The Tamaqua Has Heart project is still beating strong and has already brought together many different aspects of the community.

Community leaders, business people, students and project leaders all came together as the sponsors of the individual hearts had the opportunity to meet the artists and select an artist and design on Tuesday night.The event was held at the Tamaqua Area Community Partnership's artist-in-residence space at 20 Mauch Chunk St.Tamaqua Community Art Center director Leona Rega welcomed the crowd, explained the project and the process and introduced the two volunteers considered to be the driving force behind the hearts. "Kyle (Whitley) and Wandie (Zammer-Little) came up with the concept - Wandie from a similar project in the Catskills and Kyle, who saw a man wearing a Tamaqua - 'little town with a big heart' hat. They put it all together."The white, 39-inch fiberglass hearts were custom-molded and made by a firm in Nebraska. The first heart was unveiled at the 2016 National Night Out event and has been making an appearance at community events since then. Residents have been filling the heart with handprints ever since. The Tamaqua Station Restaurant is sponsor for that heart, which will find a permanent resting spot in the area of the station once the project is complete.Once a sponsor chose an artist and design, they were encouraged to explain their choice. Artists explained the reasoning behind their designs.The artists will now have a little more than four months to complete transferring the chosen designs to the fiberglass hearts.The completed hearts will then be placed in strategic areas around Tamaqua, between the Tamaqua ABC Hi-Rise and the Elks building on west Broad Street, before Memorial Day weekend.The artwork will remain in place, as a focal point of a walking tour, until mid-September, when there will be a gala event and auction.Rega sees the project as an opportunity "to bring people from the outside in to see the way the town has and continues to be transformed. A lot of good things are happening in our community and we want everyone to know about them."