Suarez key to evolution of arts, culture in Long Beach – Press Telegram

It’s a big deal when the top person of an important organization steps down, especially if they have been in that position for a while.

That’s happening to the Arts Council for Long Beach this week. After 10 years as executive director, Griselda Suarez is stepping away. Ten years is the longest tenure for an executive director of this organization that I’m aware of, by the way.

She’s not going far. Griselda is taking a job with the city as Long Beach’s first Cultural Affairs Officer. More about that in a bit.

In case you weren’t aware, I have a bit of a history with the arts community in Long Beach, and the Arts Council organization in particular. I’ve always been a passionate supporter of the arts – theater in particular since my first professional writing gig was writing play reviews.

The Public Corporation for the Arts (PCA) had already been around for 15 years or so when I arrived in Long Beach in 1992. One of its primary jobs at the time was to facilitate public art installations using money from Redevelopment Agency projects. It also acted as an advocate for individual artists and arts organizations of all shapes and sizes.

One of our goals at that early Grunion was to support the arts, primarily by letting the public know about events and getting them to attend. Working with the PCA was a way to get that done, and I joined the PCA board as soon as I was asked.

It was the first quasi-public board position of my public service career. I was mostly engaged with the advocacy portion – the agency’s administration had the RDA contract under control.

Over the years, the agency/nonprofit’s emphasis shifted a bit. When redevelopment money went away, advocacy and artist support rose. Some changes in approach naturally took place when executive directors changed.

One of the great fun times I got to be involved in was the creation of Smithsonian Week. Then-mayor Beverly O’Neill struck a deal with the national Smithsonian Institution for Long Beach to be the first city outside the nation’s capitol to have a formal partnership. The PCA, under I guy named Robb Hankins, was tasked with making Smithsonian Week happen.

We put on a week full of events for at least three years – I was board president for a couple of them. The lifesized paper dress on a mannequin made from Grunion Gazettes at one of those events is still at the Long Beach Historical Society!

I stepped away a couple of decades ago, continuing to support the organization from afar. New executive directors and new board members took it in new and interesting directions, including changing the name – at least the public name – to the Arts Council.

Griselda took charge in 2016, a couple of years after Robert Garcia became mayor. Almost immediately, a push for more city support for the arts gained traction. With Griselda’s support, Garcia pushed through the concept of One Percent for the Arts, a set-aside on new construction in the city similar to the Redevelopment Agency program. That one-percent thing was a new iteration of a campaign suggested by Hankins that ultimately failed.

Using the support of the mayor and the community, Griselda continued to grow help for artists from the Arts Council – direct grants, commissions for public projects, operating grants for organizations and more. A board of young and energetic Long Beach residents provided plenty of backing.

There was no slowing down when Rex Richardson became mayor. He wants entertainment – read performing art – to be a core component of the new economy. His backing was critical in what undoubtedly will become the Rex Richardson Waterfront Amphitheater, after all.

He got the council onboard, and in the Fiscal 2025 budget they expanded the Library Services Department to call it the Department of Library, Arts, and Culture. Then in the current budget, money was set aside to create the Cultural Affairs Officer position to follow through on the name change.

Back in the days when advocacy for the arts was front of my mind, I wrote frequently about how the arts community is the city’s soul. Long Beach has been blessed with a big soul, but it continues to need nurturing.

It means a lot to me that the city leaders have put both their mouths and their money (or more accurately, our money) behind that support. Institutionalizing our arts and culture support is an important and long-overdue step.

And Griselda Suarez is just the person to start us down this new path. Congratulations, Griselda, and congratulations Long Beach.