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Local designer and art supporter Joen Garnica has been appointed to chair the board, noting that her role\u2014beyond just advocacy\u2014will be getting the name of ArtX out into Long Beach on a larger scale.<\/p>\nThe ArtExchange (ArtX) has created an advisory board featuring some of Long Beach’s most prominent leaders, each of whom will serve one-year terms in order to focus on what ArtX CEO Nicolassa Gavez calls “high level visioning.”<\/p>\n
Local designer and art supporter Joen Garnica has been appointed to chair the board, noting that her role\u2014beyond just advocacy\u2014will be getting the name of ArtX out into Long Beach on a larger scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the ArtX as a creative center for Long Beach,\u201d Garnica said. \u201cIt\u2019s a place where artists, both professional and students, can come together to work in a creative and collaborative center while engaging the community through art\u2026 I\u2019m excited for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blair Cohn, Executive Director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, was also appointed to the board. He believes it is time to move ArtX \u201cinto the next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe my role is to become familiar with all of the programming and operational details of ArtX and then stand at a 10,000 foot view and offer suggestions on how to help steer the ship moving forward,\u201d Cohn said. \u201cMaybe they are already doing the right thing and just need a few tweaks here and there. Maybe we\u2019ll find that more community engagement\/involvement is the key. I believe that ArtX just needs some fresh perspectives and we can all offer that to the board and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cohn went on to note that there is little reason as to why ArtX shouldn\u2019t be the go-to place for artists in and around Long Beach, including artists hailing from LA and OC. While at first glance Cohn admits that an entire makeover is not necessarily needed, fresh eyes are always welcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a few more things to brag about in Long Beach,\u201d Cohn said. \u201cAnd there is no reason why ArtX shouldn\u2019t be one of those things to brag about\u2026 There needs to be new development on that block that incorporates ArtX and the arts community, into the bigger plan to continue to make the location a connector in the East Village and again the<\/em> arts hub in downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n Other Long Beachers appointed to the board include:<\/p>\n Struggling following the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) two years ago<\/a>\u2014where grand plans had been made for a massive, multi-use artistic studio and development center<\/a>\u2014ArtX has seemingly faced a continual uphill battle in situating itself within the Long Beach creative fabric. Last October, many local artists called on the City Council to end its $1-per-month rent<\/a>\u00a0for the space ArtX currently occupies at 3rd and Elm Ave.<\/p>\n However, the organization, according to Gavez, is seeing an upturn, as it has increased its housing of studio artists from two to eleven artists, with space for two more, while increasing the annual number of participants from a few hundred to more than 7,500.<\/p>\n The work of the advisory board is to begin immediately.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n