Long Beach Walls, turning the city into art, returns this weekend – Press Telegram

Twelve artists, from globally recognized muralists to emerging local voices, will transform four key sites across Long Beach with brand-new, large-scale works.

Some highlights will include:

• The tallest mural in festival history by Brian Peterson, the artist behind some of L.A.’s most iconic Kobe Bryant tributes.
• A whimsical collaboration at Lowell Elementary, where actor and artist Brady Smith joins students to create a mural of youthful expression.
• An impactful project by Angie Crabtree, who will both lead a mural at Renaissance High School and debut her first solo museum exhibition, Garden of Eve, at the Long Beach Museum of Art.
• Lively new works by Eric Michael and Steve Martinez whose murals tap into symbolism rooted in Latin American identity and urban life.

Along with a week of mural painting, this year’s festival offers a full slate of free events including live painting demos and a collaborative art show with Thinkspace Gallery; artist talks and youth engagement events; and a Moonlight Mash bike ride through the murals, a night market, and more.

“Public art is a powerful force that unifies and inspires,” Creative Class Collective executive director Blair Kohn said in a news release. “It’s more than colors on a wall — it’s a conversation starter, a perspective shift, a bridge between communities.”

Since 2015, Long Beach Walls and Art Renzei have reshaped over 40 square miles of the city into a walkable, photo-worthy museum — fueling civic pride, spotlighting local stories, and raising the city’s global profile.

The team behind the event plans to publish a retrospective book in 2026, documenting the murals and milestones that have defined the festival’s journey so far.

For artist lineups, mural locations, and a full schedule of this summer’s festival, visit longbeachwalls.com.

‘State of Becomings’

Munzón Gallery invites art lovers into a space of transformation with “State of Becomings,” a new exhibit spotlighting the evolving voices of seven artists currently navigating, or just finishing up, the journey that is graduate school.

Opening Saturday, July 19, the group show will feature recent MFA graduates and current candidates from USC, UCLA, Yale, Otis, and CSULB, offering an up-close look at the fertile ground of artistic identity in process.

Featuring works by Jacqueline Valenzuela (UCLA), Baby Mueller (USC), Josh Vasquez (Yale), Dilan Torres (UCLA), Georgina Clapham (Otis), Jose Loza (CSULB), and Noelle Averett (CSULB), the exhibit will draw attention to studio-based investigations that shape any artist’s voice.

From material experimentation to concept-driven inquiry, the exhibition highlights the complexity of what it means to make work in the midst of “becoming” — not new, but not yet finished.

These are artists on the cusp, with works representing both the culmination of intense academic and creative rigor, and a creative step toward what comes next.

Whether through explorations of identity, social commentary, or abstraction, the show captures a shared momentum here in Southern California and across the country — the urge for artists to define and redefine what their art can be.

“State of Becomings” offers a rare chance to engage with this act of becoming.

Munzón Gallery is located at 1730 E. Broadway and admission is free. Visit munzongallery.com for more details.

Underground Film Fest

If the megaplex isn’t cutting it for you lately, the Long Beach Underground Film Festival might be the breath of fresh air you’ve been craving.

Kicking off for the very first time on Friday, July 18, this fiercely DIY festival carves out a haven for visionaries, misfits, and boundary-pushing filmmakers.

And it does so in true underground fashion — in parking lots, alleyways, retail nooks, and anywhere else you can prop up a screen and pull up a chair.

Richard Martinez and Jaylene Contreras helped dream up the event as a homegrown celebration of film and art that prefers to fly beneath the radar.

The festival’s inaugural program will deliver a mix of experimental visuals, raw storytelling, and genre-defying ideas.

For instance, “Quietus” offers a visual meditation on the unseen self, while “Beethoven’s Great Great Great Great Great Grandchild” follows a hilariously untalented heir to the maestro’s name.

In “Dear Nǎi Nai,” the challenges of language and connection unfold in the form of a birthday card written during the pandemic. Other highlights include “One Hundred White Trucks,” a film steeped in analog techniques, and “Kismet,” a modern rock opera charting a path of spiritual transformation.

The entire festival, in fact, seems concerned with the idea of transformation — the transformation and repurposing of our energy into hyper-local, creative channels.

One example of this creative impulse is the confirmed venue of Native Sol — not inside the store, but in the intimate outdoor space behind it.

Organizers emphasize this isn’t just a weekend of screenings. It’s a gathering, a community, and a kind of cinematic resistance.

“We’re taking our love for film and art and giving it a home in the place we live and love,” says the festival’s mission on their website. “Perhaps you are the caliber of person to help us on our journey.”

In other words, Long Beach Underground Film Fest invites you to share your weirdness with the world.

For more details and screening locations, follow @longbeachundergroundfilmfest on Instagram or head to lbuff.eventive.org/welcome.

Originally Published: July 17, 2025 at 8:10 AM PDT