As a kid, Theodore Clement Steele always had interest in artful crafts and paintings. His first true introduction into art occurred in the year 1859, when a 13-year-old Steele attended his first semester at the Waveland Academy College Institute. At the institute, Steele studied a wide variety of art including penmanship, drawing, oratory capabilities and music. This was considered his first “formal” introduction into drawing, although, he was already advanced for his age.

After graduating from this institute in three years, Steele started painting various pieces to practice before studying in Chicago and Cincinnati. This training was brief and following it, he started to commission drawings to make a living. While he did not participate in any further study prior to Germany, he and a fellow Indiana artist, John Love, formed the Indianapolis Art Association in 1877, which strived to bring together artists of the city together and learn from each other. This helped sustained an interest for art in Indianapolis, even though the association did not last very long.

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