Dorothy McCray was hired by the Western New Mexico College (now University) in Silver City to teach lithography and painting in 1948. However, feeling the need to hone her printmaking skills, she took a year off in 1954 to study lithography under Leon Goldin at the California School of Arts and Crafts (now the California College of Art). It was also a chance to familiarize herself with one of the country's hotbeds of Abstract Expressionism and the San Francisco School, whose students were primarily based at the Californa School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute). The goal, she told inquirers, was to become more versed in the theory of Abstract Expressionism itself, in order to better support her students' pursuit of the genre.
In the process, McCray's own work became synonymous with that genre and era. Colorful, bold, experimental, and harmoniously constructed compositions make up the body of her lithographic work, and her influence on the art world of New Mexico continues to be felt.