{"id":379,"date":"2011-02-07T10:58:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-07T15:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/?p=379"},"modified":"2011-02-07T10:58:29","modified_gmt":"2011-02-07T15:58:29","slug":"grassroots-art-community-effort-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/grassroots-art-community-effort-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Grassroots Art & Community Effort (GRACE)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In 2000, Grassroots Art & Community Effort, or GRACE as most people know it, took over the old firehouse in downtown Hardwick and turned it into an art center. The historic firehouse was built in 1885 and is located in the heart of Hardwick’s commercial district. GRACE always seems to be at the heart of it all. It began in 1975 at the St. Johnsbury Convalescent Center. Their mission is “the discovery, development, and promotion of self-taught art to elders and other underserved populations in Vermont.” Originally conceived as a program for instruction, founder Don Sunseri quickly realized that participants had a remarkable talent for creating narrative, sometimes autobiographical, imagery.<\/p>\n

Considered folk or outsider art, the work of GRACE participants has been recognized with numerous exhibitions in Vermont and New York City and work has found its way to a number of public and private collections. Gayleen Aiken, a GRACE artist, was the subject of a film by Jay Craven and, in 1997, The Enchanted World of Gayleen Aiken<\/em> was published by Harry Abrams, Inc. Artwork is for sale at GRACE in Hardwick and online at the organization’s website.<\/p>\n

Grassroots Art & Community Effort (GRACE)<\/strong>
\n13 Mill Street (Vermont Route 15), Hardwick 05843
\n(802) 472-6857
\nWEBSITE <\/a><\/p>\n

The GRACE Studio and Gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10AM-4PM. Work by GRACE participants can also be seen in ongoing exhibitions at the Hardwick Area Health Center, Stoweflake Mountain Resort (Stowe) and Catamount Art Center (St. Johnsbury).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GRACE is located in Hardwick’s Old Firehouse, built in 1885 and now on the National Register of Historic Sites. Considered folk or outsider art, the work of GRACE participants has been recognized with numerous exhibitions in Vermont and New York City and work has found its way to a number of public and private collections.<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[84,85,86],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/NEK-GRACE.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4SHp1-67","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":510,"url":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wine-tasting-to-benefit-grace-grassroots-art-community-effort\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":0},"title":"Wine Tasting to Benefit GRACE (Grassroots Art & Community Effort)","date":"February 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday, February 19, 11AM-5PM | Leisure World, 65 Northgate Plaza, Morrisville 05661","rel":"","context":"In "Openings & Art Events"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/web-GRACE4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3802,"url":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/merrill-densmore-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":1},"title":"Merrill Densmore Selections at GRACE","date":"February 6, 2017","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Merrill Densmore Selections January 5-February 22, 2017 Merrill Densmore was born in 1943 and was raised in Vermont\u2019s Northeast Kingdom. He started to paint by using \u201cpaint by numbers\u201d and drawing with crayons. He began working with the GRACE program in 1994, where he was introduced to acrylic paints and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exhibitions"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/penguins-by-merrill-densmore.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4067,"url":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/authority-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":2},"title":"Authority & Grace","date":"May 12, 2017","format":"gallery","excerpt":"FROM VERMONT ART GUIDE #3 Brenda Garand Art It\u2019s Like Falling Into Water, the title of one of Brenda Garand\u2019s sculptures, aptly describes the experience of viewing her amphibious body of work. Whether it is her drawings mixing walnut ink, flood clay (from the storm Irene), and India ink or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/detail-of-manitou-by-Brenda-Garand.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3893,"url":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/grace-mellow-not-for-show\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":3},"title":"Grace Mellow: Not for Show","date":"March 2, 2017","format":"gallery","excerpt":"\"Grace Mellow: Not for Show\" March 2-April 9, 2017 Opening reception: Friday, March 10, 5-8PM \"Grace Mellow: Not For Show\" features a selection of Mellow\u2019s more experimental figurative drawings. The work was created in New York City. Mellow uses gouache and pastel, plays with line weight and blocks of color\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exhibitions"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/grace-mellow-chelsea.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4151,"url":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/elaine-ittleman-at-piecasso\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":4},"title":"Elaine Ittleman at Piecasso","date":"August 13, 2017","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Elaine Ittleman June-August 2017 Charlotte-based artist Elaine Ittleman has been painting for 30 years. A nurse by profession, she worked on her own and took classes at Burlington City Arts, Community College of Vermont and Art Students League in New York City. In addition to her show at Piecasso, Ittleman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exhibitions"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/elaine-ittleman-at-piecasso-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":467,"url":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/carol-macdonald-knit-monoprints-drawings\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":5},"title":"Carol MacDonald: Knit Monoprints & Drawings","date":"January 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Carol MacDonald invites the viewer to see her works \"as prints of and about knitting and as conceptual works about teaching, the art of printing, community.\" The catalog is yet another of the many ways that MacDonald shares her artistic process with the larger community.","rel":"","context":"In "Shop"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/carolmacdonaldcover.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vermontartguide.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}