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Wheeler, Candace (Thurber)
(b Delhi, Delaware Co., New York, 1827; d 5 Aug 1923). American designer. She came from a prosperous and artistic background. She saw the Royal School of Needlework’s exhibition at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia, which inspired her to found, in 1877, the Society of Decorative Arts of New York City, the aim of which was to restore the status of crafts traditionally associated with women and provide them with the opportunity to produce high-quality, handmade work which could be profit-making. The Society, which generated sister branches in major American cities, taught many design and craft techniques, but art needlework remained the focus. In 1879 Wheeler entered into partnership with Louis Comfort Tiffany (see TIFFANY, §2) to form Louis C. Tiffany & Associated Artists, which, by the early 1880s, was the most successful decorating firm in New York. She designed embroideries, textiles and wallpaper for the company, but in 1883 the partnership was dissolved. Wheeler retained the Associated Artists name and continued to practise (e.g. portière, c. 1884; New York, Met.). While still handling private commissions, she was asked by textile manufacturers to produce designs for such mass-produced fabrics as printed cotton. In addition to working in the Japanese idiom, she was instrumental in initiating designs inspired by traditional American patchwork, indigenous flora and fauna and events from American history and literature. In 1893 she was appointed Director for the Women’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. At the end of 1899 she retired from Associated Artists but continued to contribute to Arts and Crafts literature.
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