Everyone will face uncertain times. It is during these moments that friends and family step forward to lend a hand, often without being asked. We want to thank the H'art family members who stepped forward when we needed it the most and generously donated and supported...
When musician David Archibald wanted to make a short video to illustrate the popular "Five-Lined Skink" song that he wrote for Bon Echo Provincial Park, he turned to the artists in the H'art Studio program and asked if they would be interested in making some art for...
Thanks to two Occupational Therapy students from Queen's University, our MixAbilities Inclusive Arts Training program will soon include a guide to help make Kingston's "accessibility information more accessible". The guide will help community arts leaders determine...
We are happy to announce the addition of a second Zoom workshop to our weekly schedule. Some of Kingston's most amazing community artists are now leading our H'art Studio artists in different mediums. Here are a few: Tuesday, May 5: Percussion with Daniel Chalmers...
After years of highly collaborative work in theatre and dance, H'art artists had to shift quickly into being creative during a time of isolation and social distancing. Change can be scary but it can also support opportunity. So, H'art Studio artists will explore their...
Although our doors are closed, our programming has not stopped. We have adapted our programming to a new virtual space. Every day, instructors and guest artists work to prepare assignments, communicate our schedule and plans, and encourage artists on their creative...
Throughout the shutdown, instructors, administration, and communication staff have been working hard behind the scenes. Our goals have been to: connect with every H'art artist, connect them to each other, set a new routine, introduce meaningful activities, and share...
Many, many organizations have been closed to participation due to public health recommendations meant to slow the transmission of COVID-19 across Canada. H'art Centre is one of them. While it is tempting to dwell on the disruptions to daily routines, the...
It's National Volunteer Week and we wanted to say thank you to our volunteers - past and present - and the many, many volunteers who are giving so much to our communities at this time. Thank you!
LATEST INFORMATION April 9, 2020 With the continuing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, H’art Centre will remain closed until further notice. We will be monitoring COVID-19 developments as they happen and will be updating our website and phone message to keep...
Like you, H'art Centre is closely monitoring the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and related directives. To support community efforts, we have suspended all rehearsals at this time and postponed the performances of SMALL THINGS (scheduled for April 17 & 18)...
After 2018’s successful first appearance at the Isabel Bader Human Rights Festival with the 20th anniversary play A Gift From Martadella, H’art Centre is proud to announce it will return to the Festival in 2020 with a new production, Small Things. The production will...
H'art Centre can now develop our capacity to market the MixAbilities Inclusive Arts Training program to a wider group of users thanks to a grant from the Ontario Arts Council's Market Development Project. The Ontario Arts Council's Market Development Project supports...
CFKA helps H’art build inclusive dance capacity, foster new collaboration H’art Centre announced Menka Nagrani, the founder of Montreal’s integrated dance company Les Productions des Pieds des Main, has joined choreographer Melissa Mahady Wilton, co-Artistic Director...
We are seeking trained dance volunteers interested in working with adults with developmental disabilities as they develop new dance works this season. Volunteer dancers should have: Appropriate background and skills, Ability to attend orientation and interviews, A...
H'art Studio artists got off to a great start this fall. The theme for the fall season: Celebration! In our workshops, we are learning abou the word, its associated energy, the inspiration to be with others or self, and how celebration creates memories and moments for...
We launched the Weekend Arts Mixer project in March as part of our H'art Accessible Arts Program. Through the project, we aimed to create meaningful inclusive arts for seniors in long-term care on weekends and encourage more intergenerational connection –– and fun! We...
According to diversity and inclusion expert Verna Myers, “While diversity is about identifying differences and making sure everyone is invited to the party, inclusion is about extending a hand and asking everyone to dance”. That's exactly what we are doing this...
Catherine Gourdier, a community supporter, is hosting "Julie's Birthday Fundraiser" at BLUMartini on Saturday, November 2nd to honour the memory of her sister Julie Gourdier and to support the work of H'art Centre and Special Olympics Ontario - Kingston. This music...
With the support of the Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston and H’art supporters, we delivered THE BOX Seating Improvement Project and its goal to provide more accessible seating options and better sight-lines for audience members attending productions in our...
Dear Friends, Big anniversaries are exciting. Last year, as you know, we celebrated our 20th year. It was satisfying to look back to see how far we’ve come. But I think it is more exciting to look ahead. At 21, we clearly know who we are, how we can make our biggest...
The short film we produced on the life and work of artist Zena Bernstein for our recent Able Artist event hit the big screen at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival on Saturday, March 2nd before a sold out crowd as part of Local Shorts, a collection of seven short...
We are pleased to announce that a short film we produced with Spot On Media for our recent Able Artist event, EXHIBITION: Zena Bernstein will be included in the 2019 Kingston Canadian Film Festival in the category "Local Shorts: NEW VOICES". The film takes a close...
"A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence."- Jim Watkins This term, H'art Studio artists will work to strengthen their personal daily practice. What is a "daily practice"? It is a series of small, fundamental actions that,...
Every year, since his passing in July 2016, H'art has held a special event to honour the legacy of our dear friend Vince. This year was no exception and we gathered again for The Vince Love Club on December 19th. It was a chance for H’art School participants and...
On December 13, representatives from H’art Centre, Rotary Club of Kingston and Empire Life gathered at Fairmount Home to celebrate the "Go Wireless" pilot project with Fairmount Home’s leaders, recreation staff and residents. Five Smart TV monitors, multiple...
