30 | MARCH 25 • 2021

OUR COMMUNITY

O

n Jan. 6, 29-year-old West
Bloomfield resident Sam Morris
was overcome with sadness as he
watched the television coverage of the attack
on the U.S. Capitol.
This came after a year of the pandemic,
which was hard on Morris, who has autism.
In response, Morris has turned to creating
artwork to express his sadness in the form
of love.
After watching the coverage, Morris sat
down to draw to express his feelings on
paper. The next day, on Jan. 7, his mother
posted Sam’s drawing and a message on her
Facebook page.
“
After the events of yesterday, things felt
so dark. Sam sat down to draw. He said that
light can “penetrate the heart” and then the
heart can shine. He calls it ‘HEARTSHINE.
’
Here’s to more heartshine in 2021!”
After the drawing was posted on
Facebook, Morris read the reactions from

his friends, saw that it made people feel bet-
ter, and thought about making a T-shirt.
Morris called Adam LaVoy of Royal Oak,
who had worked with Morris at Friendship
Circle’s Farber Soul Center in West
Bloomfield, an art studio that encourages
self-expression for adults with special needs.
Morris remembered LaVoy had a dream
of opening a business to put art on T-shirts,
an idea he had for about a decade. Morris’
call was the impetus for LaVoy to finally cre-
ate and launch PeopleLoveArt.com, a brand
and community celebrating the art of people
with disabilities.
LaVoy collaborated closely with Morris
to perfect his artwork and ensure it would
work well on a T-shirt. Soon after, the first
Heartshine T-shirt was born.
Orders have already come in from 14
states just by spreading the word on social
media.
Morris’ goals include seeing people wear-
ing his Heartshine wearables in all 50 states
and to benefit the Anti-Defamation League.
All proceeds after printing and shipping
costs will be donated to the ADL.
“Heartshine 2021 is about light that pen-
etrates through the heart to spread love all
around the world,
” Morris said. “I really
wanted to do this because I felt heartbroken
after a difficult year of people dying from
the pandemic, followed by a new year where
weapons penetrated through windows at
the Capitol in D.C. People fighting, breaking
windows, trying to spread hate across our
country.
“I want everyone to understand we
are better people with many ways to let
love shine,
” Morris continued. “Just like
with a vaccine where a syringe penetrates
through an arm to spread healing and build
immunity in a body, rays of the sun pene-
trate through a heart to let it shine. I want
Heartshine 2021 to provide a real warmth
of light going through a real heart to spread
love! I want to spread healing love instead of

West Bloomfield man creates artistic
T-shirts to help heal from tumultuous year.
Heartshine

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Let Your

“I WANT TO SPREAD
HEALING LOVE
INSTEAD OF HATE.”

— SAM MORRIS

Sam Morris’ original sketch of his Heartshine idea