We’ll tell ya what we’ve been up to at HEART…
The summer days are waning, but we squeezed every last bit of fun and excitement out of the season as we could!
Starting with our first Open Mic in front of a live audience since 2020. Big Deal!
Now we’re getting ready for our next Inclusive Open Mic on September 9th at 5:30 pm. This time, we’re hitting the stage at FAME Performing Arts Center’s new digs. And YOU can be there! If you want to join us live in our audience, head over here to register for your free ticket. You can also catch the livestream on our Youtube channel!
Loud and Proud!
July was the 31st annual Disability Pride month across the world, and it was a fantastic pleasure to finally bring the party to Charleston! HEART proudly hosted the city’s first-ever Disability Pride celebration on July 10th with a crowd of our friends from the Disabilities community here in the Lowcountry. Everyone came together to show pride in the Disabled identity, meet new people and reconnect with old friends, enjoy music, performances, demonstrations, and speeches from guests of all abilities, and CELEBRATE being ourselves. It was a great, hot, proud summer day - one we’re looking forward to doing again year after year. Stay tuned to be a part of next year’s celebration, too!
HEART sends a HUGE Thank You to every single person who made Disability Pride possible.
We’ve taken Tik Tok by STORM!
It might be an addictive app that’ll eat up hours of your day if you’re not careful - but it’s also been an excellent platform for HEART to show off our many talents, ideas, and (most especially) our silly and funny side! We’ve reached folks far and wide who’ve been LOVING our 1 minute clips about everything from How to Make a Carrot Salad to our entry in the #SmeezeChallenge (which has been viewed over 5.4 Million times).
C’mon, you know you want to join us over on the Tok!
And check out our dance collaboration inspired by some of the viral dance sensations from Tik Tok. We teamed up with our friends at Open Hearts Art Center in Asheville, NC to show off our best dance moves.
DisArt and artist Oaklee Thiele created the “My Dearest Friends Project” as the Covid-19 pandemic began last year, collecting stories from people with disabilities. The recountings of their experiences with the pandemic have been paired with illustrations created by Oaklee Thiele, adding visual impact to the powerful missives.
Submissions by HEARTists William Simmons, Christian McInnis, and Chris Peery were featured by the My Dearest Friends Project.
Chris Peery’s letter will also be featured in at the Grand Rapids Museum of Art in Grand Rapids, MI for Art Prize 2021.
From the GRAM website:
For ArtPrize at GRAM, a selection of Thiele’s striking illustrations will be transformed into dramatic, large-scale banners and panels that will be installed on all four sides of the museum’s exterior. This outdoor presentation brings the personal and political presence of the disability community to the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. Symbolically, the monumental scale of the project will act as an exaggerated, aesthetic counterbalance to the lack of disability presence in cities across the country.
My Dearest Friends Project seeks reaction and response. Disabled people are often spoken for, prompting the phrase “nothing about us, without us.” The growing collection of testimonies from disabled people for this project offer insight into the complex and varying experiences of physical and mental differences. The project aims to create a sense of solace and togetherness in the collective experiences of the disability community.
The submission by Chris Peery.
We packed up and headed out to the mountains. Maggie Valley was calling and we were thrilled to answer! A weekend of music, art, nature, and companionship was the perfect way to end our summer - and the weather couldn’t have been better.
On Saturday, we loved having a visit with our dear friend and Founding Director, Farrah, as well as all the four (and two) legged residents of Rare Bird Farm. While we were there, Mountain School of Strings treated us to a day of music al fresco, showing us their many stringed instruments and teaching us how to write songs to longstanding classic tunes. We showed off our lyricist skills with a Talent Show on the spot.
A short hike to Soco Falls and swimming in the lake had us wiped out on Sunday.
Finally, Monday brought a visit to Downtown Asheville and lunch out together to close out our trip.
All weekend we enjoyed homemade meals, fun activities, and good company together in our beautiful cabin in the woods. Thanks for the awesome memories and happy adventures, NC!
Taking a closer look…
We’ve been spotlighting and examining the style and artwork of our HEARTists over on our Instagram. Get to know the artists better and find more examples of their pieces by following our feed.
Did you know that over 30% of our HEARTists are members of our Studio through our financial assistance scholarships?
Generous and caring art lovers like you help us to keep quality and engaging arts programming inclusive and accessible by donating to our scholarship fund. Please consider making a contribution to support our incredible HEARTists.
HEART’s second annual Creative Misfits Art Auction and Gallery Exhibition is going LIVE. Don’t touch those dials - we’ll be back with more details soon!
Stay in the know. Sign up for the Creative Misfits newsletter.
…And around the community
Our friends at Beyond Basic are hosting another Beyond the Disc and Bash Before the Disc fundraiser.
HEART will be there, too! Partying and showing off some of our recent artwork and goodies.
Charleston County Parks offers a variety of inclusive events to keep us all active.
Virtual Inclusive Dance Party | September 11 | 6-7 p
October 29th, 2021 | 6 - 9 pm | Palmetto Brewing
For Charleston Beer Week (October 29 - November 7), Palmetto Brewing Co. is hosting a live can art competition to decide which artist will be featured on one of their brews in 2022. Plus, proceeds from voting tickets and $1 per pint will be donated to HEART!
![Still so much more to talk about. But, what’s new… amirite??
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