Alma W. Thomas: A Retrospective
Earth Sermon: Beauty, Love and Peace, Alma W. Thomas, 1971. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, The Martha Jackson Memorial Collection: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, 1980. Photo by Cathy Carver.
Washington, DC
The first graduate of Howard University's art department (B.A., 1924) and an alumna of Columbia University’s Teachers College (M.A., 1934), Alma W. Thomas (1891-1978) devoted her life to sharing art with others. She taught art in Washington's public schools, advised youth art clubs, and helped to found and direct the Barnett-Aden Gallery, a nonprofit gallery dedicated to art education and to exhibiting African American artists at a time when racial bias meant little or no access to major galleries.
The exhibition and its national tour, both organized by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, are made possible by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.