The Folly Cove Designers: Trailblazing Women Printmakers
An Interview with Elena M. Sarni
Sometimes the combination of the right people coming together in the right place at the right time makes pure magic. One of those instances occurred with the Folly Cove Designers, a group of primarily women brought together first for printmaking lessons by the artist Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios. The place was Folly Cove, a neighborhood of the idyllic seaside town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the time was the late-1930s through to the late-1960s. Demetrios taught these women (mostly housewives, only a few with any art training) how to make linotypes, and from her lessons—marked by an interest in working from life and in the importance of negative space and playing with scale—a signature aesthetic emerged. Establishing a jury system for codifying designs and trademarking the name were the first steps in the early-40s towards making the Folly Cove Designers into a craft group whose renown ventured far beyond their nabe and barn store—into national magazines, department stores, and catalogues.
For the first time, their unique process, designs, and lifestyles have been documented in a lushly illustrated and very well-researched book, Trailblazing Women Printmakers: The Folly Cove Designers, by Elena M. Sarni, published by Princeton Architectural Press. Reading Sarni’s book, I was blown away by the quality and beauty of the FCD’s work—with so few of the designers having any art training before meeting Virginia, the strength of the designs is a true testament to her teaching skills and aesthetic vision. Redolent of a more “innocent” time in American history, the linotypes range from faux-naïve to intricately detailed yet all take as their subject matter the world around Folly Cove: from the traditional New England baked bean suppers and Finish saunas (many of the designers were descendants of Finish immigrants) to the local flora and fauna, trains and boats.
While placemats were the most common printing surface, FCD also printed textiles that they made into clothing. Printed cotton peasant blouses, dirndl skirts, sundresses, and shifts reveal a casual lifestyle—one grounded in finding and enjoying beauty in every moment, in creating beauty for the sheer joy of it. In addition to their own, more homespun fashions, they also produced a line of all-over repeat dress fabrics for a textile company in 1948 (scroll down to see one pattern). Schumacher continues to reproduce wallpaper and textile designs created for them by FCD between 1946 and 1948; what they describe as “cheerful, picturesque scenes from country life and a flat, folksy aesthetic.”
I spoke with Elena a few weeks ago about all things Folly Cove. As I mentioned to Elena, reading about the Folly Cove Designer’s lifestyle—one of intense collaboration and focused work, coupled with deep friendships and jolly parties, all in a place of immense natural beauty—was incredibly inspiring. I think anyone with creative urges will find it difficult not to be wistful for such a unique and supportive artistic community.
In our interview below, we chat about the history of FCD, her research and what she uncovered, Virginia’s teaching process, their aesthetic vision, and much more. While the designs are just gorgeous in themselves, they become so much more powerful and interesting once you learn more about the group members, their lives, and work process—I hope that you will agree.
You can find Elena on Instagram, where you can also see many more examples of FCD designs. Her book is available from Bookshop and anywhere else books are sold.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Laura McLaws Helms: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. I loved the book, as I said. I only knew the most sort of glancing detail and information about Folly Cove, and only probably two or three of the actual prints. It was fascinating.
I think the uniqueness of the group, the uniqueness of the structure of the group, and the way they operated really comes through in your book. Could you give an abridged history of them?
Elena Sarni: I'm so glad you liked the book. Thank you for interviewing me. It's a pleasure.
In the late 1930s, Virginia started to publish, write and illustrate books. The origin story, the most popular one is that Virginia offered design lessons to her neighbor, Aino Clarke, in exchange for violin lessons for her two sons. Then other versions of the story say it was piano lessons. Then later in life, Clarke said that she had gathered people in the neighborhood to take classes from Virginia so they could help offset the cost of illustration paper for Virginia. I don't know… but the most popular story is that sort of Yankee swap, that exchange for violin lessons for design lessons.
