Mary Morris Vaux received a set of watercolor paints at age eight and began experimenting with painting flowers. After her mother's death when Mary was nineteen, she assumed the responsibility of looking after her two younger brothers and her father.

Born in Connecticut, studied in Philadelphia and Paris, lived mostly in Pennsylvania. Artist, teacher whose paintings of distinguished African Americans are found in Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Archives.

Eve Watts received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dublin, Ireland, before attending the Art Students League in New York, where she was awarded a merit scholarship, and the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.

Like the intricate designs of mid-nineteenth-century cross-stiched embroidery samplers, Weaver's photograms—unique images made in the darkroom without a camera by arranging objects directly on photographic paper—incorporated phrases from hymns or Scripture.

Idelle Weber was born in Chicago and spent her childhood in Wilmett, Illinois, and Los Angeles. As a child, she created objects with her hands and spent time drawing, always fascinated with how things worked and how they were made.

Ruth Weisberg began taking art classes at age five at the Junior School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1959 she enrolled at the University of Michigan, majoring in art, and the following year she studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia, Italy.