“Back in Time” Festival

A lone sharecropper house has stood on Riddleville Road at Forest Grove for more than 100 years. The recently formed nonprofit, Forest Grove Preserve Inc., was awarded a grant from the Georgia Council of the Arts to restore the structure and create a folk-art museum/gallery. The restoration has taken more time and money than first estimated…  Surprise, surprise! 

A fundraiser called “Back in Time at Forest Grove” is planned to help complete the project. Crafts people who make products that were essential 100 years ago will be present with their wares. There will be food, music and activities for children. Come and support the project, walk around at one of Washington County’s authentic historic settings, and have some fun!

Soap making, Leather-working, Basket weaving, Wood carving, Broom making!

Storyteller, Live Music and Food Trucks!

Kids Activities: Scavenger Hunt, Pony Rides & Art Projects!

$10 a person

$35 for a family of 4 or more

Buy tickets here Harper House benefit or at the door

1200 Bartow Rd. Sandersville, GA

What is the Harper House?

Sharecropper houses are decaying all over the South and archeologists now consider these structures to hold an important history. From the late 1860s through the late 20th Century, families who lived in these houses farmed the land adjacent to the house, the husband plowing and planting, and the wife and children helping to pick crops. The remaining sharecropper house at Forest Grove was occupied by the Harper family, so it bears their name. The restored Harper House will provide a unique venue for meetings, family reunions, history lessons for children, and art shows featuring self-taught art.

Forest Grove Preserve (FGP) in Washington County, has been awarded a Cultural Facilities grant for fiscal year 2023 from the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Cultural Facilities grant supports the restoration or renovation of a building to be used for arts programming. FGP will restore a 100-year-old tenant-farmer house to create a folk-art museum.

The Harper House
Tenant-farmer houses are decaying all over the South and archeologists now consider these structures to hold an important history. Following the Civil War through the late 20th Century, families who lived in these houses farmed the field adjacent to the house, the husband plowing and planting, and the wife and children helping to pick crops. The remaining tenant house at Forest Grove was occupied by the Harper family who raised 10 children in the two-room house. The restored Harper House will provide a most charming, unique, and appropriate setting for a folk-art museum. When the interior is stabilized to hold art, works by self-taught artists will be placed to begin a permanent collection. Two baby quilts made by Virginia Harper will adorn the central hall.

Tenant farmer houses are lost at a rapid rate now, so that the Harper House will be a precious reminder of a special historic era. Children and adults in Washington County can benefit from the education and inspiration made available by this new cultural venue. It may enhance their knowledge of the history, art, and culture of their own region. Visitors may be inspired when they see how folks created art with materials that were inexpensive or free.

The following activities will be available at the Harper House and will help raise funds for maintenance:

• Folk art shows exhibiting art by local self-taught artists 

• Family reunions, weddings, receptions, and meetings

• Tours of the site, including information about the era when such homesteads were an important part of the economy and social fabric of the community 

• Small-venue outdoor performances 

The museum will complement the activities of the Fall Line Artists Guild (FLAG), presenting a different angle on art in an unusual venue. Forest Grove Preserve can work together with FLAG to expand the exposure to art in the county.

Georgia Council of the Arts

As part of this year’s Cultural Facilities awards, 31 entities in 18 counties will receive $1.3 million in funding. Georgia Council for the Arts received applications from schools, libraries, cities, historical societies, community theatres, Boys & Girls Clubs, and arts and other related organizations from across the state.

Back for the second year in a row, Forest Grove Preserve will be bringing select pieces from the Owen Lee Art Collection to the Outsider Art Fair, NYC.

Select works from the Owen Lee Art Collection at Forest Grove will be displayed and for sale at the Outsider Art Fair in NYC.