Northeast Kingdom Travel & Tourism Association – Vermont's Northeast Kingdom Tourism
Auction Ends: Jun 18, 2010 10:10 AM EDT

Art

Grass Roots Art and Community Effort (GRACE) - $50 Gift Certificate

Item Number
249
Estimated Value
50 USD
Opening Bid
17 USD

Item Description

A $50 Gift certificate towards the purchase of artwork or publications from the GRACE Old Firehouse Gallery in Hardwick!

GRACE began in 1975 at the St. Johnsbury Convalescent Center located in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Don Sunseri, a newly transplanted artist working working at the Center, provided art materials, encouragement, and a supportive environment, letting residents explore on their own. As a result, they produced a stream of beautiful, often autobiographical art works. The art was later organized into exhibits, slide lectures and publications. Since that time hundreds of exhibits have traveled to galleries, museums, and art centers, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Today, GRACE has blossomed into a small, non-profit organization which now has a staff of five and runs more than 500 workshops annually. GRACE brings weekly artmaking workshops to the places where people live and work: nursing homes, mental health centers, senior meal sites, adult day centers, and artists' homes. GRACE has been recognized and supported as an important and original community arts program by the Vermont Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Vermont Community Foundation and many private foundations. Smithsonian (1992) CNN Across America (1993), Vermont Life (1995), Vermont ETV (1996), Boston Globe (1998), Raw Vision (2002), and Folk Art (2007) have traveled to Vermont to highlight the GRACE program and the work of individual GRACE artists.

In September of 2000 GRACE acquired the Old Firehouse in downtown Hardwick, the first permanent facility for the organization. The Old Firehouse, built in 1885, is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. The Old Firehouse provides a bright interior space for GRACE's Firehouse Gallery, community workshops, offices, and art collections. Visitors are welcome to view and purchase a diverse selection of contemporary self-taught art.

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