Ideas for 'Cultural District' Along LBI Taking Shape

Making Long Beach Island a year-long cultural and arts destination is one of the agenda items of the recently formed Culture and Arts of Long Beach Island (CALBI) partnership.

Last year, The Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts was  to create a framework for a cultural district on LBI. 

The planning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) “Our Town” program funds focus groups and meetings of the key partners to map out the activities, programs and venues that would be included in the cultural district.

Now the district is beginning to take shape on LBI, in the form of the CALBI partnership. The group is tasked with proposing ideas to make LBI a year-round cultural destination, and so far the ideas they are proposing could just make that happen.

One of the groups ideas include a trolley that would run the length of the island, to bring people to different shopping areas from Barnegat Light to Beach Haven. The group is also targeting additional museums, art galleries and store owners. 

Marianne Gellman, who is the developmental director at LBIF told Patch that the original plan had been to establish some walking areas along the island, but the group decided that since the island already has several walkable areas, what may be needed in the future is a way to get shoppers from place to place in an easy way, like a trolley.

"We're also planning on making the entrance to the island more welcoming and beautiful," Gellman said. 

According to the NEA website, the project’s eventual activities will include “community engagement with artists and residents, inventorying arts assets, assessing barriers to building a strong presence for the arts, and identifying underutilized assets that could support future arts development.”

Gellman said that the group is in the process of forming its second public meeting, to be held June 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center in Spray Beach.