Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center

Queen Bee’s Art & Cultural Center is a concept that has developed over the past ten years here in San Diego through hard work and dedication, a love of all forms of art, a lot of great people, and the passion of one woman that has always been the visionary that has kept the dream alive for all of us. We are dedicated to many things at the QB Center such as supporting local musicians and artists, providing quality entertainment at affordable prices to the people of San Diego, and a place to experience a wide variety of cultural events and activities that families can come enjoy together. Our main focus at the QB Center is using the facility to Empower Homeless Youth here in San Diego.

It is important to take a look into the past for a brief history of the last decade that led up to this point. The story revolves around the life of the Director of the QB Center, a woman by the name of Alma Rodriguez, and her life story. You’ll have to wait for the movie to get the full story, but here’s an overview. She is a young 43 years old, has four children ranging from 17-24 that are all currently going to college, has been a business owner here in San Diego for 10 years, and in the music industry for over 25 years. She is a percussionist, song writer, poet, and artist. She has numerous awards and commendations from different organizations and politicians regarding her work in the community. Her passion for the arts and for helping others has gained her an impeccable reputation among many in our city. Through her positive example, extensive experience, love for the arts, and community leadership, she has earned the right to be our “Queen Bee”, and we all love her.

The QB Center is located in the heart of North Park, a community that is all about art, music, and culture. Our building has been around since the thirties, and was actually built to house the first Dixieline Lumber company here in San Diego. In the fifties a man name Allen Hitch, who was a City Councilman for many years, purchased the property. It has been many different businesses since then, but to this day it has stayed in the family. The owner of the building now is the son of Mr. Hitch, and without his support and belief in our vision, the QB Center would not be possible. The building itself is over 8,000 square feet. We have spent a lot of time and effort converting it into a place that combines a unique mix of music, art, and culture. The main room boasts a huge stage that stands over three feet off the ground, a 1500 square foot dance floor, a great sound system, and walls filled with beautiful artwork. In another section of the building is the Thumbprint Gallery, about 1700 square feet, and it is filled with many more excellent pieces of artwork. When all the pieces come together it creates a vibe that is so positive and empowering that people are effected by it, they love it, and they keep coming back!

We host a wide variety of events at the QB Center. We provide entertainment such as featuring live local musicians of all genres, comedy shows, spoken word and poetry nights, cabaret shows, art shows, and much more. Our schedule also includes dance lessons, improv classes, yoga classes, discussion groups, business mixers, and it seems that the list of probable uses for the QB Center grows everyday. We host events for a variety of different community organizations such as N.A./A.A., San Diego Community Coalition, Activist San Diego, and All of Us or None, to name a few. We also host fundraisers for different community leaders and politicians in San Diego. We are open to people of all different ages at the QB Center from toddlers to seniors, so families can come and enjoy events together in a safe, friendly environment. We make it a point to keep our prices affordable, and we gurantee to provide you with a positive experience anytime you visit the QB Center.

Now that you know what the QB Center provides for you, it is important for you to realize that by supporting the QB Center you will be helping to provide for someone else. We are dedicated to Saving and Empowering the Homeless Youth here in San Diego. We have been blessed with the help of a man named Jeffrey Sitcov, the founder of Photocharity, an organization that has raised over a million dollars to save homeless youth over the past eight years here in San Diego. He has been with us from the beginning of the QB Center, and we are continually striving to make the difference in our community, together. Eighteen percent of the net profits made by the QB Center go to fund the House of Hope, which will be the first homeless shelter for kids eighteen to twenty four in San Diego. Everyday there are 5,000 kids on the streets with nowhere to go here in our beautiful city, and they need our help. We also use the QB Center as a training facility to give homeless youth the chance to learn job skills, get a higher self-esteem, feel a sense that they are important, and to explore their creativity through arts and music. Just about everybody that has a part in the operations of the QB Center has been homeless at a time in their lives from our Director, Manager, Sound Technician, Security, and many volunteers, so this cause is important to all of us on a very personal level. This is our chance to help those in need, and give back to the community that we all live in.

We would like to thank you for your time and interest in the Queen Bee’s Art & Cultural Center. Hopefully this little introduction will spark something in you, whether you are looking for a place to have some fun, expand your knowledge of the arts, experience different cultural activities, or to help us give back to the people in need here in San Diego. We need your support in all ways. This is a chance to really make an impact in many different ways for this city, and we are excited about the opportunities as well as the challenges ahead. Hope to see you here soon!