Photo by Asia Morris.
In advance of the HEART of Long Beach festival and mural tour this Sunday, a press conference previewing the eight murals painted during the Cambodia Town Mural Project was held at Long Beach Transit Headquarters this morning.
Performances reflecting the city’s diversity as well as Cambodia Town were given by opera singer Marco Schindelmann, 17-year-old rapper 2Tai and Sabrina Sun, who performed a traditional Cambodian dance in front of an audience of camera crews, members of the Arts Council for Long Beach, Midtown Business Improvement District (MBID), the artists who painted the murals and more.
“Today we are celebrating all that is good about our Long Beach neighborhood that is known as Cambodia Town,” CEO of Long Beach Transit and MBID Chair Kenneth McDonald said during the event. “This is a community rich in artistic tradition. Today, we have eight artists who have done outstanding work on the sides of commercial buildings that otherwise would be plain and drab, now they are vibrant with color and expressions of our thriving community.”
Check out the murals at these locations:
- Bodeck Hernandez: 1187 East Anaheim Street
- Jose Martinez: 1321 East Anaheim Street
- Tracy Negrete: 1436 East Anaheim Street
- Jason Keam:1601 East Anaheim Sreet
- Zeinab: 1883 10th Street
- Angela Wilcocks: 1963 East Anaheim Street
- Rick Vilchis: 2020 East Anaheim Street
- Sayon Syprasoeuth: 2201 East Anaheim Street
Community members will have the chance to see the murals up close during the HEART of Long Beach festival, to take place on Sunday, August 13 from 3:00PM to 8:00PM, where walking, bicycle and bus tours will be offered from the Mark Twain Neighborhood Library. For more information visit the website here and the Arts Council’s Facebook event page here.
“Many times people ask me why do we do art and why is art important for the city,” Arts Council for Long Beach Executive Director Griselda Suarez said during the press preview. “Cambodia Town Mural Project was an example of how a project can come together with community members, community leaders, businesses and artists to make sure that we transform emptiness into activation, apathy into engagement, division into collaboration, shame into pride and individualism into collectiveness.”
The Cambodia Town Mural Project is a partnership with Cambodia Town Inc., United Cambodian Community (UCC, Homeland Cultural Center (HCC, Long Beach Transit and the offices of Councilmembers Daryl Supernaw (4th District), Dee Andrews (6th District) and Jeannine Pearce (2nd District).
The Mark Twain Neighborhood Library is located at 1401 East Anaheim Street.
{FG_GEOMAP [33.7829389,-118.1734151] FG_GEOMAP}