Marietta's Root House to host acclaimed silhouette artist Clay Rice

The City of Marietta announced on its website that the William Root House will host acclaimed silhouette artist Clay Rice on April 24, 2022.

Details are in the announcement reprinted below:

MARIETTA – Internationally acclaimed silhouette artist Clay Rice will be visiting the William Root House in downtown Marietta on April 24, 2022. Clay travels throughout the United States cutting portraits and meeting fans at his silhouette cutting events. Silhouette cutting is a Rice family tradition spanning 3 generations. His work has been featured in Country Living, Southern Living, and Garden and Gun.
Silhouettes were wildly popular during the 1700s and early 1800s before photography became commonplace. Today they make treasured keepsakes because of their uniqueness, charm, and artistic quality. Each profile silhouette takes Clay about 1 minute to cut. He estimates that he has cut over one million silhouettes in his 40 year career.

Clay will be cutting profile silhouettes at the William Root House on April 24, 2022. Each silhouette package costs $48 and includes 2 copies of one child’s silhouette. Additional copies of the silhouette are $10 each. Space is limited. To book a sitting at the William Root House visit www.WilliamRootHouse.com.

About the William Root House

The William Root House was built in about 1845, and was the home of William Root and his wife Hannah.

William Root was a druggist who was born in Philadelphia. He moved to Marietta in 1839 to open a drug and general store. He married Hannah Simpson a year later, and they built the house at what is now Church and Lemon streets.

It was later moved to face Lemon Street, and was owned by William Root until 1886.

Afterwards it had a series of owners and went into steady decline, and in the 1940s was split into apartments.

By the 1980s, the house was in serious disrepair and scheduled for demolition.

A preservation effort began, and in 1989 Cobb Landmarks & Historical Society bought the house and moved it to its current location at 80 North Marietta Pkwy NW, Marietta, GA 30060.

About the City of Marietta

The City of Marietta is the county seat of Cobb County. The latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the population of the city at 60,867 which makes it the largest city in Cobb County by population.

However, the city is in a neck-and-neck race with fast-growing Smyrna, whose population was 56,666 at the last estimate.

Here are a few fast facts from the Census Bureau

Marietta city, Georgia

2019 Population Estimates 60,867

Source: Vintage 2019 Population Estimates

Median Household Income $ 57,452

Source: 2015-2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Persons in poverty, percent 14.0 %

Source: 2015-2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Educational Attainment: Percent high school graduate or higher 87.7 %

Source: 2015-2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Persons without health insurance, percent 18.1 %