STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: May 17, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Jenny Rogers, Director of Community Services
Benjamin Johnson, Arts and Culture Manager
Subject: Beverly Hills Pride 2022, as Part of the City’s Embrace & Celebrate Culture Initiative, a Collaboration of the City of Beverly Hills’ Arts and Culture and Human Relations Commissions, Next Beverly Hills Committee and Community Services Department
Attachments: 1. May 12, 2022 City Council Arts and Culture Liaison Meeting Report (Without attachment)
INTRODUCTION
Staff presented the proposed Beverly Hills Pride 2022 to City Council Arts and Culture Liaisons, Mayor Lili Bosse and Councilmember John Mirisch at their meeting on May 11, 2022.
DISCUSSION
The proposed events and activities would commemorate the City of Beverly Hills’ inaugural Pride celebration as part of the City’s Embrace & Celebrate Culture Initiative, a collaboration of the City of Beverly Hills’ Arts and Culture and Human Relations Commissions, Next Beverly Hills Committee and Community Services Department.
FISCAL IMPACT
No funding will be required for these activities as existing department budgets will be utilized.
RECOMMENDATION
This report is for informational purposes only
Jenny Rogers
Director of Community Services
Approved by
Attachment 1
CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS
MEMORANDUM
MEETING DATE: May 12, 2022
TO: City Council Arts and Culture Liaisons Council Members Lili Bosse and John Mirisch
FROM: Jenny Rogers, Director of Community Services
Benjamin Johnson, Arts & Culture Manager
SUBJECT: Proposed Beverly Hills Pride 2022, as part of the City’s Embrace & Celebrate Culture Initiative
ATTACHMENT: 1. Proposed Beverly Hills Pride 2022 Power Point Presentation
INTRODUCTION
Staff will present a proposal for the inaugural Beverly Hills Pride 2022, a festive celebration of Pride Month in the City, with events and activities launching in early June and spanning the first two weeks of the month (June 1-12, 2022).
HISTORY
In June 2021, former Human Relations Commissioner Annette Saleh brought forward the idea of lighting City Hall with a Pride gobo as part of the Embrace & Celebrate Culture Initiative. This idea in recognition and celebration of Pride month in the City was first suggested by local entrepreneur, business and property owner and arts lover Shawn Farr with whom the City, its Community Services Department, the Arts and Culture and Human Relations Commissions have collaborated on previous special events. Most recently Mr. Farr generously donated the use of his building at 499 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills (a.k.a. the Courier Building) for the City’s inaugural Sing for Hope Beverly Hills program last summer. The ground floor of the Courier Building acted as a central and highly visible location for our Piano Studio in which the public could watch real-time creation of these one-of-kind piano designs during the month of July, 2021. With the Council’s approval, the Arts and Culture and Human Relations Commissions, would know like to expand upon this initial effort to bring festive pride activities to the City.
Beverly Hills Pride 2022 would be a natural progression of the City’s commitment to, and support for, embracing cultural diversity, equity, inclusion and provide greater visibility and recognition of LBGTA+ community members and visitors as part of this celebration.
DISCUSSION
There are several special events proposed to take place in the City in early June to help kickoff Pride Month in Beverly Hills. Regionally, surrounding communities are scheduled to host their community celebrations later in June. The proposed Beverly Hills Pride 2022 would again include gobo lighting on the side of City Hall with an upgrade gobo design, and expand the special event décor to include celebratory tree lighting of the Civic Center and two unique public performances – a concert event in collaboration with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, hosted outdoors on the Wallis patio, and a Greystone Theatre event showcasing a gender diverse roster of female-identified performers, musicians and comedians. 2 of 4
The proposed roster of Pride events represents a unique alignment between the City and Mayor Bosse’s Healthy City Initiatives, the Embrace and Celebrate Culture (ECC) Initiative, the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) Initiative, and the City & its Community Services’ commitment to provide greater diversity, equity and inclusion in our arts and culture offerings.
If approved, the Beverly Hills Pride Night on Thursday, June 2, would become the City’s inaugural Pride event and the first Pride event in the region to kick off Pride month. The City of West Hollywood Pride is scheduled for June 3, 4, 5, and City of Los Angeles Pride is June 10, 11, 12. Both city agencies are aware of the City’s proposed Pride programming and have pledged to assist in cross promotional efforts.
Proposed Beverly Hills Pride Events and Activities
This report provides a brief outline of proposed events and activities which have garnered Citywide Inter-Departmental and Inter-Commission support:
Embrace & Celebrate Culture: Beverly Hills Pride – As a project of the City’s Citywide ECC Initiative, the proposed Beverly Hills Pride activation was a project update at meetings of the Arts and Culture Commission (April 19 & May 10, 2022), the Arts and Culture and Human Relations Commission Ad Hocs (ACC Cultural Events & HRC DEI Ad Hocs in April & May) and the Next Beverly Hills Committee (March 17 & April 12, 2022). These proposed activities also have the support of our business community including City partners in the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, the Conference and Visitor’s Bureau and the Rodeo Drive Committee (RDC Committee meeting on April 13, 2022). The Community Services’ Arts & Culture Division has worked in close collaboration with the City’s Policy and Management and its Economic Sustainability Division (Marketing & Economic Sustainability Manager Laura Biery), Community Development’s Citywide Filming and Event Permits Division (Special Events Film Coordinator Magdalena Davis) and Public Works (Associate Project Manager Teresa Revis) in the development of this proposed program and we are grateful for all the generous support from the citywide staff team.
