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Distinguished Achievement Awards Winner 1975
ICFRIl)
By BETTY DEBNAM
Their "people figures" are not for kids
The Super Doll Makers
Helen Dullard makes her dolls of wood. Using an old photo as a guide, she
is making a family group of 18 dolls to be sold to a museum. Mrs. Bullard
is 74 years old. She started NIADA in 1963. She has written many books
about doll making. She used to live in Ozone, Tennessee, but now lives
near Washington, D.C.
The country's best doll makers belong to
a group called NIADA (NEE-ah-dah).
NIADA stands for the National Institute
of American Doll Artists.
There are only 49 members in the United
States.
You can't just join NIADA. You have to
be invited.
From 200 to 500 artists try to join each
year. Last year the group only took in four
new people.
These dolls are not for kids to play with.
These "people figures" sell from $150
to $1,200.
These dolls are for collectors. They are
also made for museums.
These are not mass-produced dolls. They
are one of a kind, or a few of a kind dolls.
The artists break the molds so no other
dolls can be made like the original.
NIADA artists put on doll shows.
They also appear at department stores
and talk about their dolls.
Judith Condon, of Naples, Florida, works in
porcelain and papier mache. Porcelain is made
by baking fine clay and painting it. Her dolls
have as many as 15 parts.
Kailh Wick of Grand
Kapids, Michigan, works
in porcelain. Some people
say that doll designers
make dolls that look very
much like themselves.
What do you think?
Lita Wilson of
Lorain, Ohio, also
works in porcelain.
She makes many
portrait dolls that
look like real
people.
i ? X ?a
Maggie Head of Joelton,
Tennessee, uses clay and
porcelain. She used to
manage a doll department in
a furniture store.
?-? ? t M i ?" *5.