An iconic folk artists from Cumberland County has passed away at the age of 101. In her long career as a woodcarver, Polly Page preserved the legacy of Cumberland County’s Pleasant Hill Academy, one of Tennessee’s most notable Appalachian settlement schools. The school also had programs encouraging student involvement in traditional arts and crafts. Page enrolled there in 1929 and soon became the star pupil of carving teacher Margaret Campbell, mastering many human and animal figures. She developed her own signature character dolls, “Hitty” and “Aunt Jenny” and “Uncle Pink,” based on people in the community. When the academy closed in the 1940’s, Page became a leader and teacher in the Pleasant Hill Community Crafts program that succeeded it. She carved nonstop throughout the years and gained a wide reputation, starting her own Polly Page Craft Center in the 1970s, where she hosts visitors and customers. She inspired Jane Fonda’s title character in the 1981 film The Dollmaker. In 2010, Page’s work and biography were featured in Robert Cogswell’s book, Tradition: Tennessee Lives and Legacies. In 2013, Page received the Tennessee Folklife Heritage Governor’s Arts Award. Funeral arrangements will be announced soon.

(photo courtesy of the Tennessee Arts Commission)