City Hall and Palm Trees – Official Pride Lighting – Wednesday, June 1 – June 12 o Proposed Location: City Hall and trees flanking City Hall. o Program hosts: City of Beverly Hills and its Community Services Department. o CS staff have worked with Community Development Citywide Special Events, Policy & Management and Public Works staff on two celebratory lighting treatments to occur as part of the official launch of Pride month in the City in the first two weeks of June.
o The planning and costs of the lighting treatments were reviewed and coordinated through Public Works with the estimated costs of the tree lighting at $7,100.
Community Services will again pay for the Pride Gobo estimated at $2,300 for one week. Costs for both will be covered through existing funds in Public Works and Community Services Department budgets.
o The tree lighting was tested and reviewed by staff on April 19, and these lights can be utilized for multiple events throughout the year as they have white and full color capability. They can be programmed for a variety of special events including BHHS Graduation, Independence Day, (among other events), and are viewed as a multi-use, long-term investment for the City.
Beverly Hills Pride Night: Pride Concert
o Event Date: Thursday, June 2, 8-10pm
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o Proposed Location: Outside Plaza, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, corner of Santa Monica and North Canon Drive. Estimated attendance projected to be 350-500 people.
o Tickets: Free with RSVP
o Event Theme: Beverly Hills Pride – A Celebration of Diverse Families and Communities
o Concert Hosts: Esteemed KCRW radio host Noveena Carmel and acclaimed musician and writer Tolliver in conjunction with Community Services’ Arts and Culture Division.
o Artistic Content: Artists are being proposed because of their gender diversity, unique talents, design-savvy and fashion forward style and iconic representation within the LGBTIQIA+ community. Proposed artists have all communicated that they would feel honored to perform in Beverly Hills, and they understand that this is a celebration of the community and they are representing and uplifting the Beverly Hills brand. Each artist will perform 1-3 songs, or a set of work, and the proposed roster includes musicians, dancers, comedians and performance artists.
Within the LGBTIQIA+ artistic community, this roster of artists represents a stellar lineup!
o Proposed Artist lineup: With an eye towards diversity and inclusion, all artists were invited specifically for Beverly Hills Pride Night by Tolliver in conjunction with the Community Services’ Arts and Culture Division:
musical artist Zee Machine
actress Bri Giger
musician and performance artist Polartropica
musician and soloist San Cha
musician and performance artist Jeshua
drag artist and performer Miss Barbie Q
performance artist Ezra Michel
comedian Joel Kim Booster
multidisciplinary performing artist Dorian Wood
o Co-Presenters: The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will be official co-presenters of Beverly Hills Pride Night.
o Program hosts: Proposed program partners include the City of Beverly Hills, Community Services’ Arts and Culture Division, the Arts & Culture and Human Relations Commissions, Next Beverly Hills, Outfest, KCRW 89.9 FM and businesses in Beverly Hills Golden Triangle.
Beverly Hills Pride at Greystone Theatre
o Event Date: Wednesday, June 8, 6-9pm
o Proposed Location: Greystone Theater – 70 seats available o Tickets: Proposed $15 for Beverly Hills residents / $20 for all other patrons o Event Theme: Beverly Hills Pride – A Celebration of Diverse Families and Communities
o Concert Hosts: Theater artist Gina Young and musician Vanessa Wheeler in conjunction with Community Services’ Arts and Culture Division o Artistic Content: Founded by Gina Young in 2016, SORORITY is an arts collective and regional hub for new short works by female-identified (gay, trans and queer women) performers spanning theater, music, dance and more. With the inspired location of Greystone Mansion, and the unique intimacy of Greystone Theatre, these artists embody to bygone era of Beverly Hill’s Bohemian Golden Age. Gina and collaborators are inspired by the history of 4 of 4
iconic LBGTA+ women performers in the City of Beverly Hills and the rich history of presenting artistic salons in people’s homes here.
o Proposed Artist lineup: Artists are proposed specifically for Beverly Hills Pride at Greystone with an eye towards equity and female representation, diversity and inclusion. The artists are proposed based upon their gender diversity, unique talents and iconic representation within the LBGTA+ community. Like the concert listed above, the artists have all communicated that they would feel honored to perform in Beverly Hills, and they understand that this is celebration of the community and they are representing and uplifting the Beverly Hills brand. Each artist will perform 1-3 songs, or a set of work, and the proposed roster includes musicians, dancers, comedians, and performance artists. Within the LBGTA+ artistic community, this roster of artists represents a stellar lineup! o Proposed Artists Lineup:
iconic astrologer Chani Nicholas
bestselling author Cameron Esposito
Brazilian-American guitar virtuoso VAVÁ
dancer Maija Knapp (Art Basel)
songwriter Celisse (Lizzo, Melissa Etheridge)
writer Kamala Puligandla
solo performer Sundeep Morrison
and other guests to be announced.
o Program Partners: Proposed program partners include the City of Beverly Hills, Community Services’ Arts and Culture Division, the Arts and Culture and Human Relation Commissions and Next Beverly Hills.
FISCAL IMPACT
Available funding has been identified within the current City Budget FY 2021/22 to cover the costs of producing the proposed Beverly Hills Pride 2022:
Community Services and Public Works Department budgets will cover all costs associated with the Pride lighting installations ($7100 for tree lights and $2300 for upgraded Pride gobo and projection);
Community Services budget will cover all costs associated with the Beverly Hills Pride Night Concert (projected total budget at $27,000).
Community Services’ Greystone funding to cover all costs associated with Beverly Hills Pride at Greystone Theatre (projected total budget at $5,200).
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend City Council Liaison review and approval.