As of October 2022, Greg Johnson, marketing strategist and arts advocate, became the newly elected board president of the Arts Council for Long Beach or ARTSLB. As he leads the organization into its 46th year, Johnson’s vision is to further spread art and culture to Long Beach communities with the least access to the arts.
That includes:
- Widening ARTSLB’s marketing and advertising.
- Learning what artists’ needs are.
- Supporting diverse arts organizations within the city.
- Attracting more diverse audiences.
- Promoting arts that speak to the people.
- Uplifting ARTSLB’s recovery initiatives and advocacy.
- Providing grants to medium and smaller arts organizations.
“His leadership comes at a crucial time for the arts and culture sector in Long Beach,” said ARTSLB Executive Director Griselda Suarez. “He is deeply connected to creativity and is dedicated to supporting recovery in any way possible,” Suarez said.
Johnson will be succeeding Sayon Syprasocuth, who served in the post over the past two years.
In a released statement, Johnson said he is both humbled and excited to lead the Arts Council for Long Beach in such a time as this.
“As we move through this season of recovery, I serve to amplify arts and culture as an essential service in the life of our city,” Johnson said.
Long Beach city manager, Tom Modica, announced that due to the looming $20 million budget deficit, only essential services will survive coming cuts in the city budget.
Johnson, making the case for preserving arts funding, called arts and culture essential services and noted they are directly tied to Long Beach’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
Among the changes Johnson wants to push include creating a process by which community members can provide input in arts education; a process by which community members can see themselves portrayed in public art and the types of events held and a process by which community members can provide feedback on ARTSLB outreach and support efforts.
The renowned KJLH marketing strategist noted that ARTSLB is already diverse and is already practicing “profound inclusion.” Still, he wants to further that inclusion in underserved communities. He said sometimes they are not participating in the great things that the arts council has to offer for the arts community. His aim is to keep striving and widening ARTSLB’s marketing and advertising but also to meet artists where they are and to learn what their needs are. The arts council has a pretty good handle on it but Johnson said it could be even more.
“[For] example, I feel the major performing arts organizations really get supported by the City of Long Beach,” he said. “The question now becomes, where are those diverse performing arts organizations? Is there a Black theater company, for instance, and are they being supported?
“How does the symphony attract an even more diverse audience? The intention is there but how do we do this? Cultural differences mean that we’re going to need to break the mold on how you promote or present that art form to these diverse communities.”
Johnson comes to his new position with a deep background in community work. He’s built and produced a number of well-established festivals which attract tens of thousands of attendees in Los Angeles which include: the 4th of July Fireworks Extravaganza at Exposition Park, Knotts Berry Farm Gospel Showcase, the Taste of Soul and KingFest in the city of Inglewood, and Leimert Park’s FreedomFest, which is a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Johnson was instrumental in the ARTSLB 2020 strategic (pre-pandemic) planning process. His aim is to uplift the organization’s recovery initiatives and advocacy. One of these initiatives included convening community outreach events in which people could share what the arts in Long Beach mean to them, how they saw the arts and the arts council in their various districts and what could be done to amplify the arts council’s mission within those communities.
“The arts council already took an assertive stance towards relief for artists,” Johnson said. “As soon as COVID hit, our hashtag was ‘keep arts working.’ We were able to provide artist relief, and help arts organizations with their virtual presentations to the tune of a little more than $2 million worth of relief and programs during COVID.”
Johnson said ARTSLB may revisit a few points on the strategic plan because it’s a different world now. Still, the discussion points remain important in connecting to city residents. As the city continues to navigate the pandemic, ARTSLB is reinvigorating arts in the schools, it has a robust public art project and the arts council is also adjusting to Measure B, authorizing the city to increase its local hotel tax from six to seven percent. Certain arts organizations get a significant percentage of the transient occupancy tax from hotels in order to sustain them. Johnson also wants to work with larger granting entities to provide grants to medium and smaller arts organizations.
“In the coming year, you will see a more amplified presence in the schools, more murals and public art,” Johnson said.
Johnson cited the recent ARTSLB commissioned memorial mural at Cerritos Park for the victims of a fatal traffic accident as an example.
“When we debuted it, people gathered and the artist had outlined images he wanted on the wall and then community members painted within those outlines,” Johnson explained. “It was a beautiful exercise of community unity. You will see a lot more public artwork that speaks directly to the people.”
In other areas of focus, Johnson wants to align the different arts council committees, which operate and develop policy. The advocacy committee, he noted, directly intersects with city council members. So the arts council held meetings with city council members to not only remind them of ARTSLB’s presence but to show them what it has accomplished and where the public arts and murals are located in each district.
That generates a strong sense of pride with the council members but also with the people who live in these districts,” Johnson said. “We’ve taken steps to intensify our work with neighborhood groups to advocate for the arts and also doing fact finding: [asking] ‘what do you need in your community, in your district, to enhance the arts? How can we help?”
Additionally, in his community work, Johnson sits on the board of the West Angeles Community Development Corporation, a faith based nonprofit in LA. The organization turns blighted properties into affordable housing and senior homes. Johnson has been working on cleaning up an apartment complex in South LA that had been infested by gangs and drugs.
“Now it’s a pretty beautiful apartment complex for low income and Section 8,” Johnson said. “It’s a source of pride for that neighborhood. I say that [because] I come with a lot of experience in policy-making and operating a multi-million dollar nonprofit. That’s the skill set I bring and it’s anchored in love for community.”
The advertising and marketing specialist also believes in building bridges through music, art and culture between Africa and America. Johnson calls this “the mantra at the epicenter of his business dealings.”
Johnson said there’s so much to that. Discussing bridge-building, Johnson wonders if disadvantaged communities are getting the information, or if they’re getting it but just aren’t attending.
“If I meet you and tell you tell me you’re an artist, the first thing I tell you is to get on the arts registry,” Johnson said. “There’s all sorts of information for artists. You hear about grants, commissions and more. It’s a powerful tool.”
“I have a deep appreciation for the arts and it was a natural thing for me to join the arts council,” Johnson said. “As a child, my parents made sure I was immersed in the arts.”
ARTSLB board president is a one-year position. Johnson said he wants to be effective and amplify the arts in Long Beach. He wants to represent the staff, the executive director and the arts in an exemplary manner.
“I hope the way I go about it will be a blessing to the arts council and certainly the people of Long Beach. I want to send peace and love.”
Details: www.artslb.org