Family memorializes artist with Virginia Mae Folley Scholarship for the Arts

When Virginia Mae “Ginny” Folley was a student at Traphagen Art School in New York City, she loved the paintings of Claude Monet enough that she would go to museums, set up her easel in front of his paintings and set to work recreating his works.

Her love of oil painting and art never faded, and when she passed away earlier this year at the age of 95, she wanted to be remembered as an artist.

That will certainly be the case at Ohio University, where the Folley Family Foundation has established the Virginia Mae Folley Scholarship for the Arts with a $50,000 donation. The Foundation has also supported OHIO’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion with the Folley Family Appalachian Scholarship in the Appalachian Scholars Program, and established the newest scholarship in the College of Fine Arts.

“We decided to do this for her because she wanted to be remembered as an artist, and we wanted to do this for Ohio University,” Ginny’s son, Clyde Folley, said.

Ginny Folley always had a paintbrush in her hand and her homes were adorned with her artwork. She took and taught lessons, stretched canvases, mixed paints, and sold art. While Ginny didn’t attend Ohio University, Maxwell Folley, the son of Clyde and Janet Folley, and Maxwell’s wife, Allison Marshall Folley, both graduated from OHIO in 2008. It was during family visits to Athens that the Folleys saw how poverty impacted parts of the Athens community, so they decided to help.

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“When I would go down and visit, I was particularly taken in by the situation of the people that lived around the university, the rural areas and how economically challenged they were,” Clyde Folley said. That’s why they started creating scholarships at the University.

College of Fine Arts Dean Matthew Shaftel said the scholarship is very much appreciated.

“Thirty percent of our College of Fine Arts students are the first in their family to go to college, and these students are so clear about their desire to create positive transformation through the power of the arts,” Shaftel said. “The Virginia Mae Folley Scholarship for the Arts will support exactly those students who will make that positive transformation and give back to their communities and the world.”