 In 1927, she enrolled in night art classes at the Art Students League in New York City.Among her instructors at the Art Students League were Jan Matulka and Richard Lahey.In her 1929 class Matulka provided Pereira with her first exposure to the artistic principles of the European avant-garde that would shape her work; most notably those of the Bauhaus, Cubism, and Constructivism (art).