Ethelyn Mae Kennon

Ethelyn Kennon was a craftsperson who was active in the regional arts movement in Missouri, particularly in arts and crafts. She was born in Livonia, Missouri, on December 9, 1902, but grew up in Prairie, Missouri, in Schuyler County. In 1924 she married Raymond Kenneth Kennon, an architect and artist.

Kennon attended Northeast Missouri State Teachers College and also studied under Raymond M. Kennon, Elsie Bates Freund, Munson Howe and F. G. Kieferndorf. Later in life she attended Southwest Missouri State College, where she graduated in 1960 with a bachelor's of art majoring in elementary education.

Once she was married and moved to Springfield, Missouri, she became active in the local arts scene with her husband. She was a member of the Missouri Federation of Arts and Crafts, and taught art classes and gave lectures on art appreciation at the Springfield Art Museum. She also taught art classes at the Ozark Art and Craft Center that she founded in 1941 with her husband.

In 1954 she opened The Missouri Studio, a gallery that showcased Missouri handicrafts. She exhibited her own handiworks in exhibitions at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri; People's Art Center in St. Louis; the Springfield Art Museum; and the Ozark Empire District Fair in Springfield.

In the late 1950s, Kennon transitioned to teaching full-time as an elementary teacher at Ozark, Talmadge, Halltown and Walnut Grove schools, in addition to teaching art education at Halltown and Walnut Grove. She retired either in the late 1960s or early 1970s. In her retirement she wrote “Little Maude,” a story that was published in 1975.

She died in Tucson, Arizona, in 1983, and is interred at Bethel Cemetery in Glenwood, Missouri.