25 Years of GRACE    
  

Definitions of the GRACE organization are as varied as the blind men’s descriptions of the elephant. There is a tendency to describe us by a single aspect of what we do. Most people see GRACE as a program for elders - yet, as I write this I’m watching a bunch of sixth graders organize their art work at the Greensboro Town Hall workshop. As 82- year- old Dot Kibbee comes in, they flock around her to catch a first look at Dot’s newest painting.

Mental health agencies use GRACE as a provider of services to their clients. Some of our artists who work at home have little idea that there is a larger GRACE community. We are often asked on grant applications to indicate if the GRACE program produces or presents art work. In fact, our work to facilitate art making and our efforts to present the art work to the public are inseparable.

We have saved a huge volume of work produced by great numbers of people over the past two decades. The elephant that is GRACE grows and grows. The GRACE mission must now be amended to accommodate a new responsibility - collections management. We are establishing policies to govern the permanent collection, the consigned collection, the education and archive collection.

The goal of this publication is to present a more complete picture of GRACE - the whole elephant. Above all, we wish to honor the hundreds of women and men who have participated in the GRACE program since 1975. Each has chosen the adventure of art making. In a process of engagement with materials - getting lost in the paint, paper, clay - they explore the unknown and discover new abilities. Through this strenuous and joyful process, each reveals a unique, individual self. In doing so they prove the power of the personal.

I want to express my gratitude to these artists, to my colleagues on the GRACE staff , to our Board of Directors, and to all of our supporters over the years. Thank you for showing me that this elephant can fly!   

Late GRACE Founder- Don Sunseri, 1998