In an alley off 6th Street in Rose Park, there are oldies playing, the smell of hot dogs grilling and guests chatting.
Walking into the alley there is a huge mural of painted roses, art hung up outside and chalk for children to play with. Inside the studio space is a wall of prints, shelves of books, spray paint cans and a small retro television playing “Creature of the Black Lagoon.”
Cody Lusby is a local Long Beach artist who has lived in his Rose Park home for 11 years. Lusby’s event is part of the Long Beach Open Studio Tour, a yearly self-guided tour that allows guests to visit artists in their studios and home to see their art and workspaces.
Lusby can be recognized for his community project, Roses for Rose Park, which consists of large multi-colored roses being painted on walls, in front of homes and on the streets in the Rose Park area. The murals are created with a team of neighborhood volunteers.
“It wasn’t just my roses anymore, it was our roses, our project, our art,” Lusby said. “From that, I kind of fell in love with community building.”
Lusby can also be recognized for his “masks required” art which is put up around business in Long Beach, including Portfolio Coffee, Fingerprints Music and some of the salons off of East 4th Street in Rose Park. After seeing handwritten signs made with cardboard and sharpie, Lusby wanted to create a sign of nicer quality for businesses to put in the window.
Growing up in beach cities such as San Pedro, Huntington Beach and now Long Beach, there are many themes of water and water conservation in Lusby’s work, most notably in his series called “Water Wars.”
“I just want to, in a playful way, talk about the importance of water conservation,” Lusby said. “How here, especially in California, it should be a way of life.”
The next Long Beach Open Studio Tours will be on Saturday, Oct. 23, and Sunday, Oct. 24 in the Wrigley and Downtown Long Beach area. The following weekend the tours will be in Belmont Heights and the Belmont Shore area. For more information about Lusby’s next project, visit his website or Instagram @codylusbyart.
