THE STREET ART CHALLENGE, LONG BEACH
By Marina Hernandez
Gather the family and engage in a little Street Art Challenge! Soak up the best art sites that the city has to offer. You just need to know where to look - and conveniently, that is where we come in! We searched high and low to find the most diverse and captivating art works in the city for this Street Art Challenge.
To participate in the Street Art Challenge, simply complete the seven tasks below, and submit your photos to office@lb908.com with your name and contact info by November 1st, 2022, for a chance to win a prize and get a shoutout in our next magazine! Enjoying the art of Long Beach has never been so immersive and family friendly!
• Total distance from start to finish: 8.6 miles (we’ve mapped out the route for you!)
• Approximate time to complete all tasks: 2 hours (time includes a lunch stop at any of your favorite 4th street eateries).
• Helpful resource for additional street art findings: https://artslb.org/public-art-map/
• Use caution when participating in this challenge. All safety and traffic rules apply.
Stop 1: CSULB McIntosh
Building, East 7th Street and West Campus Drive
This fun sculpture, titled Homage to Kenn Glenn, may look like an awkward pile of wood. However, it was intentionally constructed by a group of students during the 1965 California International Sculpture Symposium. In contrast to seven commissioned sculptures on campus, this timber and steel structure was an impromptu monument assembled in honor of the director of the symposium, Kenn Glenn.
The task: Snap a photo with members of your group creatively “stacked” amongst, but not touching, the sculpture.
Stop 2: 5674 East Colorado Street
This colorful work titled, Totem, was completed in 2000 by artist Miriam Work. A trio of colorfully patterned glass mosaic pillars stretch up to playful metal sculptures said to resemble marine animals with tails and fins. Which of the three totem poles is most interesting to you?
The task: Take a photo in which members of your group each stand next to their favorite totem.
Optional stop: We suggest you grab lunch or coffee at one of the many food and beverage spots along the 4th street corridor, and enjoy some small business eye candy as you travel from Totem to your next street art stop.
Stop 3: 420 East Fourth Street
This hidden gem was created in 2015 by a Los Angeles-based artist who goes by the moniker Bumblebee. Bumblebee is known for works depicting imagery of children as an acknowledgment of child homelessness. The work is untitled.
The task: Take a photo of the youngest member(s) of your group making a peace sign with the mural. Youngest in age or at heart, you decide.
Stop 4: Corner of Chestnut Ave and West Broadway Gaze up toward the streetlight just outside the 333 West Broadway building
Dubbed Round Bar Street Light Lady by artist Spenser Little, this intricate wire sculpture discreetly observes passersby as they travel down Broadway. Another of Little’s contributions to the Long Beach art scene can be found on a light pole along Bluff Park.
The task: Using forced perspective photography techniques, snap a photo of a silly interaction between a member of your group and the artwork.
Stop 5: 107 West Broadway East-facing wall on the left side of the building
As homage to the Long Beach Pike in its glory days as a popular amusement park, artist Leon Keer utilized 3D mural techniques to paint an old bumper car from the ride Dodg’em and parts in a garage. The work, titled Dodg’em Go Where You Like…If You Can, was completed in 2018 as part of POW! WOW! Long Beach, a week-long mural arts festival.
The task: Snap a photo of this mural from the angle that you feel best reveals the 3D effect.
Stop 6: 1201 East 7th Street
Welcoming you to the Craftsman Village Historic District in Long Beach, this mural by Art Mortimer is meant to illustrate a neighborhood so appealing that it is visited by tourists. A huge travel poster in the center is surrounded by a series of luggage stickers highlighting each street within the district. This work, titled Craftsman Village Mural, characterizes both the historic and contemporary families who call this place home.
The task: Take a photo of the youngest and oldest members of your group anywhere in front of the mural, getting as much of the mural into the photo as possible.
Stop 7: 2913 East Anaheim Street
This untitled work by Dave Van Patten, a Long Beach-based artist, demonstrates the dreamlike surrealism and humorous tone which he has mastered. Dave’s works can be found throughout Long Beach, including an image of Mayor Robert Garcia as a superhero cowboy on a utility box in Bixby Knolls.
The task: As a group, discuss and choose with which character in the party scene you would most like to spend time. Snap a photo of your group near that character.
