Lemuel Maynard Wiles

Born in West Perry, New York, Wiles was trained under American landscape painters William S. Hart and Jasper F. Cropsey. He traveled many times to California and Colorado, which gave him the inspiration to paint his Western landscapes. From 1876-1888, Wiles served as the director of the College of Fine Arts at Ingham University in LeRoy, New York, and in 1893, he founded the art department at Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. Wiles also taught art in Utica public schools and in New York City.