Gwen Frostic Studio ~ Benzonia, Michigan, photo by Trish P. – K1000 Gal
The Elberta Alert tipped me off last year that in 1978, Michigan Governor William Milliken proclamed May 23 Gwen Frostic Day in Michigan, and in 1986 she was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. Their page for Sara Gwendolyn Frostic (Gwen Frostic) who was born in 1906 and passed away in 2001 says:
Author, artist, lecturer, and founder and sole proprietor of Presscraft Papers in Benzonia, Michigan, Gwen Frostic is known throughout the nation for her images of nature and for illustrated books which reflect her indomitable philosophy.
Frostic was born in Sandusky, Michigan and lived in St. Charles before moving to Wyandotte for her high school years. Interested in art from an early age, she used a band saw to create life-size posters for school events, and later studied art education at Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan Universities. During World War II, she worked in a Ford Motor Company bomber plant where she learned production, a skill she put to good use running the 15 Heidelberg presses in her northern Michigan printing and sales establishment. These presses make impressions from her hand-carved linoleum blocks onto paper and the resulting prints found their way into distinctive books, pamphlets, stationery, and other products she designed.
After beginning her business in Wyandotte, Frostic moved to Benzie County in 1955, starting with 40 acres and gradually creating a 285-acre wildlife sanctuary 35 miles southwest of Traverse City. Her commitment to nature and design is reflected in her home, studio, and print shop which draw thousands of visitors each summer.
The photo shows the Gwen Frostic Studio on River Road in Benzie County. The studio was also the artist’s home – click through for hours and such. Here’s a video interview with Gwen Frostic from 1998.
Check the photo out bigger and see more from the studio (including the massive Heidelberg presses used to print her iconic designs in Trish’s Gwen Frostic slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 
I have been a fan of Gwen Frostic since I was a little girl. I have a variety of her stationary with her beautiful nature designs, and have visited her studio a few times. She is such an amazing woman and definitely deserves to be celebrated.
Thanks so much for sharing! This really brings back wonderful memories for me!
:)
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My mother knew Gwen Frostic in Wyandotte. (My mother grew up in Wyandotte.) She always had GF stationary and when I was about 12 years old, introduced me to Gwen up in Benzonia. We were vacationing in a cottage on Crystal Lake (in Beulah), which I think my mother chose because of the proximity to the studio. It was an enchanting visit and I’ve loved her stationary as well.
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I visited her studio many years ago and was taken by the lovely linoleum block prints she did….and inspired to do my own prints. I still have a couple of her cards.
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We always make a visit to Gwen Frostic’s when we are vacationing in Onekama, MI. Love her work.
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