Noel Clive said the idea for a night to celebrate peace grew like the proverbial mustard seed from a series of paintings by a local artist.

Clive, of Pine, has organized dancers, speakers and a band to accompany an art exhibition Saturday by Rochelle Blumenfeld, of Highland Park, at Ingomar United Methodist Church in McCandless.

Blumenfeld will talk about her art and its inspiration, followed by a showing of her artwork where attendees can meet with her.

Other speakers will include Tim Vining, executive director of the Thomas Merton Center, who intends to speak about the threat religious fundamentalism poses to peace.

"I believe religious fundamentalism is deadly, and we're not immune to it in the United States," he said.

Both Blumenfeld and Vining said they were glad to get their message to an event in the suburbs.

"I'm really looking forward to a new audience," Blumenfeld said. "I've not really shown outside the city."

Clive, a member of the congregation at the church, said that was part of the inspiration for holding the show.

"We want to shatter the stereotype that suburban parishes are insensitive to peacemaking," Clive said.

Peacemakers today aren't what people normally picture. They're not "the image of long-haired, dungaree-clad protesters," Clive said.

Blumenfeld's series of paintings, Dance Series, was inspired by Alvin Ailey's ballet "Revelations," which is based on Ailey's experiences growing up in Texas during the 1930s and '40s. Blumenfeld said she has seen the ballet at least a dozen times.

She reproduced the brown, white and yellow Ailey used in the staging of the ballet to represent sadness, baptism and joy in a series of 13 canvas paintings.

"It's every man's story of despair, hope and joy," she said.

"I was struck by their power and beauty," Clive said.

Blumenfeld's series was shown in June at One Oxford Center, Downtown, where several organizers of International Voices of Peace saw it.

Reproductions made with the giclee method will be shown because some of the originals have been sold and because some were too large for the facility.

The giclee process reproduces the paintings electronically on canvas. Then the artist adds hand touches, a number and a signature to the prints.

Some of Blumenfield's other art, shown professionally since 1950, has been displayed around the world. In the United States, she tours with her art to Carnegie Hall and has an upcoming exhibit near Orlando, Fla.

Voices for International Peace begins at 7 p.m. Saturday in Ingomar United Methodist Church at 1501 W. Ingomar Road, McCandless. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and students. For more information, call 412-364-3613.

First Published: February 13, 2005, 5:00 a.m.