A Project in Partnership with the Creative Vision Factory

Every tile on the nearby bench tells a story—a story of reuse, a story of creative making, or a story of memories. The tiles also tell a story of partnership and collaboration . . . friends, members, and staff of Winterthur and our Upcycled! project partners at the Creative Vision Factory donated each broken ceramic fragment.

---

Upcycled!, a multi-year project at Winterthur, launched in the fall of 2021 with a community-driven art project developed in partnership with Winterthur’s neighboring communities and institutional partners, notably Creative Vision Factory, whose mission is to foster the creative potential of individuals on the behavioral health spectrum in a studio art environment that cultivates integration with the local art community through exhibitions, workshops, and communal workspace. The resulting project was installed at Winterthur and at least one other site within the Wilmington and/or greater New Castle County area.

Winterthur is embarking on this exciting project as we invite our community members, visitors, staff, artists, scholars, and students to participate in reimagining our vibrant future as an active and engaged cultural heritage site within our region and in the broader world. Upcycling is traditionally defined as creating an object of greater value from a discarded object of lesser value. Winterthur will explore upcycling in a broader context and will include categories such as: assembled, transformed, recycled, altered, repaired, and preserved in the full gallery installation of Transformations in 2024.

---

The Final Bench

Tufts of weeds spot the gravel road

back to the white framed house,

sitting around the corner.

Bare trees lining the property,

announcing the property.

Barn off to the side.

Remember the little chicken coop that once stood,

tucked in on the other side?

Grasses, and fences

and other outbuildings around

and so familiar. And all the plates and bowls

and teacups,

with their matching saucers, were

carefully placed in the cabinets of the kitchen,

sometimes just stacked on the counter,

and once displayed

in the china closet.

Thoughts of the family matriarchs, whose hands

touched and washed

and placed on the tables,

again and again through each meal,

all the gatherings,

over all the years.  

But not seen is the

cast of spirits,

pressed into the dishes and cups and saucers,

now, chipped and broken

and crashed and

handed to the young. Wished

upon the young.

Do better. Try better. Do more

somehow.

Send now as called, all the dish ware to the

final bench. Grouted by a grandson

who cared to rope it all together,

to tell a story,

to save their story.