Olive Rush was a prominent painter, illustrator, muralist and art teacher who moved to Santa Fe during its development as an important artist colony in the early twentieth century. Rush was born in 1873 in Fairmont, Indiana, to a prominent Quaker abolitionist family. She worked and exhibited widely on the East Coast before settling in Santa Fe in 1920. Rush purchased an old adobe farmhouse on Canyon Road, which remained her home and studio until her death at 93 in 1966. She remained an active member of the Society of Friends throughout her life and founded the Santa Fe Quaker Meeting, which often gathered at her home. Rush left her home to the Society of Friends, who preserve and maintain it as she did in her lifetime.
From Old Santa Fe Today, 5th edition by Audra Bellmore with photographs by Simone Frances.
