Nine artists will throw open their studio doors at the Artist Coop in Long Beach's Zaferia District on Saturday, part of a citywide open studio tour that brings visitors face to face with work ranging from sculptures built out of discarded fishing nets to a mandala assembled from more than a thousand old lottery scratchers.
The Artist Coop sits at 1330 Gladys Avenue and houses nine individual studios along with two communal gallery spaces, according to artistcooplb.com. The building has served Long Beach's creative community for more than a decade, hosting nearly 100 artists since it was concepted in 2006 by Jesse Dean, the site notes. Saturday's event is tied to the Long Beach Open Studio Tour, a free, self-guided event that runs four weekends in October and, per lbopenstudiotour.com, includes more than 80 studios and over 120 artists across the city this year.
The Zaferia stop specifically runs Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. and pairs the tour with a Via Zaferia neighborhood event, which promises a free shuttle connecting locations along with local art, jewelry and complimentary refreshments, according to zaferia.org. The site lists six resident artists taking part in that neighborhood-wide stretch of the tour.
A Coop Built On Proximity
The Coop's event page says participating artists will open their studios and show work in the shared gallery, with pieces available for purchase at studio prices. The six taking part include Katie Stubblefield, Cody Lusby, Max Allbee, Angelica Fegley, Lance Carlson and Lisette Thierry. The Coop describes working side by side as a way to build artists' connections and community.
The participating artists work across a range of media. Cody Lusby, one of the nine artists based at the Coop and an organizer of this year's open studio tour, works in photography, painting, mixed media and collage, according to the Long Beach Post.
Art Made From Everyday Materials
One of the works bringing everyday materials into the gallery is a mandala Max Allbee made with 1,500 lottery scratchers bought on eBay, the Long Beach Post reports. Allbee said the piece connects capitalism with his grandmother's lottery win.
Angelica Fegley has worked in the shared studio space for more than a decade, according to the Long Beach Post. Her intuitive abstract paintings draw on portraits, landscapes and botanicals.
Sculptures Made From What The Sea Leaves Behind
Katie Stubblefield's work explores discarded maritime materials and storm-damaged forests, themes she connects to the fragility of human-built systems, according to her artist statement. Her Ghost Nets series combines suspended nylon-mesh armatures, found objects and synthetic zip ties. Three sculptures from the series hang from her studio ceiling, the Long Beach Post reports.
Stubblefield's sculpture live through this incorporates used craft and wedding materials, including pearls and old lace, according to the Long Beach Post. She teaches art survey and art vocational courses at Coastline College in Newport Beach, the outlet notes.
Efforts To Recover Lost Crab Gear
The discarded nets in Stubblefield's work are distinct from lost Dungeness crab traps, but a separate recovery effort addresses the risk that lost fishing gear can continue trapping marine life. An Ocean Protection Council presentation says The Nature Conservancy and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations have operated a port-based recovery model in Half Moon Bay and San Francisco since 2015, removing hundreds of traps. The presentation also said organizers were planning to expand the work to additional California ports following a Dungeness Crab Task Force recommendation.
Zaferia’s Creative District and the Wider Gear Problem
The Zaferia Business Association traces the district’s independent, community-minded identity to the early 1900s and describes today’s corridor as home to restaurants, experimental stages, distinctive retail shops and design workshops. The City of Long Beach says its arts and culture support program includes grants to artists and community organizations in partnership with the Arts Council for Long Beach.
The abandoned nets used in Stubblefield’s sculptures are not the same as lost Dungeness crab traps. More broadly, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program says lost or discarded fishing gear can continue to trap and kill fish, crustaceans, marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds.
A Tour With Deep Roots
The Long Beach Open Studio Tour has run since 2009, according to Long Beach Post, weaving together neighborhoods, artists and thousands of visitors across the city, according to the tour's about page. Organizers say nearly 3,000 visitors stepped inside participating studios last year alone, describing the event as artist-run and community-powered. Past editions have drawn a wide mix of disciplines: a 2023 Long Beach Post report counted 55 participating artists working across painting, sculpture, woodworking, photography, jewelry design, printmaking and furniture refurbishment, including Point by Point Studio, a furniture refurbishment venture led by artist Ghermayne Baker out of a Cal Heights home studio.
Lusby's own history with the tour stretches back years; a 2021 report from the Long Beach Current described his Roses for Rose Park project, which used neighborhood volunteers to paint large multicolored roses on walls, in front of homes and across streets. For visitors heading to Zaferia on Saturday, the draw is the same mix of neighborhood texture and working artist studios that has defined the tour since it began — just with a free shuttle and snacks built in this time around.
