Amy Otis

Mary Amy Otis[1] (1863–1950) was an American miniaturist.

Otis was a native of Sherwood, New York, and was born to a family of Quakers. Her parents had migrated to the area at different times from Massachusetts, and had seven other children, six surviving; among them was Susan, who later became a noted physician in Cayuga County. Her grandfather was Job Otis,[1] who with his wife Deborah was a leader of the Otisites, and whose house may still be seen today in Sherwood.[2] Amy studied at Cornell University and the Philadelphia School of Design for Women,[3] and was a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[4] She also studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. For some years she was active as a portraitist in Philadelphia, where she also taught art at Miss Capen's School for Girls from 1911 to 1914.[3] In that year[5] she began work a professor at Wheaton College in Massachusetts,[3] ultimately becoming the head of the art department.[6] Otis retired from Wheaton in 1932.[5] She designed the seal for the school's Alumnae Association while she was there.[7] After leaving Wheaton she taught for a time at Wells College, where she was at one point acting head of the Department of Art.[8]

During her career Otis exhibited work throughout the United States. She was a member of the Philadelphia Water Color Club, the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters, and The Plastic Club, and was a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma.[3] Among her pupils at Wheaton was the future Precisionist Molly Luce.[9]

Otis was the aunt of painter Elizabeth Otis Dunn and illustrator Samuel Davis Otis,[4] and was a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland;[3] numerous other ancestors were prominent in the history of Scituate, Massachusetts.[1] A lecture series at Wheaton was established in her honor[10] by the Class of 1931 after her death.[5] A miniature watercolor-on-ivory portrait of Dorothy Gifford, titled A College Girl, is currently owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[11]

References
  1. Denis Larionov & Alexander Zhulin. "Read the eBook Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Cayuga County, New York by Biographical Review Publishing Company online for free (page 72 of 85)". Ebooksread.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  2. Nancy L. Todd (March 2008). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Job and Deborah Otis House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2009-11-10.See also: "Accompanying six photos". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  3. Albert Nelson Marquis (1915). Who's who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. A.N. Marquis & Company. pp. 807–.
  4. "Cultural Housekeepers: Elizabeth Otis Dunn and American Women's Organizations in Early Twentieth Century China and America". 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  5. "Amy Otis Memorial Lecture Series established – College History – Wheaton College – Massachusetts". 7 January 2011. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  6. Catherine Filene (1920). Careers for Women. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 69–.
  7. "1928, Designed by Amy Otis, Professor of Art, and drawn by Helen Lewis, Class of 1921, Alumnae Association Seal Final Design – Wheaton Quarterly". Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  8. Auburn Citizen Advertiser of February 27, 1933
  9. Eleanor Tufts; National Museum of Women in the Arts (U.S.); International Exhibitions Foundation (1987). American women artists, 1830–1930. International Exhibitions Foundation for the National Museum of Women in the Arts. ISBN 978-0-940979-01-7.
  10. "Lectures – Art – Wheaton College – Massachusetts". 20 September 2010. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  11. Art, Philadelphia Museum of. "Philadelphia Museum of Art – Collections Object : A College Girl (Portrait of Dorothy Gifford)". Retrieved 13 January 2017.


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