Performers, paint and poetry at weekend fundraiser

Several artistic genres will collide on July 18, 19 and 20 when a group of dancers paint to a spoken word accompaniment.
The event is a fundraiser for non-profit organization Beautify Earth, formerly Beautify Lincoln and will support the creation of murals in public places. The weekend events include the dance/paint performance, live painting by artists, the début of an original musical composition and the chance to purchase art.
Beautify Earth director Heather Rabun said the BE Dance company would create a painting by dancing on a canvas. The dancers will perform to seven songs and two poems. The dancers will add a new color of paint to the canvas for each audio track and she said each of the nine pieces would evoke a different virtue or way of being with the final work of art up for auction at the conclusion of the show.
The dance style is contemporary with modern ballet influences and she said there will be different "strokes", some angular, some circular based on the music/poem.
"This is introducing a dance element into the concept of creating art and awareness in the world," she said.
Poet Zach Puchtel composed an original work for the show that explores what it is to love, what we experience as love and how we capture that feeling when know that all is lost.
"Heather asked me to just write an authentic poem about love," he said. "My poems naturally have a rhythm to them, the interesting part will be her interpretation, the physical interpretation of dance to my words."
Beautify Earth is responsible for several large works of public art along Lincoln Boulevard and the organization is now on a mission to paint one million walls in five years worldwide.
Some of their most recent murals have gone up on Legal Grind on Lincoln Blvd and two murals on Broadway Liquors, on Broadway and 10th street, both in Santa Monica. They now have roughly 50 murals across the nation.
"The easiest way to say what we are doing is we are literally making the world more colorful," said Puchtel who is a spokesperson for the group. "With every mural that goes up, that is one piece that is now a beautiful portrait rather than a blank canvas and when we get to put these pieces up in a high traffic area now get thousands of views."
Rabun said the group hopes to show people they have a choice in the way their environment looks, feels and acts on them.
"The idea behind this is that if somebody wants to bring beauty to the world, they can do it and they can do it with their community, that's the main idea to inspire the world to create beauty in the world and smiles," she said.
She said the group invites artists to become part of the organization but that they also support the creation of work by anyone that seeks to beautify their world.
"We're expanding our network, what we found is there a lot of people that are interested in public art and murals," she said. "When we find the people that are passionate about it we invite them to start their own chapter."
Puchtel said the weekend shows is a fantastic opportunity for the community to engage with artists and support a broader cause.
"It's going to be an unbelievably entertaining show, very much a community event," he said. "If they have any interest in art whatsoever it's going to be a beautiful opportunity to support arts and have a great evening."
Performances will be held at Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave, Venice on July 18, 19 and 20. The July 18 and 19 shows are at 8 p.m. and the July 20 show is at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance or $35 at the door and can be purchased at BeautifyEarthDance.eventbrite.com.
matt@www.smdp.com