes, and you can watch a rather large but low-res version of it here.

The excitement was palpable as I wandered East on Broadway toward Linden Avenue. Shops, galleries, and restaurants were abuzz with activity, and music drifted gently on the evening air. Artists moved around a car, pulled part way onto the sidewalk in front of The Blue Nile, creating complex images with spray paint cans. Another artist, standing on a ladder, worked on a tall wooden board, creating. Turning the corner, I was greeted by a throng of artist booths that filled the street. Many, in addition to showcasing work, had artists actually working, some with paints, others with metal. Video projections, photography, and t-shirts with original graphics were on display, along with all kinds of other things. 2nd District candidate Brian Ulaszewski was at Koo’s, celebrating the official opening of 2D2D, an art show featuring artistic explorations of the 2nd district.

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By Greggory Moore

The last of several forums for candidates running for the Second District City Council seat was put on by the East Village Arts District on May 24 in the Grand Salon of the Cooper Arms building. This piece will not pretend to be any sort of comprehensive coverage. This was my first exposure to some of the candidates. Furthermore, parts of some of their answers were swallowed up (from where I was sitting, at least) by the aesthetically pleasing but echo-heavy room. I can hope for little more than to pass along my impressions.

The evening began promptly at 7 p.m. in front of around 70 people. The candidates present were (in alphabetical order): Becky Blair, Sonny Bozeman, Hank Conn, Richard Green, Thomas Herzog, Suja Lowenthal, Bry Myown, Lyle Sardie, Brian Ulaszewski, and Gabrielle Weeks. Each was allowed a short opening statement, then consecutively asked to address the same three issues: to name the last three businesses within the Second District they had patronized, to name a specific Second District artist they’d supported, and to address any conflict of interest they might encounter if elected. Frankly, the answers to the first two questions were not particularly informative: all could name three businesses (Portfolio got the most mentions (it is great)), and most everyone could name at least one artist—none of which could be verified (which is not to say I suspect anyone of fabricating his or her answers). Answers to the third question, however, provided what I found to be some of the evening’s most interesting moments. Several of the candidates mentioned that they owned property within the District and that this meant they would have to abstain from voting on any project taking place within 500 feet of their property. But in his turn, Herzog called Lowenthal and Blair on the carpet for not addressing what he considered big conflicts of interest: for Lowenthal, the presence of her mother-in-law (Bonnie Lowenthal) on the City Council; for Blair, that she is president of Blair Commercial Real Estate, a company heavily involved in property deals throughout the city. (I am told that Blair said that if elected she will pass on her company to her nephew.) Most of the audience seemed to agree with Herzog, as his statement was met with enthusiastic applause. Personally, I admired Herzog’s willingness to drop politesse a bit to (as the kids say) keep it real. In both cases, my understanding is that technically these may not be conflicts of interest; still, their completely glossing over of issues that obviously fall within the spirit of conflict of interest may speak volumes about their approach to governing.

This portion of the event was followed by a hat being passed from candidate to candidate, each selecting from it one of several issues/questions: the district’s parking situation, the district’s top problems (after parking), the district’s greatest resources, local projects in which they’ve been involved, and the permit requirement for having non-acoustic live music at “non-entertainment” establishments. After this, each candidate was allowed to speak to one of any of the other issues in the hat. Finally, they all had a chance to field (if they wished) an additional question from an audience member about how they feel concerning nearby cities choosing to be sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. Below is a helter-skelter sketch of what I took away from each candidate, based on a combination of what they said and information provided by all (save Bozeman and Sardie) in writing to a series of issues prescribed by the organizing committee and made available to the attendees.

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