Epiphany Artists

02/04/2021

This acrylic and graphite on canvas painting, titled Resurrection, was done by Alma Thomas. The painting was unveiled as part of the White House Collection during Black History Month 2015 and is the first painting in the White House permanent collection by an African-American woman.

Ms. Christine Sahr, our Epiphany Art Teacher, had our first graders paint their own interpretation of “Resurrection” and she also taught the students about the artist, Ms. Alma Woodsley Thomas, and her history of overcoming segregation and prejudice.

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C.. Ms. Thomas was the first graduate of Howard University’s Art department and attended Columbia University, earning her Masters in Art Education in 1934. Ms. Thomas taught in the Washington D.C. public school system, pre and post desegregation, as an art teacher for 35 years.
She is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. Thomas is best known for the exuberant, colorful, abstract paintings that she created after her retirement from a 35-year career teaching art.

Our First Graders at work with their own water colors:

 

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