Summer 2026 Update 2.0
- Aug 6
- 6 min read
August 2026 Newsletter
In Memoriam: Helen Murray Sipala
It is with great sadness that the Painter's Folly Preservation Alliance announces the death of Helen Sipala, who passed away on the morning of July 21, 2026, at the age of 91.
Helen helped revitalize and restore Painter's Folly as an important center for American art. Her stewardship allowed visitors to understand why Howard Pyle used the house as a center for his school of art, and why Andrew Wyeth made Painter's Folly, Helen, and George Sipala the subjects of many of his most important works in the last decades of his life.
Helen transformed the house into a salon for visiting artists and dignitaries. Her passion and skill for gardening reshaped the landscape of Painter's Folly, framing the building with beauty and elegance throughout every season. Her tours educated the public on the history of Chadds Ford and the Brandywine School of Art.
In the last years of her life, she worked closely with the Painter's Folly Preservation Alliance to record her experiences and help preserve the history and legacy of this remarkable place in our national heritage. She was more than a valued partner in our ongoing efforts — Helen Sipala was a wonderful friend and mentor. We will continue to work tirelessly to preserve her legacy and celebrate her remarkable life.
Thank you, Helen.
© Ed Worteck, 2026
Further Reading: Helen Sipala's Legacy
Helen Murray Sipala owned and restored Painter's Folly from 1974 to 2018, and her decades-long friendship with Andrew Wyeth is central to the house's story. For readers who want to go deeper, we've pulled together several ways to explore her legacy:
Start with her oral history — three recorded interview sessions conducted by historian Thomas Wood, now held in perpetuity at the University of Kentucky's Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History.
Sipala also told her own story in two books, Beyond the Marriage Bed and Buttercups & Gratitude, both featured in our roundup of books and essays highlighting Painter's Folly. For the fuller context of the house she called home, read Painter's Folly: A Narrative History.
Sipala's contributions were formally recognized this spring, when she received the A. Richard Paul Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Delaware County Preservation Awards for her decades of stewardship. And our research and documentation efforts page details how her 445-page diary and photo/document albums were accessioned into the Delaware Art Museum archive, ensuring these primary sources remain accessible for future scholars.
Together, these resources capture why Helen Sipala's legacy is inseparable from Painter's Folly's own.
Support Painter's Folly with a Financial Gift
Did you know you can make a direct financial donation toward the care and maintenance of Painter's Folly? Under the Pennsylvania Second Class Township Code, Chadds Ford Township has the legal authority to accept monetary gifts earmarked for historic landmarks like Painter's Folly (53 P.S. §§ 66503, 66541) — and to keep those funds separate from the general budget, restricted solely for the property's preservation.
Here's how it works: when a donation is offered, the Board of Supervisors must vote in a public meeting to formally accept it through a Board Resolution. That resolution legally directs your gift into a restricted line-item account earmarked exclusively for Painter's Folly — meaning your donation can't be redirected to other township expenses. The Board does retain discretion over whether to accept a given gift, particularly if it comes with restrictions the township can't administer.
If you'd like to contribute, we encourage you to reach out to Chadds Ford Township directly to discuss making a gift for Painter's Folly's preservation. Every donation helps build the case — and the resources — for a long-term future for this landmark.
*This information is provided for general awareness and is not legal advice; we are not lawyers. Anyone considering a donation should consult Chadds Ford Township directly or their own legal counsel with questions about the process.
Painter's Folly featured on CIRCA Old Houses and more
Painter's Folly has been listed on CIRCA Old Houses, a widely followed marketplace and editorial site for historic homes that reaches over 2 million page views a month. The listing tells the story of our circa-1857 Italianate villa — from Howard Pyle's summer art school to Andrew Wyeth's decades as a studio here — and underscores our search for a mission-aligned nonprofit, museum, or educational partner to steward the property long-term.
This is a meaningful boost in visibility at a critical moment for our advocacy! Read the full listing and share it with anyone who might know an institution ready to take on this landmark.
Chadds Ford Live, DELCO.Today and VISTA.Today all report that the Alliance is looking for an established nonprofit, government agency, school, or other institution willing to take ownership of the circa-1856 Italianate landmark and keep it open to the public. Chadds Ford Township, which has owned the property since 2018, had begun weighing a public auction before the Alliance formed in 2025 to press for a preservation-minded outcome instead.
Painter's Folly on view at Brandywine Museum of Art
Want to see Painter's Folly as Andrew Wyeth saw it? Head to the Andrew Wyeth gallery at the Brandywine Museum of Art, where you can view several key paintings inspired by the house: Painter's Folly (1989), April (1992), and Renfield Study (1995). Each work captures a different facet of the landmark that served as Wyeth's studio for nearly twenty years — a reminder of just how deeply this house is woven into the story of American art.
© Ed Worteck, 2026
The Wyeth Interview Project: Preserving the Stories Behind the Canvas
Andrew Wyeth remains one of the most celebrated American painters of the twentieth century, yet the individuals who modeled for him, and who knew him in Chadds Ford and along the Maine coast, have rarely had the chance to share their own accounts.
The Wyeth Interview Project aims to change that — conducting oral history interviews with those models, friends, and associates to capture their firsthand knowledge and experiences.
We've identified numerous potential interview subjects across Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maine. Their recollections promise to enrich our understanding of Wyeth's creative process, challenge the narrative of the "solitary genius," and — importantly — restore the voices of the female models whose presence shaped so much of his most iconic work but whose own stories have gone largely untold.
The project follows ethical oral-history best practices, including informed consent and subject review of transcripts, and anticipates roughly three years from launch to reaching both scholarly and general audiences through an archived collection and public-facing publication.
We're actively seeking an institutional partner — a museum, university library, or historical society with existing Wyeth holdings — to help preserve this archive for future generations. If that's you, or someone you know, we'd love to talk.
If you — or a parent, grandparent, neighbor, or old family friend — modeled for Andrew Wyeth, worked alongside him, or simply knew him as a familiar face around Chadds Ford or the Maine coast, we want to hear from you. We'd love the chance to capture those firsthand memories and add them to the historical record.
If this describes you or someone close to you, please reach out — we'd be glad to answer questions about the process and what participating involves. Reach out to us at info@paintersfollypreservationalliance.com to discuss.
Preservation Partners: we want you!
In response to strong public interest, the Painter’s Folly Preservation Alliance reaffirms its commitment to securing a long-term preservation partner for Painter’s Folly. We recognize concerns about taxpayer cost, public programming, and accessibility—and we believe there is a sustainable path forward.
Under the Second Class Township Code, Chadds Ford Township may convey or lease the property directly to an eligible nonprofit, school, institutional district, or the Commonwealth, rather than pursue a public auction. Across Delaware County, eighteen municipally owned historic sites operate successfully through similar co-stewardship models with nonprofit partners.
We invite qualified preservation partners to explore the available resources and join us in ensuring that this landmark remains protected, accessible, and vibrant for generations to come.
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