Honoring Alma Woodsey Thomas
It’s Black History Month! Each year, a theme for the month is chosen (you can see the full list here). This year’s theme is “African Americans and the Arts.” There is a rich history of Black poets, playwrights, sculptors, and painters in this country, but today we’d like to highlight the work and accomplishments of one artist in particular: the painter Alma Woodsey Thomas.
Alma Thomas earned several notable “firsts” over the course of her life. Education-wise, she was the first Black American woman to receive a bachelor’s degree in art, and the very first graduate of the Howard University Fine Arts program. As a painter, she was the first Black American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and to have work entered into the White House Collection. She once remarked that having grown up in a time when people who looked like her couldn’t even go into museums, she never could’ve thought of having her pictures displayed there. But these incredible accomplishments are made even more impressive by the fact that she spent the first 35 years of her career as a middle school art teacher – she did not become a professional artist until the age of 68!
Her work is currently on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and you can see some of it, and learn more about Alma Thomas, on their website. Most of her paintings were done in the Color Field style: dense patterns of bright colors that almost look like a mosaic. She played with color and color theory to create works like “Resurrection,” which was the painting chosen for display in the White House.
Your family might like to give Color Field painting a try. Check out this painting tutorial. You can also follow the same steps using markers or crayons, or even use construction paper to create a Color Field collage!
Bright, colorful paintings are a large part of Alma Thomas’s legacy: she believed that folks would encounter enough ugliness and struggle in the world; when you return home, she said, she “wanted something beautiful that you could sit down and look at. And then, the paintings change you.” So let the paintings change you! And consider taking inspiration from Alma Thomas’s path as well – whether your dream is painting or something else, it’s never too late to share your gifts with the world.
We’d love to see your Alma Thomas-inspired works of art! Share with us in person or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
