Awards & Press
Open Hearts Art Center Awarded ArtsAVL Grant for Community Mural
Open Hearts Art Center is thrilled to announce we have been awarded an Arts Build Community (ABC) grant from ArtsAVL for the 2025-2026 funding cycle!
WNC Business – "Open Hearts Art Center Celebrates 20 Years of Creativity and Entrepreneurial Support in WNC"
Open Hearts Art Center, an innovative nonprofit in Asheville, has spent the past two decades empowering artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to create, express, and thrive.
AVLtoday Lists Open Hearts Art Center as a Great Place to Volunteer
Thank you, AVLtoday, for putting Open Hearts on your curated list of great places to volunteer in and around Asheville, NC!
Open Hearts Art Center Marks 20 Years of Creativity, Community and Growth
Open Hearts Art Center was co-founded in 2005 by Jessie Francis, Debbie Harris and Sonia Pitts. This summer, the nonprofit is celebrating its 20th anniversary and it’s thriving in ways its founders could only have imagined.
Open Hearts Featured in WLOS Story: Bloom Fitness empowers people with disabilities through exercise
Participants gather at the Open Hearts Art Center in Asheville for Bloom Fitness, an exercise program structured for people with developmental disabilities.
Art with Heart: Open Hearts Artists Install Collaborative Work at Dogwood Health Trust
In spring 2025, a group of about 20 artists from Asheville nonprofit Open Hearts Art Center gathered at Dogwood Health Trust’s headquarters to commemorate the installation of their 12-foot by 20-foot collaborative mixed media piece. Commissioned by Dogwood, their work of art celebrates the diversity and resilience of the region …