STILLWATER—Though she didn’t have much as a young girl during the Depression, Virginia Lovness’s early talent for art led her to a long and exciting life, lived partially in a local home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
A series of Lovness’s paintings from throughout her life is now on display in the gallery on the third floor of the Stillwater Public Library.
As a young woman, Lovness received a scholarship to Hamline University, where she studied art and expanded her early interest for fashion design to landscapes, abstracts, prints and sculptures. For a while she took businesses classes and taught returning G.I.s at Rasmussen Business School, but art was always her primary passion. Once she even traded a canvas for a pink Cadillac. She accepted a secretarial job at 3M, where she met her husband Don Lovness, a chemical engineer.
When they began raising a family, they moved from a St. Paul apartment to a larger home in White Bear Lake, but Virginia dreamed of a new art studio. She constructed her own design, and a relative acquainted with architect Frank Lloyd Wright arranged an introduction. Wright was charmed by Virginia. After completely redrawing her design, he instructed the couple to purchase land where they could “own their view.”
Virginia and Don constructed the design by hand on the outskirts of Stillwater, and later added a second structure that was a copy of the Wright-designed Seth Peterson Cottage. Virginia and Don raised their family in the unique home.
Don passed away in 2001, and Virginia sold the house in 2013. The house’s new owner got in touch with the family to report that there were still paintings in the home, tucked away in obscure corners. To surprise her mother, Lonnie Lovness and her husband Gordon Maltby framed the paintings and approached the library about having a show to commemorate Virginia's lifetime devotion to art.
“My mother’s work was inspired by the world around her...sailboats on the lake, cityscapes, and many, many paintings of nature,” Lonnie said. “She would paint landscapes, flowers, pods and thistles and found beauty in almost everything. Her work is very fluid and expressive and full of energy and almost lyrical. Most of the pieces are full of color...something that has been an important part of her life in every facet.”
Virginia was visited by many friends and family at the July 20 artist’s reception.
At 92 years old, Virginia said to visitors that her goal is to live to be 105.
Lonnie is currently writing a book about her parents’ extraordinary life, entitled “Growing Up Wright,” which she said has been on her mind for 10 years.
“During the process of researching for my upcoming book, I came up with the idea to have a show of my mother’s work because she uncovered hundreds of her paintings that had been stored for years,” Lonnie said. “It was such an incredible body of work and with so much spirit, I thought it deserved to be seen by many more people than just our family! It is especially interesting since Frank Lloyd Wright had designed a home for my parents as a painting studio for my mother...As my mother ages it becomes more and more important to talk with her now about the details of the incredible life that she and my father had.”
Lovness’s artwork will be on display at the library through August. The Stillwater Public Library is located at 224 Third Street N., Stillwater. Stay tuned; an upcoming edition of the Lowdown will feature a more in-depth feature on Lonnie’s new book.
Jackie Bussjaeger is the editor of the Forest Lake and St. Croix Valley Lowdown, and can be reached at 651-407-1229 or lowdownnews@presspubs.com.
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