Thomas, Alma Woodsey
1891 - Born on September 22nd in Gerogia. Alma Thomas, an African-American artist, was a successful Washington avant-garde painter, despite the barriers presented by her race and gender.
1921 - She returned to Washington to enter Howard University.
1924 - After graduation, she taught at Shaw Junior High School, where she remained until her retirement.
1935 - She received a Master of Arts degree in art education from Columbia University, New York.
1943 - Thomas had helped Alonzo Aden found the Barnett-Aden Gallery, the site of the first exhibitions of Washington color painters such as Gene Davis, Kenneth Noland, and Morris Louis.
1950-1960 - She took courses in creative painting and color theory at American University, where many of the Washington artists were teachers.
- When Thomas retired from teaching, she devoted herself to painting full-time and was given her first one-person show at Dupont Theater, an art cinema in Washington.
1972 - Both the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art held solo exhibitions of her work.
1978 - Thomas died on February 24th in Washington.
1921 - She returned to Washington to enter Howard University.
1924 - After graduation, she taught at Shaw Junior High School, where she remained until her retirement.
1935 - She received a Master of Arts degree in art education from Columbia University, New York.
1943 - Thomas had helped Alonzo Aden found the Barnett-Aden Gallery, the site of the first exhibitions of Washington color painters such as Gene Davis, Kenneth Noland, and Morris Louis.
1950-1960 - She took courses in creative painting and color theory at American University, where many of the Washington artists were teachers.
- When Thomas retired from teaching, she devoted herself to painting full-time and was given her first one-person show at Dupont Theater, an art cinema in Washington.
1972 - Both the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art held solo exhibitions of her work.
1978 - Thomas died on February 24th in Washington.
Page last updated: 10:59pm, 05th Jul '07
