Creative Misfits Is Back!

Today is the Day!

The Creative Misfits virtual art auction returns for its second year of finding the perfect home for long loved artwork.

Meet this year’s Featured Artists

With 55 pieces from 40 artists, the problem won’t be finding something you love, but deciding what to bid on first!

Create your free account now through our auction website, so you can be ready to get in on the action as soon as the bidding opens at 3:00!

The Creative Misfits art auction is available online through 32Auctions.com - all bidding will take place through the website.

Creative Misfits is a week-long fundraising event that includes a virtual art auction, online gallery exhibition, and this year brings the addition of a live rock concert.

Originally a term of endearment that the members and mentors gave to themselves, “Creative Misfit” has grown into an overarching concept for the work of the HEART studio.  It now serves as the theme of the artwork sought out for the fundraising auction.  Artists frequently have finished work that lingers around their studio for months or years, not finding a buyer or a gallery to call home.  These pieces are just as worthy and beautiful as the artist’s other work.  They may simply be studies for larger works, an experiment in a new technique or medium, or a one-off exploration of a different subject.  These works of art all belong under the title “Creative Misfits”, and are exactly the kind of pieces that HEART aims to collect from donating artists, and make available to the public in the virtual art auction.

This year’s lineup of professional artists from the Lowcountry and beyond includes returning favorites like Mary Edna Fraser, Susan Irish, and renowned disability rights advocate and artist, Oaklee Thiele.  Among the newcomers to Creative Misfits are famed local artists Colin Quashie, Lisa Shimko, and Florida artist Viktor Bevanda, a thirteen year old with autism who uses bright, bold strokes and a wide array of subjects to express himself.  There is even a notably unique contribution courtesy of Rough House Pictures, the production studio behind the box office topping Halloween franchise and the HBO comedy The Righteous Gemstones.

The Creative Misfits virtual art auction begins Sunday, November 28th and is open all week, through Sunday, December 5th.

To close it all out, the HEARTists will hit the stage at The Pour House in James Island for a live rock concert event, Creative Misfits LIVE! on Sunday, December 5th.  Doors open at 5:30, show begins at 6:00 pm.

Join us for a full throttle live rock concert performed by the HEARTists. We want to rock and roll all night, and hope you’ll come party with us, too!

Sunday, December 5th

THE POUR HOUSE

Doors open at 5:30 pm | Show at 6:00 pm

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! and join us for the show at the raddest rock venue in town - The Pour House. We’ll also have all of the auction artwork and the Creative Misfits Gallery on display. You can keep the bidding going online throughout the show, and take your winning bids home right then and there.

Summer Wrap Up

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!

@HEARTGoesTikTok

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.

The submission by Chris Peery.


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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.


 
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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!

Beer + art + HEART… is there a better combination?!