Colorful Legacies

Chatham Hall’s Art & Design I course is based on the color theory and the work of famous Southern painter Maud Gatewood at Averett University. Mrs. Elsabé Dixon taught at Averett briefly after one of her professors, Robert Marsh, passed away in November 2022. She was told to teach the Maud Gatewood course, which asked students to create 25 color and design “Key” cards. The course allowed students to explore color in a dynamic way as their intro to later design projects. She saw the benefit at the collegiate level and brought the lesson to Chatham Hall. 

 

“Maud Gatewood was my mentor when I first came to the US from 1985 through 1987. There is much I learned from this amazing woman, which I feel I can pass down to a new generation of young female Studio artists in the Whitner Studio at Chatham Hall.” - Elsabé Dixon

 

Maud Gatewood’s association with Chatham Hall does not end with her influence on our student’s art curriculum. She was also the aunt to one of our alumna, Julia Kashkashian ’75.

 

Maud is no longer with us, but she is renowned locally and nationally. UNCG has named its Art Department Building for her, and her full collection of works can be viewed in Charlotte, North Carolina.