Kansas Impressions
Avis Chitwood and/or Margaret Whittemore / Topeka KS
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds
c 1938-41
silkscreen
About Avis Chitwood (1894 – 1994)
After high school, Avis apprenticed for four years with the Ross Gibbens Studio, an artist in Kansas City, doing watercolor and china painting. The Chitwood family moved to Topeka from Kansas City in 1921. In 1922 Avis managed a crafts shop at Crane Co., doing baskets, home décor, and textiles. For many years, she arranged booths at the Kansas Free Fair. Avis studied art at Washburn University, where she learned etching from Mary Huntoon and Clara Hatton, and at Kansas University, where she earned her certificate. A versatile artist, Avis did wood tableware, textile designs, painted ceramics; etching, woodcuts, painting, silkscreen reproductions. She taught for four years at Washburn, and also taught night classes in arts and crafts at Topeka High School. During World War II, in 1943 she did drafting for Kansas Highway Department (see her biography file in Topeka Room for examples.) Avis exhibited her work, and won prizes at the Kansas Free Fair. At age 87 she climbed to a post atop a structure at Brewster Place to sketch a scene for notecards. She lived past her 100th birthday, in 1993, still creating.
Kansas Impressions
Avis Chitwood and/or Margaret Whittemore / Topeka KS
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds
c 1938-41
silkscreen
About Avis Chitwood (1894 – 1994)
After high school, Avis apprenticed for four years with the Ross Gibbens Studio, an artist in Kansas City, doing watercolor and china painting. The Chitwood family moved to Topeka from Kansas City in 1921. In 1922 Avis managed a crafts shop at Crane Co., doing baskets, home décor, and textiles. For many years, she arranged booths at the Kansas Free Fair. Avis studied art at Washburn University, where she learned etching from Mary Huntoon and Clara Hatton, and at Kansas University, where she earned her certificate. A versatile artist, Avis did wood tableware, textile designs, painted ceramics; etching, woodcuts, painting, silkscreen reproductions. She taught for four years at Washburn, and also taught night classes in arts and crafts at Topeka High School. During World War II, in 1943 she did drafting for Kansas Highway Department (see her biography file in Topeka Room for examples.) Avis exhibited her work, and won prizes at the Kansas Free Fair. At age 87 she climbed to a post atop a structure at Brewster Place to sketch a scene for notecards. She lived past her 100th birthday, in 1993, still creating.