Long Beach Briefs: Aquarium Partnership and New Assistant City Manager

Aquarium Partners with Tongva Artist

LONG BEACH — The Aquarium of the Pacific is collaborating with Tongva artist Weshoyot Alvitre to create an art piece in its new Southern California Gallery. Connecting aquarium guests to Indigenous voices of the region, this art piece will utilize motifs from the Tongva culture and touch on local species of importance. The Tongva people continue to steward the land that includes Long Beach, where the aquarium is located.

Alvitre is a Tongva and Scottish comic book artist, writer, and illustrator. She grew up close to the land and was raised with traditional knowledge that inspires the work she does today. Alvitre has been working in the comics medium for more than 15 years. Her work focuses on art and writing that visualizes historical material through an Indigenous lens. Her work will debut in the Southern California Gallery in early 2024.

April Walker New Assistant City Manager Long Beach

Long Beach City Council Dec. 12 voted unanimously to approve April Walker as the new assistant city manager. Walker, who is a council district 4 resident currently serves as the administrative deputy city manager. She will begin her new role on Dec. 31.