The letterpress artists of Beautiful Angle are givers.
In one case, they give advice to a girl named Allie who says of herself in her e-mail to them, “I’m one of those Tacoma kids. The kind you see lurking around King’s Books and Stadium Video, wearing big sunglasses and making inappropriate amounts of noise on city buses.”
The e-mail she sent to their Web site follows: “You are amazing…you see all of it (Tacoma) and know it’s beautiful and that exactly what i want to do. So that leads me to my questions. How did you start doing this? And can i help?”
Their wise advice, a call to action any person can feel inspired by, went like this:
“How did we start doing this? You know, there was nothing to it. We knew of other people who did it in other cities (obeygiant. com, for one) and we wanted to do it here, in Tacoma. So we just kind of started. We started doing it using nothing but Kinkos. You could do that. We’ve met other folks who also do this kind of thing around Tacoma, altho much quieter than us and without a Web site. How did they start? They just started. So if you want to start, I say start. Just start. Grab some friends and start.”
And along with beautiful advice, Beautiful Angle gives the city beautiful poster images matched with beautiful sentiments, with a beautifully covert civil disobedience that even the city endorsed with an Amocat award for community outreach — a beautiful irony.
Now, added to all of that, Beautiful Angle will give once again, in the spirit of a holiday whose original intent has been tainted by capitalist greed and lead-painted toys.
Tom Llewellyn and Lance Kagey are steering Christmas back to a pure direction with their third annual Holiday Party and Benefit Poster Sale, happening Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Black Water Café starting at 7 p.m.
“It’s really just about having a party,” explains Beautiful Angle to me via speaker phone, two voices speaking as one entity. “We love Christmas, and we like to hang out with a bunch of cool people. We do that, and we like to give back.”
And that they will. To start with, Kagey and Llewellyn will give away 50 new holiday posters, featuring peace, a dove, and words by 11-year-old Abel Llewellyn while musical guest Kirsten Wenlock will entertain accompanied by Ryan Meline, and guests may nosh on free food and (purchased) coffee. The lucky poster recipients will be the first 50 people who donate by purchasing Beautiful Angle posters sold “at a significant discount.” For this, Kagey and Llewellyn will sort through stacks of posters they have extras of with some rarities thrown in such as “Easter eggs” for the Beautiful Angle-savvy guests who get started early. But please, emphasize the guys, “not before 7. It starts at 7.”
At the end of it all, Kagey and Llewellyn will turn around and give (there’s that word again!) all the proceeds of the evening to L’Arche Farm, a faith-based non-profit organization that follows the theme by — you guessed it — giving in its own way.
The farm helps instill confidence using horticulture and art, with housing and work programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. Through these programs, the farm gives to the community through conservation, education and community outreach. It was in the context of community outreach that Beautiful Angle and L’Arche Farm converged during the King’s Books Wayzgoose; while Kagey and Llewellyn shared letterpress, L’Arche shared papermaking.
“We believe in what they do,” Beautiful Angle comments about the farm, adding, “L’Arche is under the radar, and we like to think we are, too.”
Under the radar or not, I think the event will be a beautiful, crazy-mad crush that will bring the holiday season right back to all the key elements it’s supposed to be about.
[Beautiful Angle Annual Holiday Party & Benefit Poster Sale, Saturday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m., free, 747 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.404.0000, www.beautifulangle.homestead. com]
More Holiday Art Events
Now through Jan. 6
- “Christmas in Scandinavia”
The annual holiday festival of trees are on display decorated in the tradition of the five Nordic countries.
[Scandinavian Cultural Center, 1-4 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, University Center, Park Avenue South and 122nd Street South, Parkland, 253.535.7349]
Friday, Dec. 14
- Holiday Exhibit and Gala
The Sixth Avenue gallery hosts live piano music, wine, food, and a fine art sale and auction. The art auction — and every sale during the show — will benefit the Tacoma Community House.
[Rebecca V Gallery, 6-9 p.m., 3010 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.9111, www.rebecca vgallery.com]
Sunday, Dec. 16
- Snowbound
Tacoma Art Museum's winter celebration featuring origami snowflakes and snow-globes art projects, festive sing-along, Polar-bear Polaroids, sno-cones, cookies and more.
[Tacoma Art Museum, noon to 5 p.m., $7.50 two-for-one admission, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258]