The Bleeding Heart Art Space lives and breathes in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It came to life after I left Edmonton in 2011. Somehow I happened upon it a while ago, and I’m just in love with the idea. We have spaces in Asheville that aspire to be such a place, but I don’t think anyone nails it quite the way Bleeding Heart does.
I’m going to look for a place in Asheville that is doing something like this to support. I want to encourage you to do the same, not just financially but with volunteer support. Bleeding Heart is only open on Saturdays due to volunteer availability. If we put our support behind places like this where we live, we can spread beauty and justice far and wide.
This is Bleeding Heart’s manifesto:
Art speaks. Stop and listen. Open yourself to questions, conversations and connections. Engage. Wrestle. Create in response to creation. Invite surprise and awe. Seek out beauty and wonder. Simple can be sacred. Laugh and eat and make and play. Learn from children. Open doors and include people. Find beauty in their story. Accept their failures; we are all bleeding. Forgive and be forgiven. Love is powerful, so risk it. Love in the face of fear. Love the wrong people. Seek; you find what you look for. Truth, beauty and redemptionare just down the street so know your neighbourhood. Love local. Walk often. Say hi and make eye contact. Shop your streets. Gather together. Make a meal, take a class and tend your garden. Serve. You have a song so sing it well. Never settle. Find the freedom in discipline. Refine your craft. Learn and teach. Give and ask for excellence, then give and ask for grace. Keep listening.
I’m thinking of claiming something like this as my manifesto.
Finding Our Voices Together 