A show of art entitled, Artists of GRACE 2010, will open in the cafeteria of the Vermont State House in Montpelier on Friday, January 29th and will run through March 1st.
GRACE (Grassroots Art and Community Effort), a not-for-profit organization based in Hardwick, Vermont, provides programs that discover, develop and promote self-taught artists. GRACE brings weekly art making workshops to the places where people live and work including; nursing homes, mental health centers, senior meal sites, adult day centers, and artists' homes. GRACE workshop facilitators travel to workshop sites throughout northern Vermont, conducting over 500 workshops annually.
The State House show includes works by some newer GRACE program participants alongside those of artists whose work may be more familiar to viewers, including works by beloved GRACE artists, Gayleen Aiken and Merrill Densmore.
Works by GRACE artists have been exhibited nationally and internationally and many have found their way into the collections of museums and individuals. Barbara R. Luck, Curator of The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg, Virginia has stated that “works produced by GRACE artists quite often exhibit extraordinary aesthetic quality and appeal, and they may be judged entirely on their own merits.”
Artists of GRACE 2010 was sponsored, in part, by the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Works displayed in the show are for sale with 65% of the proceeds going to the artists and 35% going toward continued programming. For further information, contact GRACE at (802) 472-6857 or www.graceart.org.
The State House cafeteria is open to the public Monday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
