Long Beach gets artsy in the plaza

Kennedy Plaza looked a lot more colorful during the celebration of the 18th Annual Fine Arts Show on June 9 and 10.

The City of Long Beach, in cooperation with the Long Beach Public Library, showcased roughly 50 artists who displayed their work outside of City Hall.

The unique selection of art included paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and mixed media.

“It was great to see so many artists of such high quality,” said City Council President Fran Adelson. “It was really nice to see that there were a lot of Long Beach artists, which is great because it’s great to know that the people that live in our city are so talented and that there are a lot of repeat vendors that come back year after year.”

This year’s festival also included a host of musical performances, sponsored by the Long Beach Public Library, which included Stick-Tet with the return of Steve Adelson, County Music with Old and New County Line, Benoir and the Long Beach All-Stars and Long Island Harmonica Club in Concert.

Awards were presented to the artists in each medium as well as one for “Best in Show.” Five first-place awards were given out to Nicholas Meola for digital montage, Marck Webster for colored pencil, Andrew Boynton for ball point pen and colored pencil, Ed Kennedy for photography and Steven Klein for acrylic painting. Chloe Wang took home “Best in Show” for her oil paintings.

“The show went well,” said Johanna Mathieson-Ellmer, director of Artists in Partnership who served as a judge in the show. “It seemed like there were no hitches and we had close to 25 participants.”

Mathieson-Ellmer said the turnout for the event was “absolutely magnificent.”

“It’s just a really nice thing to have in Long Beach,” Adelson said. “Long Beach has a lot of talented artists to begin with and it’s nice for the artists and for the public.”