The adjustments and challenges of the online world proved to be no match for this group of creative misfits. And now, as we return to the HEART Studio little-by-little, the hybrid environment of online and in-person activities has provided new opportunities for HEART to adapt and grow artistically. With each passing week, we have found new ways to create and touch the hearts of our ever-growing community. With the support of each other and many Guest Artist Mentors, HEART remains strong and inspired, prospering in our love for collaborative art!

HEART VIRTUAL EVENTS

Open Mic Nights at HEART are one of our favorite ways to connect and share our love for performing. We are excited to host another Virtual Open Mic Night on Sunday, December 13th at 3:00 PM.

Rare Bird Will Fly Again Another Day!

HEART may not be able to hit the stage this year, but that’s not going to stop Rare Bird from taking flight! We’re excited to announce that HEART will be adapting the much anticipated musical drama into our very first feature-length film. Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to be a part of the action. And keep looking forward to 2021 when Rare Bird lands on a screen near you!

Disability Pride!

July was Disability Pride Month, and HEART celebrated with everything we’ve got!

Check out some highlights from HEART’s month-long festivities for Disability Pride Month. From an exploration of the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - which just had its 30th anniversary this year - to a Disability Pride Dance Party to wrap up July. At HEART, being proud doesn’t end when August begins, and we continue to celebrate being our amazing selves all year round.

Our recording of “Hallelujah” was selected to be a part of The True Project, a special virtual event celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

We’re so proud of HEARTist Christian McInnis whose work was selected to be presented at the Disability Pride Arts Showcase hosted by Able South Carolina. Christian presented his favorite pieces created during our Daily Draw activities, and he spoke beautifully about his experience as an artist. Congratulations to Christian and all of the other artists featured in the showcase!

Our Hearts Are Full Of Gratitude

Join us in thanking our latest sponsors and grantmakers for their remarkable contributions!

David Gordon Green and Rough House Pictures graciously gifted $25,000 to HEART! A long-time friend of HEART and frequent lead sponsor for our musical productions, Rough House Pictures is once again our lead Changemaker Sponsor, this time in support of Rare Bird. Thank you, Mr. Green and Rough House Pictures, for your incredible generosity and love for HEART.

HEART is beyond thrilled to be a 2020 recipient of grant support from the Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation.

The Foundation, created as a bequest in the estates of Henry and Sylvia Yaschik, is committed to sustaining both the secular and the Jewish values that the Yaschiks embraced and supported in their lifetimes. Long-time residents of Charleston, South Carolina, Sylvia and Henry were enormously grateful for the opportunities afforded to them, and they wanted to make sure that their legacy of charity and philanthropy continued even after their deaths.

The National Endowment for the Arts, through The South Carolina Arts Commission, has graciously provided an Arts Emergency Relief Grant to HEART in support of our efforts to continue providing engaging inclusive arts programming during this unprecedented time.

VISUAL ARTS

The popularity of “Daily Draw” is definitely not limited to our in-person HEART days. Whether at home or in the HEART Studio, we all love jump-starting the day with these fun drawing prompts and interesting facts.

The HEART staff delivered art supply drop-offs early in the quarantine, complete with notebooks, markers, and T-shirts for some of our virtual projects. We loved getting to make these special deliveries to our HEARTists and even got to see a couple of them (from an appropriate distance)!

If you’d like to donate art supplies or other goodies to help us keep HEART full of ART, check out our Amazon Wishlist!

T-shirt making is one of our favorite projects. Each HEARTist designed their own Virtual HEART logo and transferred it onto a T-shirt.

We got creative with different costumes and body placement to make some crazy illusions. If we can’t be with each other in person right now, “Zoom Photography” might make us feel like we are!

PERFORMING ARTS

One of the greatest things about HEART is our ability to connect with the community through performances and events, including our Inclusive Open Mic Nights. Though we have had to forgo the premiere of our original musical, Rare Bird, we were still able to celebrate together on what would have been our Piccolo Spoleto performance by presenting our first ever Virtual Open Mic Night.

Our HEARTists, staff, volunteers, and friends put together some stellar independent and collaborative acts for our Virtual Inclusive Open Mic Nights. We kicked things off with the special music video premiere of “Bad Makes Good Great”. For our second Virtual Open Mic Nigh, we started the festivities with our very own rendition of Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up”.

