Lisandro Rives with AAA Flag and Banner installs over eighty new banners in a two-day process that state "Welcome to Cambodia Town" along Anaheim Street in Long Beach on Wednesday. (Diandra Jay/Press-Telegram)
via CAAI News Media
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/18/2010
LONG BEACH - Little by little, Cambodia Town's identity is taking shape.
On Wednesday a collection of banners that identify the area was installed on light poles along Anaheim Street.
The design for the banners emerged from an international online contest organized by the Arts Council for Long Beach and the winning entry came from an artist from Indonesia.
Community activist Richer San, who helped with the banner project, said representatives from a number of Cambodian civic and arts groups voted for the winning design.
Although he says the choice of the final design was democratic, he admits the winner was something of a personal favorite.
"I like things that are abstract," San said. "I think art shouldn't be just a picture but something more abstract."
"I think it's a strong graphic image," said Craig Watson, executive director of the Arts Council, noting that more than 100 pieces were submitted online.
The winning design depicts a dancer/guard in reds and rusts in a classic Apsara-style pose from a classical Khmer dance. In the background is an image of a sun slung low over the Angkor Wat temple complex. At the top of the banner is a sign in white letters that reads "Welcome to Cambodia Town." On the back, the welcoming message is repeated in Khmer, followed by a list of the sponsors.
The banners arrived just in time for two dance events this weekend, that are part of the Arts Council's "A lot"
series on the empty lot at Anaheim Street and Walnut Avenue and two weeks ahead of the popular Cambodian New Year's parade on Anaheim Street.
Business owners have yet to create an economic improvement district needed to receive city funds and other procedural aspects remain in the works. However, with the banners, the Cambodia Town area has a little more sense of self. Cambodia Town, the stretch of Anaheim Street between Atlantic Avenue and Junipero Avenue was made mostly official by the City Council in July 2007 and has had that unofficial title for years.
greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291
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