Honoring our artistic heritage

Alpha Chi Omega’s founders were music students and appreciated the arts in general.

One of Alpha Chi Omega’s early members, Marian Nevins MacDowell (Zeta, New England Conservatory of Music), worked with her composer husband to create a community on their New Hampshire farm “where artists could work in an ideal place in the stimulating company of peers.”

As a result of this connection, the Alpha Chi Omega Foundation has long supported the Star Studio at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough. In fact, the Star Studio was built in 1911 with funds from Alpha Chi Omega. It was our organization’s first altruistic project.

The Foundation also supports Alpha Chi Omega fellowships in honor of Fay Barnaby Kent for professional artists and writers who need financial aid to study at the Colony.

Interview with Marion Nevins MacDowell, Founder of The MacDowell Colony

Learn more about the MacDowell Colony.