Arts Council Launches GLOBAL

An Annual Community-wide Arts and Culture Festival in Celebration of October’s National Arts and Humanities Month

Long Beach, CA– The Arts Council for Long Beach has announced the establishment of a new, annual arts and culture festival to run throughout the month of October. Named Global…also an acronym for Greater Long Beach Arts Lab…the festival will officially kick-off on the weekend of October 3rd and 4th. A planning group consisting of a broad cross-section of arts leaders met for the first time in early June at the Museum of Latin American Art and quickly embraced the idea of transforming October into an annual event that will be built into a “signature event” for Long Beach, attracting regional and international visitors to the city. 

“This year will be a preview of what is possible when the arts community rallies around an idea like Global”, said Craig Watson, Executive Director, Arts Council for Long Beach. “We chose the name Global to reflect the diversity and international connections that make Long Beach a unique American city. We have so many assets that reinforce this global theme…the port and global trade, our eight international sister cities, our highly diverse population and an aquarium highlighting the importance of our oceans and global sea life...Global just fits”.

The planning team is finalizing the calendar of activities for the month, but already the schedule is full of events and exhibits that touch virtually every part of the community and every arts discipline.  Among the activities on the opening weekend of October 3rd and 4th are the Southeast Asian festival at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Soundwalk in the East Village Arts District, the annual Port Fest at the Port of Long Beach, the Mid-City Artist Studio Tour, and CalRep performances on the Queen Mary.  In addition, several Long Beach museums are participants in “Museum Free for All”, a Southern California initiative to offer free admission to museums on October 3rd and 4th. In Long Beach, the Museum of Latin American Art will be open free to the public on both October 3rd and 4th, as will the University Art Museum at CSULB. 

A particularly unique component of Global will be a visual art exhibition named “Exposed”. Set to open October 9th and run through the rest of the month this group exhibition of greater Long Beach-based artists will be held in the 25,000 foot former Expo furniture store on Atlantic Boulevard in Bixby Knolls. Meant to be one of the largest visual arts exhibitions of its kind, “Exposed” will invite established and emerging artist to participate in the show.

“Global is going to advance our long-term objective to make Long Beach a West Coast epicenter for the creative community,” said Robert Swayze, Manager of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs for the City.  “We think it’s not just a festival – it’s branding Long Beach as the intersection of arts, commerce and technology.  We are Global.”

The Arts Council has distributed a survey to arts groups and artists to ensure that any arts-related activity planned for October is captured and including in the extensive marketing and promotion planned for Global. To get more information on the survey, to be added to the Global mailing list or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please call the Arts Council at 562-570-1930. A website for the festival and festival calendar will be launched in early August.