May Gearhart

Etcher. Born in Gladstone, IL on April 21, 1872. Gearhart settled in Pasadena in 1888 and studied at the State Normal School (now UCLA). She began teaching in the Los Angeles public schools in 1893. During summers and holidays she studied at the AIC, CSFA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia University. She was also a pupil of Hans Hofmann, Arthur Dow, Walter Shirlaw, Rudolph Schaeffer, and Benjamin C. Brown. From 1900-03 she taught in the public schools of Berkeley and then served in the same capacity in Los Angeles for 36 years. She served as Delegate to the Int'l Art Congress in London (1908), Dresden (1912), Prague (1928), and Paris (1937). Her colored etchings were shown regularly with the California PM Society at the LACMA and with the works of her sister Frances. Inspiration for her etchings came from trips to Yosemite, Monterey Peninsula, Mexico, and Europe. A spinster, May Gearhart died in Altadena, CA on April 14, 1951. Member: Pacific AA; Calif. PM; Chicago Society of Etchers; Southern Calif. Art Teachers Ass'n. In: LACMA; CSL; Smithsonian Inst. SCA; KOV; AAA 1919-29; WWAA 1936-47; WWC 1942.