They started in the late 1930s informally, having classes in the winter and exhibiting in the summer. There were a few people that were part of that didn't necessarily stay with the group. Initially, it was definitely people that came from a walking distance of Virginia's home. The exhibitions in the summer were at her studio and then some other local places. Then by 1941, they formally organized as the Folly Cove Designers and really started, and they hired Dorothy Norton to be their secretary.
In that first decade, they had a tremendous amount of commercial success. They even trademarked their name, the Folly Cove Designers, and their logo. I think they started that process by the mid-1940s. Also, by 1944 and 1945, they were in Women's Day and Life Magazine, and they had the 1945 Lord & Taylor store windows. They had a tremendous amount of fame and accolades in the beginning.
Basically, Virginia had design principles that she taught, and they decided to use the design principles. They thought about other mediums, but they landed on linoleum printmaking because it was the most cost-effective and accessible to people. They applied the principles. She had a very specific way of teaching where people that had no experience could achieve a pretty high level of skill with the way that she was able to teach her students.
They mostly printed on fabric. Initially, a lot of the pieces were for their homes. They also printed clothing and they printed placemats. Things just evolved from there. I would say, originally, they didn't have a standard-sized block. That came later as they started working with stores. It was actually Frank Lloyd Wright's daughter that steered them toward the 11x17 block. It just worked better for placemats and the best use of a 36-inch-wide bolt of fabric. They became the Folly Cove Designers, and they continued that practice of studying during the winter and exhibiting during the summer, and they continued that.
They also were a jury group, which makes them very different from a lot of different artist groups. You had to have the design pass the jury before you could even carve it. Only upon jury approval could the design be considered a Folly Cove design. That is something that makes them very unique for different groups, the fact that they were juried. Virginia, in their description about themselves, they say that they based themselves on medieval craft guilds. Also, the Arts and Crafts movement was a big influence on them as well.
They had very high standards. Virginia continued to teach the class as well as Aino Clarke also taught the class throughout the years. Over time, it became less about people within walking distance of the barn, and it expanded, and more people heard about them and came to study with them.
It was still fairly regional, I would say, although they had, I would say, international fame. Definitely, people were aware of them, and they were more of a household name, which was an impetus behind writing the book. Here's this remarkable group—at one point, they were pretty much a household name. I wanted to share their work with a broader audience because I feel like they have receded back into more of a regional, local history as far as familiarity with their group and things like that. It's been exciting to introduce their work to a wider audience again and try and secure their legacy.
Laura: I'd love to hear a bit about your personal history, your background and how you got interested in design and the Folly Cove Designers.
Elena Sarni: I guess growing up I had a very creative family. My dad was a finish carpenter. I would visit him on job sites where he would be restoring. He worked, when I was growing up, on mostly historic building sites. He would be restoring woodwork in early American homes around New England. I visited him on those. Then my grandmother was a poet and a painter, although she didn't sell her work.
Then my great-grandmother had been a painter who was a member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, which is one of the earliest craft organizations. She passed before I was born. I had a creative family, and my mom was also pretty talented with embroidery and things like that. My sister is an art teacher, so she's very talented.
Mostly ceramics and photography were my areas of interest. I continued in college with studio art courses, but I was an English major. Then I went back to grad school for museum studies. I've worked at historical societies, but I had a few fellowships in different ones. Then when I got out of grad school with museum studies, I ended up at the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester where I discovered the work of the Folly Cove Designers. I hadn't been familiar with them before working there. I just really became enamored with them.
At the time, there was a little print shop in Rockport, where I was living nearby, that was run by the niece of Eino Natti and the niece of Lee Natti. Her father had been one of the original members of the Folly Cove Designers. She had worked with Libby Holloran, who was a Folly Cove Designer. When the Folly Cove Designers disbanded, Libby had started her own shop in Rockport, the Sarah Elizabeth Shop. Isabel Natti had taken that over. I spent a lot of time with Isabel at the shop just watching her print and hearing her talk about the process and everything. I became really enamored with the topic.
