COMMUNITY GRANTS
1,000
FLOWERS SOW SEEDS OF FRIENDSHIP THE ENRICHMENT CENTER
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EMEMBERED JOKES AND EASY LAUGHTER reveal a lasting bond
between Winnie Pompell, who attends The Enrichment Center, and visiting artist Jan Detter. Their friendship began when they worked together on “1,000 Flowers,” a mosaic that has become a focal point for the entrance to the Center’s Gateway Gallery. Detter, who has been creating public art since 1975, served as a resident artist at the Center in 2011 where she worked with students to build the mosaic wall. They created 1,000 flowers out of discarded items such as buttons, beads, door pulls, bits of glass, and mirrors. The project was funded by a 2010 Foundation Community Grant to support two artist residencies, including Detter’s work.
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the winston-salem foundation annual report
“Winnie’s flowers were always better than mine,” says Detter, who teaches creativity and innovation at Wake Forest University. “I think it’s because Winnie has a very open heart. I think she breathes it and lives it, and that open-heartedness has been a great gift to me. Winnie has been my teacher.” “Here the students are so unusually porous in that whatever you put in front of them, they are up for it…. The students here are so flexible in looking at things.” Winnie rides a bus to the Center and has been attending for five years. “It’s a great opportunity,” she says. Almost 30 years ago, a group of parents saw the need for a resource such as The Enrichment Center. Executive Director Valerie Vizena notes, “When children with intellectual and developmental disabilities left the traditional school system, there was nothing for them. What makes us so unique: they have an experience similar to a college experience, not just a safe haven. It was set up to be totally an enriching opportunity.” The Enrichment Center was established in 1983 as an arts-based day program with only three students. Now it serves more than 500 individuals and also offers programs that assist clients in finding employment and in managing their bill paying. The arts-based program offers classes in studio art, textiles, photography, jewelry, multimedia, digital media, music, percussion, drama, theatre, dance, job training, and functional life skills. Ceramics and mixed-media specialist Stacey Sword-Halsey has also worked with Winnie on several projects. Stacey says one of Winnie’s lessons in particular has stayed with her: “Don’t say ‘can’t’.” “There were not many options for this population besides workshops before The Enrichment Center opened,” says Stacey, who has been teaching at the Center for eight years. “This allows them to be who they really are. There are no limitations.”