Join us next week on Tuesday, April 22nd at 5:30 PM with Manship Artist Residency to welcome Manship’s former Operations Manager, Elena Sarni, the author of Trailblazing Women Printmakers: Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios and the Folly Cove Designers and authority on the Folly Cove Designers. This event is part of a month long celebration in April of textile arts organized by Gather!
A visual history of the Folly Cove Designers from 1941-1969, Folly Cove Designers is one of America’s longest-running block printing collectives. The Folly Cove Designers (officially 1941-1969) was a grassroots collective of predominantly women block printers founded by Caldecott Award-winner and beloved children’s book author/illustrator Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios (of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel fame).
This trailblazing Gloucester, MA-based group produced more than three hundred distinct designs, which they block printed on fabric. The designs conveyed personal and regional narratives through the use of shared design principles and the compelling language of pattern. The group was propelled to international fame through commercial contracts with major retailers (F. Schumacher, Lord & Taylor, etc.), articles in leading periodicals such as Life, and participation in seminal fine craft exhibitions. Their work continues to inspire contemporary printmakers around the globe, particularly women printmakers.
As the first comprehensive history of the Folly Cove Designers, Trailblazing Women Printmakers documents and celebrates the group’s tremendous success and the incredible artistry of its members. With more than 250 black-and-white and color photographs, author Elena Sarni explores the Folly Cove Designers’ history, work, and group dynamics.
Sarni’s book came out just over a year ago, and is now being published in French and Japanese as well.
We welcome this opportunity to learn from Elena about this local art guild and her book, Trailblazing Women Printmakers.
More information and registration here.
Drop-ins welcome!
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