Then I submitted a paper on the fashion of the Folly Cove Designers… through Boston University and the Dublin Seminar [for New England Folklife]. It was a really great experience; the presentation was well received.
Then after that, UMass Press reached out to me and suggested that I might want to work on a book. That journey started in 2010…it was a 13-year journey. Of course, I wasn't working on it full-time. I always had other jobs until about 2016, when I started running my own pop-up gallery. I was working with artists and craftsmen. I did it a few times a year; it wasn't something constant going on. I really just focused on the book at that point and trying to finish it.
Then in 2019, I finally got my contract. At that point, I had reached back out to UMass Press, but they felt that it would be too expensive for them to publish. Initially what I got from a lot of publishers was, "Oh, well, it's such an expensive book to produce." Or some people thought maybe it was too niche. That was sort of some of the initial feedback. I was really grateful when Princeton was so excited about the book. I did end up getting additional funding from Speedball Art to help fund the photography because it was a very expensive book to produce.
It's a three-hour commute from my home in Maine. Researching wasn't always easy. Archives are always limited hours. At the Cape Ann Museum, they have the business records of the Folly Cove Designers. That was helpful—that's where I started. Then I just kept digging and digging. [The business records were] great and helpful to see the correspondence between the Folly Cove Designers and some of the companies, which I think is really a fascinating part of their story during a time when most of the correspondence to them was addressed, “Dear Gentlemen” like they were just assumed to be men. Their way of doing business—I think that was really appealing to me since they were a mostly female-dominated group.
That's how I started my research journey and started my love affair with the Folly Cove Designers, which continues because even since the book was published, I have discovered at least three more lost designs. “Lost to the public” designs. That's always exciting. People reach out to me now. That's always exciting to just keep learning and I do. It's just a passion that continues.
Laura: I definitely have had that experience where you're like, "Okay, I've learned everything. I'm going to publish this and put it in the world." Then all these people are like, "Oh, I saw your book. Here is all of this other stuff,” and you're like, "Oh, my God." It's exciting because it feels like even when you think you're done, there's still so much more.
Elena: Oh, yes. I think that it had been over 50 years since the group disbanded, but no one had ever written a book on the topic. There's the Cape Ann Museum catalog, which in recent years they republish and tweak the forward, but it's black and white for the most part. There are a few color images, and it's great because it does have most of the designs by the Folly Cove Designers, or the ones that were known. There's always so much more to learn.
One of the big things for me was when I signed my contract in 2019 in the fall, the Demetrios family donated about 30 boxes of new material to the Cape Ann Museum. A lot of it was Virginia's personal material, but in those boxes, there were drafts of what became designs for the Folly Cove Designers, and then all of her drafts and sketches for the Design and How! book that she never published.
Then COVID came, and I didn't have access to that material. That's why my deadline kept getting pushed… I think it was supposed to be spring 2021, but I didn't even get access to the 30 boxes until it was like a few days after Christmas in 2020. I had a friend meet me at the archives, and we just made it a mission to get through the boxes, just in case we were missing any real gems and things like that. I felt like I couldn't publish the book without seeing what was in these boxes. There were some great things that were discovered in the boxes.
The focus shifted a bit because of COVID. Initially, one of my goals had been to put their work in the context of printmaking history and craft history. I do put their work in the context of craft history, [but] I didn't get to do as much with printmaking history as I would have liked to have, only because at that time, I didn't have access. The university libraries, unless you were a student, they weren't letting you access their collections. I'm not a professor, so I didn't have online access.
That pushed the book into that new direction of really looking at private collections and the collections of families and discovering those “lost to the public” designs, which I think became a really exciting part of the book because there are at least 20 in the book.
