Thanks to support from the RDA, Liza Simone has been finding creative ways to improve the cultural landscape of Downtown Long Beach. As the founder of Phantom Galleries LA, she has transformed empty store fronts into temporary gallery spaces all over Southern California. A new set of exhibitions, in 15 temporary galleries, opens tomorrow in Downtown Long Beach. she took a few moments to talk about the history of Phantom Galleries LA, and talk about the new show.

Liza: The phrase “phantom galleries” was coined by Cherri Lakey and Brian Eldar to mean temporary art installations in vacant storefront windows. Phantom Galleries LA is my company that creates 24/7 temporary art galleries throughout Los Angeles County.

Sander: How did you get started?

Liza: My rent doubled with an 18-day notice at my photo studio loft in Downtown LA. As a result, I was motivated to join an ad hoc community activist group of DLANC (Downtown LA Neighborhood Council) that was set to launch a new gallery district called “Gallery Row” in Downtown LA. It was an attempt to figure out how Artists could afford to live in an area that is revitalizing.

Sander: Did you find that property owners and governmental leaders were open to this idea?

Liza: Yes and no. One property owner was: Tom Gilmore. I proposed that we use spaces for temporary installations for the Gallery Row Unveiling event. Right away, Tom started to use his properties with artists he knew. He is still using the same space 5 years later. We were allowed to use several properties for the unveiling, and one became the Hive Gallery as a result. The Art Walk on Gallery Row now has 10,000 people each month, and most of the empty spaces we used are now rented to actual tenants. Many of the pioneering galleries now have to find new locations.

Sander: So, how did you get involved in Long Beach?

Liza: Several years ago I had 20 minutes to talk to the head of the LA County Arts Commission. She recommended several cities I could contact that might have funding to start a program. Long Beach was one of them. A few years after that Suja Lowenthal contacted me. I met with several key people, and the RDA decided to partner with us to help start a community-based Phantom Galleries LA program in Long Beach. Our Project area was meant to be Pine Ave but the property owners have been slow to participate there. They are finally joining in, and I’m happy to say that we launch several Pine Ave Locations this and next month.

Sander: I know you’re committed to bringing artists into these galleries that have achieved a certain level of stature in the art scene. Was it difficult to bring them here?

Liza: We find artists that have a commitment to their craft. We have shown some very high profile Artists here in Long Beach that are not from Long Beach. We launched programming at the end of January, right before and during TED. It was easy to convince people to show during TED. It wasn’t quite as easy after that. We have worked with over 650 artists, and we have a decent reputation, so we can attract great Artists.

Sander: Has there been any pressure to feature local artists?

Liza: There is no pressure because we have always shown local artists. From the start we have always strived to juxtapose the best artists of Long Beach aside the best artists in Southern California. There has always been a balance.

Each gallery is site specific and is dependent on the participants to decide how to approach the space. While many of our galleries are open during the day, or at night, many can not commit to set gallery hours, so it is hard for people to know when they are open. We plan to have coordinated openings once a month, on the third Saturday, starting in December. Many of our galleries now have dedicated curators so programming can be planned in advance.

Sander: You have a new exhibition opening this Saturday. What can you tell me about it?

Liza: This Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 7-9 pm we are launching a Guided by Cell Phone Every Day Art Walk at all of our current 15 galleries in Downtown Long Beach. There will be a dedicated phone number and each property will have extensions dedicated to that space. The Current curator and artist will leave messages for the viewers that can be accessed via cell phone.

We will also be adding curated sound exhibits that people can listen to while they are traveling from Gallery Cluster to Gallery Cluster, or at their leisure. This way the Curator and Artist can speak to the people who come to the spaces to look at the artwork through the windows. We also have several new shows opening on October 24th at the Pike, at our new spaces on Pine and 3rd Street, and at 3rd and Elm.

In November we will expand to 23 galleries. In December all of our 23 locations will have light installations, installed to light up downtown during the Holidays.

Sander: Where can people go to get all the details for this and all the other upcoming events?

Liza: We post events as they happen at our website: PhantomGallerieLA.com. People can also sign up for our Long Beach Facebook fan page or Twitter.com/pgla.

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Sound installations will be curated by the artist group FLOOD, organizers of SoundWalk. Also, I’ve contributed five soundbytes to the telephonic system.