Benzonia studio named to National Register of Historic Places

Apr. 18—BENZONIA — Gwen Frostic's life as an artist is on full display at her unique Benzonia studio that uses her linoleum blocks and Heidelberg presses to print her distinctive work.

The Gwen Frostic Studio, a destination for the art community and tourists alike, was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"We are just so proud for Gwen and all of her hard work," said Kim Forshee, who with her husband Greg now owns the studio. "We felt very honored. We wish she was here to see this."

Frostic died in 2001 and the Forshees have owned the studio since 2010. The studio opens for the summer at the end of May and the Forshees will hold a celebration then.

Frostic founded and was the sole proprietor of Presscraft Papers, turning her linoleum block carvings into stationery and prints using Heidelberg printing presses. The business was founded in Wyandotte and in the 1950s Frostic opened a summer shop in Frankfort to sell her prints and other goods, eventually moving there and operating year round.

She later bought 40 wooded acres in Benzonia and moved her operation there, designing and building a combination home and office in 1964, adding on to the building several times as Presscraft Papers grew. She expanded the property to a 285-acre wildlife sanctuary, from which she drew inspiration for her drawings that were made into linoleum blocks.

More than 95,000 properties across the country, including nearly 2,000 in Michigan, have been listed in the National Register since the program began in the 1960s. The National Register is a program of the National Park Service.

To be considered, a property must be at least 50 years old and must be significant in relationship to major historical events or trends in the history of their community, the state, or the nation.

The studio was nominated by Debra Ball Johnson, a historical architect with the State Historic Preservation Office. Johnson said SHPO had a list of possible sites for consideration and she chose the studio because northern lower and upper Michigan is an underserved area where there are very few places on the register associated with women. The area is also underserved geographically, she said.

Applications are evaluated by a state review board, which votes on whether it will be sent on to the federal level. If it does, the Keeper of the Register of Historic Places, an NPS official, determines if it will be listed on the register.

As an infant, Frostic had a fever that left her with a disability that included weakness in her hands. She graduated high school, went to college, worked in a factory during World War II and started her own business in a time when women entrepreneurs were rare.

"In spite of all that she was very, very successful," Johnson said.

Her artwork has a whimsical nature, especially that which includes animals, she said.

"They seem to interact with the viewer," Johnson said. "They're very beautiful and that's a reflection of her love for Michigan ... Everybody seems to love Gwen Frostic."

The Forshees' goal is to preserve not just the studio, but Frostic's work. In all, there are about 2,200 linoleum blocks that are still used for printing, but are being digitally preserved by the Forshees in order to save the original blocks.

Forshee worked at the studio in sales and marketing for about four years, until it got shut down and went into foreclosure due to mismanagement, she said.

"I just really fell in love with it," Forshee said. "We took a really big deep breath and decided to jump in."

The studio is a local treasure with loyal customers and tour buses bringing national and international visitors, Forshee said.

All of the original Heidelberg presses are still in use and visitors can watch them run. Forshee remembers visiting the studio and watching the presses run as a child with her grandmother. She now brings her grandchildren.

"I was brokenhearted when it closed down, as were many, many people," she said. "It is a special place and we consider ourselves the caretakers."

Frostic was inducted into the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame in 1986 and was awarded several honorary doctorates, including from Western Michigan University, which she attended in the late 1920s, but never graduated.

She donated $13 million to the college, whose school of art bore her name — the Gwen Frostic School of Art. In 2008 she was honored with a statue on its campus.