Image of a public artwork entitled Image Emergence: Promenade of Clouds by artist Craig Cree Stone. Courtesy of the Arts Council for Long Beach.
The Arts Council for Long Beach is celebrating 40 years of funding hundreds of artists, organizations, education programs and cultural events since the nonprofit was founded in 1976. An advocate for Long Beach arts and artists, the arts council has worked to increase arts funding, delivered arts education to thousands of students and connected artists to opportunities both within Long Beach and its neighboring cities.
“Since 2000, the Arts Council has granted more than $13 million to Long Beach artists, organizations and community projects and, through arts education programs, reached more than 36,000 Long Beach Unified School District youth,” stated Marco Schindelmann, president of the Arts Council.
Over the last year, the arts council has carried out a number of notable endeavors, including the creation of a new annual Risk and Innovation Grant, a new website to promote local artists and organizations and a new internship program for Long Beach art institutions. The organization continues to promote arts groups, from Musica Angelica to the Cambodian Film Festival, as noted in the release, and continues to foster its ties with the City of Long Beach, Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach City College.
Also of note, the organization partnered with the Long Beach Mayor’s Office for the first time to hold its State of the Arts event this year and received a prestigious architecture award for its Mobile ArtSpace design.
In 2016, expect the arts council to expand its marketing of Long Beach arts and events with an improved online Artist Registry and Calendar of Events. With the help of the Long Beach community, the organization is increasing its monthly microgrant funding and launching a citywide public art database.
To participate in the Arts Council for Long Beach’s 40th Anniversary campaign to help it reach its community service goals, click here.