Greensboro Community Workshop

Location
The workshop is held in a former high school classroom in the Greensboro Town Hall. The town’s administrative offices and three school classrooms (an overflow from the elementary school next door) are also located in the building. Greensboro, summer population 400, is located in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

Numbers
10 to 15 participants; one 2-hour session weekly throughout the year.

History
The workshop started in 1979 to answer a call from the Greensboro Recreation Committee to start up a program for the elders in the town. The Town provided a space; $200.00 was allocated by the taxpayers at the annual town meeting., and the Town has continued this annual support. Each year, GRACE relies on grants and contributions (approximately $5,000 per year) for the continuation of this workshop. The GRACE community workshop is recognized as a model for many other community art programs, and is frequently utilized as an informal observation and training site for the many individuals and groups requesting our assistance in starting similar programs.

This workshop is considered the model workshop. It is open to all members of the community, regardless of age, ability or disability. They work side by side in an open studio atmosphere. It is not uncommon to see sixth graders sharing paints and ideas with elders. Developmentally disabled adults and their caregivers work alongside the "trained" artists who drop in for inspiration.

A group of curious sixth graders would often wander through the workshop after school while waiting for the bus. In response, GRACE and Lakeview School began a formalized program in 1994 to include sixth graders in the workshop (on a rotating basis) throughout the school year. Since then, up to seven sixth graders have been participating as part of their school day, along with some home-schooled sixth graders. In 1995, the first exhibition of art work produced by the participating sixth graders was displayed at the Lakeview School and the Greensboro Free Library. Students participated in the selection of the art work for the exhibition and assisted with the framing and presentation.

“The intergenerational aspect of GRACE continues to be one of its most important features. Students speak of learning by working with more experienced artists. They appreciate and are not threatened by their elders. In a society that had segmented art groups as much as ours has, one can only wish that all children could have such a positive experience with people of all generations. What does GRACE offer Lakeview students? One sixth grader student expressed it this way: ‘I found out that I have a style even though I paint many different subjects. I found out a lot about myself.’”

- Rebecca Young, former principal of Lakeview School

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