Ivy Ruth (Young) Loupe

Birth: She was born in 1906 in London, England.

Family Information:

Daughter of Sidney and Lilly Young.

Sister of Howard and Flora Young.

On October 11, 1931, she married Edward Loupe while living in the colony.

Description: As a teen Ivy had earned a scholarship to attend St. Albans Art School and studied under Reid Dick, a sculptor of some note and a member of the Royal Academy.

In 1926, at the age of 19 she executed a bust of friend and founder of the Welwyn Garden Cities of England, Sir Ebenezer Howard, in plain white plaster of Paris, which Dick submitted to the Royal Academy for exhibition, but it was refused. Against the teacher's advice, Ivy and her father colored it in imitation bronze and re-submitted. That time it was accepted. Today that bust is on display in the Welwyn Garden City Central Library in the U.K.  

Pre-Colony History: Before coming to Newllano, the family had lived for a time at Welwyn Garden City, a co-operative community in England, though the Young family soon lost faith in that concern and felt that it had only been a scheme to enrich the Board of Directors, thus they made the decision to come to Newllano to live in 1930.

They came to America onboard the Niagara, docking at Galveston, Texas October 2, 1930 and listing George T. Pickett as their friend in the country.

Prior to their departure from England, Ivy had sent one of her sculptures, "Eve", and it was displayed in the colony library.    

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony:

Sculptor and illustrator of books. Miss Young also created original designs for woven materials such as tapestries, carpets, etc.; made lino cuts and wood cuts for colony newspapers and calendars.

She taught art expression to pupils ranging in age from 6-18 years. The colony had plans to build a studio where she and other artists in the colony, such as Grace Marians, could create.

Other Info: She and all the members of her family were frequent performers in the colony theater productions -- they acted in "playlets", demonstrated folk-dancing, and offered a variety of musical performances. Ivy herself, played the violin. In addition to performing, they often created costumes, props, etc.  

Post-Colony History: In 1940 she was living in Los Angeles, California with her husband, daughter and parents.    

Death: Ivy died in 1999 in San Andreas, California.  

Sources: Family sources; Museum Collection and Photo Archives; "Vernon Parish Democrat": March 7, 1929; "Llano Colonist": December 6, 1930, January 3, 1931, June 27, 1931, March 5, 1932, May 28, 1932; "Welwyn Garden City’s model citizen is simply the ‘Bust’" - The Herts Advertiser, November 2014; England Census: 1911; Galveston Passenger Lists; US Census: 1940; US SSDI