Rochester art club

Founded in 1877 in Rochester, New York by artists dedicated to "mutual assistance in art study", the Club expanded to cultivate fine and industrial arts and to "promote social involvement of members. Founders included painter James Hogarth Dennis; architect Harvey Ellis; sculptors J. Gurnsey Mitchell, John Z. Wood and James Somerville. Annual exhibitions became a tradition, and from the beginning the Club offered art classes until some years later the Rochester Institute of Technology took over art instruction. The Club, which continues today, supported the founding of the city museum, Memorial Art Gallery, and continues to be active today. Source: www.rochesterartclub.org/history/history.html