A PLACE of the Community’s Own

The first time Cindy Macias stepped into PLACE Long Beach, a local community print studio on Pacific Avenue, she was nervous. She walked in still not completely sure how pricing worked, which made her a bit anxious. 

The shop is mutual aid based meaning it follows a “pay what you can” model; while some folks, like college students, may not be able to afford the full price of printing, other older folks who are more established in their careers, pay more than the usual cost. 

As co-founder Sarah Bennett broke it down for Macias, explaining how for example, the paper had been donated so she wouldn’t be charged for it, the space no longer felt intimidating, and Macias printed her first zine. 

PLACE LB was founded in 2022, by Bennett and her co-founder Ashley Aguirre, who in response to the stifling environment of lockdown needed a space away from home to serve as an office. The space has since evolved into a multi-hyphenated one-stop shop for printing, zines, art resources, movie screenings, workshops and anything else the community thinks is worth having. 

Co-founder of PLACE LB Ashley Aguirre poses outside the print shop's old location on Pacific Ave. in Long Beach. Photo courtesy of Beaux Mingus.

Macias continued printing at PLACE, getting to know Bennett and Aguirre, attending the different workshops and events the space hosted.

“I felt like it was a space where I could go where I wouldn’t have to drink to have fun, where I didn't have to be a certain way, I could just be myself,” Macias said.

She has since become much more comfortable in the space. It’s become her second home, a place where she knows she doesn't need to hide herself. She began hosting different workshops. In one, she taught folks how to do rubber stamp printmaking by carving images into erasers; in her most recent one, right around Valentine's Day, attendees chose from an array of beads and she taught them how to turn them into earrings. 

“Even as a participant when somebody else's facilitating, I feel comfortable, like sharing or taking up space or talking to other participants and just creating a space where everybody can feel safe to do the same,” Macias said.

Community members participate in a Super-8 film workshop hosted by Long Beach Community Media Arts outside of PLACE LB's old Pacific Ave. location. Photo courtesy of Beaux Mingus.

Bennet could not be more glad of the collaborative space PLACE has become. What began as her and Aguirre’s third space—a term used to describe a social space outside of the two usual social environments: home and work—soon became the community’s third space as well. 

“Ashley and I signed the lease and originally co-founded it, but it wouldn't be what it is at all today if it wasn't for those that are using it,” Bennet said.

Beaux Mingus, founder of Long Beach Community Media Arts, was one of the first to move in early in PLACE’s journey. He has been facilitating and hosting workshops on everything from Super-8 film to bookbinding to tote bag making. PLACE has granted Long Beach Community Media Arts a centralized hub to help the Long Beach community have access to free and quality art education. 

Bennett said Mingus “breathed life” into the space. She and Aguirre had wanted to do workshops since the beginning but simply did not have the capacity to do so. While prior to the collaboration with Mingus, it was mostly Bennet and Aguirre’s friends and network who utilized the space, the workshops began to shift PLACE toward a more public shared space.

“Art and expression shouldn't just be accessible by people with privilege. So it should be open to everyone,” Mingus said.

Making art accessible has been crucial to Macias as well. It’s what led her to apply for and get a grant from the Art Council of Long Beach to fund a workshop series. She dubbed it Second Sundays and has been hosting these monthly workshops at PLACE since October of last year. 

“A lot of people are intimidated by art. They're like, ‘Oh, I'm not an artist. I can't paint. I can't draw. I can't do art.’ But art is more than painting and drawing,” Macias said. “So I do those workshops in a way to introduce different ways to be creative, to nurture that.”

Cindy Macias poses with her freshly printed zines in front of PLACE LB's zine library at their old Pacific Ave. location. Photo courtesy of Beaux Mingus.

Mingus said community support has been palpable. At workshops, folks go up to him and share how excited they are that there is a space like this in Long Beach. They mention that in the past, going to a workshop like this would involve a lot of money and transportation.

Even more directly, community support helped PLACE raise $5,000 to cover their last rent and moving costs after they received an eviction notice from their landlord. 

“If there was ever a question of whether or not we were going to continue, the community support [reiterated] ‘Oh, yeah, you're not doing this alone,’” Bennett said.

PLACE will be relocating to the Wrigley area later this month. They have moved most of their belongings and are working on settling into their new space. There will be some changes coming to PLACE including a shift towards becoming a co-op to ensure they are living up to their mutual-aid, equity and community-driven values. They are also hoping to resume and expand their programming for March. 

“We know we'll be successful in some form, but like, what does that future look like?” Bennett said. “We know that it looks like collective ownership, it looks like a year lease on our new space in Wrigley, and we are also hoping that maybe our friends might rent out the space next door.”