The Beginning of HEARTS

  • HEARTS was founded in October, 2011 by Port Washington resident and entrepreneur Damon Gersh.  Damon sings and plays guitar in a local band ("Rock Steady") and his wife, Rachelle Krieger, is a renowned artist/painter.  
  • HEARTS was founded to celebrate and promote the creative arts in town while supporting and enriching the resources and programs for the creative arts in the local public school district.
  • Since he moved to Port Washington in 2004 Damon learned that Port Washington has many talented local musicians, artists, writers, craftspeople, etc. and recognized the opportunity to make others in the community aware of our creative resources to share and celebrate their talents with the broader community.  
  • Damon also saw that that existing economic conditions would serve to diminish the public school budgets and adversely affect the creative arts programs and resources being provided and that there was an opportunity for a private/public partnership to mitigate the effects of these budget cuts on the arts education provided to the children in Port Washington's public schools.
  • HEARTS held its' inaugural PortFest Music, Arts and Community Festival on May 19, 2012 which featured more than 25 artists and live musical performances by local bands and school groups as well as interactive artistic activities for all ages.  PortFest had over 3,000 attendees and raised more that $40,000 in support of the arts in Port Washington and its' public schools. (Note: the next PortFest Music, Arts & Community Festival is scheduled for May 11, 2013)
  • HEARTS funded the first-ever Summer Music Education program for English Language Learning (ELL) students who often face challenges participating in mainstream school music programs.
  • HEARTS recently was involved with the very successful Port Washington Artists Open Studio Event where more than a dozen local artists opened their studios and work spaces for the community to meet the artists and view their work. Several local area merchants also exhibited artwork and were involved in the event where 20% of artwork sold benefited HEARTS in support of its mission.
  • HEARTS will be providing grants to each of the public schools to support their efforts to create or augment creative arts programs and/or resources that can be provided to benefit the students throughout the district in the coming school year.
  • HEARTS will continue to create opportunities to celebrate, support and promote the arts locally to build connections to enhance our community and enrich the creative arts educational programs and opportunities being provided the the children in our public schools.
  • HEARTS continues to explore opportunities to develop productive partnerships with residents, organizations and merchants in the community around the common cause of supporting and promoting the arts in Port Washington
  • HEARTS provides opportunities for volunteers from the Port Washington area who are interested in the arts to join the organization and help make a positive difference in our community.