Daily Inspiration: Meet Sinead Finnerty-Pyne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sinead Finnerty-Pyne.

Hi Sinead, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started out as a curator working with small and mid-size arts organizations in Los Angeles and Pasadena, and I spent the first 15 years of my career in that world. I worked with everything from emerging artists to projects with world-renowned artists like Yoko Ono, Daniel Buren, Bruce Nauman, and Richard Jackson.

When I went back to school for a master’s in Curatorial and Museum Studies, my thesis explored the idea of painting as an expanded field, how it could move beyond a medium into object, theory, and discourse, and that thinking continues to shape how I approach my work today.

During the process, I had a realization that I didn’t want to stay within institutions anymore and was drawn to working across different fields (my own expanded field of sorts). That led me to LOHA, an LA-based architecture firm that brought me on to help connect their practice more deeply with arts and culture, drawing on my background in the cultural sector. At first it felt like a leap into the unknown, but after working on projects in Detroit, a book collaboration, and an art installation at the Underground Museum I began to see how I could expand my practice and connect art and architecture.

When I was invited to join Studio One Eleven in 2021, just a couple of miles from where I live it really clicked. I had spent years helping other cities build cultural connections, but this was a chance to do it in my own community. I had lived In Long beach for over a decade and even grown up nearby, but I hadn’t really known the city deeply. This was my opportunity.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been an easy road. I thought going back to school while working full-time, with a husband and two kids, was the hardest thing I’d ever done. But then shifting careers from art to architecture meant learning an entirely new industry from the ground up. At first it felt like boot camp, but over time my passion grew and I started to see where I fit and how I could bring my own perspective.

In architecture, it made the most sense to place me in marketing, but I knew I had to shape the role into something entirely my own, drawing on my background and experience to make it unique. My approach became less about traditional campaigns, social media, awards, publications (though I do all of that too), and more about creating Special Projects that gave visibility to Studio One Eleven by showing how we live our values and contribute to making cities more engaging and more sustainable. That mission resonated with me deeply.

I grew up going to Catholic schools where social justice was a constant thread, and I watched my dad produce major community events as a volunteer simply because he loved his Irish community. My mom was a nurse who always saw her work as a vocation. Those examples taught me that I need to love what I do and find meaning in it.

This work isn’t for everyone. It’s hard, and you have to be tenacious, always keeping things moving. If you lose momentum, everything slows down. And you can’t do it all on your own, you need to engage others who are equally passionate and engaged.

For me, work, passions, and hobbies flow together naturally, while my family life is something I keep separate and protect. That balance is what keeps me grounded.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m the Director of Marketing and Special Projects at Studio One Eleven, and in many ways I’ve carved out a niche for myself here. I joined the office at the height of COVID, when the space was essentially empty. Working closely with my colleagues Michael Bohn, Partner, and Dalane Nash, Senior Community Experience Manager, we focused on creating reasons for people to want to come back to the office, not because they had to, but because they wanted to be part of something happening here.

That work began with starting an artist-in-residence program, which has since grown into a creative-in-residence program. From there, I became involved in festivals like the Getty’s 25th Anniversary Celebration in Long Beach, activating nearby parks and public spaces with programming, and eventually taking on projects like the Art+Design Walk (formerly the Art Walk), the U.S. International Poster Exhibition, and producing an LA Design Festival Hub event in 2023 and 2025. That festival felt like a turning point, when I realized how deeply the Long Beach community was craving cultural experiences. At a time when offices were still quiet and retail and restaurants were struggling, we saw an opportunity to test what it would mean to help bring a city back to life after such a disruptive and traumatic period.

Cities around the world have responded differently to the pandemic, and in American cities especially there’s a long history of people turning their backs on urban cores. Here in the DTLB Design District, our approach has been the opposite. We’ve worked collaboratively with the local BID and with cultural and institutional partners like CSULB, LBCC, ArtsLB, LBMA, MoLAA, Intertrend, the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the LB Community Design Center, the Public Library, and many others to bring energy and attention back to the heart of the city.

What I’m most proud of is that I feel a real shift happening here. It’s starting to grow legs. We’ve attracted new businesses, helped bring Cal State Long Beach’s Immersive Design Research Lab downtown, activated empty storefronts, convinced developers to reinvest in their buildings, and are now in conversations about bringing other institutions into the district. The strategy has been simple but powerful: discover who’s already here, connect them in meaningful ways, and let that energy build momentum.

During the LA Design Festival in 2023, we decided to call ourselves the DTLB Design District as a way to spark curiosity about downtown. In some ways it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. We knew we still had a long way to go, but we also recognized that we already had the ingredients: a creative economy, infrastructure that just needed a boost, and, most importantly, a sense of community and belonging to jumpstart a movement. That’s what we’ve been building — a design revolution.

With the Olympics just a few years away, this work feels more urgent than ever. But it’s not something we’ve just started. We’ve been laying the groundwork for a few years now, and with each effort we learn something, making the next one stronger. That’s what I feel sets us apart: the belief that cultural connection, collaboration, and design can be catalysts for lasting urban renewal.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
It makes me happy when a plan comes together, when I see people get inspired by what we’re doing and then start bringing their own ideas into the mix. That’s when it feels real, when people see that this is their city and their community to shape.

I just got back from Detroit, where I saw firsthand how the creative community came together to rebuild after years of disinvestment. They’re incredibly resilient, and the way they’ve infused the city with culture and creativity is something I deeply admire. The people who stayed and the artists that showed up created opportunities where others only saw challenges.

I see glimmers of that here in Long Beach. We’re not Detroit, but our downtown has struggled for decades. Artists and designers are often the ones who recognize possibility in those struggles. As long as they’re part of the solution and just as importantly benefit from it in the long run (aka – have some skin in the game), I see that as a win-win. Since all this started brewing, we’ve even invited Design Core Detroit to come to Long Beach and vice versa, and now we’re sister design cities, planning to collaborate, to do exciting work together, and to test out new ideas.

All of this makes me happy because I just love to create and collaborate with others. I get so much energy from it. It honestly fills my soul.

Contact Info:

• Website: www. dtlbdesigndistrict.design
• Instagram: @studiooneeleven @dtlbdesigndistrict
• LinkedIn: @sineadfinnerty-pyne
• Other: https://www.studio-111.com

Image Credits
all photography copyright Monica Nouwens, Courtesy of Studio One Eleven