Sculptures, ceramics and art in three dimensions — it’s finally your time to shine.
“Off The Wall: Three Dimensional Art,” a new juried exhibition from the Long Beach Creative Group, will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Rod Briggs Gallery.
Featuring work by 40 artists, the exhibit celebrates the various approaches to three-dimensional art, bringing together an eclectic collection of pieces that explore form, texture, materials and spatial relationships beyond a traditional canvas.
This piece by Charles Norton will be part of “Off The Wall: Three Dimensional Art,” a new juried exhibition from the Long Beach Creative Group that will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Rod Briggs Gallery. (Courtesy of Long Beach Creative Group)
This piece by Douglas Johnson will be part of “Off The Wall: Three Dimensional Art,” a new juried exhibition from the Long Beach Creative Group that will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Rod Briggs Gallery. (Courtesy of Long Beach Creative Group)
This piece by Ignacio Escobar will be part of “Off The Wall: Three Dimensional Art,” a new juried exhibition from the Long Beach Creative Group that will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Rod Briggs Gallery. (Courtesy of Long Beach Creative Group)
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This piece by Charles Norton will be part of “Off The Wall: Three Dimensional Art,” a new juried exhibition from the Long Beach Creative Group that will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Rod Briggs Gallery. (Courtesy of Long Beach Creative Group)
The show was proposed by local sculptor Walter Focht, who also served as a juror, alongside Bernard J. Vyzga Jr. and Michael Biagiotti.
Together, these jurors reviewed 157 submissions, ultimately selecting 48 works for the exhibit, representing dozens of artists and artistic collaborations.
“We were delighted by both the quantity and quality of the submitted work,” board President Dorte Christjansen said in a recent press release. “It was a real challenge for the jurors to choose which pieces would be in the show.”
The strong response to the open call speaks to the breadth and depth of creative talent in Southern California.
For the Long Beach Creative Group, the exhibit also addresses an important need within our local arts community: providing accessible exhibition opportunities for artists whose work doesn’t necessarily fit within conventional gallery formats.
While paintings and photography dominate gallery walls, three-dimensional works often require specialized display space, installation considerations and opportunities for viewers to experience the pieces from multiple angles.
So, you’re invited to consider the many ways artists can transform materials into compelling three-dimensional experiences that are taken “Off the Wall.”
The exhibition’s opening weekend also coincides with the first weekend of this year’s Long Beach Open Studio Tour, giving you an especially good opportunity to explore our city’s arts community up close.
To accommodate the tour, Rod Briggs Gallery will extend its hours to 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3-4.
The opening reception for “Off the Wall: Three Dimensional Art,” will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the gallery, 2221 E. Broadway, with the exhibit remaining on view through Nov. 14.
For more information, go to longbeachcreativegroup.org/exhibitions.
Catalyst Chamber Ensemble
Long Beach Camerata Singers’ Catalyst Chamber Ensemble will present Franz Schubert’s “Mass in G” at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at St. Francis Episcopal Church, 2200 Vía Rosa, in Palos Verdes Estates.
The concert will feature the ensemble’s 14 professional singers performing one of Schubert’s most-beloved sacred compositions, a work that combines the spiritual traditions of the Catholic Mass with the composer’s lyrical beauty and melodic warmth.
Composed in 1815, when Schubert was only 18 years old, his “Mass in G Major” is the second of his six complete settings of the Latin Mass.
Written for a relatively small ensemble, the work has an intimate — yet accessible — character that distinguishes it from the grand, elaborate Mass settings of other composers.
Its straightforward structure, graceful melodies and expressive harmonies reflect Schubert’s gift for writing music that is both emotionally resonant and immediately inviting.
It’s a perfect piece for St. Francis Episcopal Church, a sacred space that reflects these very same qualities.
The upcoming performance by the Catalyst Chamber Ensemble, the Camerata Singers’ all-professional 14-member choir, offers an opportunity to experience this Mass in a chamber setting, where the individual voices and intricate harmonies can shine.
For more information, go to lbcamerata.ludus.com/index.php?sections=events.
American Masterworks
Long Beach Symphony will celebrate the breadth of American orchestral music with American Masterworks, an evening of classical, jazz and Broadway-inspired compositions featuring cellist Zuill Bailey on Oct. 10 at the Terrace Theater, 300 E. Ocean Blvd.
The concert also marks the beginning of Music Director Eckart Preu’s 10th anniversary season with the orchestra, commemorating a decade of imaginative performances.
This particular program, “America at 250: Visions of Humanity and Unity,” explores the many influences that have shaped the nation’s music, opening with Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” one of the most recognizable works in the American orchestral repertoire.
Composed in 1942 during World War II, the piece was originally commissioned for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and has since become an enduring musical expression of American identity, with its majestic brass and percussion capturing a sense of grandeur and purpose.
The evening also features James P. Johnson’s “Harlem Symphony,” an orchestral work by one of the pioneers of stride piano and jazz, bringing the rhythms and musical traditions of Harlem into the concert hall.
At the heart of the program, though, is the Southern California premiere of “Visions of Humanity and Unity,” a new five-movement cello concerto featuring Grammy Award-winning cellist Bailey, and composed collaboratively by Chanda Dancy, Avner Dorman, Zhou Tian, Enrico Chapela and Mark O’Connor.
Each composer draws inspiration from a phrase in the Declaration of Independence, contributing a distinct musical perspective to a larger exploration of identity, diversity and shared experience.
The complete concerto received its world premiere in August, with Bailey and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Preu, before making its way to Long Beach.
The Oct. 10 program concludes with George Gershwin’s “Overture from Strike Up the Band,” a witty, energetic, unmistakable classic.
As always with our Long Beach Symphony, the concert experience begins well before the orchestra takes the stage. Doors open at 6 p.m., with a live prelude performance on the Terrace Theater Plaza, followed by a complimentary 6:30 p.m. pre-concert talk with Preu, who will offer insights and background stories about the evening’s selections.
Arriving early also offers an opportunity to catch a special performance by the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band on the plaza.
For more information about this orchestral celebration of 250 years of America, go to longbeachsymphony.org.