Wide Eyes Open Palms
416 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90805
Wide Eyes Open Palms coffee shop located just west of Luther Burbank Elementary School and is bordered by the residential neighborhoods of Carroll Park and North Alamitos Beach. The coffee shops shares the building with several other businesses, including a smoke shop and a clothing boutique. The eclectic nature of the building resembles the rest of the area. Over a two block area along E 4th St, restaurants, shops, and bars make for a popular hangout spot.
Near Wide Eyes Open Palms is the Art Theatre of Long Beach, a movie theater that originally opened in 1925 with a single screen, an orchestra pit, and a pipe organ. The theater’s façade was remodeled in the art deco style after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. In 2008 when the theater was purchased by local investors, it was again changed to resemble the original 1933 blueprints. Today the theater shows small independent and first run films.
Written by Amelia Nixon
Source: http://arttheatrelongbeach.org/
2018
Empathy as Survival
On the north side of a cafe called Wide Eyes Open Palms, a mural titled “Empathy as Survival” occupies a wall about the size of a garage door. The artist Shane Sun (artist name Sun Draws) was commissioned by POW! WOW! Long Beach to paint the mural for their summer 2018 festival. Visitors should approach the building from the south along Cherry Ave and be cautious of cars. “Empathy as Survival” is on the corner where they alleyway connects to Cherry Ave.
The mural depicts two bright pink human hands holding a blue and white sphere that looks like the earth. The hands and orb are outlined in yellow. Surrounding this is a gray and white circle with a marbled pattern. The mural has a background of blue veined with white resembling the reflection of sunlight on clear pool water.
“Empathy as Survival” contains symbolism of the natural elements as well as a greater environmental message. The element of water is most heavily influenced in this mural, along with earth. Hands are also a recurring image in Sun’s work, representing the human element. Of the mural’s message, Sun speaks of humanity’s relationship with the earth and with each other as people, saying,
“I have a deep spiritual belief that humans are in their right place on this planet when we are stewarding the earth.” He hopes that his mural gives viewers a peaceful and positive feeling. Sun worked with the Wide Eyes Open Palms coffee shop in the design of “Empathy as Survival,” and had been following the business since it started as a pop-up and built up over five years. Sun created the mural using spray paint.
Written by Amelia Nixon
Source: https://www.lb908.com/single-post/2018/07/05/Pow-Wow-Brightens-the-City-With-Help-From-Shane-Sun
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