{"id":32804,"date":"2023-01-17T12:49:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/new-exhibition-space-xela-institute-of-art-joins-wrigley-village"},"modified":"2023-01-17T13:24:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T21:24:38","slug":"new-exhibition-space-xela-institute-of-art-joins-wrigley-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/news\/new-exhibition-space-xela-institute-of-art-joins-wrigley-village","title":{"rendered":"New exhibition space, Xela Institute of Art, joins Wrigley neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

After officially opening in September, Xela Institute of Art<\/a>, a gallery on Pacific Avenue that displays contemporary art, is preparing for its second exhibition, which opens Jan. 28.<\/p>\n

The gallery held a successful inaugural exhibition featuring 14 emerging, mid-career, and well-established artists, and now Xela\u2019s second exhibit will highlight the work of a mentor and mentee, Katherine Sherwood and Cynthia Ona Innis.<\/p>\n

When Sherwood was 40 or 41, she had a cerebral hemorrhage, leading to partial paralysis of the right side of her body, including her dominant right hand, said Xela’s director, Alex Alexander.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had to relearn how to use her hand that she had never used,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cThe work is so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a \u201ckunsthalle\u201d style space, which is a German word for \u201cart hall,\u201d the Xela Institute of Art does not have a permanent collection, nor does it sell art or represent artists, Alexander explained.<\/p>\n

Instead, with its focus on four-month shows, Xela is intended to celebrate and provide a platform for emerging and established artists, while also displaying a diverse range of artists, Alexander said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Xela Institute of Art’s opening exhibit, which closed Jan. 8, 2023, featured the work of 14 different artists. Its second exhibit, which includes the work of two artists, a mentor and a mentee, will be open from Jan. 28 to May 27. Photo by Tess Kazenoff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Its name and logo\u2014designed by French artist Christopher Leroux, who does urban industrial work\u2014\u201crefers to a lot of things that are amazing in our world,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n

It is left up to the imagination to determine exactly what the \u201cX\u201d in the logo represents, although connotations like \u201cx marks the spot\u201d or a signature come to mind, Alexander said.<\/p>\n

Situated in the Wrigley neighborhood, Xela Institute of Art is in a pocket of Long Beach that feels particularly authentic, said Alexander.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a very cool, lovely neighborhood, and Long Beach is beautiful,\u201d Alexander said. “It’s a great location. I’m really enjoying it. I’m getting to know it little by little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surrounded by neighboring businesses such as Wrigley Coffee and Wrigley Tavern, Alexander is excited to become a part of the local community, while joining an established art presence in Long Beach that includes the Long Beach Museum of Art and the Museum of Latin American Art.<\/p>\n

While Alexander noted that contemporary art simply means that the artist is alive, the art in Xela\u2019s exhibitions has a specific style.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea for me is that you have to be very original,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to really know what you’re doing, and you really have to love art.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Alexander will be curating some of Xela\u2019s exhibitions, future exhibitions may utilize an invited curator.<\/p>\n

Although its second exhibition will center artists from within California (as well its third exhibition, which will feature Los Angeles-based artist Carla Jay Harris), Alexander hopes to widen the artists\u2019 scope as time goes on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just a little bit of a work in progress, but this first exhibition is a really incredible endeavor, because it’s just one of the best exhibitions right now,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n

Its inaugural exhibition garnered support from around the world, with over 450 people from across the country and globe in attendance for the opening event, and about 180 people at the closing, Alexander said.<\/p>\n

The Xela Institute of Art has received its California nonprofit status and expects to receive its federal status in the coming months. As the gallery continues to develop, Alexander hopes to not only widen its breadth of artists, but also begin various art education programming and partnerships with programs such as Cal State Long Beach\u2019s master of fine arts program and the Arts Council of Long Beach.<\/p>\n

The institute will also offer art classes, along with art appreciation classes discussing contemporary art, which Alexander hopes will help participants learn to train their artistic eyes and understand the process of being a part of the arts, Alexander said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the goal is making sure that people in Long Beach, whether it’s schools, with their art professors,\u201d Alexander said, \u201cI want to make sure Long Beach is included, and very involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xela Institute of Art is located at <\/i>2176 Pacific Ave. and is <\/i>open to the public Thursdays through Sundays, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. by reservation only. Email <\/i>info@xela.art to book a reservation.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After officially opening in September, Xela Institute of Art, a gallery on Pacific Avenue that displays contemporary art, is preparing for its second exhibition, which opens Jan. 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":72240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[2002],"tags":[161],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[31860],"class_list":["post-32804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-art","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32804","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\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32804"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=32804"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=32804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}