Area native Louise Keenan returns to her home area to share her time, talent and energy at The Heart Song Center


Lansing native Louise Keenan stands in the massage area of The Heart Song Center, one of the new businesses she recently opened in the Cornerstone building at the intersection of Main Street and Rossville Road in Waukon. In addition to the Heart Song Center, Keenan most recently opened Above the Rest, an artist studio and painting classroom for her Art from the Heart sessions, on the main level of that same Cornerstone building.

Lansing native Louise Keenan opened the Heart Song Center in October of 2014 in the Cornerstone Building at the corner of Rossville Road and Main Street in Waukon. Keenan is a unique individual with diverse experience, and her business reflects that.
Keenan also opened Above the Rest this month, an artist studio and painting classroom (Art From the Heart) on the main level of that same Cornerstone Building at the former Stranded Memories location on Main Street.
"We have massage, art classes, jewelry, hand-crafted items, books, clothing, purses, shoes, dishes, antiques, vases, spa parties, framed art, spa weekends with local bed and breakfasts, spiritual and metaphysical seminars," Keenan explained. "We also have a wedding center with bridal gowns and jewelry."
A Grand Opening celebration at the Heartsong Center and Above the Rest has been scheduled for this Thursday through Sunday, February 12-15 (see the advertisement on Page 6A in this week's edition of The Standard for details).  
Keenan grew up in Lansing, graduating from St. George High School. Her Allamakee County roots go back to 1848 when her paternal great-grandfather, Patrick Keenan, was the first to register to vote in the county. Since high school, she has participated in VISTA (domestic Peace Corps), studied at the Air Canada Airline School in Montreal, Canada, completed Certified Property Management training with Stuart Corp. in St. Paul, MN, and received Massage Certification from the Heart Wood Institute in Garberville, CA. She is also a Reiki Master (a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation) and a minister of the Universal Life Church. She holds a Certificate of Spa Management, is a salon owner member of Salon Training International and is a registered professional member of the International Massage Association. She completed training in Myofascial Release training with John Barnes, PT and in Seventh Path Hypnosis at the Banyan Hypnosis Center in Mounds View, MN. She has lived in Appalachia, Montreal, Chicago and California and received additional spa training in Dublin, Ireland.
Keenan also spent 20 years as the Spa Director at Visual Changes Salon and the Family Body Care Center and Metropolitan Spa in La Crosse, WI. She worked with Dr. Linda Lorenz and Dr. David Washa in their Chiropractic Centers in La Crosse, and she has also provided care for the La Crosse Catbirds basketball team and the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League.
In addition to her health and wellness training and experience, she has also gained a great deal of business experience from her years spent as a manager of luxury apartment complexes in La Crosse, WI and Minneapolis, MN, as well as private homes in La Crosse, WI and Lansing. In 2000, she opened up her own massage center in La Crosse and though that business is now closed, she has redesigned that concept at her new Waukon location.
In April of 2014, Keenan and her brothers and sisters took their parents' ashes to Ireland to honor them and their heritage. "I returned to Waukon with my three brothers and four sisters and I'm now creating a series of businesses and a family home where we will spend our holidays and summers," Keenan said.
Her son, Nathan, is a private practice attorney in La Crosse and her daughter, Andrea, is the Project Manager for the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. She also has two grandchildren, Liam (4) and Lenora (1).
The Heart Song Center, named in memory of Keenan's Goddaughter and niece, Jessica Louise Hogendorn (she told Keenan she made her heart sing), is designed to combine her own energies and talents with others by joining their time, energy, talent and resources. "I have always been a dreamer," she said. "It's great to be able to call all the shots. What I lack in logic I make up for in spunk!"
In addition to the five shops in the lower level of the Cornerstone Building, two or three more shops are planned to include contributors such as artists, crafters and massage therapists, and possibly a coffee shop and an ice cream shop.
The Heart Song Center and Above the Rest are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 608-780-6403, or find Heart Song Center and Art From the Heart on Facebook.