Draft:Dorothy Yepez

Dorothy Yepez (1916-1999) was an artist, gallery owner, and violin and piano teacher. She was the owner of Dorothy Yepez Galleries for fifteen years in Saranac Lake, New York, worked in children’s theater in New York City, and contributed to civic and political organizations.

Dorothy Elizabeth Yepez (Robinson) was born in Philadelphia in 1916 to Amos N. Robinson and Alice Delgado. She received education at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, Temple University School of Music, New York University Cooper Union City, and Queens and Brooklyn Colleges in New York. Yepez also studied art with Richard Colin and Alfred Crimi. She married Bolivar Yepez on September 10, 1948.

Dorothy Yepez Galleries (DYG)

Yepez opened the Happy Manor Art Gallery, also known as Dorothy Yepez Galleries (DYG), Dorothy Yepez Gallery, and Dorothy Yepez Art Center, Inc. in 1953 in the resort community of Saranac Lake, New York. She received support from the Adirondack Allied Arts group. The gallery’s stated purpose was “to promote education and culture in art, by means of exhibitions, lectures, classes, radio, television, cinema, discussions, and any other media current at the time.” Yepez used the gallery to host community events, including “Monday Nights at 8:30” that offered free movies and lectures, and daily luncheon concerts. Only a year after she established her gallery, Yepez provided prizes for the All Adirondack Annual Art Exhibition, which brought regional, national, and international contestants to the area.

Dorothy Yepez Collections and Art

Materials from Dorothy Yepez’s gallery from 1963 is available for viewing in the archives at Guggenheim, New York. Additionally, Amistad Research Center contains Yepez's primary materials, collected documents, and artwork. A checklist from the art gallery exhibitions of summer 1958 are available at the Frick Art Reference Library. Community Involvement

Yepez was heavily involved in a variety of community organizations. She served on the executive board of the Harlem Health Council (1965-1967), as an executive committee member of the Archives of the American Negro of the American Foundation for Negro Affairs (1970), and the chairman of the Committee on the Arts for the Friends of Amistad and the Amistad Research Center Foundation Development Fund (1968-1969). She was also a league service member manager for the American Symphony Orchestra League, Inc., the consultant and director for student field trips for students of the Community League of West 159th Street, Inc., and the chairman of publicity for the Religion and Arts Committee of Central Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Yepez contributed to African American women’s history through her involvement with civic, political, and social organizations. In 1973, she served as a reverend with the United Ministries in Higher Education for the Black Arena Committee. She also worked on the political campaign for Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. and was a member of the American Federation of Arts and Brooklyn American Society.