Helein Hart
Brown County Art Gallery Manager

Helein Hart is not shy, nor is she reluctant to work. Her inherent talent for organizing, along with serendipitous timing, landed her the job of manager for the Brown County Art Gallery almost two years ago.

"I had come to the Gallery in '98 applying for membership, and they accepted me—I was so thrilled—and I was coming in and helping out whereever I could," she recalled. "I had gone to one of the meetings and Bud (Klein) asked me if I would be interested in being manager because Melissa (Slemin) was leaving. It was a dream come true for me."

Mrs. Hart, who is an artist herself, retains a good-humored attitude about October in Nashville. "Of the last fourteen days (at the end of October), twelve I have spent here and the thirteenth day I went into Bloomington to buy supplies for the Gallery. My last painting I did here at my desk. I have a wonderful studio and a creek, a pond and three big Newfoundlands (dogs), but I'm never there!"

Despite the long hours in October, however, there are times when Mrs. Hart works only a few days per week. Participating member artists can work in the gallery to defray their membership dues, relieving the gallery manager on those days.

Helein Hart's undisputed success as a gallery administrator is partially due to her genuine enthusiasm for the artwork and for Nashville. "When they ask about Nashville, I ask people if they have ever seen the show `Northern Exposure.' It is very comparable. This is an artist colony and the people here are so colorful. I have never seen such a concentration, for the small population that we have in this county, of intelligence and wit and talent."

George and Helein Hart had moved to Indianapolis from their previous home in Effingham, Illinois, in 1977. "It didn't take me long to find Nashville," Mrs. Hart laughed. "I was going to the Art League in Indianapolis, where I studied with Floyd Hopper, Sandy Ezell and Leah Traugott. Some friends said, `Let's go to Nashville.' And I said, `Tennessee?' We came down here and they went shopping and I sat and drew trees. I was so enthralled with it."

George Hart, who was a road driver for Yellow Freight, had a massive heart attack and underwent surgery three years ago. "They wouldn't let him out of the hospital unless I could take care of him full time," Mrs. Hart said. "I was working for Irwin Mortgage at the time as an Administrative Assistant and I quit my job. Then I started coming down here every week looking for property. Thanks to Jane Gore (Realty), we found this wonderful little house on Jackson Branch Ridge."

Helein was born in Germany in a "displaced persons" camp. Her parents emigrated to the United States when she was five years old. The family soon moved from New York City to Detroit, where a relative sponsored Helein's father and got him a job at Samsonite. As a child Helein was always interested in art. "I knew what I wanted when I was five years old," she declared. "I wanted to paint. I wanted a little house with a white picket fence and I wanted six kids."

Although her childhood wishes have not been fully realized, Mrs. Hart's passion for art has been consistent throughout her life. Always changing and trying new things, she prefers watercolor for a medium, but varies her style. Both representational and abstract designs grace her portfolio, and some of her pieces appear to incorporate both.

A popular teacher with "Bare Bones Studio," Helein Hart enjoys working with beginners. "I try to teach my students more self confidence because, just as each one of us are different, so are our paintings," she contends. "I'm not big on art competitions. I almost never enter a competition because I don't believe in it. I like what I do and it makes me happy. If it's corny, fine. If it's too abstract, fine. It's me."

"I get so excited when I see students developing. A lot of them have been with me for over a year now and I see them developing their own pattern—their own style…. I think I got this from Sandy Ezell years ago. I was taking a class from her and she came up to me and bent down to whisper in my ear, `I don't know why you're here. You should be teaching.' It made me feel like a million dollars. All the other artists I studied with taught me the technical. She taught me this (motioning to her heart)."

The Brown County Art Gallery received a grant through the Community Foundation from the Lilly Foundation to renovate the gallery last year. "Kvell is a Yiddish word that means pride," Mrs. Hart explained. "It's kind of like when your children graduate or when they go potty for the first time. As a parent you kvell and that's the way I feel when I look at the gallery and see all the wonderful art. The gallery looks the way it is supposed to now and I take pride in it."

The Brown County Art Gallery and Museum is open Monday through Saturday 10_5 and Sunday 12_5. If you're lucky, the gallery manager will be there to greet you. For further information call (812) 988-4609 or e-mail brncagal@aol.com.