I met Carol Wallace back in the late 1990's. Carol really impressed me as a person who was inspired by Route 66 and Americana. I did not know it at the time of our meeting, but Carol would become a lasting friend of mine and my two daughters, Mirna and Clarissa, and Clarissa's husband, Mauricio, who now manage the gift shop. Carol would also have a lasting impression on our travelers. She created an original piece of art and note cards of my barbershop for her "Preserve America Collection" card line. The card is very special to me because it is a rendering of my barber shop with my father's 1926 barber chair, which I still use to this day.
In 1950, I opened my barber shop in the same building my father had opened his barber shop and pool hall on Route 66 in 1922, before the road even had its now famous name. I was recently inducted into the National Barber Shop Hall of Fame which is most heartfelt to me, as I was honored for my father's and my profession. I am also honored to have received many awards for preserving and promoting Route 66. The art of my father's chair and my barber shop is one of my most treasured pieces of barbering memorabilia.
Carol's note cards have a very special place in our gift shop. I have a desk in the front of the gift shop where I sign Route 66 memorabilia for travelers from all over the world. My desk consists of a guest book for our visitors to sign in, our business cards, flags of the USA, and Carol's note cards.
Angel Delgadillo
"The Angel of Route 66"
Historic Route 66 Gift Shop, Barbershop Museum, and Visitor Center
Seligman, Arizona
Representing the Waldorf Astoria New York, I commissioned Carol Wallace to craft our 2011 Holiday card. Our goal was to capture the magic of the winter season along Park Avenue, with a light snowfall cascading on the holiday shoppers and business folk alike as they transitioned in front of our imposing facade. At the risk of engaging in cliché, we were hoping for a Norman Rockwell-type look where an institution of American culture, The Waldorf Astoria, symbolized New York for locals and tourists alike. Carol did an impressive job in defining that setting for us in a fashion that married our goals and her artistic flair. We were quite pleased with the result.
Matt Zolbe
Director of Sales & Marketing
Waldorf Astoria
New York, New York
As General Manager of The Wort Hotel, I had the pleasure of working with Carol Wallace on a commissioned art project with us, obtaining the reproduction rights for the hotel. It is evident in meeting Carol that she puts her heart into any project. She not only wanted to learn firsthand about the hotel from a visual perspective, but wanted to know "its feel and story" through meeting people. Carol stayed at the hotel and had dinner with myself and our hotel manager, Christie Reinhardt, to learn about the heart and history of the hotel. She was able to convey this so well that her original watercolor is now hanging in the private collection of our owner, Bill Baxter, who resides in Tennessee. We had originally started the project with the intention of making guest amenity cards for the hotel. We have not only used these cards for guest amenities but also sell them in our gift shop and have used the artwork in a holiday-themed version for our Holiday cards for the past three seasons. We work very closely with our own printers, and have for the past 10 years. It is for this reason that it was important to work with someone that would allow us to obtain reproduction rights. We look forward to working with Carol on future projects.
Jim Waldrop
General Manager
The Wort Hotel
Jackson, Wyoming
I commissioned Carol Wallace to create a watercolor painting and five pen & ink drawings of my ancestral estate, Andalusia. It was decided that the Andalusia series would be part of the artist's Preserve America Collection of prints, because of the property's important historic heritage and the preservation efforts of The Andalusia Foundation.
Carol visited several times to meet with me and make preliminary sketches. We worked together to plan what subjects would be featured and wrote historical data for the backs of the cards. The work was done in a timely and professional manner.
James "Jimmy" Biddle
President, The Andalusia Foundation
Biddle Ancestral Estate
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1930-2005
Mr. Biddle was President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (1961-1980) and Curator of the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1955-1963). The six pen and ink drawings, created by Carol Wallace, are hanging on the walls of Mr. Biddle's home, The Cottage, on his ancestral estate.
The project for the cards was the result of a longstanding vision I've had to pictorially pull together the historic treasures of Valle Crucis and the right artist making herself available to the project. The handful of homes (now bed and breakfast inns), the churches, and the few commercial establishments in the broad valley helped to create a scenic area not unlike some New England valley.
