Louisville HeARTS

Art is a powerful, transformational tool for joy, healing, building trust, and uniting a community.  Launched as a Mayor's initiative, HeARTS is designed to emphasize the healing power of the arts, and to support artists and organizations focused on fostering community cohesion. Louisville Metro has partnered with Fund for the Arts and Louisville Orchestra in the inaugural year of the program to promote multigenerational, multi-disciplinary healing arts experiences in neighborhoods where people live, work, play, and gather. The HeARTS initiative encourages healing through re-connection and creative convening across our city through artist-led, community-driven programming.  

 

HeARTS Partners

Louisville Metro Government

Office of Arts & Creative Industries
Public Health & Wellness
Parks & Recreation
Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods
Louisville Free Public Library

External Agencies

Fund for the Arts 
The Louisville Orchestra

HeARTS Programs

Louisville Orchestra

Music Without Borders (Louisville Orchestra & Metro Parks)

Music Without Borders emphasized repeated appearances by the LO in selected neighborhoods at least every three months throughout performance seasons to bring the full range of orchestral music to populations seeking creative enrichment and a place to gather and share in culture. The locations for Music Without Borders in the 2022-23 season were Smoketown (Logan Street Market), California (California Community Center), and Jeffersontown (Jeffersontown Community Center). Each location hosted three performance series throughout the season, consisting of three concerts over a single weekend. Programs for these concerts included a Louisville Orchestra Creator’s Corps composition or collaborative community piece, a concerto featuring a member of the Louisville orchestra and a standard piece orchestra repertoire closing the program. 

In addition to the Music Without Borders concerts there were two free concerts at Metro Parks, at Iroquois Amphitheatre and Shawnee Park.

Once Upon an Orchestra (Louisville Orchestra & Louisville Free Public Library)

This program brings free small ensemble performances that are curated for multi-generational family audiences and creates quality, hands-on, learning experiences for families in their neighborhoods. Three new programs were developed this year featuring popular children's stories such as Where the Wild Things Are and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, in support of the LFPL’s 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program.  Participants of all ages enjoyed a 60-minute program that weaves together storytelling adventures with creative music making.  Audience members made instruments from recycled materials and were able to play along with the musicians during the performance. This program will took place at various LFPL locations throughout the city.
 

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Fund for the Arts

Arts Experiences in Community Centers (Fund for the Arts & Metro Parks)

Beginning this fall, Fund for the Arts will convene teaching artists, arts organizations, and as many as 20 community centers to develop arts programming that focuses on community participants. These engagements will begin with ongoing residencies and result in community-led arts projects. Working together to explore healing practices and artistic techniques from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds, these programs emphasize art as a powerful tool to promote empathy, conflict resolution, and positive mental health. Teaching artists and arts organizations are currently being recruited - please contact Fund for the Arts for more information on the program and how you can participate.

HeARTS Calendar of Events