Bixby Park will soon receive a makeover that serves a larger purpose.
The wall of the Bixby Park Community Center will join a handful of Los Angeles County locations adorned with thematic murals over the summer.
The murals are part of a project from LA vs. Hate, a community-centered system to support residents who may be targeted for hate acts. The system is led by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations which publishes an annual report on hate crimes in the county.
As part of its Summer of Solidarity series, the group chose locations and themes for five murals that will be unveiled throughout the summer. Long Beach’s Bixby Park mural will focus on the LGBTQ community’s history and community.
Other groups that will be honored through the Summer of Solidarity are Indigenous peoples and the Black community.
The LA County Commission on Human Relations published a 2022 California Hate Crime Report that states anti-homosexual biased events rose 32.8% in 2022. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation rose by 29% in the same time period.
Hate crimes involving gender biases, such as a transgender or gender non-conforming person rose by 55.6%, according to the report.
Experienced Long Beach-based artist, muralist and queer immigrant Myisha Arellano was chosen to paint the mural.
She’s currently painting her masterpiece—which she created based on requests from community members—onto a mural canvas, set to be transferred onto the Bixby Park Community Center.
Arellano said she wanted to be part of the project because although she personally has not been a victim of hate, she’s heard stories and “knows there’s a lot of truth to it.”
“It’s acknowledging that different communities have gone through a lot of hardships since the pandemic and the effects are still rippling,” Arellano said. “This is one of the communities I’m a part of and where I live.”
This will be Arellano’s third mural in Long Beach. She previously painted a mural celebrating Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students at Cal State Long Beach and painted a mural on the outside of a laundry mat in the city.
LA vs. Hate’s marketing group TaskForce held two community workshops throughout the year to hear what community members wanted to see on the mural. Pascale Cardozo, director at TaskForce, helped oversee the meetings and the Summer of Solidarity programming.
She said a recurring theme that residents wanted to see were the memories and moments that make up the LGBTQ culture in Long Beach.
“There were a lot of conversations about how tight knit the Long Beach community is and all the organizations, bars, services and places where the community feels welcome and seen,” Cardozo said.
“There was a lot of talk about solidarity too, not just making it about this community, but showing up for other communities,” Arellano added.
The first mural in the Summer of Solidarity program was unveiled in June and celebrated the Jewish community in Los Angeles county.
Arellano attended both meetings for Bixby Park’s mural and said the main theme she took away was that Long Beach accepts people “from different walks of life.” To honor that message, her mural is one that celebrates people’s various cultures and differences.
“It’s acknowledging that different communities have gone through a lot of hardships since the pandemic and the effects are still rippling.”
Myisha Arellano, Long Beach artist
Some key parts of the mural include a Khmer grocery store, a person in a wheelchair, an elderly person and people of color.
“We wanted to celebrate our differences because through that, if we’re able to see those differences as things we can respect and celebrate with each other … that idea will close and decrease the amount of hate,” Cardozo said.
The mural unveiling will feature local drag queen and philanthropist Jewels Long Beach, the director of the Human Relations Commission talking about the services LA vs. Hate offers and a first-hand experience from someone who has experienced hate.
Following the talks and mural unveiling, residents can enjoy food trucks, a book truck selling children’s LGBTQ-themed books, an ice cream truck and the opportunity to speak with members from LA vs. Hate.
The Bixby Park mural unveiling will take place on Aug. 5 at 130 Cherry Ave. from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Residents can RSVP on LA vs. Hate’s website.
