Born March 14, 1892 in Buffalo, New York, John Fulton Folinsbee contracted polio as a child in 1906, forcing him to spend his life in a wheelchair. Nonetheless, Folinsbee lived a relatively long and full life as a painter, muralist, teacher and WPA artist. He came to Pennsylvania in 1914, where he lived for 58 years, becoming one of the earliest members of the New Hope art colony. Now regarded as one of the greatest of the New Hope Impressionists, Folinsbee was a pupil of John Carlson, Dumond and Jonas Lie.

Folinsbee specialized in winter scenes of the river and the canal in New Hope, Pennsylvania. He exhibited widely and attained many honors, including more than 10 awards from the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, the Salmagundi Club, the Philadelphia Sesqui - Centennial Expo, the Connecticut Academy of Fine Art and the Newport Art Association.

Folinsbee's work can be seen at the Museum of Fine Art in Syracuse, the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the James A. Michener Art Museum and the National Arts Club in Philadelphia. Folinsbee WPA murals are enjoyed in various U.S. Post Offices.