Wednesday, September 16, 2009

LBCreative! Connections #2

LBCreative! is having their next Connections Meeting tonight from 7:00pm-9:00pm as local artists, art collectives, and organizations assemble to hear progress from each of the collaborative teams, network, and learn about shared resources.

The meeting will be at:

Immanuel Community Center
3215 East 3rd Street
Long Beach, CA 90814

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Getting Ready for Grand Opening

Our recent Community Pulse talked about our Grand Opening for the new Catalyst Space. It'll be this coming Saturday, Sept. 12th from 4-10pm. It coincides with the Latin American Parade & Festival which converges in the East Village right in front of our Space and it also coincides with the 2nd Saturday Art Walk happening at our cross street at Linden Ave.

Please come by and say hello! We're at 430 E. 1st Street, Long Beach, CA 90802. In the East Village Arts District, that's on 1st Street between Elm Ave and Linden Ave.

It's been amazing to see all the renovations that have happened in just a few short weeks. Catalyst Operations Director, Ryan Blanc, spearheaded organizing volunteers to paint, demolish, and build things for the new Space. Thanks so much to all the volunteers! It really looks great!

In just over 3 months at this new Space, we have connected with over 200 people from over 75 different community organizations. The Catalyst Space has been used by 13 collaborative teams as they work on their own member-driven projects and initiatives. The Space has also been a place where catalysts and community members could regularly hang out to connect. We've held a Catalyst workshop and a Bike workshop at the Space too!

We've also got four computers available for community use. We used Linux (open-source free Operating System) and we have Open Office (free word processing software) installed on all the computers so we've been able to make the computers functional without cost. Now, we'll be putting together a series of workshops and presenting the Catalyst Space as a Community Growth & Learning Center. We're hoping to get funding and get this Center subsidized by a couple sponsors. Cross your fingers!