World Art Day 2019
April 15th, 2019 — Los Angeles, CA: Some of today’s celebrations of World Art Day are noted below and nothing brought home how much art is revered and loved more than the global outpouring of support for the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, as a result of its historical fire.
World Art Day is a global celebration of the arts, declared by the International Association of Art (IAA/AIAP), a partner of UNESCO, to promote awareness of creative activity worldwide. The first World Art Day was held on April 15th, 2012, a date chosen in honor of Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday, as a symbol of world peace, freedom of expression, tolerance and brotherhood.
Long-time Artists For A Better World member, Becky Mate, established an even earlier art day in 1998, and since then she has inspired and encouraged others to spread the word about this holiday to artists and art enthusiasts around the globe.
For many years the holiday was celebrated on the second Friday in August. In 2017, Mate announced the move of the holiday from August to April 15th, in a gesture of solidarity with a like-minded group that established World Art Day on Davinci’s birthday.
Following is a snapshot of a few inspirational ways that artists and others embraced the spirit of the culture by promoting or celebrating World Art Day in 2019 in large and small ways.
LOS ANGELES, CA
Carmelita’s Corner is an international eZWay radio podcast to a million audience listeners, hosted by award-winning, singer/songwriter Carmelita Pittman. Her program featured Rebecca L. Mate. Pittman also formed the Rose Breast Cancer group and held benefit shows yearly showcasing celebrities and she has greatly helped and promoted many artists over the years.
Originally from India, 90-year-old poet/writer Yatindra Bhatnagar saw a flier at his local library for the Sunland garden celebration of World Art Day and knew he should attend to read a poem (see below) and to present his novel. He said, “This was wonderful—lively, friendly and very social. I gained so much, talked with others, and exchanged views. This is how we should live. It solves problems if we are in close communication. This helps build community. In India, we are all family—the whole world is our family.”
In Glendale, Elena Vorobei celebrated World Art Day with fellow Russia-born friends at a hall in a downtown building. They had lively dancing, moving art displays, seminars and good food.
From the 1st to 5th grades, students of Gloria Nazario, a teacher at Plainview Academic Charter Academy in Tujunga, Los Angeles, created drawings in honor of the holiday.
In a wide walkway next to the Church of Scientology Pasadena, top visual artists presented their works, including Lauren Dohring, Rebecca Mate, Wayne Weberbauer, Nico Vosloo and Lynda Hubbard. Passersby were also enlivened by music from The Happiness Band’s jazz trio, which included Bob Sullivan on drums, David Eastlee on guitar and Roman Sirwinski on upright bass. When the band was on a break, Eastlee handed his guitar to one man who was just dying to play again, and who strummed a tune. Throughout the day passersby were wished a Happy World Art Day, were invited to enjoy the art and music and were given the gift of The Way to Happiness booklets, some with custom aesthetic covers by Artists For A Better World members. The booklets remind us of commonly held values (such as honesty and respect) and are known to reduce crime and increase safety in areas where they are distributed.
Also in Los Angeles, an artists’ celebration of World Art Day was held in the garden of Becky and Randy Mate’s home. Lauren Perreau, a guest artist from France, sang a moving French song and dedicated it to Notre Dame and the French people. Early arriving guests made Mail Art to send as a reply to the Mail Art gathered from around the world by Artists For A Better World International.
Perreau quickly drew what was burning in her heart, Notre Dame aflame, to send to artist Leslie Atkins in the Netherlands. All guests were gifted art from The Great Art Trade table; Perreau was gifted a recent painting by Mate of the Eiffel Tower
Mate, whose garden party included visual art displays, songs, lots of poetry, tasty samples of Nicaraguan chocolate from small batch artisan chocolatier Scott Morris of Bouquet Chocolates, and an Art Hunt for the delighted kids, said, “I love the small moments at my yearly arts party. All of us writers create emotional effects. I had fun reciting poetry back and forth with Micah Johnson of Malibu, and being moved by past Poet Laureatte Joe DeCenzo who poetically dug deep to find the humanity in his aunt with declining mental capacity. I love the big moments, too. Having a growing World Art Day movement each April 15th creates a brotherhood of creative, independent souls around the globe. These are our cultural influencers who will lead us to a better world.”
