(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music) - In this edition of "WLIW Arts Beat," (upbeat music) an artist helping others.

- I love my art.

It lifts me.

You know, it makes me happy.

It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing my goals.

(gentle music) - [Diane] Painted rocks that spark joy.

- We often say that the rock finds its person, and I believe that when you are having a rough day, the rock appears.

(upbeat music fades) (upbeat music) - [Diane] The meaning behind movement.

- The space is created for them to explore and do that and bring that to the high level.

Because what we are doing is sharing light with our community.

(gentle music) - It's all ahead in this edition of "WLIW Arts Beat."

Funding for "WLIW Arts Beat" is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Welcome to "WLIW Arts Beat."

I'm Diane Masciale.

(gentle music continues) We take a trip to the Goodwill Art Studio and Gallery in Ohio to meet artist Helen Taylor.

Through the act of creating, she finds an outlet for self-expression and hopes to help others.

(gentle music continues) (upbeat music) - I love my art.

It lifts me.

You know, it makes me happy.

It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing my goals.

See, when I first started doing art, I didn't think I could do anything.

I had a lot of people telling me I could do it, and I didn't have any faith in myself.

But now, I have a lot of faith in myself.

I like to send my stuff around the world to help somebody.

You know, there's kids out there that can't do what I do.

And they can't sew, they can't, and they can't draw.

And I watch a lot of kids' shows, and it touches me.

And when I do my art, I think about them kids.

I think about them kids cross the sea here in America.

They can't draw, can't spell, can't do a lot of stuff.

So I know I'm thankful that I can do what I can do.

I used to be scared of stuff, but I had a buddy that broke me out of that.

So I'm not scared anymore of stuff.

Outside of scary pictures on TV, I'm scared of that.

I change the channel all the time.

Because now I get into cartoons, 'cause I'm a grandma, and I like to be, I want my grandkids to be proud of me and I want my providers and I want the studio and everybody to be proud of me because I want them to know I not only do this for me, but I want to show them I appreciate.

I appreciate Nick, I appreciate Ed.

♪ Oh ♪ (upbeat music) Sometimes I have to ask for ideas because I get stuck.

You know what I mean?

I'm doing my turtles now and I'm stuck.

(upbeat music continues) I started out sewing, and then the sewing didn't go right.

So then, I did the ribbon thing with the turtles.

See?

This is the bottom, this is the bottom.

And then I got the heads put up till I get the other parts, the legs and the thing I was telling you about the turtle.

Before I started, I had to cut these pieces before I could sew 'em together 'cause the material was real thick.

And when I make the shell part, me and Heather, she did the paste thing, and then we glued all these different pieces.

(upbeat music) Don't let nobody tell you you can't do it.

I had to start from the bottom to work my way up because I didn't have any confidence in myself.

People had confidence in me, but I didn't have any.

They kept telling me I could do it.

And I kept telling him, "I can't do that.

I dunno how to do that."

But now, since I've been doing it, I've been hyped up because I can't sleep at night 'cause I'm thinking about all kinda ideas.

You know, what to do next.

When they had the COVID thing, I was going nuts.

I was walking back and forth in my house going crazy.

And I was fussing with my providers 'cause I couldn't come.

I was real mean.

My provider would say I was real mean.

I cuss.

I don't usually cuss, but when I get angry it comes out.

- [Interviewer] And that was 'cause you couldn't do your artwork?

- Yeah.

I was angry for them days that we couldn't come.

(upbeat music continues) I wouldn't talk, I didn't eat, I turned on the TV, and I went through, I even watched some scary pictures because I was so angry, because I couldn't come to the art studio because this makes me happy.

You know, knowing that you can come to a place where you can be yourself, at the art studio.

Knowing you are accomplishing your goals and you're making other people happy and making you feel good inside.

When you do your art, there's something inside of you that's telling you, "I can do it."

(upbeat music continues) (gentle music) - Find out more about the studio and gallery at facebook.com/goodwillart.

