Things We Love Brings HeArt Gallery to the District

Things We Love LLC presented The HeArt Gallery—featuring Jesse Boykin's III, Moruf, and D.C.'s Marilee in the Mix who performed at a night of art, entertainment and networking—bringing out D.C. creatives and entrepreneurs alike.

Last weekend the walls of the abandoned building on the corner of 7th Street and New York Avenue were plastered with graffiti, sculptured wooden pieces, and splattered paintings. This  hidden crest would seem to be The HeArt Gallery; however, the HeArt Gallery spans far beyond those walls. It's a concept and an idea that has grown and is quickly taking off on the East Coast—with shows in New York, New Jersery, and D.C. 

Things We Love LLC, and the HeArt Gallery were birthed from three enterprising men in New Jersey who saw a space and filled the hole. 

"From the three partners, we all have things that we love," said Femi Washington one third of Things We Love, LLC. "I'm in love with poetry and art. Rodney is in love with music. And Cue is just in love with people. So, it's just a great combination. It's the things we love as a unit, so that's how we came up with the name."

Founders Cue Gibson, Femi Washington, and Rodney Rikai saw the need to create a different lane for music and the arts in New Jersey. They frequented New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta all of which they felt had outstanding outlets, venues, and shows—but with every corner turned they saw a friend, a fellow New Jersey resident who too had traveled just to be on the scene that was vacant in their home state.

"We came up with the HeArt Gallery where people can actually come and enjoy the arts and be cool.  It's just an energy that people don't get to feel in New Jersey. We needed to do something for Jersey, for us. We're the participants and organizers of other events in other states, so why not represent our own," Washington said. "So, that's why we came up with the concept. D.C. has really embraced us like no other."

For Rikai, the hunger to cultivate his own ideas and to create began as a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

"I've always had ambition, always on the scene," Rikai said with allure. "At NCAT, I started an org called MOVE, Men of Valor and Excellence. It was a community outreach program where we tried to mentor the Greensboro residents and have a correlation between the university and Greensboro. There's a thin line. It's kind of like Howard. You know Howard is Howard. You go a couple of blocks and it's like ‘that's D.C.' We tried to tie the community to our organization."

The HeArt Gallery was built upon the same concept. With about 400 people in attendance for their first event in 2009, they could see that people wanted to be ‘fed' and wanted to bask in the energy that good music and art creates. With many more to come from the trio, Things We Love, LLC has laid a solid foundation---pushing boundaries, building their future with bare hands. 

"I see the HeART GALLERY as an established business, much like the Apollo Theatre. I want to have my own venue so that we can host the HeArt Gallery when we want to," said Rikai. "I see it as the foremost platform in the United States. Not just in the East Coast. But in the United States. Where artists of all kinds can have the opportunity to present their talents and their services to people that need to hear it and want to hear it."

Breaunnah Bloomer mixed and mingled at the HeART gallery—all while networking and stopping at the colorful booths lined with vintage clothing and jewelry:

"The quality of their event was unmatched  in the DMV area—I will definitely be back for more. "

Howard students are no strangers to the grind, and the side hustles. However, as these gentlemen live out their dreams they prove that entrepreneurship among the twenty-something is more than attainable. 

"Success comes from failure and doing things the right way is not going to be easy," Washington said.  "You're going to have to learn from mistakes but keep pushing. It's going to be a beautiful thing once you reach your goals."