On Thursday, September 26, from 6:30–8:30 p.m., Folkmoot presents Healing Through Color & Sound, a sensory experience that combines artist Nina Howard’s live painting with a musical performance by world-renowned cellist Michael Fitzpatrick. The free community event will be held at the Folkmoot auditorium, in Waynesville, and will raise funds for Folkmoot’s multicultural programs.
Artist Nina Howard
The idea for the event came about when Howard and Fitzpatrick were discussing the healing properties of art and music. Fitzpatrick performs globally with his philanthropic organization Millenia Music, which brings healing music to those in need. “As Folkmoot continues to engage artists and musicians of all walks, the ongoing evolvement in the Folkmoot building is a collaboration between arts, music and healers, making it a great fit,” says Howard, of the event. She became interested in healing after suffering serious injuries when her car was hit head-on by another car while she was in art and design school. “That accident forced me into years of study and understanding the spiritual world and natural healing modalities through touch, including acupuncture, acupressure and color therapy,” she says.
Howard’s paintings are exhibited in the auditorium and will be available for purchase during the evening, which opens with a reception that includes refreshments. “Afterwards, Fitzpatrick and I will be on stage for a limited time, starting with silence and breath, tuning our energies to each other in the beginning,” she says.
Howard will complete a 36” x 48” painting on stage as she tunes in to Fitzpatrick’s performance: a synthesis of color and sound that the artists hope will offer a sense of healing to the audience. “Chromotherapy is a serious healing modality,” says Howard. “Color/light influences mental, emotion and physical wellbeing. Adding color to a resonant sound of a live instrument, we can engage our visual and auditory senses and feel the vibration of sound and see the vibration of color. Color and sound have tremendous healing capacities. We are just bringing these healing capacities to the conscious awareness of the participant.”
TriBeka. Nina Howard, artist
Howard will donate the painting she creates, valued at $3,000, which will be raffled off at the end of the evening. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. All proceeds from the raffle go to Folkmoot. In addition, Howard will donate 40 percent of proceeds from the sale of paintings in the exhibition, which will be up through the end of the year.
“Nina has contributed to our community with Folkmoot since the 1990s,” says Alicia Blanton, interim executive director of Folkmoot USA. “We are so excited to share her passion for creating thrilling and healing art pieces during the art fundraiser.”
Howard discovered Waynesville in 1986 after a decade and a half of life in Manhattan and Atlanta. Art, design and healing have been part of her life since she studied interior design, graduating with honors from Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. She went on to work at various architecture and interior design firms before co-founding The Ascension Principle Center, a personal growth seminar business and center, in Atlanta and Waynesville. She moved back to Waynesville in 2011.
Howard appreciates the difficulties Folkmoot faced during COVID when travel restrictions hindered its mission of cultural exchange. “Bringing world culture to Waynesville and recognizing all world cultures through art, music and dance was a big turn-on for me after living in large metropolitan cities—and also being a multi-cultural person myself (English, Irish, Filipino, Cherokee, Chinese),” Howard says. “Today’s Folkmoot is comprised of one full-time staff member (Alicia Blanton), artists/healers/musicians as tenants of their building, a wonderful board and a myriad of volunteers from different walks of life. This community is coming together with big hearts, great intent and a love for what each culture brings to our WNC community.”
The Folkmoot auditorium is located at 112 Virginia Avenue, Waynesville. Learn more at Folkmoot.org. Michael Fitzpatrick will also perform the following evening, September 27, at Folkmoot as part of its Folkmoot LIVE! series. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. performance. Tickets are available at GiveButter.com/Jd49ip on a pay-what-you-can basis, and donations are welcome. Nina Howard’s studio is open by appointment only. Learn more about her and her art at NinaHowardStudio.com.