(gentle music continues) And now, the Artist Quote of the week.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) In this segment, we head to Nevada to hear about Reno Painted Rocks.

This Facebook group of more than 5,000 members encourages people to spread kindness and positivity by painting rocks and placing them throughout their community.

Take a look.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music) - Imagine if you are walking down the street or in a park and you, all of a sudden, come across this brightly colored little rock on the ground, and you've bend down to pick it up, and you see that it's got an encouraging little quote on it.

And maybe you were having a bad day, and that made you pause and smile and it made your day a little bit better.

That's what this is all about.

Just random acts of kindness.

- I started Reno Painted Rocks on Facebook after seeing a similar group based up in Whidbey Island, Washington.

And I thought it was just a really cool idea to spread kindness one stone at a time.

- [Jessica] Reno Painted Rocks is a community group that spreads kindness by putting painted rocks with encouraging messages or cute little pictures or cartoons out in the community just to brighten the day of a stranger that might find it.

- Typically, what I do is choose the stone that I wanna paint on.

I look for a shape or something that would inspire me.

(gentle music) It's washed.

And then I'll decide to design an inspirational quote or a scene.

- [Jessica] You can use dotting tools and dot.

You can use paint pens that you can also write messages with.

- [Debi] Acrylic paints, water colors, pencil, pen and ink.

- Once your rocket's dry, you wanna seal it so that it can survive outside, if you put it outside and it rains.

So we usually use UV or waterproof spray sealers.

Some of us use an art resin.

Takes a little bit longer to dry, but it's very shiny and nice and hard.

So it protects the design.

- [Debi] I like to hide in karma boxes or little libraries.

(metal thuds) - I hide them all over.

I hide them in my neighborhood, if I go for a walk.

I like to put them at the base of our mailbox.

I walk here to Rancho San Rafael in my lunch hour and just walk the trails.

And there's a tree knot over on one of the walking paths that I really like to leave rocks in because it's right at eye level and it's a nice knot that will hold lots of different sizes of rocks.

(gentle music) On the backs of the rocks.

It kind of depends on the real estate you have.

If the size of the rock, if it's small, you're not gonna have a lot of space, but I like to write, "Keep or rehide, you decide," so that people know that they can keep it, they can rehide it, they can leave it there because sometimes people think they can't take it because it's this little piece of art.

And then I'll put, "Post a picture and join the fun on Facebook," and then put Reno Painted Rocks, and the hashtag, if it'll fit.

So it kind of gives people a clue.

If they don't understand from what's written on the rock, they can go to the group and kind of see what it's all about.

Reno Painted Rocks sometimes will show up on like Instagram, but for the most part it's on Facebook because of the group feature, where we can have that community group and interact and comment and post lots of pictures.

- [Debi] We try to keep our members painting within our guidelines.

We prefer that you source your rocks ethically by purchasing them.

You can get like a bag of river rock or go to the local landscaping companies.

A lot of times, they'll sell 'em to you in a five gallon bucket.

We do prefer that people don't glue things to rocks because it could harm wildlife.

- [Jessica] When you're hiding the rocks, we wanna make sure that they're not in any kind of national park or protected lands, not in grass so it won't damage a lawnmower.

- [Debi] And the biggest guideline we have is to be kind.

(upbeat music) - The kindness, I didn't feel that when I first started painting the rocks at all.

You know, it's just painting rocks.

But when you do give either as a gift or you hide, it's really amazing.

It's really heartwarming that people appreciate a rock that you've painted and it's taken time for them.

They love it.

- I'm painting rocks with my grandma.

I hope that when people find my rocks that they feel excited and they keep them, and that's like a gift.

(gentle music) - It's very humbling to see that there are so many amazing humans that want to share the same message.

- I started doing it because I liked the idea of the random act of kindness.

In the process, I've learned that this is kind of like my go-to self-care now.

Like if I've had a rough day at work or a rough week at work, I make time that night or over the weekend to paint, and it's kind of like a reset button.

