Which university did Georgia O’Keeffe teach at in 1916?

Georgia O’Keeffe taught at West Texas State Normal College in 1916.

The institution was in Canyon, Texas, and is now known as West Texas A&M University. O’Keeffe taught art there after developing a reputation for unusually bold charcoal abstractions. Her time in the Texas Panhandle gave her direct experience of the intense light, broad horizons, and dramatic landscape that later informed some of her work.

She returned to West Texas State Normal College in 1917 and remained there until 1918. During this period, photographer Alfred Stieglitz began exhibiting her drawings in New York, helping her move toward a professional career as an artist. Teaching provided income and structure while she was still establishing herself.

The school’s historical name is essential because modern references may use West Texas A&M University instead. O’Keeffe also taught at the University of Virginia later, from 1934 to 1936, but that was a separate teaching appointment and not the institution connected with her 1916 position.