On Friday, May 19 Beautify Earth will host a kick off part and fundraising event, The Sky’s the Limit to celebrate a new climate awareness mural that will be featured on the Venice Boardwalk.
Proceeds from the event will raise awareness and funds to create a mural dedicated to climate awareness. The proceeds will also benefit Beautify Earth’s mission to end urban blight in Los Angeles, with their mural projects and programs in the local communities.
Beautify Earth is a non-profit that was started in Santa Monica by Executive Director Evan Meyers. He wanted to put an end to blighted walls and give the local community a colorful piece of art and their next stop is Venice.
Beautify Earth joined forces with ClimateMobilization.org and Trek ‘Thunder’ Kelly to work together and bring their newest mural, also known as Sky Mural, to life.
Sergio Cuculiza, Board Member and Director of Beautify Education explains that Beautify Earth stands strong for taking what others see as normal and forgotten and turning it into piece of art.
Since 2014 the ClimateMobilization.org has been organizing a national movement for science and morality based on climate emergency. While Trek Kelly, main artist and coordinator of this project, has seen the evolution of Venice for the past four decades.
He has lived on the Venice Boardwalk and on Abbot Kinney. His artwork surrounds the city and has been a key part of the communities’ evolution, making him the perfect artist for the job.
The mural will act as a giant landmark to remind locals and visitors who pass by to think about the world and the environment.
“Combined with social media, the awareness impact will be much, much greater. What better place than here to spread our message, to encourage people to think and hopefully to act,” said Kelly.
The mural will be on 5 Wavecrest Ave. Kelly explains the mural will cover four stories and wrap around two full sides of the building, and no other building in Venice has this type of contiguous mural.
Beautify Earth decided to go above and beyond. The goal is to have a solar lighting system on top of the building, and to have the mural be a glowing image that changes color with solar powered LED’s at night. This is meant to bring awareness at all times of the day and to bring life and light to the Boardwalk at the darkest times.
“The goal is to capture the essence of a beautiful day, capture the essence of what climate change is trying to warn us about in that our sky’s are an invisible barrier and reminder of what is beautiful in our world,” said Cuculiza. “The building is meant to melt into the sky as a way of reminding us that before us, there was nature and there will always be nature, therefore we must treat it right.”
The mural is expected to take a few weeks to a month to complete.
On Friday the kickoff party and fundraiser will host a meditation guided by Ceremony Meditation followed by music and dancing and live mural painting. The event will take place at Dogtown Media at 214 Main St. and will begin at 6 p.m. through 10 p.m. Advanced ticket purchase is strongly encouraged. Ticket prices begin at $35, for more information visit https://beautifyearth.org/sky/.
The donation page is still active and they are currently 21,000 shy of being able to realize the lighting for the mural, which would transform it yet again to become a beacon and glimmering gem of the boardwalk if we raise enough funds for the LED lighting. To donate you can visit
https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/climate-change-awareness-mural--2.
marina@www.smdp.com
