Rhonda Love, an entrepreneur and influential figure in Long Beach’s arts scene, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. She was 58 years old.
Love “wore many hats” in her career, said her sister Trese Pritchett.
Her ventures included founding an arts-focused nonprofit organization called DreamKreator, working with former Long Beach mayor and current congressman Robert Garcia and managing gospel music acts like Tye Tribbett and Mali Music.
“She managed my schedule, kept me on task and was an all-around exceptional member of the team,” Garcia said in a statement. “She loved our city.”
Love also owned a deli on Pine Avenue and a beauty supply store she set up in the parking lot of VIP Records, Pritchett said.
Love’s history with VIP Records — the world-famous music store that helped launch Snoop Dogg — dates back to the ’90s, when “she was part of the VIP family,” said VIP Records owner Kelvin Anderson.
After the iconic VIP Records sign — which featured prominently in an early Snoop video — was taken down in 2018, Love was instrumental in the push to put it back up, according to Anderson.
“The fact that she was known and well-loved definitely helped us a lot in moving things forward with the store,” he said.
In February, city officials said they plan to raise the sign at the southwest corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, across the street from the original VIP storefront.
Anderson and Love combined to host gospel music concerts on Saturdays in Lincoln Park in downtown Long Beach starting last year, Anderson said.
While the concert series wasn’t held this year, Anderson said he plans to bring it back next summer.
Other notable contributions to downtown Long Beach include relaunching art walk festivals, booking Grammy-winning artists for the Long Beach Gospel Fest and facilitating Patti LaBelle to headline the 2017 Long Beach Pride Festival, according to the Downtown Long Beach Alliance, a local business improvement district.
Love served on the board of the DTLB Alliance since 2020 and played a key role in preserving murals that were painted on plywood boards that were put up to cover damage left after the George Floyd protests, Alliance CEO Austin Metoyer said.
She also served on the Arts Council of Long Beach shortly after her retirement, said Griselda Suarez, the organization’s executive director.
The first time the two met, Suarez was a few months into her role and was anxious about her appearance because Suarez had lost her hair from undergoing cancer treatment.
“She just made me feel comfortable, she was very welcoming and warm,” Suarez said.
Greg Johnson, Love’s life partner, first met Love through her Dream Center event space in Carson, where she would host events that drew Gospel music executives and NBA players, Johnson said.
Love and Johnson bonded over their mutual interest in museums and storytelling, Johnson said.
One of their mantras was “we have to tell our own stories,” Johnson said.
Through a partnership with Mental Health America of Los Angeles, Love created the Social Pivot Exhibition. The art installation on Fourth Street featured works on climate change, COVID, civic engagement and social justice.
Love also worked closely with the DTLB Alliance in recent years to revitalize vacant storefronts by setting up exhibits or live music performances, Metoyer said.
While battling cancer, Love was working to open her fourth such art exhibit near Sixth Street and Pine Avenue called Blu, Johnson said.
Her illness delayed its opening, but Johnson said he plans to open the space in the near future.