Meet Cassie Terpening of Hart Gallery in Chattanooga

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cassie Terpening.

Cassie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve been a life-long artist. One of my first memories of being alive was filling in the lines of coloring books. So it’s just natural people assume I got my degree in fine art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. But parallel to my love of art is that I find fulfillment in taking care of people. Art had been a huge comfort to me in my life and I wanted to share it. When I discovered the Hart Gallery, my whole trajectory changed. Here was a place that used art as a healing tool, a way to build your own chosen family, a way to give access to resources to those who need it, and the list just keeps going from there. I chose to get my Bachelor’s of Science in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management in hopes I could start a gallery-like Hart in another city or work there one day. That was six years ago and now I am a full-time staff!

There is one story that really sticks out to me as the start of my love for Hart Gallery. It was the first time I ever volunteered. I had been going through a depression and went to the art expression class with people who are homeless at the Salvation Army’s Recreate Cafe. I remember sitting at the table silently making art, kind of nervous, and definitely sad. A guy walked by the door and asked me for a dollar. I told him I was a broke college kid eating ramen and Cheerios. At the end of the class, a man that was silently sitting across from me handed me a sheet of paper. It was a list of all the places I could go to eat for free. He pointed to the place on the bottom and said that other college kids ate there too so I wouldn’t feel out of place. Let’s just say the generosity of people who have nothing struck me so deeply. I’ve been a part of Hart Gallery ever since. It’s healed me and so many others in ways I am so honored to witness.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was very difficult for me being the first person in my family to go to college and on top of that in a brand new city. Trying to pay for, work through, and survive being a full-time working student was hard. Felt like I didn’t sleep for four years. By my senior year, my GPA dropped from the 4.0 I had maintained my entire academic career. Outside of school, I was managing a restaurant, teaching a lass for Hart, and doing an internship at our local arts council ArtsBuild. It proved to be worth the lack of sleep, the couple of missed essays, and losing a few points for the experience I gained. I guess you could say by the time I reached the second semester of my senior year, I was ready to use what I learned instead of just reading about it.

We’d love to hear more about Hart Gallery.
The Hart Gallery is a nonprofit gallery with the mission of offering hope & opportunity through art. For many who need healing, hope, and family, the Hart Gallery is a creative home. Our artists come from varied underserved backgrounds and circumstances: those experiencing homelessness, living with mental and physical disabilities, disabled veterans, women fleeing abusive situations, political refugees, and others. Our community programs are designed to serve our wide range of populations.

My role at Hart is communications and volunteer coordinator. Much of what I do is placing volunteers and packing supplies for community classes. I’ve been facilitating art expression with vulnerable groups in Chattanooga at area organizations such as the Community Kitchen, Salvation Army, Maclellan Shelter for Families, fixed senior income housing, and more. I also market classes/events/the gallery with fliers, calendar updates, website, social media, and press. Alongside our therapist Brooke Montague who has used art as a therapeutic tool for over 20 years, I help model classes with a therapeutic benefit, pack supplies, and collect artwork for exhibits. But with all other nonprofits alike, there are so many hats we wear on a daily basis, it’s hard to sum up what we do to support our artists!

In my perspective, I’m most proud of the gallery family supporting one another. When you walk in Hart Gallery, there is a sense that you belong there, we support one another, we celebrate birthdays/holidays with each other, and encourage growth in your own artistic language. One thing that separates us from other galleries in the area is that we are the community’s gallery. Hart runs on donations and volunteer time from the people of Chattanooga. Plus, 60% of any art purchase goes to the artist directly, 10% goes to a charity of the artist’s choice, and 30% goes back into Hart’s programming. Where else can you say 100% of your purchase of artwork went to charity?

What were you like growing up?
I guess I’ve always been similar. When I was around eight years old, I had already read all of the art books at the public library. I remember bringing a maximum of ten books home, wishing I could take more than that. In elementary school, I was trying to sketch out my classmates, making it as real as a little kid could get it to look. In middle school and high school, I was always the designated artist for group projects, the school floats for homecoming, the glass mural in the lunchroom, and I was even voted most talented for my paintings my senior year. Whenever I was happy, sad, irritated, or ecstatic, I’d paint about it! So in my adulthood, I have my own personal artwork outside of the gallery, my own shows, and art collective.

Contact Info:

• Address: 110 E. Main Street
  Chattanooga, TN 37408
• Website: Hartgallery.org
• Phone: (423)521-4707
• Email: Cassie@hartgallery.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hartgallerytn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hartgallerytn
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hart-gallery-chattanooga
• Other: https://www.cassieterpening.com/paintings

Image Credit:
Hart Gallery

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