our story
The inspiration for HEAL comes from the founder's experience growing up in Miami, FL, where he discovered the power of the arts to nurture his aspirations for the future. The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center was where Harvey Lockhart first discovered his love for the arts through the instruction and mentoring he received in music, art, theater, dance, and photography. As band director at Riverview Gardens High School and Performing Arts Coordinator of Secondary Education for the district, Harvey realized the lack of professional arts training and opportunities for his students and many other young people living in low-income areas of St.Louis, MO. Recognizing the opportunity to reach more students by tapping into the fertile arts community in St. Louis, and by creating an arts center that is open to children of all ages, HEAL was created.
HEAL Center for the Arts was awarded 501(c)(3) status in December of 2016. Located in Grand Center with incubator support from the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, HEAL will operate in partnership with local school districts to provide a safe and supportive space where students of urban communities have access to high quality mentoring, tutoring, and arts education.
Harvey Lockhart, founder
Grammy nominated music educator, saxophonist, and composer, Harvey E. A. Lockhart officially began his musical journey in the summer of 1993 when he was introduced to the saxophone by jazz trumpeter Melton Mustafa at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Liberty City, Miami, Florida. During his career, Lockhart has had the opportunity to work with and share the stage with many great artists including Melton Mustafa, Wycliffe Gordon, Darryl Reeves, Russell Gunn, Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, John Fedchock, Benny Golson, Lew Soloff, Curtis Fuller, Louie Bellson, Byron Stripling, Reggie Thomas, and Marilyn Maye to name a few. Lockhart performs throughout St. Louis and the region with his quartet and the Jazz St. Louis Big Band.
As an educator, Harvey has been passionate about teaching, performance and mentoring since the year of 2000 in both the public and private sectors. For nine years (2010-2019), Lockhart dedicated himself to the Riverview Gardens school district as its High School band director and Performing Arts Coordinator for Secondary Education. As Band Director at Riverview Gardens High School, he rebuilt one of the best music programs in North St. Louis by revitalizing the band program from 10 students to 60, re-establishing concert, marching and jazz bands and built an inventory of over 80 new and used instruments.
Harvey is the Founder, Executive and Artistic Director for HEAL Center for the Arts which is located at 3617 Grandel Square #3A in St. Louis, MO. HEAL Center for the Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and multi-disciplinary center of music, arts learning, and performance. The Center provides arts education programs after school and during school vacations to middle and high school students and fosters a rich, and diverse cultural perspective of the arts. HEAL Center for the Arts is incubated by the Kranzbergh Arts Foundation.
Harvey is also the Founder and Director of the Sheldon Concert Hall's "North County Big Band." This collaborative big band is made up of 20 of the most talented and dedicated students from several St. Louis, MO. area high schools, including Riverview Gardens, Normandy, Ferguson Florissant, Central Visual and Performing Arts Center, Hazelwood and University City.
Recognizing that his students should work with and learn from professional musicians directly, Lockhart has formed partnerships with HEAL Center for the Arts, and other St. Louis based arts organizations including Jazz St. Louis, the Sheldon Arts Foundation and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Such partnerships help Harvey to offer his students opportunities to attend concerts and masterclasses with prominent musicians and educators from all over the world.
Harvey Lockhart has a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Florida A&M University, and a Masters of Music degree in music performance with emphasis in Jazz Studies from Northern Illinois University. He is also a research author for the Second Edition of the text "Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz" by Ronald Carter via GIA Publications. In January of 2017, Lockhart received the St. Louis Arts Educator of the Year Award from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis. In 2019, Harvey was a semifinalist for the Grammy Music Educator Award (See more Here), and was a 2019 Artist Fellow through the Regional Arts Commission (RAC).
Lockhart is currently the Director of Music Programs at Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory School where he is establishing an aggressive instrumental music program. Lockhart aspires to mentor his students to be the next great leaders and innovators of tomorrow.