Heather Hilliard Bonds

Heather Hilliard Bonds is a Compassionate Arts in Action Artist, visual artist, art therapist and muralist.

Heather Hilliard Bonds is an artist, raised by her mother Nancy Hilliard, from the Altadena and Pasadena Area. She has been an artist since she first picked up a crayon. She has always had a love for children and began her career in childcare. This experience let to an internship with the Armory Center for the Arts, she realized she could combine her enjoyment of working with children with her other passion in life, which is art. 

Heather attended college at Texas Southern University, Pasadena City College, and Cal State of Los Angeles. She has a degree in Art Education. She teaches art to all age groups, from preschoolers to the elderly and enjoys it all. She has provided art classes for the Etiwanda school district, Fontana Art Depot and the ARTS Academy in Covina. She also works with children and adults with special needs and disabilities and is a certified Art Therapist. The love she has for art is also shared with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Youth Leadership Programs. She creates curriculum for scout merit badges and workshops for these youth.

She has participated in several art shows; Family and Friends Center, Loma Alta Park and Jackie Robinson Park for the Black History month events, Art Night in Pasadena, the Coffee Gallery in Pasadena, Fontana Arts Festival and Leimert Park, just to name a few. Her works have also been exhibited in the Armory Center of the Arts Gallery, Urban Life Gallery, Pomona Valley Arts Association Gallery, San Bernardino County Museum, and the Art for Hearts fundraising exhibit.

There are also several murals painted around Pasadena, in places like La Pintoresca Library, Norma Coombs Elementary School, Villa Park, Victory Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Washington Elementary School, Buenos Tacos, Escalon Head Start and Praise Tabernacle Church all have been painted with her art. She also creates chalk murals for the Pasadena Chalk Festival. Heather is also a doll maker and often exhibits her handsome dolls in galleries and art spaces as well as the Annual Black Doll Show for the William Grant Still Center.

Heather is a published writer and illustrator. She's illustrated several books for authors and has written children's books, coloring books, and poetry books of her own. She's a cohost for the Simply Aldonia Show, broadcast through Pasadena Media and has performed poetry for "A Little Bit of Poetry" television series. She is also a spoken word artist whose performed at venues such as Perry's Joint, Hoopla, Jackie Robinson Park, Jazz Zone, and Simply Aldonia Show.

Heather is a proud mother of four and a grandmother. She says she can see the influences of her love for art trickling down to her children, grandchildren, and students. She loves it and hopes to bring smiles to the children and adults she works with. She also wants to inspire others, so that they can get a greater appreciation of art and create for themselves.

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