So I think there's something about the act of putting kindness out there without the expectation of anything in return, and it's useful for me.

- We often say that the rock finds its person.

And I believe that when you are having a rough day, the rock appears.

You're looking for that little bit of hope, and there it is.

(gentle music fades) (gentle music) - For more information, go to facebook.com/ groups/renopainted.

(gentle music continues) Now, here's a look at this month's Fun Fact.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) Peter London is a dancer, choreographer, and the founder and artistic director of the Peter London Global Dance Company in Miami, Florida.

Up next, we join the company as they rehearse for an upcoming performance and learn about London's powerful impact.

(upbeat music) - Having my own dance company, I get to, number one, work with the dancers to develop their own voice and their spiritual development.

It's not a religion because there's no religion attached to it, but for them to have a safe space to explore their own spiritual awareness and consciousness, and give them that space.

Then that's what the PLGDC is, giving them that space to do that and to find that.

So there's no interference at all with them.

They come in, they have their space, they work and they do, and I guide them through that, and so and so.

And I don't have to do a lot of guiding because the people that I bring in or join it, they already have a sense of what that is.

Right, left, right, left to the left.

And 1, 2, 3.

- I started with him in 2019 at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center.

He was looking for a group of young men to dance in his Black men's stories.

And I'm now a company member as of last year, December.

He is very spiritual, and he loves on every one of his company members, which is a big reason why I was so ecstatic to join the company.

And also, 'cause I'm in school too.

So he was really lenient with me in between school and here.

'Cause I go to school in Michigan, I'm a sophomore, BFA musical theater major, and he's been really lenient enough and really nice enough to have me here, a company member, and also in school.

So he's just such a kind heart.

(floor thudding) - He was actually my teacher at Newark School of the Arts.

So I worked with him for four years.

And then after I graduated, he called me to be a part of the company.

So I'm just very grateful for that.

And I feel like working with him in school definitely helped.

- Move back, move back, move back, move.

(dancers laughing) - [Student] Move.

- [Peter] Side step.

- Peter London is like, "You never know what to expect."

It just keeps you on your toes.

And it's very challenging.

And it keeps you, keeps you moving forward.

- Position three, position four, that sweep, and sweep.

Okay, that was easy.

Okay, 5, 6, 7, go.

- When he gives notes, he always gives you a backstory to why you're doing what you're doing.

It's not just steps.

Like there's a story behind every movement that you do.

(upbeat music) - This dance is "Children of the Underground."

The idea, the concept is a lot of the secular dance originated with the sacred dances.

So you can see movements that might be done in a Orisha feast, in the carnival dance in the Calypso, and so on and so forth.

And then we take that like out in New York, kind of the carnival dances in Trinidad.

But like in New York, I would go out and you go to like San Fachi bar.

And in there, the regulars, they came from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem, New Jersey, some are as far as Philadelphia.

And Saturday night, it would be a party scene, and people would that like a combo square.

And folks would dance, you saw some of the most incredible dancing, and it's all improv.

But you see it, you see the origin is African, you know?

(singers singing in foreign language) (singers singing in foreign language continues) Some of them don't even actually know that it's just in their DNA and the rhythm and the music and it just comes out, you know?

But I could identify, you know, this is from the Congo, maybe this is from here, this is from there, 'cause these are the dances we do in Trinidad, but the kids would tear it up in the clubs.

And so the idea is that from the sacred to the secular, and from the secular to the sacred.

And that's what the stance is about.

(upbeat music) The space is created for them to explore and do that and bring that to the high level.

Because what we are doing is sharing light with our community.

And that light could be inspiring and it could be healing, as it's inspiring for us and healing for us.

And so it's community work.

(laughs) you know, spiritual community work.

And attached to this is entertainment.

There's a level of entertainment.

We go into the theater and we put on costumes and makeup and this music and we entertain you.

(upbeat music) But that's not the core of what it is we are doing.

What we are doing is spiritual healing.