Along comes a Connecticut artist with a penchant for capturing her subjects in whimsical but realistic style. The next steps involved the pulling together of all the property owners and letting the vision come together. It also would not have happened if not for the diligence and persistence of Carol Wallace. The artist, with both the talent and the resources to produce both the art and note cards, made countless trips, phone calls, and faxes to make it all pull together. One other person who was invaluable to the project was Sheri Moretz, the Mast General Store public relations director. Sheri worked on coordinating, editing, and, in most cases, writing the copy for the various cards. The result is a series of seven note cards with envelopes that are sold at most of the historic properties.
John E. Cooper, Jr.
Mast General Store & Annex
Valle Crucis, North Carolina
(John additionally owns stores in seven other North Carolina locations.)
The card images were also used to create a cotton throw which was sold in the Mast General Store and the Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the Western North Carolina Diocese chose one of the note cards for his Christmas card one year.
Dear Ms. Wallace,
This is a long overdue thank you for the lovely watercolor print of the National World War ll Memorial. It's a wonderful presentation of the Memorial that is now enjoyed by more than 100,000 recipients of the National WWll Memorial USPO First Day of Issue Covers we produced.
You were very gracious to provide me and other members of the American Battle Monuments Commission staff with a copy. I am very honored to have it.
Sincerely,
John P. Herrling
Major General, US Army (Retired)
Secretary, American Battle Monuments Commission
Arlington, Virginia
Carol Wallace was commissioned by the Director of Donor Services of the American Battle Monuments Commission to create an original painting of the National World War ll Memorial which was reproduced as 30 giclee limited edition prints. The prints were given to high-ranking officials at the AMBC shortly after the Dedication of the Memorial (2004), as a thank you. In addition, another piece of art, Carol's pen and ink drawing, was engraved onto the USPO First Day of Issue Covers which were released on the day of the Dedication. Proceeds from the sale of the Covers, which are still sold online, contribute to the maintenance of the Memorial.
My husband and I had just purchased a painting at The Lenox Gallery of Fine Art in Lenox, Massachusetts and, as I walked out of the framing room, I saw your Country Flowers standing against the wall, waiting to be hung. Immediately, without hesitation, I said, "I want that painting!" I've never purchased a piece of art so spontaneously! I was drawn to it. It hangs in our bedroom in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts and is often the first thing I see when I wake in the morning. What a great way to begin the day!
We just purchased another of your paintings, Zinnias, last weekend for our New Jersey home, and it was the same thing...it just captivated me. I understand you did a painting of Blantyre. It was my favorite place to stay in the Berkshires before we bought the house. I'd love to see it.
Christine McKenna
Fine Art Collector
My wife, granddaughter, and I were in the dining room last June at Cobb's Pierce Pond Camps in Maine. Among the subjects we discussed was your fine watercolor rendition of "First Boat Through Caribou Narrows." I think the painting captures, for a lot of us, the sight and feel of having gone through the Narrows in the early morning hours. It would mean a lot to us to have one of your prints at which to gaze, especially in the throws of winter!
Nick Fretz
Fine Art Collector
Dear Carol,
Thank you so much for the sketch of my old homestead. I love it. I spent the first twenty-two years of my life in that house, and I have many, many pleasant memories of it. I feel very honored to get one of your drawings, and directly from the artist. Thank you a thousand times. The sketch is framed and hanging on my wall. I will always cherish it.
Sincerely,
Bud Bostwick
Farmer
Hunt Hill Farm
New Milford, Connecticut
Bud and bandleader Skitch Henderson and his wife, Ruth, transformed Bud's former property into a much-heralded historic landmark called Hunt Hill Farm Trust.
Dear Carol,
Just a quick note to tell you again how magnificent the Angel in the World 2001 painting is. My mother has just seen it in person for the first time and is awestruck at how Angel looks just exactly like Angel!!! We love this painting so much, and thank you for capturing our Angel so beautifully.
Taylor Hanex
Senior Vice President - Wealth Management
Merrill Lynch, Inc.
New York, New York
Fine Art Collector
(Angel is Taylor's dog)
We sell the note cards in the gift shop and use them as welcome cards for special events. Guests love them! The artwork for the original note cards was done many years ago, and when we needed to reorder, Carol graciously offered to rework the old design in order for us to avoid the cost of an updated original. Carol's artwork is wonderful and really captures the charm of Maine and the Harraseeket Inn. Would highly recommend!
