Virginia Swanke Morris (1920 - 2017)

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Virginia (Ginny) Morris was born on October 20, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She was the daughter of Arthur and artist Emma Swanke Flohr.  At age 12, Ginny sailed around the world on the Cunard line, forever fueling her love of travel, which she enjoyed with family and friends throughout her life.

Her first glimpse of Art was in 1937 when she was a freshman at Washburn High School.  At the University of Minnesota, she studied fine art with Jo Lutz Rollins and art history with Donald Torbert.  She graduated from the Pepin Academy of Fashion, Minneapolis and attended the Minneapolis Institute of Art School where she continued to study painting with Walter Quirt, Keith Havens and Arthur Kerrick. She belonged to the Minnesota Artists Association where she studied with fine artists Bernie Quick and Cameron Booth.

She exhibited in juried shows at the Walker Art Center and the 1st International Exhibition in Webergen-circle, Burgsteinfurt, Germany. As a member of the Junior League of Minneapolis she was their first chairman of the Art Committee and developed their puppet theater. Later she designed and created all the costumes for their production of The Wizard of Oz. She was a member of the Minneapolis Women's Club, the Edina Women's Club, and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church of Edina.  She died on July 3, 2017.

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