Written by Christie Crawford
Clarksville, TN – It started with two things. One was a shared vision between a group of women from Clarksville who wanted to bring free art classes to the under-served in the local area. The second was a financial donation from a Nashville songwriter who wanted to give back to the community. From the two, sprung Arts for Hearts Clarksville (AFH), now celebrating its 10th year in the Clarksville-Montgomery County area.
The catalyst really was the Empty Bowls event, an annual fundraiser Rita Arancibia, a long-time community volunteer, helped create in 2009. Rita and her daughter Patricia Wilkinson were amazed at the bowl painting events being hosted at places such as Loaves & Fishes, and Salvation Army; locations where the homeless had the opportunity to participate in art. The excitement and gratitude shown during these functions prompted the idea of the power of art as a means for personal and social change. Arancibia also realized that the idea would succeed only with collaboration of like-minded others in the community.
Rita shared the idea with future co-founders Peggy Bonnington – artist and representative of the Downtown Artists Cooperative, Ann Waddle – Outreach Head for First Presbyterian Church, and Ellen Kanervo -Executive Director of Clarksville Arts and Heritage and former communications professor at Austin Peay State University. Also included in the discussion were Barbara Kane, long-time arts teacher in the Clarksville-Montgomery County school system, Dorothy Hartzog, former Assistant Rector at Trinity Episcopal Church, and Brenda Fauth, former owner of the Pottery Room. All worked together to create the mission: Bringing the healing influence of art to community members who face economic, physical, developmental, or emotional barriers.
During this time, Arancibia’s granddaughter and musical artist, Clare Wilkinson, was signed to Arthouse Entertainment, a record company owned by Grammy and Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter Kara Dioguardi, and the concept of AFH was mentioned. Dioguardi immediately wanted to assist and provided $5000 of seed money to start the organization. Arts for Hearts was born and created under the umbrella of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Arts & Heritage Council (CMCAHC). Support also came in the form of space available to teach classes at the former Loaves & Fishes location (First Presbyterian Activities and Outreach Center) as well as supplies and volunteers willing to share their time and talent.
Arts for Heart’s objective still remains the same; which is to be an all-volunteer mobile art program under CMCAHC, offering free art classes to adults and children throughout the community. The organization offers four to six classes per month at various places, locally, including the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library, Habitat for Humanity’s Restore, Wade Bourne Nature Center, Fort Campbell, The Refinery on Riverside, among others. The organization has provided classes to such diverse groups as Judy’s Hope, Blue Star Families, Centerstone, Summit Heights neighborhood, Big Brothers Big Sisters Clarksville, and many others. AFH is entirely run by volunteers both operationally and down to its class instructors. Funding is from grants and donations, both in-kind and monetary.
The organization is also responsive to various needs that have arisen from the community:
After 9-11, AFH held tile painting classes in the community to commemorate the day, and to show pride in how the country came together to mourn and heal. 360 tiles were assembled into two pillars created by local artist Jim Diehr, The Pillars of Hope. They are located at 350 Pageant Lane, Clarksville in Veterans Plaza.
When the war broke out in Ukraine, the organization put together HeArt kits containing art supplies, such as watercolors, crayons, and pencil and paper. Also included were greeting cards from local students at Norman Smith Elementary, for Ukrainian orphans displaced by the war with Russia.
To promote literacy, AFH currently partners with Blue Star Families of Tennessee for its Reading Round-up program, an event that takes place the first Friday of the month at Wade Bourne Nature Center. Books, read in both English and Spanish are paired with a craft experience for young children.
When asked about the mission of Arts for Hearts as it reaches this milestone, Arancibia feels the organization has been extremely successful because of the thousands of people that have been touched with the creative arts. Kane feels equally positive as the mission was to “allow anybody that really wanted to express themselves through art, the opportunity to do so, free of critique and criticisms.” Kanervo says that she is “amazed that it (AFH) has had such longevity, run completely by volunteers.”
What makes AFH different than other art groups in the community, according to Arancibia, is that “it’s about all people. It’s free and it’s mobile… we meet and greet the people where they are. Arts for Hearts goes into the community to share.” Kane mentions that the mobility of the art programs offered with no fee is “a big calling card” as is the wide variety of workshops, offering participants access to paper crafts, clay, paint, and other items, at a sophisticated level. Kanervo says that the organization offers a huge amount of workshops each month for free that allow participants to bring home a piece of artwork he/she has created.
Overwhelmingly reiterated is that the great base of volunteers, a grass-roots effort, is the recipe for success for the organization. Kane speaks about the volunteer base as “ an extremely passionate dedicated group of people.” Adding, “We also have wonderful community support in acquiring the supplies that we need.”
Kanervo reiterates that Arancibia created legs for AFH and is able to build community excitement for what she is doing.
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“As the organization continues to move forward, consistent, ongoing funding is needed. That funding would be used for operational support, more programming, social media, and overall, more manpower,” says Arancibia.
Kane wishes for more media exposure and more volunteers to continue to reach out to more people and organizations. Ellen hopes to pay artists for their time, as they are continually asked to give to the community without compensation.
The organization is to be congratulated on this major milestone, and the various touch-points it has created with people and organizations throughout the community. AFH is always looking for volunteers to help assist with its programs, as well as share their talents. Monetary and supply donations are most welcome.
To find out more about AFH, attend a class or make a donation, please check out their FaceBook page at Arts for Hearts Clarksville, or email them at artsforheartsclarksville@gmail.com
