Arts Academy at Grace

ATTENTION!!
Please read the statement below and stay tuned for more information by the end of 2023. The Board of Arts Academy at Grace and director, the Rev. Bonnie Duckworth, have decided to temporarily suspend programming after this semester until Spring 2024, and to embark on a time of discernment, during which we will investigate new ways to meet the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.

We recognize that we are in a time of change that can bring about new and alternative ways to serve the creative needs of people of all ages and circumstances in our community. As we pause to do the internal work that such discernment requires, we ask you to support us. Growth and transformation are often invisible in the beginning, but they bear beautiful fruit at the end.

The Arts Academy at Grace was established in 2008 to address the growing need to provide greater exposure to and participation in the arts. Committed to serving the community, providing affordable courses, and celebrating artistic expression, the Academy believes that the arts nurture the life-giving resources that strengthen the spirit in a lasting way. Through a variety of experiences, including our original Summer Arts Camps which began in 2006 and continued until 2019, we have been true to this core mission.

With the advent in 2020 of COVID-19 restrictions, our students could not meet their teachers face-to-face, but with creative resilience, the Arts Academy offered hybrid instruction beginning in September 2021. Holding our Summer Arts Camps became impossible, so to continue to meet the artistic needs of children for artistic expression, we partnered for two summers with the Lexington YMCA to create a total of 200 ARTS BAGS, distributed to children from Lexington City Schools and Stoner Thomas School. The delight and joy that we saw in the faces of the children who received these bags let us know that we were indeed still living into our mission.

We have never wavered from this mission, but despite our most determined efforts, coupled with the financial uncertainty the Academy faces, we have reached a crossroads. Before we make a final decision on the future of the Arts Academy at Grace, we want to pause, give the budget time to resettle, reconsider our mission, and seek discernment and vision. Please contact any member of the Arts Academy Commission if you have ideas, questions, or response. Thank you for your long and dedicated support of this vital ministry of Grace Church.

Commission Members:
Bonnie Duckworth, Director
Joe Wallace, Chair
Karl Bolstad, Vestry Liaison
Barbara Presnell
Susan Terrell
Nancy Mack
Walter Beeker
Laurie Briggs
James Daugherty

We believe the arts are for everyone!  The Arts Academy at Grace was established to address the growing desire and need to provide greater exposure to and participation in the arts.  We are committed to serving the community, providing affordable courses, and celebrating artistic expression.  Come join us or give a class as a gift to a family member or friend. The arts nurture the life-giving resources that strengthen the spirit in a lasting way.  Thank you for your interest! We look forward to serving you.

Bonnie Duckworth 
Academy Director

Lexington Youth Chorus for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders!
Registration deadline Monday, February 20!
Register HERE!

Please help Lexington Youth Chorus by contributing to the GoFundMe campaign:

Lexington Youth Chorus GoFundMe fundraiser

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Leadership

Commission Members:
Bonnie Duckworth, Director
Joe Wallace, Chair
Karl Bolstad, Vestry Liaison
Barbara Presnell
Susan Terrell
Nancy Mack
Walter Beeker
Laurie Briggs
James Daugherty