Twelve women from cities throughout Southern California will come together this Saturday to create two large murals in Venice Beach to show support for the various racial justice movements happening in cities across the country.
Produced by two women of color — Alyse Stone, a celebrity commissioned artist, engineer and technologist, and Dolly Singh, a technology executive and diversity and inclusion evangelist — the upcoming collaboration is titled #THEARTOFMAKINGNOISE, and the public is invited to come participate in the action from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday. “#THEARTOFMAKINGNOISE” was inspired by a conversation Singh was having all too often in recent weeks, so the executive producer reached out to various “Power Women” in the community, which included a group of entrepreneurs, an Emmy nominated choreographer, and the CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation to name a few.
While describing the piece as immersive activism, Singh said she hopes the art will drive awareness to the Black experience in America because ending racism cannot be done alone.
“We wanted to demonstrate and we wanted to bring together what we think is the path to the other side of this dark tunnel,” Singh said in an interview Wednesday when she detailed a number of recent attacks she believes are racially motivated. “We can only heal through unity, which is why we are hoping to inspire people who are not directly impacted by racism to be as passionate as those who are directly impacted every day.”
Both of the large canvases will be assembled by the handball courts on Venice Beach early in the afternoon this coming Saturday. And while the two pieces are currently untitled, the first mural will be black and white and looks to depict more of an emotional-heavy subject matter and portray a sense of despair and sadness, according to Singh. The second mural will more closely resemble Stone’s other work and look to exemplify the wonderful and bright future that America can achieve if it unifies.
Throughout the day, Stone will direct each of the “Power Women” as they add their artistic energy, passion, voice, and signature to the large artworks as a show of solidarity with the movement. Live painting is expected to continue throughout the day and interviews with participants will be broadcast via the event’s IG page @ARTOFMAKINGNOISE.
Local residents hoping to participate can do so by showing up early in the afternoon and securing a ticket. If they return later in the day, community members will be given an opportunity to sign a section of the piece to signify wider unity in the battle for equity.
“I think art is universally unifying, which is why we wanted to put something together where we can physically show the power of allyship so that’s why we felt like painting was kind of the most appropriate medium,” Singh said, detailing how the arts can dictate the perceptions of people all across the globe.
“This really came together out of that conversation between me and Alyse because, as a parent of three now-six-foot-tall young, black men, I literally find myself paralyzed by fear every time they step out of the house,” Singh said. “I don’t want to not let them live their lives, but it’s hard and it’s scary to know they could be targeted just because of their skin… But that’s just the reality of raising kids of color.”
After debating how both she and Stone can make an impact instead of living in a constant state of fear, the two decided it’d be best to try and bring people together through the arts.
“A minority can scream from the top of the mountains forever and be ignored forever. But when the voices of the majority join that minority, that’s when change happens — and that’s what’s made me most proud about watching this movement form in the last eight weeks; it’s not just Black people who are protesting for their rights. It’s everybody stepping out and coming together in the name of allyship,” Singh said. “And I think it’s important that this movement not be a passing moment. It should be sustained, and we hope to give small pieces of energy to it by completing a beautiful piece of art for the community. That’s just one domino in what will hopefully be a long string of dominoes that will be knocked down in the name of change.”
