Getty Center 25th Anniversary
Celebrate Long Beach
2022
Long Beach
The Getty 25 Long Beach Festival transformed Houghton Park into a vibrant celebration of community and creativity, unfolding over two sun-drenched days beneath the park's century-old palm trees. As the third installment in Getty's 25th anniversary series, this free event—produced with the Long Beach Creative Coalition—became a living tapestry of the city's diverse cultural voices.
The festival pulsed with energy from Grammy-winning Cambodian psychedelic rockers Dengue Fever and soulful Long Beach native Seafood Sam, while the Jordan High School Marching Band's procession filled the air with brass brilliance. Attendees wandered between immersive experiences: Daniela Soberman's monumental interlocking sculpture physically embodied the city's interconnected communities, while Rancho Los Cerritos' "Roots in Long Beach" exhibition challenged conventional notions of home through provocative local narratives.
Mornings began with African drum circles that reverberated through the park, giving way to Modern Apsara Dance Company's swirling silks and JD Dance Company's contemporary routines. The skate park hosted gravity-defying demonstrations that drew cheers, while the Museum of Latin American Art and Centro CHA led families in collaborative artmaking. As scents from food trucks mingled with the earthy aroma of composting workshops, the entire event became a testament to Long Beach's creative resilience—proving that the most powerful art emerges when institutions meet communities where they live.
See full festival program here: https://www.creativeclasscollective.org/gettylongbeach
As a key curator of the Getty 25: Celebrates Long Beach festival, Cassy worked alongside Sinead Finnerty-Pyne (Studio One Eleven) and Tanya Raukko (Intertrend) to shape a vibrant, community-driven celebration of the city’s cultural diversity. Together, they led programming strategy, artist selection, and vendor coordination—ensuring the event authentically reflected Long Beach’s creative pulse.
Cassy’s leadership extended to assembling and collaborating with a 12-member Creative Advisor Team of local organizations, whose insights guaranteed inclusive programming that elevated neighborhood voices. From securing Grammy-winning headliners like Dengue Fever to integrating grassroots workshops (African drumming, spray painting, and composting sessions), she helped strike a balance between large-scale performances and intimate community exchanges.
Her curation emphasized participation over spectacle—whether through Rancho Los Cerritos’ "Roots in Long Beach" exhibition, which redefined concepts of home, or the Museum of Latin American Art’s hands-on workshops. By bridging Getty’s institutional resources with Long Beach’s hyperlocal talent, Cassy and her co-curators created a festival where every element—from the Jordan High School Marching Band’s procession to Daniela Soberman’s collaborative sculpture—felt deeply rooted in place.
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