About Us:
When Gary Vaillancourt gave his wife, Judi, a gift of three antique chocolate molds in 1984, neither of them knew it would signal the start of a new family business. In the years since, Judi's collection has grown to more than 3,000 vintage molds one of the largest collections in the world. She uses her molds to make hand-painted collectible chalkware figures for all major holidays especially Christmas.

Today, Vaillancourt Folk Art (VFA) is one of America's last remaining Christmas ornament and collectibles makers. Unlike most Christmas collectibles, which are manufactured overseas, Vaillancourt chalkware figures are still made by hand at the VFA studio in Sutton, Mass. Visitors can tour behind-the-scenes as artists hand-paint more than 300 different versions of Santa Claus and Father Christmas figures.

Judi meticulously researches the history of each mold and identifies its country of origin. She also paints the first piece of any new VFA chalkware line. The painting studio consists of staff artists, who work year-round to produce the hand-painted, limited edition figurines offered by VFA. The studio is housed in an historic textile mill in the quaint town of Sutton, Mass. The attached retail gallery, The Gallery at Vaillancourt Folk Art, displays all of the Vaillancourt collectibles and also sells work of other best known folk artists in the country.

VFA artists produce hand-made figurines for Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween, but Christmas remains Vaillancourt's signature season. In 1997 VFA added a collection of exquisite glass Christmas ornaments based on its popular chalkware and designed as companion pieces to the chalkware figures.