Green for a cause

Endangered Planet will host its One Earth

One Dream benefit from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. March 20 at [seven-degrees], 891 Laguna Canyon Road.

The fundraising art exhibition and concert will feature the works of Elizabeth Laul Healey and Nicholas Hernandez, as well as the premiere of the first solo album by Nicholas’ son Nick, of popular band Common Sense.

Healey’s “All over the Bored” contemporary show will include everything from hung art to mannequins known as “Healey Figure Mosaics.”

Nicholas Hernandez, the Endangered Planet Foundation’s art advisor, will show his sculptures, including “Mata (Mother Earth)” and “Emergence,” the winner of the Lorenzo il Magnifico de Medici medal at the prestigious Florence Biennale in 2005.

Nick Hernandez will perform beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets are $75 for general admission; tables and VIP tickets have sold out.

Nicholas Hernandez is an environmental advocate.

He said he reads up on the issues daily, and is growing more and more dismayed by what he finds.

“I’m a positive person, but it’s starting to be challenging,” he said.

He’s passed on this cause to his son, who said he was “green” before it was cool.

“I think that people need more music and art,” Nick said. “The more that we take art and education out of society, there’s a direct correlation to the environment.”

One of his passions is his work on the board of Surfers Healing, which takes autistic children out surfing.

He recalled his first charge, Isaiah, who was unable to put a sentence together when they first met.

“Now he can sing a whole song,” Hernandez said.

He cited the power of music as an educational tool throughout history, up to today’s “ABC” song.

“Music sometimes is the only way to reach people,” he said.

In addition to being a sculptor, Nicholas is a plumbing contractor and also coaches the Laguna Beach High School tennis team.

“Now my main thing is being the artistic director of the Endangered Planet Foundation,” Hernandez said. “There’s just so many more important things than a job.”

The foundation currently is planning a citywide “green” festival in October, in addition to its efforts to install an interactive educational museum at the Great Park.

“One of the things I’ve realized is that getting the money isn’t the hard part. Getting permission is the hard part,” Hernandez said.

His hope is that the museum will inspire change, which he believes starts locally.

“I want to save myself and my family,” Hernandez said. “I want to live.”

For more information on the benefit, visit www.OneEarthOneDream.org.

For more information on Nicholas Hernandez’s work, visit

www.spiritformlaguna.com.

For more information on Nick Hernandez’s music, visit www.commonsenseband.com.