Tella Kitchen (February 14, 1902 – June 21, 1988)
(September 2013). ''Pike County News Watchman'' (Ohio). www.newswatchman.org. Retrieved 2016-07-26. was a

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

ist known for her paintings of landscapes and town life in rural

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. She was a

self-taught artist Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates ...

, whose work was based on her memories of her life.Sellen, Betty-Carol (2016).
Kitchen, Tella (1902-1988)
. ''Self-Taught, Outsider and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources''. 3rd edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. . p. 183. Her work achieved national recognition, and can be found in the collections of the

American Folk Art Museum The American Folk Art Museum is an art museum in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at 2, Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street. It is the premier institution devoted to the aesthetic appreciation of folk art and creative expressions o ...

Biography

She was born Tella Denehue, on a small farm in the hills of

Vinton County, Ohio Vinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,800, making it the least populous county in the state. Its county seat is McArthur. The county is named for Samuel Finley Vinton, US ...

, near the village of Londonderry, in neighboring

Ross County, Ohio Ross County is a county in the Appalachian region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 77,093. Its county seat is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, t ...

.Bishop, Robert (1979). ''Folk Painters of America''. New York: Greenwich House. Reprint. . p. 214.Rivers, Cheryl (2004). "Kitchen, Telia (1902-1988)". ''The Encyclopedia of American Folk Art''. Eds. Gerard C. Wertkin and Lee Kogan. London: Routledge. . Retrieved via ''Credo Reference'' database, 2016-07-26. Taylor & Francis edition, 2005
available in preview
via Google Books. Her father's family had immigrated to the United States from

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

; her mother's family was from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. During her childhood she moved with her family to Indiana, where they settled on a small farm near

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

. In 1920 she married Noland Kitchen (1895-1963),Tella Denehue Kitchen
. Find-A-Grave memorial number 79261011. www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26. and the couple moved to the village of

Adelphi, Ohio Adelphi is a village in Ross County, Ohio, United States. The population was 380 at the 2010 census. Adelphi was laid out in 1804 by two brothers, and named after the Greek word for "brothers". Adelphi was incorporated as a village in 1838. G ...

, where they raised four children. Noland Kitchen served as mayor of Adelphi; the Kitchens also operated a gas station, sold used cars, and farmed. After her husband's death in 1963, Tella Kitchen succeeded him as mayor of Adelphi.Cardinal, Roger. "Painting, Memory" (2004). ''The Encyclopedia of American Folk Art''. Eds. Gerard C. Wertkin and Lee Kogan. London: Routledge. . Retrieved via ''Credo Reference'' database, 2016-07-26. At some point during this period of her life, her son Denny gave her a paint set as a gift, and she began painting when she was around 67 years old,Tella Kitchen
" ''Ohio Women's Hall of Fame''. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Retrieved 2016-07-26. drawing on her memories of her childhood, and her experiences of rural and town life, including contemporary events. Through the efforts of Denny Kitchen, the artist's son, her work came to the attention of the folk art historian Robert Bishop (1938-1991), then a curator at the

Henry Ford Museum The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...

, in Dearborn, Michigan, and later the director of the Museum of American Folk Art (since 2001 known as the American Folk Art Museum), in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

; Bishop included Kitchen in his book ''Folk Painters of America'' (1979).

Selected paintings

*''The Joy of Winter'', depicting a horse-drawn funeral procession in Adelphi, Ohio *''Our Family Doctor, Independence, Indiana'' *''Our First School Bus'', set in Adelphi, Ohio, in 1921 *''When the Fred Buck Livery Stable Burned'' (1976), depicting a fire that Kitchen witnessed in Independence, Indiana

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchen, Tella 1902 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters Naïve painters People from Ross County, Ohio Mayors of places in Ohio Women mayors of places in Ohio American people of Irish descent People from Warren County, Indiana Painters from Indiana 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians