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"WHAT IS MORE FAR-REACHING THAN BEAUTY?"
From Academic Representation to Poetic Abstraction in the Art of Alma Woodsey Thomas

During her long life (1891-1978), Alma Woodsey Thomas thrived in a changing milieu of social reform, educational development and artistic expression. She pursued beauty throughout her life, and her artistic career culminated in a meteoric rise in the popularity of her art . Although she was born in Georgia, studied in New York, and worked briefly in Delaware, her many years in Washington, D.C. are key to understanding her artistry and her aesthetic. Beginning as a painter of realistic compositions, she later abandoned this stylistic preference and experimented with geometric forms. Her love of nature and the changing technology resulted in the creation of rhythmical, colorific canvases characterized by short, jagged brush strokes in which she imparts joy, love, and beauty.

[[underline]] Columbus, Georgia: A City On the Move [[/underline]]

Founded in 1828, Columbus, Georgia flourished as a trading center because of its location on the major commercial artery, the Chattahoochee, Georgia's longest river. An important regional manufacturing center, Columbus became a major supplier of war goods during the Civil War, second only to Richmond, Virginia. Blacks, both slaves and free, assumed skilled positions and

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