Gently looping curls, inky sketches eternalized on flesh and tightly woven textiles exemplify their work. Their canvas is the human body, and at Friday’s Heart Show in Ybor City, artists from around Tampa Bay will showcase art that doesn’t just imitate life – it’s infused with it.

Just as the name was created by blending “hair” and “art,” the Heart Show merges various art forms from urban culture in a multifaceted fashion/hair design/art show that highlights the artistic value of seemingly everyday professions. Hosted by Tribeca Salon, the event will feature hair design shows and competitions, as well as the work of tattoo artists, fashion designers and DJs.

“Just bringing people in and being aware of a lot of things that people are doing besides the normal stuff (is our main goal),” said Skip Sampson, owner of 1603 Tattoo. “We want to show the creativity in art forms, like the hair stylists that are working there and what they can achieve. A lot of it is awareness and showing people that there is different stuff out there and that there are a lot of artists in this area.”

Sampson, along with other 1603 Tattoo employees, will have some of their own paintings displayed in the show’s art gallery. Airbrush tattoos and body makeup will be provided by 1603 Tattoos to transform models into living pieces of art.

In addition to the gallery, 11 DJs will spin records in the Czar’s three rooms, while three fashion shows, a silent auction, a raffle, a vocal performance by DJW, a hair design show and a hair competition take place over the course of seven hours.

“This is going to be very different from previous art shows simply because there are so many events going on,” said event coordinator and Tribeca Salon owner Brandon Wagner. “We’ve got something going on virtually every half hour, so there really is something for everyone. It’s going to be a multimedia experience, that’s for sure.”

The BizCzar market will host kiosks offering various hair and body products, while five different types of models representing what Wagner called “tribes of style” will roam the club. Random attendees will also have a chance at being selected for a makeover.

“Throughout the whole evening we’ll be having something called ‘transformation stations,’ where we’ll be taking people off the street and glamming them up,” Wagner said. “They’ll go through a hair station, makeup station, body makeup and fashion station. Jay Giroux from Sauver fashions will actually be screen printing live on models.”

The screen printing process will provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how images are transferred onto clothing. Fitting the theme of style convergence, Giroux’s garments will mix avant-garde flair with downtown appeal.

“It’s really just street-based couture,” Giroux said. “It’s mixing up those two worlds. It’s stuff that’s very street and stuff that’s very high end.”

The “mane” event

At 10 p.m., cosmetology students from around the area will demonstrate all they’ve learned at school in a beauty school contest. The competition – hosted by female impersonator Felicity Lane – will consist of three design challenges: long hair dressing, classic contemporary styling and avant-garde.

Artistic direction and execution of the design will be rated on a scale of one to 10, with the results averaged from judges Albie Mulcahy, an international designer; Cyndi Edwards, host of WFLA’s Daytime; and an as-of-yet unnamed fashion designer from the International Academy of Art and Design in Tampa.

“I’ve had every hairstyle and almost every hair color, so I figure that gives me at least two qualifications to judge,” Edwards said. “I’ll be the Paula Abdul of the judges – gentle and fair, but not as spacey.”

The winner will receive Rusk 5-inch revolving shears valued at $350, and the runner-up will receive a $200 GHD flat iron. Should a tie occur, the audience will decide who wins the grand prize.

Over the course of the event, the Heart Show will feature more than 60 completely transformed models. Many will appear in the design show at 11 p.m., during the Monkey Rose fashion show at midnight and during the simultaneous Highborn Disorder and Suspicious Package fashion shows at 1 a.m.

“Our vision for the event itself is glam transformations,” Wagner said. “That’s the whole thing – we’re really just going for over-the-top glamor. For the designers, for Blake’s (one of the designers for Highborn Disorder) looks, which are very avant-garde, we’re going for very large, orb-ish shapes. For Raven’s (a Suspicious Package designer), we’re doing what we’re calling shacked-up Victoria’s Secret. Overall, everything is glam.”

Heart’s double meaning

Also lending meaning to the show’s title is the reason the event is occurring – all of the proceeds from the Heart Show will benefit the Jay Anthony Ray Sadler Scholarship Fund.

Sadler, who passed away in August, was a prominent hairstylist at Tribeca Salon and is remembered for his talent in the field and his connection with the community.

“He was a very passionate hairdresser, and I wanted to make sure that we commemorated him and kept his memory alive,” Wagner said. “I started a scholarship fund through the Hillsborough Education Foundation, and our whole goal is to be able to send a Hillsborough county student to a local cosmetology school.”

Since the average cost of cosmetology school is around $10,000, the Heart Show will honor Sadler’s memory by defraying the cost for one high school student.

“We want to send a lucky recipient to a good school, and it turns out that the three or four schools that JARSS feel are worthy of educating our recipient all have tuition over $10,000,” Tribeca hairstylist Kelly Alexander said in the Heart Show’s official MySpace blog. “So we have a long way to go if we want to get full tuition.” Generating that much revenue means the event cannot be small, which is why Wagner has devoted the past four months to planning the show.

“We’re actually closed for business on Friday just so that we can get everything done,” Wagner said. “We’re going to be working on the models from noon until nine, basically. The art gallery opens at eight, and we’re hoping to be done no later than nine so we can get everybody over there. It’s a lot of work. We’ve spent over $600 in extension hair itself, and that’s the wholesale price, so that’s a lot of hair. That’s a big thing.”

The Heart Show will take place from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. at the Czar in Ybor City. Tickets are $8 if purchased in advance from Tribeca Salon, or $10 at the door.

By the numbers:• $600 spent on hair extensions for event• More than 60 models performing• Three fashion shows• 11 DJs• Five models representing various “tribes of style”• 1800 people expected to attend• Three judges will rate three different looks during the hair competition• $10,000 – amount the event hopes to raise