This newsletter from the City of Manhattan Beach features two upcoming art exhibitions at the Manhattan Beach Art Center. The first exhibition features kinetic sculptures by William Sandell and oil paintings by Cynda Valle, running from January 13th to March 12th. The second is a community art exhibition called "I <3 MB" inviting local residents to submit artwork depicting what they love about Manhattan Beach, with a submission deadline of January 24th. The newsletter also discusses the legacy of historic ceramics manufacturer Metlox in inspiring the city's ceramics education program. It concludes with an invitation to view the sunset through the Light Gate sculpture on January 27th.

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JANUARY 2017 NEWSLETTER

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An exhibition of kinetic sculptures by William Sandell and oil
paintings by Cynda Valle.
Cynda Valle is a prolific oil painter, instructor and self-described ‘late bloomer’ who chronicles
human life from the unique perspective of present time, culture, place, and her own personal
viewpoint within it.
“I find the most ordinary moments of the most ordinary domestic circumstances to be infused
with undercurrents of surrealism, luminosity, and pattern that always remind me of the fragile
poignancy of life,” said Valle. “I try to ‘catch’ and freeze these moments on canvas with oil
paint."
Valle is looking forward to meeting a whole new crowd of "Baby Boomer Dream Seekers" and
potential new students of classic oil painting through the Art Center. “Our class motto: ‘If Not
Now, When?’” said Valle. “No more delayed gratification!”
As a child, William Sandell was mesmerized by the dioramas at the L.A. Museum of Natural
History, the Rube Goldberg cartoons in the Sunday comics Erector sets, Lincoln Logs, Legos, the
game Mousetrap, and watching The Little Rascals inventing things on TV. “I was always building
gadgets,” said Sandell.
“I like art that reaches out and waves to you,” said Sandell. “I like noisy art. My art squeaks,
rattles, I’m one step away from a hoarder.” Sandell looks forward to seeing his assemblages
presented at MBAC and cannot wait to see the public’s reactions to his odd, strange and
whimsical kinetic sculptures.
“I know from experience, that young or old people [will be] fascinated by them.”
Exhibition schedule: Jan. 13th, 2017—Mar. 12th, 2017
For more information, please contact Manhattan Beach Art Center (310) 802—5440 or
infombac@citymb.info
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Very Cinematic Narrative

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The City of Manhattan Beach Cultural Arts Division invites artists of all ages to
submit an original artwork for the upcoming I <3 MB art exhibit at Manhattan
Beach City Hall.
The Why I<3 Manhattan Beach City Hall Art Exhibition is open to Manhattan Beach residents,
students attending a Manhattan Beach school, and anyone enrolled in a Manhattan Beach
Parks and Recreation Art class.
“As a longtime Manhattan Beach community volunteer, I created the I <3 MB theme in 2008 as
a way to engage fellow residents to ‘make a difference’ and give back to our community,” said
longtime Manhattan Beach Councilman Wayne Powell.
Powell established the I<3 MB award to recognize outstanding people, places and organizations
that make Manhattan Beach the community residents all love.
HOW TO SUBMIT:
Artwork should depict what the submitter loves about Manhattan Beach, and can be in any two
dimensional medium. Submissions are limited to one (1) submission per artist and the maximum
size is 2 ft. x 2 ft.
Due to limited exhibition space, a limited number of artworks will be accepted for physical
display. However, all submissions will be displayed in a digital photo album on the city’s website
www.citymb.info.
Email the following documents to infombac@citymb.info:
 Entry form (also available at MB City Hall, MB Art Center, and MB City Website).
 JPEG image of the artwork, (image named with artist name).
Submission deadline: Tuesday, Jan. 24th, 2017
Exhibition dates: Feb. 21st— Mar. 16th, 2017.
For further information, please contact Manhattan Beach Arts Center, at
(310) 802-5442 or infombac@citymb.info
CALL FOR ARTWORK
I ♥ MB

