In the woods of Benzie County sits a 21,000-square-foot studio that was owned by famed Michigan artist Gwen Frostic, who built a multimillion-dollar business from her artwork depicting plants and wildlife across the state.
Since Frostic’s death in 2001, the home, production center and business have had a rotation of owners who have tried to maintain the 62-year-old business and legacy of one of Michigan's most famous artists.
After more than four years on the market, sisters Amy and Sarah Blessing bought both the Gwen Frostic Prints business and the property rights of the studio in late May. Sarah said her goal for now is to maintain a business that has served generations of visitors, “in celebration of (Frostic’s) life work.”
“We are not coming in here to try to make big changes,” Sarah said. “Our efforts are always driven by respect for what she created, a respect for the history of this place and for her legacy.”
The Blessing sisters have been in the retail business for years and have eyed the property since it was sold to former owners Kim and Greg Forshee. In 2022, the Forshees put the building up for sale in hopes of retiring.
As kids, the Blessing sisters used to travel to the studio while visiting family.
“Our grandmother would take us here, and it was very much like visiting a museum,” Sarah said. “We'd watch the presses, and every year we'd pick out cards.”
Sarah and her sister liked the combination of retail and “making something out of these iconic and beautiful prints.”
However, the business will be a project for the two.
The studio sustained some damage over the winter, with different parts of the roof damaged and an unused storage building demolished. The sisters hope to address those renovations over the next few months.
Sarah said they also hope to clear out some of the overgrown trails around the property so visitors can see where Frostic gathered her inspiration.
“You should be able to go out and experience nature in the way that she did and the way she created all of this work,” she said. “It's not going to happen tomorrow, but I think our approach is that we want to kind of take this slowly.”
The sisters have been in a “learning” stage of managing Frostic’s business.
Sarah said they have been learning how the store was originally run under Frostic from some of the senior employees.
“We come to this with some related experience, but I think we are very aware of also sitting with it and learning,” she said. “We have some wonderful resources around us of women who have been here for years.”
Sandra Grahl has worked for Gwen Frostic’s Studio for nearly 40 years, and was first hired by the artist to be a sales clerk. She said the studio has had some “ups and downs,” but Grahl is excited to see how the new owners will maintain the business.
“I just think that she would probably be happy to see that it's going to be kind of restored and preserved for future generations,” Grahl said.
Grahl said Frostic was “old school” and could be tough at times. However, she said she respected that from her former employer.
In a 1985 interview with officials from Western Michigan University, her alma mater, Frostic said she didn’t think artists “should just limit themselves to art” and that she loved mixing business with her creative work.
“Money was a big thing,” her neighbor and friend, Wes Blizzard, said. “She wanted to make money.”
The WMU alum bequeathed $13 million to the university's art school, which was later named after her in 2007.
Years before Frostic opened her studio, she tested out other art forms such as metal sculpting. After the start of World War II made buying metal difficult because of scarcity, she purchased her first printing press, according to the National Park Service.
She spent the weekdays working for Ford Motor Co. as a tool designer and spent weekends building up her business, Presscraft Papers, before turning it into her full-time job.
“She produced the art and then displayed it in a way that people kind of gravitated to,” Blizzard said. “It was simple, but well done.”
In 1964, she opened her studio at 5140 River Road in a swampy area of Benzonia Township. That became the center of her business.
The studio attracted visitors who wanted to meet Frostic and see how her famous prints were made by her 18 Heidelberg presses, which are still being used today.
In 2021, the studio was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The new owners said they are excited to be part of the Frostics legacy.
“This (studio) is an important part of this community,” Sarah said. “(Frostic’s) story is very cool. Preserving her legacy and continuing it is something that we really want to be a part of.”
