Atop the Burnett Neighborhood Library in Long Beach, artist Thao Huynh French stands tracing the outline to her latest mural, her first in the city. Before deciding what to paint, she asks two kids walking by what they want to see. Their response: more color in their neighborhood.
“I thought flowers would be a great gesture, almost like I’m giving flowers to the neighborhood,” French said. “The idea behind this was to come into the neighborhood and add to what was there rather than changing it all … I hope it gives them a form of refuge, a place to feel safe …”
French is one of many artists participating in the largest outdoor week-long community event in Long Beach, bringing with them 10 new original murals for residents to “ooh,” “ah” and take pictures in front of. Volunteers have been buffing and painting massive buildings throughout the city to prepare for new art that will breathe life into the community.
Long Beach Walls is one facet of World Wide Walls, the global organization whose goal it is to “bring art and culture to public spaces by beautifying the city while cultivating community pride,” according to its website. The organization has connected with 13 cities around the world, though Long Beach is one of its oldest collaborators.
Along with Long Beach, Tokyo and Kaka’ako are the only other cities that have teamed up with Worldwide Walls—formerly-known as Pow! Wow! Worldwide—since 2015 to beautify their surroundings.
This year’s city-wide paint party features a slate of all-female artists, five from Long Beach, five from around the country and three from places around the world including Nepal, Lancaster and Taiwan.
The international connection is the very essence that makes Long Beach Walls stand apart from other festivals, Cassandra Leeman, executive director of Creative Class Collective, and director of Long Beach Walls explained.
“I think there’s always the thought about not having enough international artists or not having enough local artists and there’s this constant combat between the two … and it’s not about one or the other,” Leeman said. “It’s about really bringing both and creating a space for artists to have—essentially an artists retreat where they can learn from each other.”
This year’s artists retreat also offers a full week of events and activities for residents to learn about the art, meet the team behind the movement and volunteer if they feel so moved.
Tuesday night Grey LB hosted a merch pop-up where Long Beach Walls unveiled this year’s exclusive content—T-shirts, hats, tote bags and buttons—while participating artists offered their own goods.
Wednesday night, residents are invited to participate in “yoga under the stars,” at Grey LB at 6 p.m. which will display new Art Renzei installations. Friday there is an artist talk featuring founder Wong and artists Mr. B Baby and Imagine at Studio One Eleven at 6 p.m.
Saturday residents will get the chance to tour the 2022 murals, along with many old favorites while they pedal through the city and learn about the artists and organization. The tour will begin at 5 p.m. at the GoActiveLB Hub in downtown Long Beach. Pedal Movement will be offering bike rentals.
The festival ends with a “summer nights” and Labor Day weekend party, featuring multiple DJ sets, food trucks, lawn games, live painting, a beer garden and various workshops for different ages. The party will take place at Lincoln Park, where an installation by Debra Scacco sits.
Artist Megan Boterenbrood (@Mara.Bubblegum on Instagram) poses for a portrait while working on her mural in progress on the Pine Animal Hospital in Long Beach on Aug. 30, 2022. The murals are part of the Long Beach Walls, previously POW! WOW! public art event. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Painter Kim Sielbeck (@kimsielbeck on Instagram) adds orange spray paint to a mural, as part of Long Beach Walls, on a building that houses ghost kitchens on Daisy Avenue while standing on a scissor lift on Aug. 30, 2022. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Artist Karina Vazquez (@sleepy.day.dreams on Instagram) paints with olive green paint on her mural at Dana Neighborhood Library in Bixby Knolls during the Long Beach Walls event on Aug. 30, 2022. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Thao Huynh French (@thaofrenchart on Instagram)spray paints her name onto an artist name sign out front of the Burnett Neighborhood Library on Aug. 30, 2022 for Long Beach Walls. the mural she is making will encompass two floors and most of the front of the building. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
Anat Ronen (@anatronen1971 on Instagram) works on the outline of her mural at the Dean Eastman/Fairfield Boys & Girls Club for the Long Beach Walls public art event on Aug. 30, 2022. The completed mural will be of a lego building with a forced perspective 3D element. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
An eventual goal of the festival is to bring a permanent sculpture park to Long Beach. It’s part of Creative Class Collective’s goal to make the city an “arts and culture destination,” Leeman told the Signal Tribune in May.
There are over 34 sponsors, both local and international, helping to fund the event or provide swag, along with 21 Art Renzei and Long Beach Walls team members and countless volunteers, all working together to create a space for the guest artists.
“I think it has brought the community together in a way that I’ve never seen an art festival or any type of programming [do],” Leeman said. “We’re planning for months and then you get a little bit drained, but once we get to prep, we can see all of our volunteers, and we see all the community and how excited they are about what we’re doing and what they get to participate in. It makes it all worth it.”
Leeman said the idea sprung organically last year, in conversations between volunteers while painting, buffing and climbing the walls for the 2021 festival.
Founder Jasper Wong welcomed the idea of an all-female team of artists, Leeman said. Now, months following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe V. Wade case, she said “it just so happened” to be “pertinent, or ample timing.”
“So now you know we’re in 2022 and the environment where we are in and it is all fitting for the wrong reasons,” Leeman said. “So beyond just highlighting women we wanted it to be more about standing up for women, women standing up for our rights.”
There are 10 new murals this year in the following locations:
- 560 E Hill St.
- Two murals at 1388 Daisy Ave.
- 3680 Atlantic Ave.
- 1595 W Willow St.
- 456 Elm Ave.
- 900 Pine Ave.
- 620 San Francisco Ave.
- 245 E 3rd St.
- 700 E Del Amo Blvd.
While the theme for this year’s festival is Stand Up, the organization recently stepped away from their old name, Pow Wow Long Beach, following years of outside criticism, Leeman explained.
Pow Wow is a term used in Native American culture to describe a celebration of food, dancing and singing.
“We don’t want to take claim or ownership of anything, especially if it makes people feel uncomfortable, and that was something that always came up whenever we celebrated our festivals was, ‘Why the name if they’re not a Native American group,’” Leeman said. “If that was something that was holding the event back and our community back, we wanted to mitigate that.”
