Alma was born in 1891 in Columbus, GA. In 1907, when Thomas was 16 years old, her parents and three younger sisters moved to Washington D.C. in search of a better life free of the racial injustice they experienced in the South. Becoming the first fine arts graduate from Howard University in 1924, Alma then went on to teach art at the D.C. Junior High school until the late 1950s. While this career was her main means of income, she used it to support her early painting career. She found her own style in abstraction and was able to retire from teaching to paint full-time. Though Thomas painted most of her life, it wasn't until the age of 75, in 1966, that she had her first debut as an artist. She became an inspiration as the first-ever, African American woman to debut a solo exhibition in the Whitney Museum in New York.

Following a 12-month, multi-city tour along the east coast, the acclaimed exhibition will make its final stop in Thomas’ native Columbus, where it will be on view from July 1 – September 25, 2022.

“Sharing Alma Thomas’ passion for fostering education and creativity and for supporting artists, The Museum has been a beacon for arts and culture in the Chattahoochee Valley for decades,” said Marianne Richter, Director of The Columbus Museum. “The debut of this exhibition in our museum is a beautiful, symbolic homecoming for Thomas. We’re immensely proud to be presenting such an extensive and unique body of work that reflects her life and work and celebrates her legacy.”

"Alma W. Thomas: Everything Is Beautiful" demonstrates how Thomas’ creative practices extended to every facet of her life, from community service and teaching to gardening and clothing. The exhibition is organized around multiple themes from Thomas’ life and career. It features a wide range of artworks and archival materials that reveal Thomas’ artistic complexity from early in her career to her later projects, including her breakthrough solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1972.

Built on a collaboration that began years ago by the Chrysler Museum of Art and The Columbus Museum, the exhibition is co-curated by The Columbus Museum’s own Jonathan Frederick Walz, Ph.D., director of curatorial affairs and curator of American art, and Seth Feman, Ph.D., The Frist Art Museum’s Executive Director and CEO (formerly the Chrysler’s deputy director for art and interpretation and curator of photography.) Drawing on their respective strengths – The Columbus Museum’s deep holdings in Thomas-related archives and the Chrysler’s collection of mid-century works – both institutions played an integral role in creating a robust, but until now untold, account of Thomas’ artistic journey.

Alma Thomas was the first Black woman to receive a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The 1972 exhibition earned rave reviews and brought national attention to the 80-year-old artist. The show has enjoyed legendary status ever since. Often described as Thomas's crowning achievement, it is celebrated as a triumph over racism, sexism, ageism, and provincialism.

In 1971, Whitney officials responded to protests over the museum's limited inclusion of African Americans by agreeing to present a series of solo shows of Black artists. Thomas was the fifth Black artist given an exhibition, and like most of those who preceded her, her abstract work did not include openly political themes. Although labeled a retrospective, the project was relegated to a small, one-room gallery near the museum's lobby. Despite its modest scale and complex origins, the display includedsome of Thomas's most ambitious paintings to date. Drawing on her interests in gardening and astronomy, the works revealed aspects of the artist's personal belief system, rooted in American transcendentalism and Black Anglicanism. A close look at the exhibition--both its context and contents-helps reveal why it had, and continues to have, a recognizable effect on Thomas's life and legacy.

The Columbus Museum audiences have the opportunity to experience Alma W. Thomas: Everything is Beautiful accompanied by Sand Unshaken: The Origin Story of Alma Thomas. This exclusive, historical exhibition draws from the Thomas family archives in the Museum’s permanent collection to shed light on Thomas’ complicated and surprising history of growing up in the Deep South in the decades following the Civil War. Sand Unshaken features portraits, books, family mementos, and furnishings from the Thomas home in the upper-middle-class Rose Hill neighborhood. Among the historic artifacts is a locket purchased by Thomas’s grandfather for her grandmother while both were enslaved.

Bringing "Everything is Beautiful" together was a herculean effort that was made possible thanks to the collaboration of a magnificent interdisciplinary advisory committee of experts and scholars – and of course, the contributions of the Thomas family to The Columbus Museum collection,” said Walz. “Now to see it all here, where her life began, is a powerful full-circle moment and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view such a comprehensive group of work by a lauded artist of her caliber, all exhibited under the same roof.”

Alma W. Thomas: Everything Is Beautiful will be on view through September 25, 2022, while Sand Unshaken: The Origin Story of Alma Thomas will welcome visitors until October 2, 2022.

ALMA W. THOMAS: Everything is Beautiful