Compound, the Zaferia-based art-meets-food concept, has not only named a new executive director but will also be unveiling its first major group exhibit, When the Veil Thins, curated by artists Tofer Chin and Mari Orkenyi.
When the Veil Thins makes it debut on Sept. 19 while January Parkos Arnall takes her official post as executive director on Sept. 23.
Who is January Parkos Arnall and what will be her role at Compound?
Compound is many, many things: Art exhibition space. Restaurant thanks to The Union. Community hub for everything from wellness seminars to mini-markets. But the thing that people should know first and foremost is that it’s a nonprofit. And with its foot firmly in the ground after a fairly uneven start, they are starting to shine with programming that makes it one of the most unique destinations in the city.
Founder Megan Tagliaferri knew she had to have someone truly manage the space’s multi-faceted operation. And someone that was specifically art-oriented. She found that in January, who was most recently director of public programs and creative practice at the forthcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. Prior, she spent five years at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. She also held a curatorial appointment at the Hammer Museum early in her career.
“Megan felt like the work she wanted to do for Long Beach, with the some 60 partners she continued to be in dialogue with, wasn’t done,” Parkos Arnall told ARTnews. “The way she thinks about Long Beach and who’s in Long Beach, and how she can create offerings with them and for them to come together felt like kismet in many ways… Compound’s combination of art and community and wellness has been really central to my practice for my whole time in museums. Regardless of what department within a museum that I sit, that’s core to who I am.”
When the Veil Thins is Compound’s first major exhibit since its inception.
When the Veil Thins marks a crucial step forward for Compound. It is the complex’s first major exhibit since its opening and brings on 12 new works that have been curated by artists Tofer Chin and Mari Orkenyi.
Chin, a longtime Angeleno artist and California Community Foundation visual artist fellow, will debut his sculptural work, THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD, AND IT IS IN THIS ONE, inside the complex’s Lab space. 
The work—featuring four interconnected picket fence walls crafted from cedar wood the artist charred himself—challenges “conventional notions of space, security, and identity,” Chin said. “By repurposing the picket fence—a staple of Los Angeles’ suburban expansion—I want to subvert the constructs of domesticity and protection inherent in this familiar form.” The Lab is Compound’s space for large scale works and exhibitions. This piece will on viewing until Oct. 20.
The rest of the exhibit features works in painting, sculpture, photography, textiles, and film. Artists include:
- Amir H. Fallah
- Analia Saban
- Aryana Minai
- Jamal Gunn Becker
- Mia Weiner
- Mike Nesbit
- Molly Haynes
- Shaniqwa Jarvis
- Thomas Linder
- Todd Tourso
The title, which refers to “the space and boundaries between the physical world and the unseen or spiritual realm, reveals a thought provoking and meaningful journey for all who visit,” said Tagliaferri.
Taking center stage in Compound’s outdoor sculpture garden, is a commissioned sculpture installation that integrates a water element by artist Roksana Pirouzmand titled Until All Is Dissolved.
Compound is located at 1395 Coronado Ave. and will be hosting an opening reception for the exhibit on Sept. 19, 2024 from 7PM to 11PM.
