Gerry Peirce

The young couple gravitated to an isolated fishing village in Nova Scotia for eight months where Peirce established a studio and began producing dry point etchings.

[1] The couple traveled throughout the US and Cuba, depicting San Antonio, Palm Beach, Havana, Washington D.C., and New York City.

Inspired by the celebrated desert print work of George Albert Burr, that winter they headed south to Arizona, temporarily staying in Phoenix before making their home in Tucson.

[3] In 1939, in partnership with his friend and contemporary Stanford Stevens, he illustrated the publication “Plants of Sun and Sand.”[4] His prints gradually gained national recognition.

Following World War II an interest in fine art and the enthusiasm surrounding Peirce’s work and classes he began teaching came to an apex.

In 1949 the Tucson Watercolor Guild was organized at the home of Margaret Sanger with a mission foster, promote and encourage creative artistic activates in the Southwest.

[5] The 5 acre tract of land at the corner of Swan and 22nd Street was donated by future Arizona governor Sam Goddard; architect Emerson Scholer contributed his service.

Peirce authored the book “Painting in the Southwest Landscape in Watercolor” and was awarded an honorary doctor of philosophy in arts from St. Andrews University College of London.