“No matter how enlightened you are, as long as there are people suffering, you still have plenty of work to do.”
Who: Levity, Chimera, Dyno, Zita, and more fabulous aerial talent!
What: The first fundraising event for Vita Arts, my new non-profit arts organization
Where: Versatile Arts, 7601 Greenwood Ave, Seattle
When: Saturday, July 25, 2009 8:00pm – 10:00pm
Why?
Seems to me, many people spend a long time building their lives into something they can be proud of, something comfortable for them, in order to be safe to accomplish another something that’s bigger than themselves.
I have done my fair share of struggling, trying different configurations, playing small and dreaming big. Over the last few years, I’ve contemplated what the bigger thing might be, for me. Sure, I sometimes make people happy with my art. I make money helping other people do cool things, I volunteer, and my financial/geographical footprint is about 15% of what it used to be when I worked for Microsoft. I even turn the water off when I brush my teeth most of the time. But what can I REALLY do to make a difference in life?
When it came time for me to serve the world somehow, I found that I wanted to create a non-profit organization to help perpetuate the transformative capabilities inherent in expressing ones self, artistically. To make a space for people to experience the healing opportunities I have had through art in a more tactile, kinesthetic way than I have with my personal offerings of performances, music, paintings and that sort of thing.
I know art saves lives, because it saved mine. I’ve seen the results, and heard the stories of others, about the power of artistic expression to heal and transform. Whether it be from seeing it, appreciating it, facilitating it, being it, creating it, failing at it, living it – I maintain that art has the power to touch absolutely everyone.
I’ve also seen how sharing myself artistically often effects and inspires people to action. How the experience of art opens people up to expressing life, to telling their once-quiet stories through a medium, helping discover courages and strengths we so often convince ourselves we don’t, or can’t, have. How art helps people face their fears, release difficult emotions, grieve, find direction and purpose.
Perhaps most importantly, I have seen how, no matter how bleak and helpless a situation may seem, one small, brave action creates a chain of them. Every time.
It’s never too late to choose to make a difference.
Vita Arts is sharing the power of art with the disadvantaged and transforming lives.
Our performances offer the public a chance to see our skills, and to be moved by the human spirit. Our shows also serve to fund and publicize our outreach efforts, working with individuals in small workshops, giving them a chance to experience creating art for themselves, perhaps for the very first time.
We are starting local, with two public performances and a workshop being planned in 2009 alone. We look forward to expanding our efforts in the coming years by collaborating with other organizations (such as disaster relief orgs, loss support groups, and those helping reform the incarcerated) to offer transformative art experiences to the disadvantaged of all ages, around the world.
Come find out more about who we are, what we’re doing, see a great show, and best of all, help make a difference.
Please note: If you are unable to attend this event and wish to support us, we are gratefully accepting donations. Provisional 501(c)(3) status is in the works, and will backdate once approved for tax deduction purposes. You may send donations to Vita Arts, PO box 20233, Seattle, WA 98102.
Thank you, so much, for your support.
The silent and live auctions feature exquisite pieces by some of the Pacific Northwest’s premier talents, as well as pieces by gifted up-and-comers who have not shown in galleries or other usual venues. Proceeds benefit the Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus and the contributing artists receive 20 percent of the selling price of their work.
