ABLAZE WITH COLOR

Despite her era’s racial segregation and prejudice, African American artist and art teacher Alma Thomas blazed a colorful trail.

Growing up in the early 1900s, young Alma was drawn to “the sparkling colors of nature” around her family’s large Victorian house in Columbus, Georgia. As the story recounts, she spurned the domestic pursuits her sisters embraced, longing instead “to make things, / things she could hold.” So, she started creating pottery using clay from the banks of the stream behind her childhood home. Due to racial injustice, the Thomas children weren’t allowed to attend the schools, museums, or library in their town; nevertheless, their home was filled with books and learning, and creativity as well. When Alma was 15, her family moved to Washington, D.C., where she studied art in college and then taught art at a local school. The story goes on to describe Thomas’ tireless efforts to increase access to art for the Black students in her community and her many groundbreaking achievements both as an educator and as an artist, including being the first Black woman to have a solo museum exhibition in America. The text achieves a fine balance of evocative lyricism and straightforward exposition. Wise’s vibrant, eye-catching illustrations contain echoes of Thomas’ signature abstract style, with its colorful mosaiclike patterns and tessellated brush strokes. Most characters are Black; a few illustrations include diverse representation.

Uplifting with hope and ablaze with joyous colors!