 It was also featured in a 1957 travelling exhibition to 64 nations funded by the United Nations, and chosen by Art News for a 1959 exhibit of twelve Americans in Spoleto, Italy, at the same time he was awarded a Longview Purchase Grant.In 1962 Gahagan was one leader of an artists strike which succeeded in gaining zoning for artists' lofts in New York City, such as Westbeth, and co-founding the Artists Tenant Association.Gahagan taught art at a number of universities in America from 1965 onwards, including the Pratt Institute, Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts and Goddard College as Chairman of the Art Department.