Then I had all these other things that were new to the public or exciting that I called “my nuggets.” I had like a huge Post-it with them listed on my wall. One of those was the Lord & Taylor store window photos. I had searched for those for 10 years. There was reference to them in the business records, but they weren't in the business records. I had contacted the Fashion Institute of Technology and the New York Times, and I wasn't finding them. It was actually a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology who suggested this company [WindowsWear] that had a whole bunch of store window photos. They did have the photos. There were just two, but it was still exciting to find those. Both of those are in the book. That was exciting.
I think in some ways, I didn't always get to pursue some of the things that I had set out to pursue, like putting their work in the larger context of printmaking history. I do that a little bit, but in some ways, their work is just very different from other printmaking groups. They're very “a thing unto themselves” as they say in chapter one, that quote. They were very different anyway. In some ways, COVID helped push the book in new directions.
Laura: What would you say are some of the characteristics of their work in terms of the design?
Elena: Virginia taught that the negative space was just as important as the positive space. Often, you'll see patterns in the negative space. I would also say symmetry is a huge thing. Sometimes their designs didn't lend themselves to making repeats as well because they often had borders around them. It made it a little bit hard for the dressmaking industry because they weren't fluid.
I would say Lee Natti did some of the best designs as far as ones that could be translated to the dressmaking field because they didn't have firm edges. She did that on purpose because she felt it was easier to print, but it does make it easier.
I would say, the subject matter was important and [Virginia] wanted people to draw from life. I think people could pick out a Folly Cove design by that symmetry, the positive and negative space, and the subject matter—I think you could probably pick it out from the subject matter as well.
She had a very specific way of teaching that she worked to put into a book for over 25 years and then never ended up publishing it. There are drafts of it, but as far as the written material, there's really only the introduction and the preface. There isn't a lot of material as far as the actual lessons, but the Cape Ann Museum does have her instruction posters, which were these large poster boards, and there's one in the Life Magazine issue that shows her teaching from one of those. Those are helpful. You can definitely get a sense of how she was teaching these lessons and principles of design.
Laura: I was like, "Oh, gosh, I wish I could have taken lessons with her," because it seemed like she had a way of getting a lot out of non-artists, right? She made them into artists and helped them create high-quality work.
Elena: She did. A few of the people like Louise Kenyon, had an art background… Libby Holloran… but other people like Lee Natti always mentioned how she really had only taken one or two courses in college painting or drawing, and so she really didn't have an extensive background. Virginia, her teaching method allowed people that were novices to be able to achieve a really high level of design.
I think having that jury process in place—and also by the time it got to the jury, you would have been presenting your work at the meetings with the rest of the group, and you would have been receiving feedback. I think that that was a big part of it, too. For the most part, they did their homework at home, but they would get together and collaborate in terms of giving feedback.
I think that really helped designers to reach a higher level by working or hearing critique and receiving critique and then putting that into the work and then just making it better and better and keep on working on it until it got to the level where you thought it could pass the jury's standards. Most of the members attributed the success of the group to the sheer magnetism of Virginia, and she had a wonderful way of teaching. It's a shame that the book was never published.
I do talk about her design lessons in chapter two, but since the book was for a broader audience, I didn't go into probably as much detail as some printmakers would have liked about the actual lessons. Some people have asked me like, "Could the book be published today?" I think that's a challenging question because there wasn't a lot that was written. You would be extrapolating from those design posters that she was teaching from or the homework of past designers.
Her mock-up for the book—a lot was just mostly illustration, which is wonderful. I love her illustrations. They're just so fun, but it didn't give you a lot of context and text for the actual lessons.
When you look at one of her homework exercises, it's pretty intimidating. Size and scale were big things to her. Sometimes she would have you literally drawing a dot in different sizes. That would be the whole homework but in so many different sizes. It is interesting, but when you first look at it, it's almost like you're looking at some math equation or something that when you look at the homework exercises and things like that. I think it would be challenging.
I definitely think there are opportunities to look more deeply into her teaching methods. Whether it necessarily needs to be a book, I don't know. I think if it had been published as a book by her, their legacy and Virginia's legacy as a teacher would have been secured.
