KC ORIGINALS

Up with the Chickens.

Sally Linville, founder and creative director of The City Girl Farm, grew up on her family farm in Lyons, Kansas. For her 10th birthday her parents gave her a starter flock of chickens. It was love at first sight that developed into a thriving design career in creating “Chicken Footstools” from bronze, wood, and wool that elevate the soul – as well as feet.

“I loved chickens from the get-go,” says Linville. “Caring for them was a great experience. They were like pets, and I held them all the time.”

While her father managed their farm, Linville’s mother was an interior designer. Both elements of their careers influenced Linville’s path.

“In retrospect, I was surrounded by creativity in different realms every day. My dad is amazing. He’s a farmer but also a mechanic and can fix almost anything.” “My mom introduced me to an appreciation of textiles. Both parents are still integral to the making of Chicken Footstools.”

After a couple of years at Kansas State University, undecided on her major, Linville fused the skills she observed in her parents and entered the Interior Architecture and Product Design program. She created her first two Chicken Footstool sculptures as a class project.

“I was inspired by the furniture designer Francois-Xavier Lalanne,” she says of the late artist who incorporated animal shapes into his furniture designs.

Linville worked the entire semester creating a mold for the chickens’ bronze feet, a wood core for the body, and “feathers” from felted wool to create two classic white chickens and named them Henny and Penny.

“They were on display in the school, and people asked so many questions about how they were made, which was great. Then they started asking if I was going to make more, and could I make a Rhode Island Red – and other breeds.”

Linville graduated in the midst of a recession, a challenging time to find a job.

“I loved the flexibility and variety of college life,” she says. “And I grew up in a creative environment watching my parents who were independent in their careers. So, when people were interested in buying the chickens, the business began and has evolved organically over the last 10 years.”

Linville was lucky that during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic many of her craftspeople – there are more than 20 – have been able to continue to work at home. But she has met challenges with supply.

“Because supply chains were down, we couldn’t get bronze, and we had to work with what we had for a while. But we ended up putting together a really special flock with bright colors for the Fiesta Collection, which we released on Cinco de Mayo. They have funny names like Little Salsa and Little Guac. We had a tremendous response from our collectors.”

Linville’s inspiration comes from everywhere. This summer she and her co-creative director, Carly Pumphrey, designed a collection of 12 Chicken Little Footstools inspired by Gee’s Bend quilt designs. The quilt-makers are a group of AfricanAmerican women who have lived in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, for generations. Linville worked with their licensing agency to obtain permission for the project and to provide compensation to honor their artistry.

“It was a huge learning curve on a lot of different levels. In the end, we ended up with a collection fashioned with a patchwork of feathers full of patterns and colors.”

Linville’s ability to fuse different influences into the chicken collections, as well as custom designs, has been successful. The studio has a loyal following and many of her collectors have growing flocks of chickens in their homes.

ARISTOCRAT MOTORS

IS PROUD TO BRING AN ICONIC KANSAS CITY BRAND TO LEE’S SUMMIT

Lee’s Summit is one of the fastest growing communities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and home to many of our great customers. To serve the pre-owned vehicle buyers in Lee’s Summit we have opened Aristocrat Motors Lee’s Summit. David Hughes, our General Manager, and his professional staff look forward to meeting you and presenting a wide variety of cars, trucks and SUV’s.

STARTING YOUR SEARCH FOR YOUR NEXT VEHICLE?

Stop in for a COMPLIMENTARY VEHICLE APPRAISAL AND CAR WASH.

704 SE Oldham Court | Lee’s Summit, MO 64081 (913) 677-3300 | aristocratmotorsls.com Member of the Soave Automotive Group

David Hughes

General Manager

“During the shutdown many of our collectors adopted new chickens or gave them as gifts. It was so generous.”

Local designer George Terbovich carries Linville’s work in his shop, George in Crestwood. The chickens often find homes in his clients’ houses.

“We are so thankful for George,” Linville says. “He has shared our story with so many people.”

But The City Girl Farm chickens do not always remain local.

“There are lots of chickens in California. It seems they’re the right vibe. California’s been keeping us busy for years. Last year a shop in London found us, so we are delighted to have our first international retailer. We actually developed a new breed of “Fabulous Tail Roosters” at their request. Developing these retail relationships has become an important part of our business.”

Linville credits her team with keeping production moving and quality high.

“When I had my daughter three-and-a-half years ago, I could not do all that I had before. I continue to live in this delicate tension between work and parenting.”

She recognizes that releasing control has opened up new paths of artistry and smoother production systems at the studio

“I work with amazingly gifted people, who have come on board and love the chickens. By identifying and synthesizing their strengths, we can do so much more together and have a lot of fun doing it! My position has transformed into being a steward of the company and the gift of the idea of a Chicken Footstool.”

The City Girl Farm chickens are available through select retailers and online at thecitygirlfarm.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patricia O’Dell started the lifestyle blog “Mrs. Blandings” in 2007. Her curiosity led her to write about designers, artists, business owners, and industry leaders. She’s been published in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Chicago Tribune, Flower magazine, Kansas City Spaces, and The Kansas City Star, as well as archdigest.com and elledecor.com.