Woelffer was a leading painter among the California abstract painters and had a long teaching career: Institute of Design, Chicago, 1942-49; Black Mountain College, 1949; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1950-56 (during which time he met Sommer at the Aspen Photo Conference of 1951); Chouinard Arts Institute, Los Angeles, California, 1959-1969; California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, 1969-1973; and Otis Art Institute, 1974-1989.