And while we're on the subject of arts . . .

. . . it's never to early to think about Arts Month, which is October in case you forgot. This year the Arts Council has launched GLOBAL, the Greater Long Beach Arts Lab, to emphasize Long Beach's diversity and international connections. Events will include the Southeast Asian Festival at the Aquarium, Sound Walk in the East Village (one of my favorites), the Green Port Fest, a mid-city artist studio tour, and CalRep performances on the Queen Mary. Beginning on October 9 and extending to the end of the month, a group art exhibit of local artists called Exposed will be held in the 25,000 square foot former Expo furniture store on Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls. Now that's a lot of art! A website for GLOBAL should go up soon.

Create Long Beach . . . creatively

Have you heard of Create Long Beach? It's a 10-year initiative being coordinated by Arts Council Long Beach and the Long Beach Economic Development and Cultural Affairs Bureau to identify Long Beach"s creative assets and invigorate the city's creative community which began in October 2008 and issued an 18-page cultural plan framework in June 2009.

There doesn't seem to be any funding for this plan, but there's an abundance of good ideas. I particularly like these concepts:

• Engage residents in locations not commonly considered cultural venues such as parks, libraries, schools, and churches.



• Have individuals who are familiar with the populations to be serve help plan programs that bring communities together while preserving the neighborhoods' unique identities.



• Provide more opportunities for artist residencies in public schools and other venues.
  


• Develop a cultural assets map of existing venues (formal and informal), organizations, artists, events, festivals, activities, training programs and other resources.




• Review city permitting policies to make it easier for artists to perform in neighborhoods throughout the city.




• Build stronger ties to regional organizations such as the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, ARTS LA, and the Center for Cultural Innovation.

An implementation plan is supposed to be submitted to the City Council in January 2010. Justin Hectus of the Arts Council Long Beach and Robert Swayze of the Bureau of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs are co-chairs.

• Rev

Long Beach Arts Council Gets Organizized

The Long Beach Arts Council has just launched the Long Beach Arts & Culture Registry to feature local groups and individuals involved in the arts. Not only visual artists either, the list of about 100 so far includes dancers, musicians, writers, actors, comedians, and many organizations that support artists as well. The registry was begun as a way to encourage local businesses to employ artists for their creative projects. It's great to see such a trove of creative people out there.