Legacy was his advocacy of art education in the public schools. He convinced Richmond to include drawing 8 years before it was mandated by the state.
Marcus Mote was born to Quaker parents in West Milton, Ohio. In Quaker teaching, art was discouraged. Canvas and supplies were not available, so Marcus made his first colors from plants. Because of the belief that God reveals himself to each individual, the Quakers showed forbearance while he pursued his painting when teaching in Friends schools, 1835-40. He moved to Lebanon, Ohio, where he painted ivory miniatures and other portraits. Always experimenting with new ideas, by 1850 he had opened a daguerro-type studio, and in 1853, he painted four panoramas for a circuit of the Midwest. He moved to Richmond in 1863 in search of a better living after
the great expense of buying his two sons out of Civil War duty.
He opened the Richmond School of Design in 1865, which had an overall enrollment of 541 pupils. He painted portraits, landscapes, imaginative and biblical subjects, while remaining a leading Friend. Marcus Mote was the first professional painter to settle in Richmond. By his example, he overcame opposition to fine arts from Quakers and helped establish art education in the public schools. He made a striking figure on the streets of downtown Richmond, always dressed in a flashy painter’s smock, in contrast to the somber grays and browns of Quaker habit.