Bringing Home Bricolage

Anne Willson 

It feels like it's been ages since Bricolage, a Greensboro community arts space offering re-purposed materials for local artists and arts workshops by local artists closed it's doors after just 2 years.

From Wikipedia :: The term “bricolage” is borrowed from the French word bricolage, from the verb bricoler, the core meaning in French being, "fiddle, tinker" and, by extension, "to make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are at hand (regardless of their original purpose)". A person who engages in bricolage is a bricoleur.

I am a bricoleur. And even though Bricolage is closed :: and I will not be able to pop in to see Anne Willson's smiling face . . . what she taught me will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Anne had a vision. She offered our community an eco and people friendly environment to explore creativity.

John Skau's Wood Strips

In her own words "The mission of Bricolage is to inspire and support creativity in the Piedmont Triad. We achieve this by providing low-cost re-purposed materials, workshops, affordable space for creative activities, and projects that generate the production of new art works by community members. Our programs support residents of all ages and skill levels to experience creativity so as to strengthen the individuals and their communities, and to help sustain our local cultural resources."

Helping the community.

I had the honor to work with Anne on John Skau’s Wood: A Point of Departure.

John Skau, a respected world renowned local artist passed away in October of 2007, leaving behind a shop full of materials he would have used to create his amazing works. John’s wife, Judy West, donated much of the wood to Bricolage - with the hopes of literally weaving John’s wood into the community. Anne, Lynne and Myself worked together with over 20+ local artists to honor John's memory. We were his weavers. We were Bricoleurs.

So when I went shopping at Bricolage for the last time. . .

I wanted to bring Bricolage home. I wanted to surround my self with things that would remind me of the friendships I gained, the lessons in giving I learned . . . and the motto that Anne had on display in the window that gave me, and probably many others, that boost that we needed every single visit . . .


"What would you do if you knew you would never fail?"