On Sunday, December 9th, at the finale performance of "The Wishing Tree", H’art Centre announced Olivia Breton, a third-year Child and Youth Care student from St. Lawrence College, is the 2018 recipient of the Brook Catherine Doseger Endowment Fund Award. “This...
On December 8 & 9, 2018, H'art Centre staged two sold-out performances of The Wishing Tree marking a huge success for our first collaboration with artist Suzanne Pasternak. Inspired by local stories and legends of Prince Edward County, The Wishing Tree is a...
OTF Grant to Help H’art Pilot a New Intergenerational Arts Mixer On Sunday, the Ontario Trillium Foundation gave audience members at the finale performance of H’art Centre’s The Wishing Tree something to sing about when it was announced a weekend intergenerational...
H’art Centre is pleased to announce it a recipient of the City of Kingston 2018 Celebrating Accessibility Award in the category of Education for our MixAbilities Artist/Educator Training program. H’art was awarded this honour yesterday at a ceremony held in Memorial...
At an event held on Tuesday, November 28th at Renaissance Hall in downtown Kingston, H'art Centre was honoured to be one of the recipients of a community grant from the Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston. With this grant, H'art Centre will upgrade the seating...
On October 14, 2018, Able Artists hosted a very successful celebration of the work and life of Zena Bernstein, a local artist and renowned illustrator of the Newberry Medal award-winning children's classic, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. We invited our signature...
The Brook Catherine Doseger Endowment Fund is a permanent fund initiated by Catherine and Greg Bell, and supported by several donors, in memory of Brook Catherine Doseger (1992 – 2016) Brook Doseger's passion for life and adventure knew no bounds and this spirit...
More than 70 people came out for "Special Like You". Our artists enjoyed thrilling applause and a standing ovation - thank you! Special Like You was a thematic exploration of nature, the elements, animals, and transformation through dance and theatre. This...
Over the last year, friends and former board members Peter Wolf and Bonnie Henderson and graduate student Sarah Carroll prepared a six-module training course, called MixAbilities. The modules formalize H'art Centre's current practices and will ensure a standard for...
A note of sincere, and H’art-felt gratitude, to Senator Patricia Bovey in response to her wonderful statement in the Senate in May. We applaud her words and leadership. Read the Senator's statement
H'art Centre's Able Artists series sponsored a talk and film screening by Menka Nagrani, founder and choreographer of Montreal's Les Productions des pieds des mains at the Canadian Association of Theatre Research 2018 conference that was held at the Isabel Bader...
H’art Centre marked its 20th year in Kingston with a major production at the Isabel Bader Performance Centre from April 20-21, 2018 and would like to thank everyone who made the event possible. “We started 20 years ago with the belief that people with developmental...
An anniversary message from our Founder Dear Friends, H’art started 20 years ago with the understanding that people with developmental disabilities from our community had more to give and that the Arts could be an incredible vehicle to encourage them to do just that....
This month, H'art Centre will launch its first BOX Residency project. The ground-breaking project will provide two artists who are Deaf, living with disabilities, or experiencing barriers with the time, space, and resources to pursue a creative project of their choice...
H'art Centre's 20th Anniversary Celebration Gets a Boost Friends offer early support to upcoming celebratory production, A Gift From Martadella H’art Centre’s effort to mount a major theatrical production to mark their 20th anniversary in 2018 got a boost from...
Overview The H'art Accessible Arts Program (or HAAP! as we like to call it) is a community-coordinated arts program for seniors who live in long-term care homes, including those living with disabilities. Several times a week, trained artists and volunteers travel to...
H'art Centre welcomed the Kingston community to learn about how the value of the arts to people with developmental disabilities and how artists use their art to make a positive change and promote inclusion on Tuesday, May 16. The event featured short performances,...
Art-ivist: A person who blends art with positive social action and inclusion In January, we began to learn about local artists who have used their art to make a positive change and promote inclusion in Kingston. We call these inspiring individuals by a new term ––...
Young at H'art returns, expands and reaches out to long-term care homes H’art Centre is pleased to announce Young at H’art, a high-quality arts program for seniors with disabilities, will return on March 6th and feature more classes as well as outreach to three of...
CALLING ALL SINGERS! H'art Centre is inviting people who are blind or who experience vision loss to join a newly-forming choir to be led by Eric Voice, a four-time Canadian and American Native Music Award nominee. Tell a friend! Help us spread the word. The choir...
At a press conference held by the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul on Monday, H’art Centre was named as one of several organizations to be invited to pursue the possibility of locating services on-site to the future Providence Village. "H'art Centre...
H'art Centre is thrilled to welcome ASL translator Theresa Upton for Story Signing! on Thursdays this term. Theresa will be offering the American Sign Language Story Signing! workshop as part of a larger project that will support the development and writing of a...
Ontario Trillium Foundation helps H’art Centre expand and extend new program for seniors with disabilities H’art Centre is is delighted to announce generous funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation will allow it to expand and extend its new Young at H’art arts...
The second phase of this program has started. Learn more! H'art Centre is pleased to offer Young at H’art, a new program for people over the age of 65 who need a little extra support to stay active in the arts. Classes begin the week of September 12, 2016 but you can...