Obviously, it would have been a published method of teaching printmaking. Instead, they've fallen into more like regional—not lore, but in a way sort of. There is this idyllic idea of them, which a lot of that is true, just the way that they worked in the time that they were living in, and the way that the community functioned. It's really an inspiring story and a beautiful story.
Laura: I found their lifestyle fascinating to think about. Virginia was so dynamic, as you said. In the photos in the book, where there's a group of women, and they're all in their various Folly Cove outfits, you can feel the energy between them—there's this vitality. I'm sure it must have been quite something to be around while they were all getting ready for the shows or talking about their art.
Elena: Dorothy Norton, she was the secretary. She was always saying, "Well, we were a working group." For sure, they were, but they did socialize outside of the group. Then those exhibition openings would have been just fun times where everyone was dressed, as you said or as one of the members said, from head to toe in Folly Cove, and wearing their new designs and just being together and relaxing and just enjoying the labors of all their work from the past year.
It really was a special community. People often ask, "Could it happen somewhere else?" The group often, as I said, credited it mostly to Virginia and her personality. It's hard to say. I think there would have to be another very special person to lead a group like that. I think also, just the time made it—and where they are is such a beautiful spot. I think that was another inspiration and just another component of the group. The actual place itself is so much a part of the group, that it would be hard to separate the place from the designs because it's such an inspiration for so many of the designs.
Laura: What do you think made them so popular at the time? Led them to have all these different collaborations and then brought so many people to the barn every year?
Elena: I think there was a relatability to their work that really appealed to people. I think I've said this before, but “Queen Anne's Lace,” who hasn't seen Queen Anne's Lace growing on the side of the road and admired it? Or geraniums in a pot on a windowsill? I recently posted the “Winter Sports” design by Eino Natti and people really seemed to like that one and responded to it. It's just people skating on a quarry and that was their life.
I think people responded to the relatability factor and also having the group start out, have its roots at the end of the depression and going into World War II and throughout World War II, I think there was also this longing for a simpler life. Nostalgia for those simple American values and that Americana aspect where the designs reflected what people considered American life and just a lot of patriotism at the time, especially after the war, but just that nostalgia.
I think that's still something that people respond to today, that the nostalgia for a simpler life and the relatability of the designs and so much of it being flora and fauna and things that people know and can relate to. I think that was a big part of their popularity, and being in Life magazine, they skyrocketed to international fame, and then people in the area would definitely be flocking to the barn in the summer, but people coming from very far away would be coming as well.
Laura: From what I remember in the book, they stopped doing the collaborations in the early 50s. Were they still sold at America House afterward? Did they have other outlets other than the barn for the rest of their time?
Elena: Yes, they did. They did stop doing the large commercial collaborations in the early 1950s. I think in large part, it may have been Virginia's own experience with having sold her book, The Little House, to Walt Disney. They bought it, they used the storyline, but they actually hired different illustrators for it, and I think that it was a really disappointing experience for her. That timeline seems to line up with when they drew back from their other commercial contracts as Folly Cove Designers.
I think that her own experience with her book influenced that, but they did continue to sell. They had America House which they continued to work with, which is now the American Craft Council, and part of it, the Museum of Art and Design had its roots in that organization as well. Let's see, they still sold through some large wholesalers and stores such as, there was a catalog called Johnny Appleseed's based in New England; that was one of their biggest wholesale clients. They continued to sell through some large stores and had wholesale clients beyond the barn.
Laura: I feel like if there were this many retailers, there must be more [Folly Cove Designers’ prints] out there than is findable at the moment. I was just searching on the Internet and there's not a lot available and it's very expensive for just one placemat. It seems it's rare on the market.
