Frances Currey

Frances Currey (1925–2012; also known as Grandma Fran[2] and Frances Currey Brown) was an American folk art painter.

For the US Army sergeant, see Francis S. Currey. For the Australian rugby league player and coach, see Frank Curry.
Frances Curry
Born1925
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Died2012 (aged 86–87)
Resting placeSylvan Abbey Memorial Park, Clearwater, Florida, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBall State University
Known forPainting
StyleFolk art
SpouseGeorge Brown
Patron(s)Luci Baines Johnson[1]
Websitegrandmafran.com

Early life and education

Frances Currey was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1925.[2] She was raised on a farm in Jennings County, Indiana.[3]

In the mid-1960s, Currey was a school teacher, teaching third grade in Liberty, Indiana.[1][4] She had earned her master's degree at Ball State University in Elementary Education.[4] She also studied for her doctorate, studying Alzheimer's disease at Earlham College. She married and had three children.[1]

Mid-life and career

Currey would remarry, marrying George Brown.[1] In the 1970s, Currey's son, James Clarkson, moved to Mississippi. Currey mailed her 2-year-old granddaughter postcards with drawings on them. Another artist recognized Currey's talent and encouraged her to start painting larger scale works and selling them.[1] Thus, Currey and her husband opened an art studio in Berryville, Arkansas.[3] They both sold their art in the studio.[1]

In 1978, "Moving Day," was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Around the same time, she submitted her work to a call for artists by Jimmy Carter. Her work was accepted and was displayed at Carter's cabin.[1]

In 1981, Luci Baines Johnson commissioned her first painting from Currey. Johnson visited Currey's gallery while visiting the Ozark Mountains. The work, titled "T.J. Taylor -- Dealer in Everything," "depicts a normal day in the life" of T.J. Turpin, Johnson's husband's grandfather.[1]

Currey was commissioned, in 1992, by the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History to create "Decoration Day," which depicts Memorial Day and the decorating of tombstones.[1]

Later life and legacy

Currey was diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer's disease in 2006. She was placed in a nursing home in 2009, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.[1] She died in December 2012 and was buried in Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida.

Work

Currey was a folk artist who painted depictions of her childhood in Indiana and every day life of living on a farm and small town. She had no formal training. Her work is story based. Currey would tell stories to visitors to the studio to accompany her paintings.[1]

Notable collections
  • "Moving Day" - 1978, watercolor and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum[5]

References
  1. Parker, Tina (30 November 2012). "Leaving a legacy: Grandma Fran no longer paints, but her primitive art lasts". Carroll County News. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  2. "Frances Currey". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  3. Patti Delano (1 November 2006). Off the Beaten Path Arkansas: A Guide to Unique Places. Globe Pequot Press. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-0-7627-4196-0.
  4. "Primitive artist, longtime gallery owner Grandma Fran dies at 87". Carroll County News. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  5. "Moving Day". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
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