NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Marking its twentieth anniversary and honoring the Newcomb College legacy, the Newomb Art Museum is presenting an exhibition of recent acquisitions by Newcomb College alumnae Louise Grosz (B.Des. '30); Mary Alice Peak Reiss (B.Des. '30); Ida Kohlmeyer (B.A. '33, M.F.A. '56), Carolyn Frohsin Heller ('59), and Stephanie Hirsch ('92). The show opened on June 3 and runs through July 24.

“The arts have long defined the Newcomb experience,” noted museum director Mónica Ramírez-Montagut. “This exhibition highlights the accomplishments of H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College alumnae who have achieved recognition for their artwork regionally, nationally, and even internationally.”

As early as 1887, when the college opened its doors at the corner of Camp and Delord Streets (now Howard Avenue), art classes were among the first offered. The small school employed an impressive three full-time art faculty members: Gertrude Roberts and the well known Woodward brothers, William and Ellsworth. Since then, the Art Department’s impressive roster of faculty and alumni have proven that the program’s success transcended any one era or genre.

Former instructors Will Henry Stevens and Mark Rothko and graduates such as Caroline Durieux (’16) , Angela Gregory (’25), Mignon Faget (’55), Lynda Benglis (’64), Julie Dermansky (’87), and the five artists included herein prove that the school’s founding commitment to a progressive education “both practical and literary” has endured for more than a century.

Louise Grosz (1908–2003) was one of the first significant female commercial artists to work in New Orleans. Her repertoire included design work with local department stores Gus Mayer, Godchaux, Maison Blanche, Dillard’s, Cushman’s, and Porter Stevens, as well as Macy’s in New York.

Mary Alice Peak Reiss (1909–1981) designed scenery and costumes for New Orleans Carnival organizations, including the Krewe of Rex with which she worked for nearly 15 years. Throughout her professional career she continued to paint in her home studio and also with a group of Newcomb alumnae of New Orleans’ Studio 8.

One of the most recognized artists to graduate from Newcomb, Ida Kohlmeyer (1912–1997) was strongly influenced by the Abstract Expressionists, including Hans Hofmann with whom she studied. She worked in an array of media—painting, sculpture, printmaking—and was the subject of the museum's 2004 exhibition, Systems of Color.

Inspired by Kohlmeyer, Carolyn Frohsin Heller (1937–2011) utilized bold shapes and colors, often depicting the tropical environs of south Florida, her home for fifty years. Starting with prints, wood-cuts, and acrylics on canvas, she later expanded into jewelry, scarves, and mixed-media pieces. Several of her works were reproduced and distributed by Williams-Sonoma.

Stephanie Hirsch (1970- ) uses beads, sequins, and embroidery to explore deeper or double meaning of words with humor and enlightenment. She was recently the P3 Studio artist-in-residence through the Art Production Fund at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.