National Academy of Design

The National Academy of Design began as an act of rebellion. In eighteen twenty-five, a group of young artists grew frustrated with the American Academy of Fine Arts, which was run by civic leaders and merchants who had little patience for the needs of actual creators. Led by Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, these artists walked out and formed their own organization to ensure that art in America would be governed by artists themselves rather than by businessmen.