Harry Belafonte headlines Legal Aid centennial event

Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte, the featured guest at Legal Aid’s Centennial Celebration on September 24, is as well known for his activism and pursuit of social justice as he is for his acting and musical talent. His album “Calypso” made him the first artist in history to sell more than a million LPs. He won a Tony award for his Broadway debut in “John Murray Anderson Almanac” and an Emmy for “An Evening with Belafonte,” in which he was also the first black producer in television. He was also awarded the National Medal for the Arts by President Bill Clinton.

The Centennial Celebration is at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Also featured is internationally renowned artist Josee Nadeau, who will be painting live on stage during the event.

Internationally renowned artist Josee Nadeau in Baltimore for Legal Aid’s 100th celebration

Artist Josee Nadeau

Josée Nadeau is an internationally renowned artist, whose impressionistic style and larger-than-life paintings grace the homes of many avid art lovers and collectors, including celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Clint Eastwood, Frances Fisher, Pierce Brosnan, David Hyde Pierce and many more.

Nadeau is donating her time and talents to Maryland Legal Aid, the state’s largest provider of free legal services to the poor, abused children and the elderly, at its centenary celebration Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott. Nadeau created a painting to commemorate Legal Aid’s 100th  anniversary, which be unveiled by Gov. Martin O’Malley and entertainer/activist Harry Belafonte at the event. Additionally, Nadeau will be reunited with Belafonte (she painted with him at a previous event) and will be painting live on stage while he delivers remarks on human rights.

The Montreal-born Nadeau has been published in more than 25 countries. She has enjoyed sold-out gallery shows and regularly participates in art exhibitions. One of her pieces, The Bull, was featured at the entrance to New York Art Expo in 2010. Nadeau also contributes to charitable events around the world. At benefits in Montreal and on Broadway in New York she has painted to the accompaniment of live orchestras. These performances have included honoring Harry Belafonte and HRH Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia, among many others. The defining period of her career came during her 10 years in Paris and Giverny, where she had a permanent studio on the grounds of Monet’s Gardens, the personal estate of French Impressionist artist Claude Monet. Nadeau was the guest artist and protégé of the Curator- in-Chief, Gerald Van der Kemp, the French art expert who saved the Mona Lisa from destruction by the Nazis, and later masterminded the restoration of Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles and then Monet’s Gardens.

Nadeau’s unique blending of music, motion and art began when George Harrison, the lead guitarist for The Beatles, sang to her for four hours at the home of Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, saying she was his muse that night. From that night music became an important part of her work.

For more about Nadeau, go to her website.