CAROL GRAVE, fiber artist and community volunteer, has been active at the Guilford Art Center for many years. She was a board member from 2002 to 2004, and has worked indefatigably as a volunteer for EXPO and Artistry, as well as occasionally in the Gift Shop. Recently a good deal of her energy has been devoted to launching the Shoreline ArtsTrail, a cooperative project among the Guilford Art Center and the Branford, Madison, and Guilford Tourism Committees. Because of her work as an artist and her long involvement with the Art Center, Carol is a natural leader for the undertaking. The ArtsTrail grew out of a project four years ago called "Open Studios by the Sound," which Grave was also instrumental in organizing. For that event, shoreline area artists opened their studios for one weekend in November. Out of that event grew the idea of publishing a guide and map to area artist studios.

The purpose of the ArtsTrail is to create a destination for visitors and to feature the work of the many artists and artisans working in the shoreline area. The guide includes a map, images, and listings of working art studios located in the three towns, with descriptive information about each venue. Forty artists who work in a wide variety of media are included on the Trail.

Two years ago, Grave and the then Guilford Handcraft Center secured an important grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism for the project. The grant enabled the guide to be designed and published, and it is now available hot off the press at the Center, at the Guilford and Branford libraries, and in other locations.

"This has been such a cooperative effort," says Grave. "It's all volunteer-driven and many of the 40 artists have taken on the majority of the work." At the same time, she continues, the Art Center provides "a nice linkage" between the artists and the ArtsTrail itself. "The Center is the 'center' for the project, if you will," Grave continues. "It provides professional support and outreach, and also functions as a place for the artists to come together."

Grave's own weaving features "lots of color and texture," she explains, "and I create somewhat funky clothing incorporating sea shells and buttons and things for a collagelike effect." She hastens to add that she is "an avid student" of classes at the Guilford Art Center.