Art for a Cause

When I was 10 years old, my family undertook what I have since come to learn was not an uncommon rite of passage for California kids in the 1980s – the rented motor home summer excursion up and down the west coast. This trip has become legendary folklore in my family and is punctuated by dozens of memorable moments. However, one night that would have been just another stop on the trail is forever emblazoned in my mind because of its connection to a world's worth of events.

We were in Alturas, and we weren't necessarily thrilled about it. I can only assume we ended up there because my father took a wrong turn at the Oregon border. It was the middle of nowhere, right up there in the northeast corner of the state, hundreds of miles from the coast, and we were surrounded by seagulls. It was, to say the least, ominous.

But the real reason I will never forget that stop on the trip is because that happened to be the day of the first Live Aid concert. Being a good media addicted American family we had carted a little portable TV along with us on the trip, and we sat there, rather alone in the high desert, watching the shaky pictures come through the straining rabbit ear antennas of some of the world's biggest rock stars entertaining hundreds of thousands of people on two continents.

As the daughter of rock 'n' roll loving children of the sixties, I was mesmerized watching Mick Jagger and Tina Turner, Queen and Clapton and Dylan, and then those newbies at the time – U2. It was an amazing spectacle that has been reviewed and rehashed and criticized and praised a dozen times over. It certainly had its problems. But for so many, like myself, it did exactly what it was meant to do and that is raise awareness.

This all came to mind when I heard that the Japanese Cultural Appreciation Night set for Friday, March 25 in Memorial Park and organized by the Library and Santa Anita Racetrack had been turned into a benefit for earthquake and tsunami relief efforts. No it won't be a global phenomenon, but it will be a sincere way to show love and respect and support of a culture, its arts and its people who are facing such a daunting and dangerous future. It falls in with the multiple other events around the Southern California area – gallery shows, concerts, movie and album sales – and I'm sure around the globe that artists are hosting to help in the only way they know how.

For millennia, it has been artists that are often the catalysts of change and the voice of the oppressed or devastated peoples. Artists can teach and inspire as they entertain. They can move people to action without lecturing. In the modern era, we have used this to our full advantage in the form of the benefit concert (or play/art show/performance/tribute book, etc.). And it works so well, I think, not because people demand entertainment for their donation dollars, but because they want to come together and look up at an artist they admire and feed off their passion and emotion. They want an anthem, an image, a quote that they can carry with them to remind them to keep giving their time or resources.

It's an enormous responsibility for artists, a power that should not be wielded lightly nor should it be shied away from. Find a cause you to which you want to give voice or vision. Not every benefit or campaign will be a global phenomenon. And they don't have to be. Every tragedy won't see an international concert in its honor full of celebrity faces. George Clooney can't be everywhere. But each of you, each artist near and far is a celebrity in some circle. You have fans, friends, colleagues, and a platform. Be bold and use it. And join me Friday night at the park for a little inspiration.