LBPOST.com: Arts Council's State Of The Arts Tonight

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Arts Council's State Of The Arts Tonight

by Sander Wolff | Culture Agent | 11.18.09 |

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In Long Beach, it is hard to take two steps in any direction without running into an artist. I talk with people every day who are doing great work, supporting themselves with day jobs that pay the bills, and allow them to pursue their passions. We have scores of small arts focused organizations, and a handful of larger entities. While money is tight, it seems that everyone has been able to continue doing their work.

Funding, however, had become a bit of a challenge. The City, in the new budget, eliminated all funding for the beleaguered Long Beach Museum of Art, and its future is still uncertain. The City also cut deeply into funding for the Arts Council for Long Beach, which forced them to cut staff and reduce grants. As Antonio Pedro Ruiz said in his interview yesterday, the ACLB is reinventing itself. It has new leadership in Craig Watson, a new board President, and high hopes for 2010.

Previously, the Arts Council's State of the Arts event was a rubber chicken banquet gala where they�d parade children and disabled adults in front of a vaguely disinterested audience of deep pockets and political operatives. Real working artists were few, however, because the event was a fundraiser, and tickets were about $100.

For tonight, however, the event has been entirely re-imagined. First, it is taking place at the beautifully remodeled Art Theatre in the thriving 'Retro Row' area of 4th Street. Also, the event is free, although tickets are required for entry. As always, they're handing out Distinguished Arts awards, but this year they�ve chosen three really exceptional recipients. They're going to honor the efforts of Antonio, Long Beach Opera Artistic and General Director Andreas Mitisek, and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra�s Music Director and Conductor, Enrique Diemecke.

These awards don't come with cash prizes, but they do serve a purpose. They help to illuminate the level of excellence that's possible in our humble seaside town. They help to remind us that, when we recognize our own assets, others might recognize them too. In formulating this event in the way they have, the Arts Council doesn't have its hand out but, rather, is fulfilling its mission of advancing Arts and Culture in Long Beach.

I can tell you that, when tonight's celebration is done, the Arts Council will be back at it. Tomorrow, they�re having the first planning meeting for 2010�s Global event, taking place next October. To me, this aggressive planning bodes well for the event, the organization, and the City as a whole. Perhaps they have re-invented themselves after all!

Comments

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Sander
In the article, above, I completely forgot to mention the James H. Ackerman Arts Philanthropy Award, which was presented to the Port of Long Beach. The Port has been a long time and generous supporter of arts and culture in Long Beach, and is well deserving of this recognition.

defined
the reason you can't turn a corner these days without running into an artist has something to do with one's definition of such. Wiktionary defines the noun 'artist' (Singular: artist; Plural: artists) as follows: 1. A person who creates art. 2. A person who creates art as an occupation. 3. A person who is skilled at some activity. this definition pretty much covers it and is very wide ranging. on the other hand- hobby An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure. seems we have merged the two. everyone an artist, everyone a musician some are also hobbyists. if i work all day in my cubicle and then on weekends or on the occasional weeknight i paint, knit, sculpt,scrapbook,play piano,garden,etc am i a hobbyist or an artist? am i both? who decides? we don't like that term though- not politically viable. (who would support arts funding for hobbyists?) the arts have become a political football. i personally subscribe to the 10,000 hour theory. if you have applied yourself to that level of practice then you likely have achieved a level of proficiency in that medium. at 10 hours a week of after hour creativity that would take a person nearly 20 years to get to the 10,000 hours. now that's a commitment! don't get me wrong- i think creative time and more of it is necessary for many people in order to cope and maintain their sanity these days. but turning art & hobbies into a "political force"? i wonder...

