Georgia O'Keeffe taught in Canyon, Texas, when she developed her early abstractions.
She taught art at West Texas State Normal College, now West Texas A&M University, in Canyon. The wide skies, dry landscapes, and striking light of the Texas Panhandle became important parts of her experience while she was experimenting with simplified forms and abstract compositions.
Canyon is sometimes replaced in casual accounts by Amarillo, the larger nearby city. O'Keeffe's teaching post, however, was in Canyon, where the college was located. She also taught in other Texas communities during this period.
Her Texas years connected teaching with a renewed commitment to personal art. Charcoal drawings from this period were eventually shown to Alfred Stieglitz, helping launch her New York career.