Art at the Heart CIC is a not for profit organisation founded in 2016 by Kamaljit Suman and Mukesh Kumar. The organisation aims to work with communities, schools and businesses to combat inequality through creativity and culture and support wellbeing.
After successful careers as the first Asian art and design lecturers in the West Midlands, and later senior managers, Kamaljit and Mukesh realised that that the arts need to be introduced to children, by specialists, at a much younger age. Those who would flourish with an arts rich curriculum were not being served by the current education system. Their experiences have made them firm believers in the power of the arts in building confidence, a 'can do' mindset and developing empathy which have subsequently helped propel many of their students into successful careers.
Today Art at the Heart CIC works closely with children from underprivileged backgrounds, particularly those in the BAME community, to inspire them to dream bigger and break through glass ceilings.
Art at the Heart CIC was recently awarded Arts Council funding to develop their work and National Lottery Funding to help support their 'Big as a Bus' series of free community wellbeing projects which will use a bus to display how art has helped those in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Project Hanami is the first of the series a collection of cherry blossom inspired artwork which you can view in the community gallery on the website.
Visit WebsitePublished: 16 July 2020