Emma Richardson Cherry was considered a pioneer in the arts and art education. Born in Aurora, Illinois, she taught art at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to finance her art education in New York, Chicago, and then Paris. In New York, she notably attended the Art Students League, where she studied with William Merritt Chase. Cherry was instrumental in establishing the Kansas City Art Association and School of Design, the Artists Club of Denver (eventually becoming the Denver Art Museum), and the Houston Art League (becoming the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston).
