A new mural will help brighten the Community Center at Bixby Park after its unveiling by local artist, Myisha Arellano.
The mural titled “Long Beach Embrace” covers most of the southern wall of the Community Center with a vibrant depiction of two people hugging. Within the larger painting of the embrace is a collage of different scenes—called vignettes—important to the LGBTQ movement in Long Beach, and a story about the vignettes at the bottom of the mural.
“I encourage people to walk around the park and see the mural from different distances,” Arellano said during the event. “I hope people can create their own meanings and connections with a piece.”
The mural in Long Beach is one of five planned across Los Angeles County over the next few months in connection to LA vs. Hate’s “Summer of Solidarity” campaign. The campaign aims to use art as a method to combat hate through artistic visual representations of love, diversity and inclusion.
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.
Vice Mayor Cindy Allen spoke during the event and reiterated the need for monuments like Bixby Park’s new mural. During the creation of the mural, residents were surveyed through workshops about what they would want included.
“Something that the respondents said over and over again in these workshops is that Long Beach is where they found their people; Long Beach is where they found their family,” Allen said.
Vice Mayor Cindy Allen gives remarks during the unveiling of a mural at the Bixby Park Community Center on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Drag performer Envi performs a Janet Jackson impersonation during the unveiling of a mural at the Bixby Park Community Center on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Interim Director for The Center, Ellie Perez gives remarks during the unveiling of a mural at the Bixby Park Community Center on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Drag performer Sabreena performs in between speakers during the unveiling of a mural at the Bixby Park Community Center on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
Speakers at the event stressed the importance of combating the rise of hate and extremism in the United States in recent years.
The creation of the “211” hotline from LA vs. Hate is used to report hate crimes in Los Angeles County and provide outreach and education, service navigation, or care coordination to access and obtain services that best meet individual needs.
In between speakers, attendees enjoyed performances by local drag stars Sabreena and Envi, both of whom often sing and dance at bars and clubs around Long Beach. Sabreena also serves on the board of directors for the AIDS Food Store of Long Beach, which is also depicted on the mural.
“We need each other more than ever,” Allen said. “The mural is a clear indication to everyone who visits this park that hate against the LGBTQ community is unacceptable here in Long Beach; It will not be tolerated.”
Long Beach Resident Tom Crook gets closer to inspect the different elements of the collage that make up the “Long Beach Embrace” mural at the Bixby Park Community Center following the unveiling on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Drag performer Envi does the splits near the end of a performance during the unveiling of a mural at the Bixby Park Community Center on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Local mural artist, Myisha Arellano speaks about the meaning of her mural titled “Long Beach Embrace,” during the unveiling at Bixby Park on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Adam Powell, one of the founders of the Rainbow Book Bus, stands near the door of the brightly colored converted school bus at a Pride event in Long Beach on Aug. 5, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
