Kohl Gallery
History
Timeline of the Arts at Washington College
1742 - When his father was given a job teaching at the Kent County Free School, Charles Willson Peale, age one, moves with his family to Chestertown.
1775 - Charles Willson Peale paints a miniature portrait of Washington College's first president, William Smith.
1783 - The first women to instruct at any American college or university, Elizabeth Callister Peale and Sara Callister teach painting and drawing to WC's first graduating class.
1786 - Prior to her death, Elizabeth Callister Peale designs the official seal for Washington College, which is still used today.
1804-1805 - Washington College oversees a small school for women, teaching sewing, embroidery, filigree and lace making, before state funding is revoked.
1827 - A large fire destroys the first Washington College library, and along with it, a significant portion of documentation of the early history of fine arts at Washington College.
1914 - Constance Stuart Larrabee is born in England shortly before her family relocates to South Africa.
1949 - Constance Stuart Larrabee moves with her husband to Chestertown.
1950 - Daniel Z. Gibson is elected college president.
1962 - A 600-seat state of the art theater is proposed, but due to budget constraints, construction on the visual arts wing is delayed indefinitely.
1967 - Gibson Fine Arts Center opens, where studio art classes are taught in the theater's basement.
1969 - Washington College hires its first full-time art history professor.
1971 - A full-fledged visual arts department is developed.
1973 - Washington College hires its first full-time studio arts instructor.
1975 - The McAlpin House, originally owned by a member of the Rockefeller family, is opened as the main studio space for the Art Department.
1983 - Larrabee establishes the Washington College Friends of the Arts Committee.
1984 - The Lynette Nielson Memorial Art Award is created to acknowledge excellence in art and continues to be awarded annually to deserving Washington College students.
1987 - Larrabee organizes a nationally commended college photography symposium, held on Washington College campus.
1988 - Constance Stuart Larrabee Creative Arts Center becomes the new arts facility and studio space, constructed within WC's obsolete boiler plant.
2006 - The Nancy L. Underwood professorship in art history is created; the first recipient is Washington College professor and Kohl Gallery director, Dr. Donald McColl
2009 - Gibson Center for the Arts will open in the Fall of 2009 and unveil its first dedicated art gallery, funded by Benjamin and Judy Kohl.