Public Corporation for the Arts for the City of Long Beach (Arts Council for Long Beach or ArtsLB) cultivates the physical, social and economic characteristics of Long Beach neighborhoods by nurturing and enlivening the arts. We serve individuals, groups and organizations through advocacy, arts education, public art and grant making within the city of Long Beach.

We practice profound inclusion as a collaborator and convener for the benefit of all communities.

ArtsLB facilitates artistic activity that has the power to bring about true healing in our community through social justice. The John Lewis Institute for Social Justice defines social justice as:

“…a communal effort dedicated to creating and sustaining a fair and equal society in which each person and all groups are valued and affirmed. It encompasses efforts to end systemic violence and racism and all systems that devalue the dignity and humanity of any person. It recognizes that the legacy of past injustices remains all around us, so therefore promotes efforts to empower individual and communal action in support of restorative justice and the full implementation of human and civil rights.”

ArtsLB promotes social justice by supporting public art and artists that come from within our communities, and whose work depicts the inequitable systems and issues that need to be addressed by our city as a whole.

Founded in 1976, ArtsLB strives to facilitate arts activities that serve all of Long Beach’s 456,000 residents. We are a city of color, and ArtsLB is committed to uplifting Long Beach’s culturally rich, yet artistically under-resourced, communities. The people of Long Beach are 43% Latinx, 28% White, 13% Black, 14% Asian or Pacific Islander, 1% Native American, and 1% other.