“Embrace & Celebrate Culture” will launch with a video installation projected on The Wallis. (image courtesy of the city of Beverly Hills)

To kick off the holiday season this year, the city of Beverly Hills plans to celebrate community in a safe and meaningful way following the passage of an innovative initiative to create a culture of equity and inclusion. “Embrace & Celebrate Culture,” which was unanimously approved by the City Council on Sept. 15, is poised to launch on Nov. 19.

Stemming from a collaboration of the Human Relations and Arts and Culture commissions to celebrate the rich and unique cultural diversity of the community while standing in opposition to recent acts of hatred and violence, the citywide program will feature the arts, lectures and community engagement.

“This is a very exciting moment for our community … especially during these challenging times,” said Councilwoman Lili Bosse, who served on the liaison committee with Councilman John Mirisch to help bring the program to life. “Especially to be able to provide this incredible out-of-the-box exciting experience in our community during COVID times is really pretty incredible. And really, to highlight who we are in terms of the fact that we’re really focusing on our respect for cultural diversity and tolerance and inclusion. That is really who we want the world to see who we are.”

The new program was designed to be cost-neutral to the city by leveraging community partnerships and collaboration with local artists, businesses, and arts and service organizations.

“This inter-commission initiative is an important first step for the city, its council and its Human Relations and Arts and Culture commissions to find ways to better showcase global arts and cultural art forms, support local artists, arts and service organizations, and enrich the lives of our many residents – art-lovers of all ages and community-based individuals and philanthropists who enrich our city through their daily acts of kindness, compassionate and tireless service to the community, their neighbors and those in need,” stated the staff report, which was authored by Director of Community Services Jenny Rogers and Human Services Administrator Jim Latta.

Following City Council approval, the program will begin with an art installation created by Beverly Hills natives Torie Zalben and Liana Weston as part of their TZ Projects and executed in collaboration with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. From Nov. 19-29, looped video-projections will illuminate the exterior of The Wallis, showcasing creations from prominent local artists from different cultures that address themes of community, hope, change and progress. The audience will be able to view the installation while driving or walking by or parking curbside to ensure a safe and socially distanced experience.

“We would really just love to have this be a destination experience for people to go to, to really get their minds off the current situation of things,” Zalben said.

The initiative also calls for the city to collaborate with United Talent Agency to fill empty storefronts in Beverly Hills with art installations during the winter holidays. Building owners with vacant storefronts are actively being sought for the venture. The proposed exhibit, “Beyond 2020: A Cultural Experience Like No Other,” will be a mini-presentation of 2018’s “Beyond the Streets” exhibition and is intended to inspire and create awe and meaning out of a challenging time by showcasing installations made by contemporary artists. A quarterly literary event, lecture or community forum is intended to round out the initiative by featuring artists, academics, educators and experts to further explore cultural diversity, tolerance and inclusion.

“We are a very global city, and we want to support the city in its creation of a culture of equity, inclusion and belonging, which we know the city of Beverly Hills emblematizes to those that live here and those that visit here,” Rogers said.

The initiative grows upon the city’s push to make the community more civil.  On Sept. 17, the Human Relations Commission will select this year’s Embrace Civility Award winner with the award to be presented at the Oct. 13 City Council meeting in observance of Civility Month. The Embrace Civility Award nomination period concluded on Sept. 4, with the commission having received 20 nominations – the largest number to date.

“Embrace civility, embrace diversity, embrace culture, embrace inclusivity, that drives our commission’s mission,” said Human Relations Commissioner Annette Saleh, who worked with Arts and Culture Vice Chair Deborah Frank in launching the new initiative. “Basically, it’s really to introduce and promote the diversity in our community through art and music and theater and dance and a speaker series and more.”

Frank underscored how art intrinsically encompasses many facets and is a natural bridge to link and connect her commission with the Human Relations Commission.

“It’s important for our community to embrace and celebrate and unite differences to bring us together during this complicated time,” she said. “With COVID affecting our economy and closures of our city’s cultural institutions, this will be a welcome opportunity for an experience that so many of us crave.”