A short film about Violet Oakley, the first woman muralist.

The explosion of color printing at the turn of the century led to an unprecedented Golden Age of Illustration, in which demand for art in books and magazines skyrocketed. Three of the most successful women illustrators of the period lived together at the Red Rose Inn.

 

The Red Rose Girls: Elizabeth Shippen Green, Violet Oakley (center), and Jessie Wilcox Smith. Henrietta Cozens waters them.

 

This is the story of Violet Oakley, the youngest Red Rose Girl and the first woman muralist. Oakley wanted nothing but to promote peace and tolerance with her art, but forces conspired to silence her. Her first mural commission, thirteen panels for the Pennsylvania State Capitol, almost never saw the light of day. The Red Rose Girls is about a woman of vision who fought to be heard.