More Than a Party: ‘Altruism’ Activates Historic Downtown Theatre

Despite its eye-catching classic art deco-style facade and premium location adjacent to Long Beach’s downtown promenade, Broadway’s Edison Theatre has been closed off to the community for close to 20 years. 

Its last use had been as the home stage for Cal State Long Beach’s theater grad school program. But from 2006 on, it remained dark.

Flash forward to Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. It is 11:30 pm, the lights in the theater are on, the music and drinks are flowing, the room is filling up with people, and there are even more in a line down the block waiting to get in.

Long Beach native DJ NiceGuyxVinny, Soul Cypher collective, and illsociety magazine (who make up Oeuvre Creative Group) worked with Grey LB to pack the black box theater for the first time in 17 years.

Originally designed to be a one-off event after Long Beach’s Complex Con 2022, the event’s initial success signaled to them to keep it going. In an Instagram post, Vinny wrote: “The goal for me isn’t throwing some crazy party…This city doesn’t have an abundance of venues that aren’t bars, especially in downtown Long Beach. I want to help bring the lineups that don’t happen here and merge worlds in a bigger space than we are usually accustomed to.” 

A frequently featured DJ at Que Sera’s Fight Club (one of the best nights in town to discover top-tier local DJs and live musicians) Vinny had intended to curate a fresh new art and music experience. 

“Collectively all of us are trying to consistently create spaces that overlapping communities can share, with the focal point being music and art, bringing artists from different places to Long Beach, while also highlighting our rising local talent,” he told FORTHE.

The second edition of Altruism was held Feb. 18 with Black History as its theme.  A 2-part event, the all-ages art show (curated by Art Realm director Brandie Davison) comes first before the 21+ after-party takes over in the evening. Davison, who is also a partner in FORTHE’s ArtNotAds project, included a few artists  that should be familiar to our readers. Attendees entered through the theater’s well-lit lobby/gallery with work by Goldby7 (a past ArtNotAds feature) and the striking work of other local photographers flanking the walls. On the other side of the second set of doors, which leads into the main space, various other forms of visual art were exhibited including the paintings of Tijera S. Easley, Rejeana Black, and ArtNotAds alum Carmel Katumba AKA TheZonkyGirl as well as projections by Thuh Club and the thought-provoking work of a half dozen other multimedia artists.

Easley had two very expressive paintings on display. 2019’s “AllMenAREntCreated,” is a collage inspired by the murder of Michael Brown by Ferguson, MO police and the hypocrisy of the U.S. Constitution. Using visual references to Michalangelo’s Birth of Adam, the confederate flag, and LA gang culture, among other layers of symbolism relating to the prevalence of racism and inequality,  Easley also took on the immense task of writing out the names, ages, and cities of a thousand people who’ve been killed by police.  

Tomisin Oluwole
Coquette
Acrylic on canvas
18 x 24 inches

Click here to check out our interview with Tomisin Oluwole, a a literary and visual artist based in Long Beach.

Instead of gunking up our site with ads, we use this space to display and promote the work of local artists.

Easley said it seemed to her that every time she thought she was done, she would hear of another Black person that was murdered by law enforcement (using Mapping Police Violence  as her main resource). She recalled at one point there were men with the same name killed on the same day on opposite sides of the country. It was overwhelming. The closer you look, the more you feel the weight, and you wonder how she even got through that experience. Because of the heavy nature of the painting and how it impacts herself and viewers, she said it  isn’t one she keeps constantly on display.

Her second work, “The Annunciation of the Transatlantic Black Woman,” speaks to stepping into her own power and that of her ancestors. A very personal and self-affirming piece, she has this one front and center in her home. Easley modeled for herself in the nude and painted the scene in a style inspired by the Birth of Venus. Both surreal and figurative, Easley on top of a fantastically large seashell on the ocean is front and center with a moody sherbert sky in the background. (She says it is left intentionally mysterious as to whether it is a sunset or sunrise.) The piece is also sprinkled with lightning bolts that Easley said represent the Yoruba God Shango (lightning, fire), peacock feathers to represent the Goddess Oshun (femininity, fertility), and a colorful swarm of oversized butterflies referencing the African diaspora.

Her work speaks to the complexity of her life as a Black woman dealing with intergenerational trauma stemming from continued cycles of racism and violence in the U.S., as someone who says she was cheated on and endured a divorce, and as a woman empowered through self-expression and creativity.

Easley herself was also the subject of another featured artist, Rajeana Black. Black’s work titled “Sisters’ Promise” is a photo collage inspired by the solidarity between Black women in the diaspora and comes from her 2022 series YAASSS Sis! This dynamic exchange of roles between artist and muse distills the essence of Altruism and what makes Long Beach special: community, collaboration, and camaraderie within a diverse, growing network of evocative artists. 

After the free art show portion, the theater closes out for an hour intermission before opening up again for the main event.  “Aside from Blaq Pages and myself, this is everyone’s Long Beach debut,” Vinny wrote. 

With Altruism leading the way,  the revival of this century-old theater is homegrown. Another new event series at the Edison curated by Poly HS alum Jairus Mozee also recently had its debut. Mozee AKA JMO, a Grammy award-winning guitarist who, like NiceGuyxVinny, has been featured at Fight Club (and by FORTHE), joined forces with producer and vocalist Anthony Cruz to create a live music-focused event called Fat Fridays. Despite some differences in the three events, Fight Club, Fat Fridays, and Altruism all feature world-class local talent and all three are supportive of each other. Like Mozee told FORTHE, “it’s all family.” 

Altruism will be an ongoing event with the next opportunity to go coming in April. Follow niceguyxvinny and art.realm.collective on Instagram to stay in the loop regarding upcoming dates and lineups. 

Jasmine Navarro and Shreya Sharan contributed to this article.