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Goose Route Arts Collaborative, Inc. (GRAC) is a performing, presenting, and educational arts organization based in Shepherdstown, WV, an historic small town on the banks of the Potomac River in the state's Eastern Panhandle. Its mission is to collaborate with artists - both urban and non-urban - to create and present new performance pieces; to cultivate in audiences an appreciation of dance, music, and other art forms; and to provide communities with meaningful artistic experiences. Long known to be a migration route for the Canada Goose, the Native Americans here called the river "Cohongaroota." Paying homage to place and tradition, while also recognizing the inherent movement in contemporary art, Goose Route Arts Collaborative is named for the flyway of the Canada Goose.

GRAC collaborates with artists, audiences, and communities in a number of ways: it creates opportunities for artists of all kinds to make and show their work; it nurtures audiences by fostering an awareness, understanding, and appreciation of dance, music, and other art forms; it works with communities to provide meaningful artistic experiences through classes, lectures, and participatation in performances. GRAC operates on two assumptions: that all people benefit from arts experiences, and that artists from all geographic locations have much to share with each other and with their audiences. GRAC fills an important niche in the Northern Shenandoah Valley by encouraging the creation and presentation of art that speaks to the local population and by finding ways to make art meaningful and accessible to many kinds of people. READ MORE