Art from the Heart Club

Senior Nicole Mellert and the members of the Art from the Heart Club combine community service and artistic passion through their club.  The group’s goal is to artistically redecorate and renovate the bedrooms of pediatric cancer patients.

The club’s collaborative partner and namesake is Art from the Heart, a local organization with creative teams in the Fairfield, New London, and Hartford counties of Connecticut.  Volunteers work with children diagnosed with cancer to create bedroom designs and themes.  Then, the volunteers complete the renovation while the children are undergoing treatment. 

When these children return to their homes, they are able to continue their recovery in a new, bright space.  Nicole shared her thoughts on the similarities between the motivation of Art from the Heart and the Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria, specifically Goal Four, “the building of a community as a Christian value.”

“This club within the Sacred Heart community confirms our dedication to Goal Four and strives to alleviate the suffering and emotional pain of those outside our school,” Nicole said. 

The club hopes to continue its tradition of organizing a fundraiser to redesign and update a bedroom for a pediatric cancer patient.  The local Art from the Heart organization promises to match the amount of money that the club raises.  The club then puts that sum toward a bedroom renovation. 

Nicole believes that Art from the Heart gives students the opportunity to use their creativity to positively impact the community and bring people together.

“Art can be a force for creativity, expression, and the unity of people,” Nicole said.  “Within this organization, participation in art serves as a medium to bring people together around a common cause.  In this case, art has the power to bring smiles to the faces of pediatric cancer patients and brighten their days in small yet significant ways.”

Featured Image by Sydney Kim ’20