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Displaying GRACE: The Exhibition Program Central to the GRACE mission is the commitment to provide the public with authentic and powerful works of art. Art work created during the 500 annual GRACE workshops is displayed in the exhibition program. GRACE has organized more than 150 exhibitions of grass-roots art, bringing widespread attention to the work of rural, untrained artists. 
The exhibition of GRACE art continually develops new audiences for art among those who have had little or no previous exposure, especially children and those who do not usually visit museums or galleries. The exhibits provide an opportunity for support and feedback for the artists and strengthen the partnership between GRACE and the many communities it serves. In addition, exhibitions provide validation for the artists and exposure for their art. Public exposure often enables many GRACE artists to sell their work. Most of the elderly artists live on limited or fixed incomes. Any additional income provided by the sale of their work can have a significant impact, both emotionally and financially. GRACE artists receive sixty-five per cent of the sales price of each work. Thirty-five percent helps support the GRACE program. Paintings and drawings hang in the halls of nearly every site where art workshops take place - nursing homes, community centers, senior day centers, and mental health agencies. These areas tend to be busy spots where staff, passersby and artists themselves gather to see what’s been created and offer friendly critiques. And in Vermont’s small towns, it is not uncommon to see the work of GRACE artists hanging in storefronts, libraries, church halls and other community sites. An exhibit in the Pine Forest is a feature of the annual Bread and Puppet Circus in Glover, Vermont, and each year thousands visit it. Throughout the years, we have made an effort to bring art work into schools, through lectures, workshops, and a thematic school subscription series. National and international exhibitions have brought widespread attention to the work of many GRACE artists, whose work is now sought by collectors and museum curators in the United States and Europe. In the past twenty years, GRACE has organized several national touring exhibitions, including Images of Experience (1982-83), cited in Art in America as an outstanding national exhibition. 10 Years of GRACE (1988-1991), traveled nationally as part of the touring program of New England Foundation for the Arts, and a one woman show, Rooms and Rooms, the Enchanted World of Gayleen Aiken, (1992-94), traveled to several national venues. GRACE has produced several publications, documentary videos and exhibition catalogues that have been used for promotional and educational purposes. Exhibition catalogues included, “10 years of GRACE”, “Insider Art”, and “Constructions and Personal Insights by Larry Bissonnette”. “Gayleen”, a 30 minute film featuring artist Gayleen Aiken, was directed by Jay Craven and produced by GRACE. Moonlight and Music, a 32 page book (published by Harry Abrams, Inc., 1997), explores the many faceted world of Gayleen Aiken through her art work and writing (co-written by Aiken and Rachel Klein). * * * “GRACE artists can hold their own among Madison Avenue’s best. Illustrating originality and inventiveness in their subject interpretations and in their handling of form, line and color, works produced by GRACE artists quite often exhibit extraordinary aesthetic quality and appeal, and they may be judged entirely on their own merits.” Barbara R. Luck, Curator, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, Virginia |
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