Enid Yandell - Working For Change

Working For Change

In addition to her work as an artist, Yandell was committed to improving the lives of others. She contributed to the education of future artists by founding the Branstock School in Massachusetts, in 1908. The art school functioned for several summers until her death in 1934. Yandell also worked with Appui Aux Artists, an organization which provided affordable meals for those involved in the arts and their families. Yandell was an active supporter of women’s suffrage and campaigned for the election of President Calvin Coolidge.

During World War I, Enid Yandell became involved with the Red Cross, and with a French organization for the care of war orphans, La Société des Orphelins de la Guerre. After returning to the United States, she served as director of the Bureau of Communications for the American Red Cross in New York, and as chair of the Women’s Committee for the Council of National Defense. These activities consumed almost all her time; she largely gave up her work as a sculptor to help others.

Enid Yandell also designed and executed a beautiful sculpture called the "Struggle of life". This was commissioned by Italian diplomat Paul Bajnotti, of Turin Italy in memory of his wife Carrie Brown. The Carrie Brown Memorial or also referred to as the Bajnotti Fountain was dedicated in 1899. The artisticly beautiful fountain is located in Burnside Park in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. In her own words, Miss Yandell describes it as "the attempt of the immortal soul within us to free itself from the handicaps and entanglements of its earthly environments."