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Manhattan Beach residents and visitors alike are familiar with Metlox, the unique
shopping and dining plaza located in Downtown Manhattan Beach. Metlox hosts
upscale shopping and dining, landscaped courtyards, and public art that
celebrates the Metlox Pottery manufacturing facility that had previously
occupied the site.
“When I first moved here in 1980, it was still going,” said Chris Cutroneo, a Ceramics Lab
Technician for the City of Manhattan Beach. “It was a factory, right in the middle of downtown
Manhattan Beach.”
Metlox Potteries is recognized by collectors as the foremost manufacturer of American ceramic
dinnerware and artware. Founded by T. C. Prouty and his son Willis in 1927, Metlox first
specialized in outdoor ceramic advertisement signs that served as insulated bases for neon
tubing. A well-known example is the Pantages Theatre marquee in Hollywood.
Metlox was sold to Evan K. Shaw in 1946 and turned to the manufacture of dinnerware and
artware that included the iconic Cubist Dog, which is now a public sculpture. Metlox ceased
operations in 1989.
Despite this, the legacy of Metlox continues in Live Oak Park, where the City of Manhattan
Beach maintains a ceramics education program, headed by the Cultural Arts Division.
“If you look at all the cities that have a ceramics program… you go ‘Why Manhattan Beach?’”
said Cutroneo. He credits the presence of Metlox for inspiring Manhattan Beach to invest in
public, subsidized ceramics classes for its citizens.
Eilen Stewart, Recreation Supervisor for the City of Manhattan Beach, agrees. “Many of our
students remember when Metlox was operational, and I would like to think that inspires them, at
least in some way, to pursue this challenging medium.”
(cont. on next pg.)
FROM METLOX TO LIVE OAK
PARK OAK
The Ceramic Legacy Of Manhattan Beach

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Ceramics continues to be one of the most popular arts programs offered by the City of
Manhattan Beach. Stewart hopes to eventually expand the Live Oak Park studio space to
accommodate a growing number of students.
“Having seen and worked in other [ceramics] studios in the area, I can see that the quality of
the artwork produced by [our] students far surpasses other community and government run
studios in the South Bay,” said Stewart. Both Stewart and Cutroneo acknowledge the close-knit
community of Manhattan Beach and the unwavering dedication of the ceramics students to
the studio's success.
“Our students have a deep love of ceramics and the ceramic arts,” said Cutroneo. “They
constantly are pushing themselves to do new and better art, and it shows itself in the studio, in
the art sales that we’ve had in the community - the hometown faire and the holiday fair…”
“What skills they’ve picked up [in our] ceramics studio has helped them grow as artists, as
people and as members of our community.”
*Photos provided by the Manhattan Beach Historical Society and P2PB REALTY

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The public is invited to watch the sunset through the famous Light
Gate sculpture located between City Hall and the Manhattan Beach
library.
Twice a year on January 27th and November 14th, the sunset aligns within the keyhole
of the monumental sculpture, creating a dramatic lighting effect meant to bridge the
City of Manhattan Beach and the Pacific Ocean. Light Gate was commissioned as part
of the city’s Centennial Celebration with the purpose to create an exceptional visual
experience for locals and visitors, while celebrating the City’s past and inspiring future
generations.
“Successful visual art in a community can foster discussion, celebrate a city’s unique
culture, engage and inspire the mind and senses, and anchor a key community place,”
said Councilman Wayne Powell regarding the sculpture. Light Gate was chosen as the
city’s centennial art project after an intense review of over 150 submissions.
“[Light Gate] will be a place of constantly shifting light and view, more than a solid
object.” said artists Mags Harries and Lajos Héder of their sculpture. “As you move
around and through the sculpture, it will shift unexpectedly from transparency, to
prismatic refraction, to mirror reflection.” Harries and Heder further explained that they
intended to connect the Civic Center Plaza with the famous beach through Light Gate.
“The beach was the original reason for the City’s existence at this location.”
Event Location: Manhattan Beach City Hall
1400 Highland Ave, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Event Date/Time: Friday, Jan. 27th, 2016 at 4:50 PM
For more information, please contact the Cultural Arts Division at (310) 802-5440.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Sunset through the LIGHT GATE

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Manhattan Beach Art Center
Presented by the City of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Department
1560 Manhattan Beach Blvd. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
mbparksandrec@citymb.info / www.citymb.info
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