TAMAQUA -- "Tamaqua Has Heart" will now be "Tamaqua's Raw Aspirations."
If you live in Tamaqua, you might remember seeing a lot of heart sculptures downtown. They were a part of "Tamaqua Has Heart," a community art project that aimed to highlight the good in the area.
"I love it," Julinda Gonzalez of Tamaqua said. "I just moved back, and they were beautiful when they were out when I seen them for the summer."
That project has now evolved into "Tamaqua's Raw Aspirations," and the folks at Tamaqua's Community Art Center are the masterminds behind the initiative.
"The Raw Aspirations is really looking and seeking to un-mute our community and our voices and really opening up that dialogue and putting into action what are the future aspirations of our community," Tamaqua Community Arts Center Coordinator Leona Rega said.
The arts center plans to do this by enlisting a number of artists to make large art sculptures to be displayed in the community using raw materials.
"Everything from wood, metal, brass, copper -- incorporating an interactive piece where the community can feel like they're a part of that project," Rega said.
The arts center is getting a little help from a neighboring community. The Arts Barn near Orwigsburg is using their connections to make this all possible.
"We have over 140 Pennsylvania artists in our gallery and we definitely have artists that work with raw materials that fit right in with this project," Arts Barn Director Deborah Cooper said.
Because of that, this art project is now spreading to other areas.
"(This is) very exciting for us," Cooper said. "The things that we do within our gallery are smaller scale, so this opens it up to our town of Orwigsburg. We would love to do large-scale installations within Orwigsburg, too. So, this is a learning experience for us."
The community arts center plans to host a festival for Tamaqua's Raw Aspirations in June.
