Hearts Unknown Education (HUE) will hold its initial First Friday Art Walk event this week, opening doors to its home at 184 NW Franklin Ave., Bend, from 4 to 7 p.m. during the monthly event. Painter Clair Moon will be the featured artist.

Bend artist Nicola Carpinelli, founder of the nonprofit, plans to participate monthly, offering painting, activities, music, snacks and more aimed at kids. That dovetails with HUE’s mission of serving as a safe space for kids ages 5 to 17 to get creative in a supported environment, be it painting, spoken word, karaoke, music or whatever else Carpinelli and his cadre of volunteers come up with.

Hearts Unknown began in 2022 with just four students using a back room at Layor Art Supply in downtown Bend. Within a month, there were 40 students. HUE quickly outgrew the space, as well as eventual homes at DIY Cave and a separate building next door at Ninth Street Village. Four months ago, HUE moved once more into its current space, formerly the home of a tile store. It may be a temporary stay, as HUE has its sights on moving into a spot in the Box Factory early next year.

Wherever it hangs its shingle, HUE is about enabling kids a place to express themselves. The large main room is full of instruments, easels and tables for painting and expression.

“It’s like a little New York art loft,” Carpinelli said during a recent tour of the space. “Kids will gather around the tables, or they can go to easels. I have the karaoke machine going.”

In addition to expression, HUE also seeks to help kids cope with the stresses of modern life. The second floor of the two-story building has a band room with drums and electric guitars, as well as a spot where kids can talk to a mental health professional. One is on hand at every class, held weekday afternoons, in case a kid is going through something and needs to talk.

“If there’s a kid that just needs to get something off their chest … they can just kind of talk through their problems,” Carpinelli said.

For more information about HUE, including how to enroll or make a donation, visit ilovehue.org.