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Using paint, the group transformed more than a dozen of the traditional string instruments into works of art to benefit the Washington, D.C.-based Pan American Symphony Orchestra. Along the way, the dusty, old violins — recovered from basements, donated or ordered online — became representative of what happens when art forms collide.

"Our goal is to promote Latin American music and help the orchestra, but we wanted to go beyond that and get more people involved," said Alexandra Arata, board member of the orchestra, known as PASO. Now in its 18th performance season, PASO has been the ensemble-in-residence at Washington's Trinity University since 1993. "We wanted to expand our horizons by reaching out to more people that love art, and we found this great collaboration."

The violins, decorated with traditional Latin American images by the group Potomac Artists in Touch and other artists, will be auctioned off at an Oct. 24 benefit dubbed "Musical Colors." The funds will help support the upcoming season at PASO, the first orchestra in the nation to focus solely on Latin American music, according to the group. The money will also help PASO send musical instruments and supplies to underfunded youth orchestras in Latin America, a new initiative for the organization.

"There is a big movement in Latin America to try to teach kids music, and this is something new that's happened within the last few years," said Arata, herself an educator. "So I think we are going to see this new generation more involved with music in Latin America."

For many, Latin America is not the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to symphonic music, according to Sergio Buslje, artistic director and conductor for PASO. And that's why one of the group's missions is to raise awareness about Latin American composers and bring their music to the public in the Washington area.

"It's a very rhythmic, very passionate music that perhaps you won't find by playing European music," Buslje said. "It's a completely different feel."

Much of the music is tied to traditional folk dances, such as the Brazilian samba, Buslje said.

When the idea to paint violins was proposed, Arata, a Potomac resident, immediately thought of Potomac Artists in Touch. She remembered the group from "Ponymania," a 2005 public art project in which artists painted life-sized pony sculptures and placed them around Potomac.

Many of artists are also music enthusiasts, according to group member Anne Martinez, and jumped at the chance to help.

"It was intriguing to say, ‘how can we put art on a violin?'"Martinez said.

Many of the violins feature images of Latin American dances, flowers or animals, depicted in bold colors. Martinez, a retired Potomac school teacher, drew the inspiration for her violin piece entitled "La Vida de Chile" from the Cueca, a traditional Chilean dance. On the front, the violin features a woman dancing, while on the back, a bottle of Chilean wine.

Arata also painted a violin, covering the instrument in images of children inspired by scenes from her native Argentina. Inspired by her work as an educator and her own three children, Arata titled the piece "Colorful Music for our Children."

The orchestra hopes to continue crossing artistic borders for future fundraisers, Arata said.

"It's a different way to express love for art," she said.

To learn more about the Pan American Symphony Orchestra and the Oct. 24 Musical Colors benefit, visit www.panamsymphony.org. To learn more about Potomac Artists in Touch, visit www.potomacartists.org.