(upbeat music continues) Divine energy from the multiverse that's flooding through us, move through us and hit you like a vibrational storm and shake you up, just is the same experience that I had when the dancers were possessed in the Yoruba temple in Trinidad, right?

What happened?

And you see people getting possessed and tumbling and falling and the drumming, broom, broom, and the chanting.

(singers singing in foreign language) And that song, that vibration come from that voice, straight into heart, and you start to quiver and vibrate.

From that, it's all vibration and energy coming at you.

And so that is what my company's about.

That divine vibration that's coming from the multiverse coming through this orb and then back into the people there.

And then they give it back.

Even if they're not aware, then they give it back to us.

Not just with the applaud, but it bounces back to us.

So we having a communication.

We are communicating with each other on spiritual level, whether they're aware of it or not.

That's happening.

And then remember the energy's vibrations are not static.

Everything is moving at rates of speed that we cannot even contemplate the rate of speed.

Everything starts to move, everything.

And nothing is solid.

Nothing at all, it's solid.

And everything is music, music.

(floor thudding) Palm trees in the wind, right at the storm.

(floor thudding continues) In Miami, we could went through this storm with all the palm trees get moving.

You have no excuse, just move that.

But like the palm trees swaying in that wind in that storm.

5, 6, 7, and.

Okay, hold on.

So this elbow actually have to go down to the floor in a diagonal, that's where it's going.

That's the direction.

Yes, down to that floor on the diagonal.

Ready?

Down, diagonally down.

Keep your torso down.

What is this?

This is the elevate.

Go up on elevate ground back, Mark.

Can I see that, please?

And up, up, and get your hands out there.

This is a lightning, like a lightning strike, and the Sun, and then the foot is the thunder.

When you come down, it's that thunder, boom, boom.

(singers singing in foreign language) - From the top.

(floor thudding) Okay, can you back up a little bit so you they're not directly in front of her?

(dancers faintly speaking) - Take him up, take him up.

There you go, okay?

Okay, this needs to, this needs to sweep the floor to come across.

Now, sweep it.

That's right.

Okay, go get him.

Go get him.

(floor thudding) Go get him.

I said what I said.

- Okay.

(Peter laughing) ♪ Walk on by.

♪ - Don't just be looking at in the front and doing the steps.

Relate to her throughout the duet.

Look at her.

(upbeat music) Look at her look.

Look at her when you come around, okay?

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - He is, first and foremost, a teacher.

He is a professor of dance at the New World School of the Arts.

And I've seen him work with a really young ones in dance all the way up through high school and college.

He is full of enthusiasm about everything he does.

He loves his dancers.

And you can tell because they're very loyal to him and they come back often for repeat performances.

Peter is top of the top.

(upbeat music) - We have enjoyed his dance for quite a long time.

He's just so energetic, particularly with his Caribbean dance.

He's so creative.

And he's incorporated a lot of the African, Caribbean roots.

And I am from St. Lucia, so I am akin to that.

And it brings me back, as well as he shares the wealth of knowledge of the Caribbean culture with everybody else who attends the performance.

(upbeat music) - Those of you who watch us and try to help get the word out to celebrate what all these wonderful young people are doing, not just in my company, but all the other companies and schools, and so on and so forth.

And this community in Miami and the communities around the country, the United States, and all the people in the background who never gets seen, or the teachers, the parents, the godmothers, and so on and so forth.

You know, the people who dip their hand in the pocket to buy slippers and tights, all those people.

And so, basically, I'm just a thread in the carpet, you know?

Just a tiny little thread, and that's it.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (audience applauding) - Discover more at plgdc.org.

(gentle music) And here's a look at this week's Art History.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) That wraps it up for this edition of "WLIW Arts Beat."

We like to hear what you think.

So like us on Facebook, join the conversation on X, and visit our webpage to watch more episodes of the show.

We hope to see you next time.

I'm Diane Masciale.

Thank you for watching "WLIW Arts Beat."

(gentle music continues) Funding for "WLIW Arts Beat" was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues)