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Clara Barck Welles (1868–1965) founded the Kalo Shop in 1900 with five other women graduates of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Kalo Shop burgeoned into one of the most influential American handwrought silver manufacturers of the Arts and Crafts movement. In 1905, Welles incorporated the Kalo Shop with funding from several women investors. A year later, Welles and her husband moved to Park Ridge, Illinois; by this time, most of Welles’ original partners had moved on to other endeavors. In Park Ridge, Welles established the Kalo Arts Crafts Community House. A school and workshop in a large farmhouse, the Kalo House taught and nurtured numerous designers, jewelers, and silversmiths, many of whom were women and Scandinavian immigrants. Kalo’s retail shop remained in Chicago. With her business thriving, Welles opened a retail branch of the Kalo Shop on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1912 that was managed by her sister Helena E. Barck. See "A New Woman: Clara Barck Welles, Inspiration & Influence in Arts & Crafts Silver" on display pre-security in the Mayor Edwin M. Lee International Terminal Departures Hall and online at: https://bit.ly/BarckWelles
This image was posted on June 14, 2023.