Frances Laughlin Wadsworth (1909-1978) was an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

active in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. Wadsworth was born in Buffalo, New York, on June 11, 1909. Her parents were Frank and Martha Laughlin. Wadsworth graduated from St. Catherine's School (Richmond, Virginia) in 1927, from which she received the Distinguished Alumna Award in 1970. She also trained in Europe. Wadsworth moved to Hartford when she married Robert Wadsworth, an executive at Travelers Insurance. Hartford was then considered the insurance capital of the United States. Robert was also a direct descendant of Daniel Wadsworth, who had created the Wadsworth Atheneum, the first public art museum in the United States. However, at the time of Frances and Robert's marriage, the Wadsworth family was no longer involved in the administration of the Museum. Frances Wadsworth was commissioned to produce a number of pieces of public art in Connecticut. She also served as Fine Art Instructor at the

Institute of Living An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

in Hartford, as part of an initiative to introduce art therapy for patients.

Selected works

Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational church, Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was know ...

statue, 1948 * Brother and Sister, Institute of Living, Hartford, 1949 * Thomas Hooker statue, Hartford, 1950 *

Alice Cogswell Alice Cogswell (August 31, 1805 – December 30, 1830) was the inspiration to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet for the creation of the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Cogswell and Gallaudet At the age of two, Cogswell became il ...

statue (

American School for the Deaf American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

Founders Memorial), Hartford, 1952 * The Safe Arrival, Hartford, 1964 * The Young President, 1964 * Day Dreams, date unknown * Love, date unknown * "The peer status of sixth and seventh grade children", New York, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1954. * Robert Kennedy, 1966

References

* Doris Estelle Cook, ''Hartford's Most Visible Sculptor: Frances L. Wadsworth'', Connecticut Historical Society, 1988. * Institute of Living, ''Annual Report'', 1950.
Smithsonian Institution: Siris art database

St. Catherine's School: Distinguished Alumna Award
*Karen DePauw," Frances Laughlin Wadsworth: Sculpting the Past", April 24, 2014. https://connecticuthistory.org/frances-laughlin-wadsworth-sculpting-the-past/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Wadsworth, Frances Laughlin 20th-century American sculptors 1909 births 1978 deaths Artists from Buffalo, New York