Penny Nadianichols,
Owner
The Harraseeket Inn
Freeport, Maine
Mrs. Wallace,
I recently discovered your work while doing a search on Matryoshka doll images on the Internet. I absolutely love, love, love your painting. I live in Russia, though I am an American. Thank you so much for painting such beautiful images that bring such happiness into people's lives! I am happy to have found your work!
Robi
Letter to the staff at Litchfield Hills Tourism Bureau (RE: Tourism brochure illustrated by Carol Wallace.)
Many thanks for the literature about the Litchfield Hills, I found the material quite interesting. I found the sketches in "Touring By Car, Foot, Boat and Bike" very beautiful--you might want to relay that to the very talented artist, Carol Wallace. In particular, I very much admired the sketch on Page 14 of the Antique Shop.
Sincerely,
Tom Higgins
American Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Sun-Times.
San Diego, California
From the Web site of Gargan Communication: Crane & Company hired this communications firm to create elaborate brochures, featuring the Biltmore Estate on the cover (one of Carol's clients at the time), It announced the association between Crane, Excelsior Printing Company and Carol Wallace in 2000. The brochures and corresponding materials were sent to historic properties, tourism officials, and curators of museums and national landmarks across America, inviting them to acquire world-class Preserve America two or three-paneled note cards to assist in their fundraising ventures and to increase visibility about the history and culture of these places.
Client: Preserve America
Barkhamsted, CT
Artistic talent and business talent are rarely combined in one individual. But Carol Wallace has both. She founded an organization called Preserve America, offering her own artistry to landmarks and historic properties, printed on Crane's fine stationery. Our cover concept perfectly captures her business concept in one carefully directed photograph.
Gargan Communication
Dalton, Massachusetts
Dear Ms. Wallace,
We at the Smithsonian wish to thank you for the kind gift of the poster depicting country stores of Vermont. This will be a good regional reference aid to our collections that document the history of country stores in the United States. Please accept our congratulations on a fine piece of work,
Yours Sincerely,
David H. Shayt
Collections Manager
Division of Community Life
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C.
We’ve had the opportunity to use many of Carol’s works. When we met her, she had done beautiful watercolors of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. She loaned them to us to use on a line of note cards we were producing for sale and use as premium gifts for our donors. She did a similar poster and laid it over a ship’s manifest of Ellis island. She had done a run of them and gave us the remainder of her run so we could them. Most recently, we used her painting of the Ellis building with the Statue of Liberty on our 2017 membership cards. She’s a very talented artist who does beautiful work. She's been a joy to work with.
Peg Zitko
Executive Vice President
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation
When I first met Carol, she was interested in becoming a coloring-book contributor. I was working on an issue of Pyrography, our wood-burning magazine, and I saw an opportunity to use Carol’s work as a pattern for wood burning. I chose one of them – a pen-and-ink rendition of an old country store. We scanned it into a computer, double checked the lines to be sure they’d be clear to the reader, translated the pattern into wood-burning, and published that with four of her other works in the magazine. Working with her was terrific. She was more than willing to provide any drawings or information we needed. She was very easy to work with. She understood our publishing process because of her experience in so many areas. I enjoyed working with her very much.
Mindy Kinsey von Schmidt-Pauli
Editor
Pyrography Magazine
Fox Chapel Publishing Company
When I first met her, Carol approached the company I was with at that time (Excelsior Printing Company...the printing division of Crane & Company, fine stationers) to create a line of upscale greeting cards for her “Preserve America” project. When the partnership was launched, we worked on marketing plans to develop her nationwide art/preservation venture. Carol would go to historic sites and do paintings, and I would translate those onto note cards, greeting cards, posters or other collaterals they would sell in their gift shops or give to their high-end clients and donors. Seventeen years later, we continue our association. She’s very talented and a joy to work with. Carol’s full of energy. She understands her role and she understands mine. We work very well together.
Tom Jammalo
Sales and Business Development Manager
Bradford and Bigelow
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Carol's montage posters, Country Stores of Vermont and Historic Bucks County and various Preserve America note cards have been used by the Museum for education and research purposes.
For more information, contact Carol Wallace by emailing her at crwallace000@aol.com.