When Ellen Heavilon started Hart Gallery in the Southside to display and sell work by homeless and other non-traditional artists, she thought her project was about art, but two years later she’s beginning to learn it’s more about community.
“At the beginning I was just going to have an art gallery full of pieces done by homeless and other non-traditional artists and allow them to possibly earn a living if they worked for it,” she said. “It turns out we’ve become a support system for those that don’t have one and a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.”
Billy Broom, a featured Hart Gallery artist, displays a birthday card he made. Broom said he would describe his artistic style as “gothic tattoo patterns” and that being able to do art at Hart Gallery is a big stress reliever for him.One of the ways Heavilon said the shift in focus from art to community has manifested itself is the many classes the gallery offers to disenfranchised members of the Chattanooga community. Classes help the Hart staff find new artists to feature in the gallery but also provide a way of helping people experience profound moments of self-validation, she said.
“I swear, by the end of the class the posture and everything has changed,” she said of classes held at the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults. “These women come in beaten down and thinking they can’t do something but end up completing a task and doing it well.”
This winter Hart has begun another initiative to develop community called the Hart Housewarming Project that will place art created by homeless artists in the homes of new homeowners through organizations like Habitat for Humanity and the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition.
“It’s cool because everyone wins,” said Heavilon. “The gallery gets a donation, the artist gets a sale and the homeowner gets a piece of original art.”
The Hart Housewarming Project is also an opportunity for art lovers to purchase art for a good cause even if they don’t have room for it on their own walls, she said.
For more information about the Hart Gallery, visit www.hartgallerytn.com or stop by the gallery at 110 E. Main St.