Local artists, professional and not-so-professional, gathered last weekend to raise funds for the American Heart Association at an event organized by a Humble High School senior.

Hank Koebler, 16, labeled the Saturday event “Paint Your Heart Out,” and asked visitors to pay $10 to make their mark on a canvas. The event will be followed by a silent auction this Wednesday to sell the artworks made over the weekend.

Art students from Humble High and professional artists from Kingwood, Ohio, California and Tennessee also have contributed pieces to be sold at the auction, to be held 4:30 to 9 p.m. in the school's cafeteria. To add a piece of your own, e-mail paintyourheartout@gmail.com to make arrangements.

Koebler organized the project as part of the volunteer aspect of his International Baccalaureate curriculum at the school.

“One in four people in the United States dies from heart disease, so why wouldn’t you help them?” he said. “It just seemed the best choice. Everybody is affected by heart disease.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is responsible for a quarter of all deaths in the country.

In setting his plans, Koebler called the local American Heart Association office and was put in touch with youth market director Brittany Werme, who helped organize the event.

“Usually I’m working with the adults at the school,” Werme said. “This is my first time to work with just a single student who had an idea. He’s an incredible kid and he has such a sweet spirit.”

Koebler, who says he’s no artist himself, got the idea from the school’s art teacher, Tom Cieciorka.
Cieciorka had told Koebler about a painting marathon fundraiser he had participated in at graduate school, and the idea stuck in Koebler’s head.

Happy to sponsor Paint Your Heart Out, Cieciorka asked his students to make artwork for the auction, as well.

“It motivated some students who were maybe dragging their heels on a project,” he said. “The effort changed when it was for a cause. It’s a good motivator to get outside the self and think about other people.”

The event also motivated members of the community. Local folk artist Melanie Crawford, whose daughter, Jessica, is a junior in the IB program at Humble High, came to support Koebler.

“I thought it was a good activity,” she said. “My background is physical education, also, so we’re constantly trying to do things to bring awareness to issues of the heart.”

Juan Melendez, the school’s ninth-grade principal, and his son, Maximiliano, 1, combined to paint a Dallas Cowboys logo to rile folks up at the auction, Melendez said.

“He was a willing participant until he started eating the paint,” Melendez said of his son, still with blue smudges on his face, “and at that point I had to cut him off.”

Koebler carried letters to many area businesses asking for help, and got it from Wal-Mart and GS-Hydro.

He hopes to make the project an annual one and has already discussed the idea with friends in grades below him.

“Relay for Life started with one man walking, so I’d like to see this spread big time,” he said. “Yes, I’m looking at the logistics of this event, but I’m also seeing years and years down the road and thinking what a difference could be made.”

Too see a photo gallery of the "Paint Your Heart Out" event, click here.