Heather Mertens

Heather is an artist, actor, designer and community events producer with a deep passion for connecting and activating communities through art, entertainment and the gift of giving. She moved from Columbus, Ohio to Los Angeles at the age of 19 to pursue a career in acting and is passionate about projects that make a difference in positive social change. She started writing short & feature films, plays, and a series called "Lemonade," a "how to" exploration of the power of positivity and taking action. Observing the needs of her neighborhood and her mission to create playful, fun and artistic interactions, she is the founder and community organizer responsible for the Echo Park Art Walk which has turned the sidewalks of Echo Park into "Public Displays of Art" (PDA) since 2010. Heather is the Director of Community Programing and Outreach at CoActive Content, which uses arts and education to connect audiences with socially responsible opportunities to take action personally, locally, or globally. She is the liaison between the team of artist activists and the communities CoActive Content serves. Projects include: "The Gift of Peace," a Human Rights Day event with KPCC public radio, "Change is Gonna Come," a feature documentary, "The King of the Desert," i-ACT, Darfur United, Little Ripples, Serve the Warrior, Whole World Child & Whole World Community. Witnessing the power of the arts and communication, Heather has been working with children as a mentor since 2009 with Young Storytellers Foundation, an organization committed to inspire children to discover the power of their own voice through the art of storytelling, group exercises and one-on-one mentoring. She is also a volunteer at 826LA, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Heather is also a certified children's yoga teacher through the Light Leaders program at Golden Bridge. As a teacher, Heather's mission is to connect students to their own creativity and self-expression. Throughout her childhood, Heather excelled in art and has a talent for crafting one-of-a-kind personalized gifts, which led her to create Art Needs Freedom, designing art, fashion accessories and community events set out to inspire people to acknowledge and appreciate one another. Bringing together families and being of service to communities is at the heart of Heather's work.