Elena: Yes, I think that there was a period around 2015, 2016, and 2017, when the Norton sisters' collection was being sold on eBay. It was almost like the market was flooded at that point with their whole collection. Dorothy had their own pieces, but then she also had pieces by, obviously, being the secretary, a number of other designers. I think during those years when that estate was being sold on eBay, and actually, now it's being sold by someone else, but it's still related to the other person that had been selling. It's his son now selling it.
I think for a while, there was a lot of things that were available, but it has slowed down now. One placemat easily will sell for 150 or 200. Then if it's a more rare design, like “Gossips” or something, it can definitely skyrocket and be over $1,000 or something like that.
Second Glance Thrift Store gets a lot of things in Gloucester. When they do, people are cleaning out estates in the area, they'll bring it there to donate. The money goes towards the food pantry there, so it's a really good cause. I spoke there when the book came out, there's a real love of the Folly Cove Designers there. They're great stewards of the work, but it is a bit hard besides a few local antique dealers and secondhand stores. There's a great antique store in Essex, Mass, Andrew Spindler, that sells pieces and does beautiful frames, has them beautifully framed, but yes, I would definitely say they've become more rare. There doesn't seem to be as much on the market.
Even after writing the book, like you said, people come forward, and I met so many family members after the book was published that I would have loved to have interviewed before, during the process, so they still have things in their collection. I think that more will come out, but right now there isn't a lot on the market. The prices are high, and the value has gone up. We'll see. I don't know if the book also had an effect on that too.
Laura: I'm sure it would because it means that people who don't know the name, if they google it, they'll see that there's a book about it and they'll like be like, "Oh, this is something important." It automatically elevates it.
Elena: Yes. I would say, I think you asked me [in an email] if my life had changed during the process, and when you're writing about this remarkable group and this idyllic lifestyle, you do wish, you're like, "Oh, I wish I could go back in time and be part of the group." In a way, it was weird, because my own writing process, much like when they were working on individual designs before they would bring it to the group, was very solitary, but through the process of writing the book, I've met so many great people, so many printmakers.
There's a wonderful printmaking community on Instagram, and they're very enthusiastic about the Folly Cove Designers, so I've met a lot of great people through my work on the Folly Cove Designers. Then also just the families and the collectors of the Folly Cove Designers, it's been a real joy to work with the families, and there are so many passionate collectors of the Folly Cove Designers' work, so I feel like my life has been enriched. I've created my own community that's stemmed from this work, so it's been nice and parallel, in some ways, to that community spirit of the Folly Cove Designers.
Laura: Did it make you want to take up printmaking at all?
Elena: Yes, definitely, I've dabbled in it a bit. I did it in grade school growing up, and then I have carved off and on a few blocks here and there while I was working on the book. I always mean to take an actual course with my friend, Susana McDonnell, she's Linocaveprints on Instagram, and she runs a lot of courses. She's a great printmaking teacher. We did a class once with another of our friends, Mindy Schumacher, who is Follysomeprints on Instagram, and then I talked about the Folly Cove Designers, but I'd like to take one where I'm just focusing on the actual printmaking myself.
Laura: When you were doing the research, were there any discoveries that stood out and were super exciting?
Elena: One of the things I found exciting was I didn't know until I think it was the summer of 2020, that they had produced bathing suits. I found in the Kenyon family collection that there was a proof print for a seahorse design and it's in the book. Then I found a letter from a department store in Boston with an ad showing women wearing the bathing suits. Then even beyond that, the Kenyon family had appeared in Ladies’ Home Journal in 1947 and Louise is wearing her own bathing suit. That was really fun. Then I later found a letter that mentioned that the group was selling bathing suits, so I just had no idea.
I found another letter that said during the war years, the group had printed—they preferred cotton obviously, and that was sort of their signature, was cotton prints, but they had printed on rayon because they couldn't get ahold of cotton. The bathing suit discovery from a fashion perspective was really exciting because I had no idea. Of course, I've never tracked down an actual bathing suit still in existence because they're such a disposable item and they wear out and everything, but that would be amazing if someone ever did find a bathing suit, so I would say the bathing suits.
