{"id":19695,"date":"2020-09-15T10:29:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T17:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000014831"},"modified":"2020-09-15T12:52:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T19:52:07","slug":"one-of-the-citys-largest-parklet-gets-the-long-beach-mural-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/one-of-the-citys-largest-parklet-gets-the-long-beach-mural-treatment","title":{"rendered":"One of the city\u2019s largest parklets gets the Long Beach mural treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

A striking new mural by two local artists was recently completed on one of the city\u2019s largest parklets\u2014the temporary structures that have become widespread as a way to give restaurants the ability to serve patrons outside\u2014by adding some fall colors and a vibrant look to the cluster of shops and restaurants just off Pacific Coast Highway and Anaheim Street.<\/p>\n

Funded by a grant the Zaferia Business Assn. obtained from the Long Beach Community Foundation, the mural covers what organizers are saying is the city\u2019s largest parklet. Guests of DiPiazza\u2019s, Cafe Lorel and El Burrito Grill can now dine surrounded by artwork representing the fall season, with its red, orange, yellow and purple color palette.<\/p>\n

\"\"
a new mural by artists Cody Lusby and Melanie Cristofaro on the parklet outside of DiPiazza’s. Courtesy the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Artists Cody Lusby and Melanie Cristofaro completed the mural just last week. The two met at Lusby\u2019s studio beforehand to discuss the concept, ultimately landing on a mural combining their styles, instead of two distinct pieces. A reflection of the colors on the businesses next to the parklet, \u201cthe colors are moving in waves to illustrate our Santa Ana winds,\u201d Lusby said.<\/p>\n

Cristofaro\u2019s glasses-wearing, femme fatale-like figure is front and center\u2014the dark hair with its purple and pink shimmer floating outward along the temporary structure\u2014representative of the artist\u2019s larger body of work, which \u201cusually revolves around empowering women and expressing bottled up emotions,\u201d according to the artist\u2019s bio. \u201cMy art tends to have a twisted\/disturbing aspect to it, in hopes that it comforts or resonates with people that have this same uneasy feeling of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Detail of a new mural by artists Cody Lusby and Melanie Cristofaro on the parklet outside of DiPiazza’s. Courtesy photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lusby, who painted the crows, said the birds represent the season, but also the loyal patrons of Zaferia, since crows don\u2019t migrate, but stay local: \u201cThe birds in flight also add movement along the parklet, drawing your eye along the 160-foot length to Melanie\u2019s beautifully painted figure, and beyond,\u201d Lusby said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so glad Zaferia was able to connect with these two local artists, and that the Business Improvement District could support the arts sector during this time when so many arts and culture events have been disrupted,\u201d said Madison Mooney, president of the Zaferia Business Association.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Detail of a new mural by artists Cody Lusby and Melanie Cristofaro on the parklet outside of DiPiazza’s. Courtesy photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The parklet<\/a> itself has become integral to DiPiazza\u2019s staying open, one of Long Beach\u2019s most beloved music venues which had to refocus its operations on the restaurant side of the business, with live music locations unable to host, well, live events indoors due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Owner Steve Guillen, who took over after Mark DiPiazza officially retired<\/a> in March, said the parklet has given the business \u201cthe ability to just about near the amount of seats we have inside. We\u2019ve been able to recover really well with the parklet.\u201d<\/p>\n

So why not give the business-saving structure the proper Long Beach treatment, with a mural by local artists?<\/p>\n

\"\"
A new mural by artists Cody Lusby and Melanie Cristofaro on the parklet outside of DiPiazza’s. Courtesy the artists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe new mural and parklet are a great addition for our business area,\u201d said Mooney. \u201cThe painting is eye-catching and vibrant, while providing a space for the restaurants to operate safely under the current guidelines. The mural brightens up the area immensely, giving the whole street a very unique look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about artist Melanie Cristofaro on Instagram @melaniecristo<\/a> and artist Cody Lusby @codylusbyart<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local artists Cody Lusby and Melanie Cristofaro completed the stunning artwork just last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":71256,"comment_status":"closed","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":[6],"tags":[17831,65],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2744],"class_list":["post-19695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-coronavirus","tag-murals","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19695","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=19695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19695"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=19695"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=19695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}