How this group is beautifying Park Avenue’s plain planters

Artists in Partnership is one of Long Beach’s premier arts organizations. The group holds fundraisers, concerts and crafts festivals, promoting art through community events.

A lot of what the organization does is in the spotlight. What it’s up to now, though, isn’t as high-profile — unless you know what you’re looking for in its current beautification project.

“We reached out to a couple of local photographers that we’ve used in the past for our pop-ups and the fence that we covered on Long Beach Road,” Johanna Mathieson, AIP’s director, said. “The idea was to have the planters done on Park Avenue.”

Six planters on Park, between Edwards and Riverside boulevards — outside the Stop & Shop complex — have been painted as part of the beautification project. The artwork on each was inspired by pictures taken by local photographers Liz Degen, Jennifer Elizabeth, Susan Epstein, Scott Ferrone, Kevin McPartland and Mathieson.

The planters are massive — each the size of a backyard hot tub — and it wouldn’t have been inexpensive to have them professionally decorated. So the partnership reached out to PSEG for help.

Each year, PSEG offers “outdoor commerce and beautification” grants for chambers of commerce, civic associations and nonprofits across Long Island. The grants, which range up to $10,000, are intended to foster economic viability and vibrancy and support local businesses while increasing economic growth in downtown areas.

Groups can apply for a number of grants, including one for outdoor dining and commerce, which includes heaters, tables, chairs, benches, umbrellas, garbage receptacles, barricades, safety equipment, outdoor lighting, speaker systems and signage. The grant that Artists in Partnership applied for is similar, but for beautification projects — planters, plants, landscaping materials, mulch, rocks, flags, gazebo construction or upgrading, winter seasonal décor and holiday lighting.

Mathieson and the group applied in late July, and asked for $5,000. They were awarded the grant at the end of September, and the project has been underway since.

Mathieson reached out to Ronda Gale Xanthos, a Long Beach artist and tattoo artist, to paint the planters. There were two complications, however: They are too big to move to a studio or a garage, and there has been no shortage of rain in the months since the grant was awarded. So, when weather permits, Xanthos has sat on the Park Avenue sidewalk and painted.

“The problem has been the cold weather,” Mathieson said. “She has other commissions that she was working on, so I had to wait until she was available. She was only available on weekends, and then we had seven weekends of rain in a row.”

Xanthos had already redone some of the other planters around the city. She painted about 10 for the West End Beautification Association, and then a few scattered around town. “Then I was asked to do the ones in front of Stop & Shop with Artists in Partnership,” she said.

“It was my idea to use the photographers in town, because they do such beautiful work,” Xanthos said. “It’s a beautiful reference to work from, and I figured it would be great collaboration with artists in the city to pick certain photographers and paint their images on the planters. So I asked them, and they loved the idea.”

The images Xanthos chose include sunsets, surfers and waves, the beach, the boardwalk and, of course, one thanking PSEG. Each one has a combination of oranges, blues, reds and yellows.

“The very first one was a long process,” Xanthos said. “Then I got better and quicker at it. I use outdoor house paint, I use a primer and then I design, and I’m out there just sitting on cardboard, painting.”

Xanthos said she recently finished the last planter, and they are now all on colorful display on Park Avenue — one block west of where the city is planning its own beautification project, between Riverside and Long Beach boulevards. That project will include new trees, sidewalks, benches and lighting.