SACRAMENTO, CA
In Sacramento, CA, Adelaide Caetano announced the day at a church gathering.
GREENBELT, MD
Louis Steiner of Greenbelt, Maryland visited S.P.A.C.E. (Sharing Positive Artistic & Creative Energies), in the Beltway Plaza Mall, which offers “Free Art for All” with demonstrators and workshops.
NASHVILLE, TN
In Nashville, TN, writer/singer/songwriter Deedee O’Malley informed her audience about World Art Day at her concert and book-signing event last night and heartily encouraged their participation.
CHICAGO, IL
In Chicago, IL, in collaboration with multiple institutions around the world as a way to support the arts, La Llorona Gallery observed the global holiday with an exhibition titled “World Art Day” featuring 25 mixed-media paintings and drawings by fifteen artists.
MICHIGAN
In Fairview, Michigan yesterday and today, QuickTurtle Books had a children’s e-book give-away on Amazon with five titles by authors & illustrators, Mary and Richard Rensberry.
Also in Michigan, Bob Lawrason of Onoway wrote a poem “Forest Pond Paradise” to be engraved into wood and displayed at the edge of his pond as one of the attractions on an upcoming guided tour of his 34 acre nature site.
CARRIZOZO, NM
World Art Day 2019 festivities in Carrizozo, New Mexico, included gallery exhibitions, music performances, parties and individual artist’s projects on April 13th and 14th. Local galleries opened their doors to the public with receptions, music, one-on-one discussions with artists/gallery owners and a tour of the historic old movie theater now dubbed Lyric ComplexU. Last World Art Day, Limina Gallery, Malkerson Gallery 408 and the Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography hosted the creation and installation of a sculpture garden of old ranch poles that were painted and designed by local artists representing countries from around the world. It was dedicated to the world of art and is still available for public viewing on 12th Street. “World Art Day is another great art event that shows Carrizozo’s commitment to art and culture and we’re proud to represent Lincoln County and the State of New Mexico on this world stage celebrating around Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday,” said Warren Malkerson, owner of Malkerson Gallery 408.
TORONTO, CANADA
In Toronto, Canada, visual artist Jeannette Hay took to social media to promote the event.
GHANA
In Accra, Ghana, Mr. Mohammed Adjei Sowah, Mayor of the capitol city of Ghana, held a beautification clean-up at the Arts Centre and had artists painting murals on the walls of Kimbu Senior High School for World Art Day. He declared Accra a “City of Art” and spoke of making space available for works of prominent artists.
LONDON, UK
Martin Kemp, an art historian in London, author of Living with Leonardo, was interviewed by TRT, a Turkish broadcast system’s “Showcase” on the subject, “Why a World Art Day?” Kemp said that da Vinci was chosen as the inspiration behind World Art Day because he has an extraordinary widespread global reach and engagement both in arts and science. World Art Day helps worldwide because “The humanities and the visual arts are shared by all of us whatever our religions, whatever our cultures. Leonardo speaks to people from incredibly different cultural backgrounds, of ages, of classes and so on. Ultimately, the arts are about humanity—whereas what we’re seeing happening in the world at the moment is often very inhumane.”
LIFE
By Yatindra Bhatnagar
Life is sacrifice, make it,
Life is a reward, take it.Life is beauty, admire it,
Life is success, desire it.Life is a dream, conjure it,
Life is a struggle, endure it.Life is community, reform it,
Life is a duty, perform it.Life is reality, face it,
Life is love, embrace it.Life is a battle, fight it,
Life is a path, light it.Life is a game, play it,
Life is truth, say it.
For more information about World Art Day and its predecessor Art Day, visit World Art Day or email Becky Mate artday@earthlink.net.