Then the other exciting discovery was that Virginia Lee Burton, when she was in high school, her mom decided to divorce her father, and it was a big to-do. It was especially during a time when that was not a very regular thing to happen in families. Even her own family, they knew that Virginia had gone to live with another family and they had said it was a foster family, but they didn't know who the family was. I discovered through newspaper records that she actually lived with her art teacher, her high school art teacher and his wife.
That was really special, I think, to be able to uncover that. I don't know, it was reassuring, I think, to know that it wasn't just a random foster family that she was living with, that she was living with her art teacher and his wife. To be able to tell the family that was really special, I think. Her eldest son passed away before the book was published, but I was able to tell him about that discovery. There were definitely other biographical things that I had no idea about going into it that I was able to discover.
I really, really enjoyed the biographies of the individuals. I loved doing a deep dive into the lives of these women and some men. I found that really fulfilling and special.
Laura: How did you find the lost pieces? Were they in private collections? Where were they?
Elena: Yes, so mostly private collections. There are a few private collectors that have huge collections of Folly Cove design material that they've been collecting for years, and also the family collections. The Kenyon family had a great collection. Their collection offered me a window into a lot of the Schumacher business because they had some strike-offs and samples, but also because they had some newspaper clippings.
Oh, that was the other thing, the World War II, the blood bank drive illustrations. I found out about it through a clipping in the family—they're literally just little tiny pieces of paper in a folder or something, or in an envelope in the Kenyon family, that the Kenyon family had. I'm reading through and there are all these yellowed, fragile pieces of paper from newspapers. It mentioned something about there being these blood bank illustrations, but it didn't have any illustrations with it. Then I went to both Boston Public Library and Sawyer Free Library in Gloucester. I had the time period, the dates, so we were able to track down, through microfiche, the actual illustrations.
That was really exciting too because no one had ever seen those, and because it put them in the context of doing something for the war effort, I think it was really special as well. That was an exciting discovery as well. Then again, the images of the store windows from Lord and Taylor were really special. Then finding out that Louise Kenyon and her husband had traveled down to New York City to see the store windows. I don't have any quotes or Louise didn't keep a diary or anything of what she thought her impression of the store windows was, but to know that she actually had been down there to see them, that was pretty special.
Laura: If people read the book or check out the book after reading this and then want to see any of these items in real life, are they on view anywhere? Are they on view at the Cape Ann Museum or anywhere else?
Elena: Yes, so the Cape Ann Museum has a huge collection and they do have a small gallery devoted to the Folly Cove Designers. Probably you would only see maybe 20 pieces at a time. They rotate them about four times a year or two to four times a year. Then every couple of years they'll do a larger exhibit. They do have pieces on view.
Then there are pieces at Cooper Hewitt Museum, MFA Boston, and Peabody Essex Museum, but I don't think that any of them have them on display on a regular basis. Then there are other museums, there's Dallas Museum of Art or Museum of Art in Dallas that has—they're just scattered all over the place. I do have a list of the museums that I've found have pieces.
Then there's also Sandy Bay Historical Society, which it's a small historical society in Rockport, Mass which is next to Gloucester. They have an amazing collection, and they were super generous to me and let me just come in and photograph their collection. Again, right now it isn't on display, but I think they're working on getting a new building, so we'll see if down the road they'll have the ability to maybe display more of their collection because they do really have an amazing collection. Actually, it was in their collection that I found a few pieces of “lost to the public” designs in their collection.
Laura: Would you like to do an exhibition?
Elena: That's a huge goal of mine. There's a huge Japanese fan base of Virginia's work as an illustrator, but also of the Folly Cove Designers, so there is some interest in Japan. There is going to be a translation of the book in Japanese, so that's exciting, but I am looking at other exhibit options. I'd love to put together a small traveling exhibit, especially based on the private collections, the work in the private collections that I've made connections with. I'm looking at venues. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them too, but I think it would make for a great traveling exhibit. I have some ideas on a workaround for it, but framing the pieces would be an expensive endeavor. I have some ideas about that, and there are some grants that I'm looking into that might help with that, but yes, an exhibit would be ideal.