Rachel
Long Beach has an unusually high per capita number of professional and emerging artists. See the new economic impact report from OTIS on the 'creative economy' in LA and OC counties, which the Arts Council highlighted last night. 22 Long Beach arts groups generated over $46 million in expenditure and economic activity in 2008.

dont sue me
so the point of developing arts in the community is to bring money here. i get it. i kinda thought it had more to do with giving children and adults an active experience, and possible problem solving skill that may enrich and assist in a lifetime of development. i downloaded and read all 39 pages of the OTIS report. great stuff! if OTIS is good enough for the Arts Council, then its good enough for me! im learning more and more each day in regards to the arts in this city. i thank you for your clarity.

defined
Yes, I did read the Otis report- all 39 pages of it. Nowhere did it mention anything regarding an "unusually high per capita number of professional and emerging artists"for the city of Long Beach. Perhaps this was just an opinion of someone presenting or perhaps you weren't actually meaning to correlate the two. According to the Otis report, employment in the "creative economy" includes jobs (direct and indirect) in industries such as fashion, entertainment, and toy manufacturing. Fashion jobs include almost anything related to the apparel industry (think downtown LA/garment district/jewelry marts) including jobs such as affixing labels and hang tags. Wow- talk about creative! And then there is entertainment. Well, I guess you can make a case for the filming that takes place in LB and the fees that are collected. But really, how does that benefit the average LB citizen? Toys? OK, a few designers design some toys (think Mattel- oh and seems they were an underwriter of some sort for the report as their logo appears on it) which are then sent to China for manufacturing. Or perhaps we can talk about my friend who works "designing" "toys" for Burger King & Mac D happy meals. (which of course are sent overseas for manufacturing and then litter the back seat of your car until they head out to the landfill). Is this what we are talking about when it comes to economic activity in the arts? The Otis report singles out several programs and plans which set out to foster art and community- one being the LA County Arts for All program. Did you know that LBUSD is one of the few LA County school districts that still does not want to participate in this program? Why is that? I thought Long Beach wanted to support art in our public schools. 39 other school districts have sighed on-why not LB? The Otis report ends noting a major challenge facing creative industries: "In particular, the K‐12 curriculum lacks sufficient arts and design‐related education. State reductions in school district budgets will make this problem worse in the near term. There is a huge irony here because at the college and university level, the creative educational assets of the Los Angeles area are unparalleled. In addition, graduates of arts programs can move to and thrive in other fields of endeavor." I wonder how many people have actually read that report. I also wonder what the term "emerging artist" means. Something a gallery would use instead of unknown or new artist. Probably sounds better to a potential buyer. Sadly, it seems like special interest arts groups are more focused on generating "economic activity" than on really finding a way to use art to teach and reach people in our community.

opposite man
O "defined", there is so much you need to learn before posting to these articles. It's better to go with the flow of things, and not burden this place with facts and research. It is more about awards, acknowledgments, and the genuine belief that you are actually making a difference that matters more.....even if it is not true. Reports like OTIS are meant to be used as tools of Public Relations, rather than actual reports of the state of the arts programs as it relates to education in our schools. In fact, i find it best to not speak of education in the grade schools because it takes a certain type of work and honesty that nobody seems to want to answer....and that's OK with me. I do understand your concerns, but i offer these practices to you in hopes that you may become part of the great and genuine Arts Council/Advocates that let us know the arts are alive and well in Long Beach. It is an understandable mistake from someone like yourself, who I suspect has not lived in the city for long, and maybe has not had an opportunity to contribute to the arts in the way that our local Councils and Advocates have done so well. From the City Art Museum, to the wisdom of The Orange Twist, to the great education efforts made in each of our elementary schools, the arts in Long Beach are in great hands! I hope this has been of some assistance to you.

Culture Agent

Sander lives with his wife, step-daughter, two dogs, two cats, two fish, and two aquatic frogs. He's an avid nature photographer, and enjoys creating close-up images of flowers and plants.

Sander Roscoe Wolff is a musician, artist, and was co-founder and Executive Director of LongBeachCulture.org, the City's first comprehensive, and free, arts portal.

He has served on the boards of the 2nd City Council Art Gallery + Performance Space and the East Village Arts District, curated a 6 month gallery exhibition in the Long Beach World Trade Center, and produced Songs For Bethune, a CD of original and traditional holiday songs by local artists, to raise funds for the Arts Council's Passport to the Arts program.

His work has been featured in local gallery exhibitions, in SoundWalk, and L.A. Siggraph's Photon Ballet. His current music project is Ain Soph Aur, a systems based improvisational duo.