PAGE 2ALB | GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS | September 25 & 26, 2014 ARTS Month Every great city, every great educational institution and every well-rounded person should embrace the arts as an essential part of the human experience. Our city offers world-class museums, a thriving grassroots arts and music scene, and, through our outstanding schools, an exception- al ability to produce and support creative professionals. This is something Long Beach should be very proud of. Growing up, I didn’t have much exposure to arts and culture. However, once I entered public schools, I was lucky to have the opportunity to study music in school, playing trombone in the school band and participating in musical theater, and when I moved to Long Beach to at- tend college, I was grateful to have many opportunities to be exposed to arts and culture, both on and off campus. This offered me new perspectives, kept me from getting into trouble or being bored, and helped me learn to express myself authentically. The arts have always inspired me, whether I am attend- ing a play or musical, visiting a museum to admire paint- ings and sculptures, or listening to music on my car radio. The arts bring out the best in us, help us express what is most important, and connect us to our community. This is why we shouldn’t think of the arts as simply an elective in school or a hobby for just a few people. This is important for everyone, and it’s what makes a community thrive. We need to support arts education at every grade level, and we need to support our Arts Council, museums, and local artists and performers. Every child has the poten- tial to create, and no education is complete without instill- ing an appreciation for the arts. In fact, research shows that children who participate in arts and music perform signi- cantly better in other subjects, including math and English. Though I don’t often nd time to play music myself these days, I know that my experiences as a music student gave me a lifelong appreciation for art and artists, and that appreciation is why I’m committed to supporting the arts in Long Beach. I want to ask everyone in Long Beach to support the arts, whether in schools, in our cultural institu- tions, in our many festivals, and in our local galleries, book stores, and performance venues. Nothing is more impor- tant to the happiness and success of our city. —Mayor Robert Garcia Mayor Says Great Cities Embrace Art B Y V ICTORIA B RYAN What’s new, innovative and uniquely Long Beach about the Arts Council’s plans for 2015? The most exciting recent news for the Arts Council is the approv- al of an incremental $50,000 grant from the City, to support a mar- keting initiative for Long Beach arts and culture. Specically, the city said yes to our request to cre- ate an enhanced website and web presence to promote our cultural sector — a “one-stop shop” for residents and visitors who want to know what’s happening in Long Beach. The new site will contain a master calendar and provide a platform for us to launch collab- orative, citywide audience devel- opment campaigns. The website will be at the heart of our 2015 arts marketing initiative, which will include community-wide as- sessment and planning to build on the individual efforts of our artists and arts groups: our arts partners. Look for news of planning meet- ings in October and November. During our recent strategic planning process, we interviewed our arts partners. They told us that marketing is the single greatest benet we can provide to the city and the arts sector. We listened and wrote our request to the city accordingly. With the support of the arts community’s letter and emails, we were successful and look forward to continuing to strategize with our partners to- wards increased visibility and at- tendance for the outstanding arts events and artists that make up our creative scene. There is so much that is new and distinctive about Long Beach arts — our task is raise visibility for our great artists and events! As well as the extra funds, we appreciate this demonstration of condence by our Mayor and City Council. There is no ques- tion that we need to partner with the city, if we are going to achieve our ambitious vision, which is de- ned as: The vibrant arts scene makes Long Beach the premiere desti- nation for residents, businesses, students, and visitors. With this kickoff to our new year, we have a renewed sense of condence that by working together, we can achieve our stra- tegic objective. We look forward to building on what’s innovative and uniquely Long Beach in our creative sector so that by 2020, the arts make Long Beach a num- ber-one destination on the West Coast. On behalf of our arts partners, we say a big “thank you, Mayor and City Council,” and we look forward to continuing to work to- gether in 2015. Victoria Bryan is the executive di- rector of the Arts Council for Long Beach. Arts Council For Long Beach Paints Big Picture For 2015 Art In Public Schools Page 3ALB Community Art Programs Page 5ALB State Of The Arts 2014 Page 7ALB A LOT Programming Page 7ALB Arts Month Calendar Page 8ALB Emerging Arts Groups Page 11ALB College Of The Arts Page 13ALB Healing Through Arts Page 14ALB Senior Arts Colony Page 15ALB Inside This Edition: —Photo courtesy the Arts Coucil for Long Beach ARTS ADVOCATE . Victoria Bryan, looking comfortable at local business Lyon Art Supply, leads the Arts Council for Long Beach. ABOUT THIS SECTION: Cover design by Jose Solis, senior graphic designer. Stories by Editor Ashleigh Ruhl, Staff writers Jonathan Van Dyke and Sarah George, and Arts Writer Elizabeth Thomas under the di- rection of Executive Editor Harry Saltzgaver. Special thanks to the Arts Council staff.