{"id":1448,"date":"2017-04-25T00:32:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T00:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/arts-culture\/recently-opened-gumbiner-park-will-soon-be-home-to-new-public-art-sculptures\/"},"modified":"2017-04-25T00:32:06","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T00:32:06","slug":"recently-opened-gumbiner-park-will-soon-be-home-to-new-public-art-sculptures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/recently-opened-gumbiner-park-will-soon-be-home-to-new-public-art-sculptures","title":{"rendered":"Recently Opened Gumbiner Park Will Soon Be Home to New Public Art Sculptures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"mujica2\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Rendering courtesy of Long Beach Public Works. Plans above by Long Beach artist Jorge Mujica.<\/em><\/p>\n

Two public art sculptures are in the works for the recently opened Gumbiner Park thanks to numerous community meetings where attendees voiced that they wanted to see the new park incorporate public art and culture, in addition to playground-type facilities, city officials said.<\/p>\n

So Public Works reached out to both the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) and the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM), both founded by Dr. Robert Gumbiner, with the hope of creating a partnership to make that happen, according to Public Works\u2019 Capital Projects Coordinator, Meredith Elguira.<\/p>\n

The department is currently collaborating with both museums to bring contemporary art to the park. Ongoing conversations with the city, museums and key players in the local arts community are leading to the fabrication of these pieces by two artists, said Edward Hayes, MOLAA\u2019s curator of exhibitions.<\/p>\n

\u201c[…]I couldn\u2019t imagine a better way to honor our late founder,\u201d Hayes told the Post<\/em> prior to the park\u2019s grand opening over the weekend. \u201cIt\u2019s been so energizing to witness this transformation. Mayor Garcia\u2019s leadership in transforming this little corner is leading to new partnerships, and new art!\u201d<\/p>\n

Both PIEAM and MOLAA are each contributing one art piece. PIEAM\u2019s will be a permanent fixture of the park once completed and, although not yet determined, MOLAA\u2019s intent is to start a rotating art program, where every three to five years a different local artist can submit a proposal to add a new sculpture to the park, according to Elguira.<\/p>\n

Once the museums have raised the proper funds, the first two pieces to be fabricated will be Fafa<\/em> by artist Dan Taulapapa McMullin commissioned by PIEAM and Long Beach High Five<\/em> by artist Jorge Mujica commissioned by MOLAA.<\/p>\n

\"mujica1\"<\/p>\n

Image courtesy of @studio_mujica<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Long Beach High Five<\/em>, described as a \u201cfreestanding painting\u201d by the artist, will be located in the park near 6th Street and Alamitos Avenue, said Mujica, who started working on the piece last year, thinking about Long Beach landmarks and \u201cthe fresh attitude\u201d of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdward wanted to bring a contemporary work of public art from a local artist to the project,\u201d Mujica said.<\/p>\n

Fafa<\/em>, designed by the American Samoan painter, poet, writer and filmmaker
Dan Taulapapa McMullin, is based on the traditional Pacific Islander \u201celbow-knee\u201d motif, where figures stand with their elbows on their knees mirroring the lower body, according to the proposal. It\u2019s a stance that represents performance, dance and physical stamina.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom this visual motif the artist created a figure that is a metaphor for Pacific Islander embodiment, inclusive of the many cultures within the Pacific community,\u201d according to the proposal.<\/p>\n

\"pieam\"<\/p>\n

Rendering courtesy of Long Beach Public Works.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sculptures that were at the park during the grand opening ceremony on Sunday<\/a> were placeholders, giving attendees an example of what\u2019s to come, said Elguira. Both pieces will be fabricated out of metal once the museums have completed their fundraising efforts. Elguira also said they may use funds from a state grant as seed money to get the fabrication process off the ground.<\/p>\n

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RELATED<\/small> <\/p>\n

A Decade in the Making, Gumbiner Park To (Finally) Open Sunday<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cOver the last few years, we have witnessed a real transformation unfold across the street,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cFrom my little window on MOLAA\u2019s second floor, I have seen the city make a real investment in converting what was once one of the most dangerous intersections in the city into green space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gumbiner Park is located at 880 East 7th Street.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Two public art sculptures are in the works for the recently opened Gumbiner Park, thanks to a partnership between the city and the two museums, the Museum of Latin American Art and the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum, that border the recently opened public space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":66859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[761],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-gumbiner-park","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1448"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1448"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}