Cultivating GRACE: Creative Voices of the Northeast Kingdom
May 2013
This exhibition celebrates the remarkable work and personal stories of nine self-taught artists from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. THe men and women, both past and present that made these paintings and drawings, are diverse in age as well as experience and abilities. Each individual follows no style but their own, revealing a unique individual self.
One only has to look at the variety of visual approaches to recognize these artists’ originality- from the densely detailed “maps” of Mary Paquette, to the colorful patterned paintings of Merrill Densmore to the personal assemblages of Roland Rochette. Yet, the commonality of these visual narratives is memory – of everyday rural scenes and places – each imaginatively transforming the ordinary place into something vivid, affecting and even haunting. Through the magical process of art making, these voices of “The Kingdom” are discovered and honored.
This exhibition was supported through a grant from the Northeast Kingdom Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation. Additional support is made possible through grants from the Vermont Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, private foundations and individual donations.
Since 1975, Grass Roots Art and Community Effort (GRACE) has been a vital force in the community life of northern Vermont. GRACE, a not-for-profit organization works to discover, develop and promote the population of elders and other special constituencies in Vermont. The discovery and development occurs through over 400 annual workshops at nursing homes, senior centers, mental health agencies and community workshops at GRACE’s facility, The Old Firehouse in Hardwick. GRACE promotes this important cultural voice through regional and national exhibitions, documentation and publication.
The galleries at Catamount Arts are open to the public free on charge from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm Monday through Saturday and before and after each film screening. The will be a gallery reception for the GRACE Project in the gallery on Friday, May 10th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
