Arthur Wesley Dow arrived at Teachers College as a professor of fine arts in 1904 and remained on the faculty until his death in 1922. Today, some consider Dow the single most influential teacher of arts and crafts in the country. One reason he isn’t more widely known is because of the success of his students.

The Macy Gallery at Teachers College has mounted an exhibition of some of the artwork that Dow’s students created titled “The Students of Arthur Wesley Dow.” The exhibition is curated by Reza Sadik and runs through October 2.

The exhibition features 21 prints, drawing, and paintings on paper rendered by Dow’s students at TC beginning in 1905. All of the pieces are from the Gottesman Libraries archive.

During his time at TC, Dow played a key role in redirecting the goals of public art education in the United States and positioned the College at the center of the humanistic tradition in art education that continued through the rest of the century. Among those he trained include modernist artist and TC Professor Charles James Martin and painter Max Weber. His most famous student is TC alumna Georgia O'Keeffe.“She is one of the most talented people in art that we have ever had,” Dow once said of O’Keefe.

Macy Gallery will hold an opening reception on September 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. The gallery is part of the Art and Art Education Program and is located on the fourth floor of Macy Hall. It’s open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Published Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009