Laura: I hope it all works out because I'd love to see it.
Elena: Thank you. Obviously, the Cape Ann Museum has a great collection, but it's very largely based on Virginia's work. I think that I would like to do an exhibit that featured a lot of these “lost to the public” designs and really delved into the lives and highlighted the other members of the group as well. Also, if I end up working with a contemporary gallery, I think it would be great to highlight contemporary printmakers that work with printing on fabric. I think that that would be a nice element.
Laura: Do you have a favorite piece?
Elena: I do. I love a lot of Mary Maletskos's pieces, the “Queen Anne's Lace” that I mentioned. That is one of my favorites. I would say “Lily of the Valley” by Lee Natti, “Winter Boarders” by Virginia, as well as the “Diploma” or “Gossips,” the pieces that are just very signature Virginia. Then I love Louise Kenyon's pieces, and “Head of the Cove” is one of my favorites. That was another one of my most exciting discoveries, to realize that the “Head of the Cove” that we all recognize as “Head of the Cove” was actually a second version of the “Head of the Cove” that she originally did. That at some point, she re-carved the block, so there are really two versions of it. That was one really exciting discovery made during the process of writing the book.
It's hard to name. I love “My Friday” by Aino Clarke, which is not really in keeping with Virginia's specific rules, but I know Clarke was just really creative and just had her own style, and I love that about her work.
Laura: Wonderful. One of the things I loved in the book with the photos of the Kenyon house with the fabrics up as the wallpaper.
Elena: Yes, that's amazing. It's in really good shape still. I love that the family that lives there now, they're such a wonderful family and they still very much respect that they're stewards of this home that plays an important part in the community. They're just a wonderful family. Their daughter has the room with the “New England Wildflowers” wallpaper and just how special would that be to grow up with that as your wallpaper? That is just so cool. I love that.
It's really stayed in pretty good shape too. The colors haven't faded too much. That's been the other amazing discovery, the durability of the prints, not only on the fabric but on the wall cloth and the wallpapers that have stood the test of time. That's pretty amazing.
For me, [this research and book] is a passion project and it's been the greatest honor of my life to do what I hope helps secure the Folly Cove Designers' legacy and to introduce a new audience to their work, anything that I can do. When I get excited, I'll get excited if someone does a story about the book or it's in a magazine or something. Not for me personally, but just thinking like, "Oh, this is great, because someone new will hear about the Folly Cove Designers," and that just means so much to me.
I love it that people, once they find out about them, they seem to fall in love with them as well. I love that. It's not just females, it's males as well. Last night, someone messaged me, a man, and he said that he'd been to the Cape Ann Museum to see the Hopper exhibit, but then discovered the Folly Cove Designers and just fell in love with the Folly Cove Designers. I love hearing that.
I think that there's just this universal appeal to the work. Male, female, young, old, it's just something that appeals to people and hits home in a sentimental way too. I think that people connect to it on a deeper level.
It's really gratifying when the families are happy and pleased with the work. Eleanor Demetrios, Virginia's son Michael, his wife reached out to say how much she loves reading the book and that she's even learned more about the family. It's lovely to hear and everything. It's definitely been a huge honor to write about these remarkable women and their lives and the men as well in the group.
Had no clue, this was great! Thank you! Would love to have some of those cotton pieces!
Love Burton’s kids’ books. Mike Mulligan was read to us by our dad who got a kick out of the solution to Mike’s problems. I haven’t read the Folly book yet but it’s like finding out your favorite chef was also a major football star and you never knew it! Linocut printmaking is so accessible; the perfect medium to start out in printmaking. Long live negative space!