One shuttle, three stops and immeasurable influence from Latin, Mexican and Caribbean artists.
Over the weekend, 76 art galleries opened their doors to the public with free admission. Spanning from San Diego to Santa Barbara, Pacific Standard Time is an organization that showcases modern and contemporary Latin American and Latino art.
Along with admission, transportation was provided free of charge to the public. Shuttles were donated by Long Beach Transit and the Boys and Girls Club in order to allow attendees to visit each museum without the headache of driving through city traffic. The shuttles took participants of the Long Beach tour to the Angels Gate Cultural Center, the Museum of Latin American Art and the University Art Museum.
The focus of this year’s LA/LA is modern and contemporary art from Mexican, Latino, Caribbean and other communities as well as their relationship to Los Angeles.
Linda Fox, a docent at MOLAA, was amazed at the diversity of art and artists in the gallery.
“The amount of representation in the gallery is overwhelming,” Fox said. “Over 20 [Caribbean] island nations, and five times as many pieces.”
The gallery Fox was referring to was featured in the exhibit “Relational Undercurrents” at MOLAA. It focused on contemporary Caribbean art of the islands and questioned the conceptual boundaries imposed on the areas that share similar ecology and history.
The exhibit focused on four themes: conceptual mapping, perceptual horizons, landscape ecology and representational acts.
Each room was filled with undertones of political turmoil as each piece gave historical background of the island’s past. The gallery gave a sense of viewing the islands as a whole and not individually, to create unity.
The University Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach participated in the event by featuring the exhibition “David Lamelas: A Life of Their Own.” The collection from the Argentinian artist featured conceptual art, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret the pieces.
Daniela Kennedy, a docent at UAM, guided art viewers through the exhibit and explained each piece throughout the gallery.
“You have to have an open mind while looking at the art,” Kennedy said. “It forces you to be creative.”
Husband and wife Keith and Muoi Arnold were fellow art-goers at the exhibit. The art was self-interpretive, and you had to use your imagination, according to Keith.
“This exhibit was quite unique, and very subjective with a docent,” Keith said.
The shuttle was buzzing with other museum goers, sharing their thoughts about the art they saw between stops.
Lisa Patton, a Long Beach resident of 20 years, was one of the many sitting on the bus.
“I think it was a great idea to see local stuff,” Patton said. “[PST] made it convenient with the shuttle.”
Upon arriving at the Angels Gate Cultural Center, guests were greeted by Amy Eriksen, executive director of the gallery .She was pleasantly surprised with the turnout of over 150 people visiting the center and was enthusiastic about the art being showcased.
“I’m looking forward to making art accessible in the south bay,” Eriksen said.
One of the exhibitions at the center, “Coastal/Boarder” illustrated how borders divide cultures — specifically Latino communities within Los Angeles. Six artists were featured in the space and showcased performance based projects mixing videography, photography and modern sculpture.
Martabel Wasserman, curator at the Angels Gate Cultural Center, envisioned the space of the ocean as a border.
“The theme is trade, colonization and militarization and how the San Pedro Port of Long Beach is affecting communities of color,” Wasserman said.
The art piece “from sea to shining sea” is a sound installation that features a recorded choir performance performed by C3LA, a choir based in LA. The installation uses data from White Point Military Reservation to deconstruct and recompose the song “America the Beautiful.”
Each of the galleries and pieces showcased in the tour highlighted Latin American, Mexican and Caribbean influence in a new and inclusive way not before seen by Long Beach residents.