Music and Theatre

HEART keeps the hits coming with “Hallelujah” and “Divisionary”. They were both smashing successes on social media, even grabbing the attention of, and receiving a special response from, the original “Divisionary” musicians themselves, Ages and Ages.

We’ve also been working on a new music video to an original “Rare Bird Theme Song”. We have had a blast revisiting Rare Bird Ranch and finding creative new ways to tell the stories of its characters! 

We took a break from recording music over Zoom and travelled back in time to learn about the beginnings of music and theater. Sisi led us through the origins of Greek Drama and Mel took us back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to learn about how music has evolved over time. Our knowledge of music and theater continues to grow and it is displayed in our everyday activities and performances. 

With the unfortunate cancellation of 2020’s Spoleto Festival came the loss of this year’s Spoleto ETC (Engaging the Community) Azure Concert. However, HEART is lucky enough to have received a private concert from three of the wonderful musicians involved in Spoleto Festival USA. Pianist Stephen Prutsman, violinist Geoff Nuttall, and clarinetist Todd Palmer performed live in our Zoom meeting, giving us an extremely special and unique concert. Their immense talent along with their generosity and humor made for an incredible experience!

MOVEMENT

Yoga and exercise have been a constant in our daily HEART activities, thanks to our volunteer movement mentors, Patti Walker and Rebekah Edmonson. We have loved getting our bodies moving!

Rebekah pumps us up with cardio workouts, while Patti gets us slowing things down and stretching out with yoga.

Thanks to guest mentor, Samantha Brock Perlmutter, we received a special meditation session that inspired us to breathe deep and focus on relaxing.

Perhaps our favorite form of movement is dance, and we hardly miss an opportunity to let loose and move to our favorite music. We got to boogie down with lots of our HEART volunteer mentors recently.

DJ Noodle McDoodle threw a dance party for us. Plus, Eden Fonvielle gave us our dance fix with a tap lesson. Eden taught us several new moves such as the shuffle, ball change, and flap. We had so much fun dancing with our friends from the comfort of our own homes!

TRAILBLAZING

HEART Trailblazers cannot be stopped! In addition to one of our favorite trailblazing destinations, the Halsey Institute, we have taken exciting virtual trips to Paris, Hawaii, Disney World, San Francisco, and the International Space Station. Rae led us through a snorkeling excursion and hula dancing class in Hawaii, and to the Golden Gate Bridge and Grateful Dead concert in San Francisco. We even got to ride a few thrilling roller coasters in Disney. While we are missing our in-person Trailblazing adventures, virtual Trailblazing allows us to visit destinations that we may not have previously had the opportunity to see.

Writing Workshop

Thank You to All of Our Guest Artist Mentors!

We are endlessly grateful for our guest artist mentors who continue to volunteer their time and talents with us. Our guests are wonderfully creative and entertaining.

As HEARTists, it is one of our greatest pleasures to share our various talents and passions with the community and collaborate with them as we do so. Thank you to Rebekah Edmonson, Patti Walker, Lyla Zimmerman, Cathryn Davis, Eden Fonvielle, Donald “Noodle” Whitley, Laura Silverman, Teralyn Reiter, Patti Walker, Samantha Brock Perlmutter, Ashley Jackson, Kelly Weekes, Sarah Callahan Black with Curiouser Entertainment, Stephen Prutsman, Geoff Nuttall, Todd Palmer, and Spoleto Festival USA for sharing your hearts with HEART. We are always seeking to host creative guests for our virtual activities. We love meeting new people and learning new things! Whether it’s instructional, interactive, observational, or just plain fun — HEART wants to connect with YOU!

Wanna know how can YOU support HEART?

Shop HEART online now!

Summer has been heating up, but you can still keep cool! Look good and feel good when you rock your favorite HEART Fan gear. Shop this deal all summer long, too!

Make HEART your Amazon Smile charity!

We’re all doing our shopping online these days - so why not support HEART while you shop? Make HEART your Amazon Smile charity of choice and Amazon will donate a portion of your total to US! (And you won’t even have to pay a penny more.)

Just remember to always shop through smile.amazon.com. It’s that easy!

Be a Guest Mentor!

Keep an eye out for what HEART creates next!

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see what HEART is up to.

Consider Making a Contribution

Now more than ever, we are so grateful for the support that HEART continues to receive as we adapt and learn new ways to enrich the community. The love and innovation that surrounds this exceptional group is how we will prosper in collaborative arts and become stronger in times of adversity. We are one.