“What if you were Georgia O’Keeffe’s sister, and you wanted to be an artist?” asks The New Yorker in a new examination of renowned artists and TC alumnae Georgia and Ida O’Keeffe. “Could you empty your mind of her work to create your own original images?”  

With a legacy that has solidified her among the world’s most recognizable artists, Georgia O’Keeffe is rarely contextualized by the work of others. A new critically-acclaimed exhibit — “Ida O’Keeffe: Escaping Georgia’s Shadow” — strives to give Ida O’Keeffe her own turn at the spotlight in an examination of her distinct style and the ways in which she employed her famed sister’s visions and techniques. 

“The difference between the sisters was not one of circumstance but of essence,” writes culture critic and Georgia O’Keeffe biographer Roxana Robinson. “Ida might have been successful if she’d been her own true supporter, as Georgia had been. An artist can only rely on herself; the world may disregard her.”

The most notable work of Ida O’Keeffe, currently on display at The Clark in Williamstown, Mass., is traced back to her days at Teachers College, where she created a series of lighthouse paintings while studying dynamic symmetry under TC Professor Charles Martin.

Read article and learn more about the travelling exhibit.