The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay . Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that Maryland shares with Delaware and Virginia .
151-472: Alma Woodsey Thomas (September 22, 1891 – February 24, 1978) was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C. , and 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 at Washington's Shaw Junior High School . Thomas, who
302-488: A cascading waterfall with Italian Renaissance -style architecture. Modern , Postmodern , contemporary , and other non-classical architectural styles are also seen in the city. The National Museum of African American History and Culture deeply contrasts the stone-based neoclassical buildings on the National Mall with a design that combines modern engineering with heavy inspiration from African art . The interior of
453-447: A referendum on D.C. statehood resulted in an 85% support among Washington, D.C., voters for it to become the nation's 51st state . In March 2017, the city's congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill for statehood. Reintroduced in 2019 and 2021 as the Washington, D.C., Admission Act , the U.S. House of Representatives passed it in April 2021. After not progressing in
604-557: A 1948 gathering of the group shows thirteen artists and a male model. In 1958, Thomas visited art centers in Western Europe with Temple University students in an extensive tour arranged by that university's Tyler School of Art. Her involvement with the Little Paris Group is said to have inspired Thomas to seek further academic training at American University . One source states that in the early 1950s, "the A.U. art department
755-421: A Black school in the then-segregated public schools of Washington, D.C., where she worked until her retirement in 1960; she wrote, "I was there for thirty-five years and occupied the same classroom." She taught alongside fellow artist Malkia Roberts . While at Shaw Junior High, she started a community arts program that encouraged student appreciation of fine art. The program supported marionette performances and
906-488: A black woman. She believed that the most important thing was for her to continue to create her visions through her own artwork and work in the art world despite racial segregation. Thomas was still discriminated against as a black female artist and was critiqued for her abstract style as opposed to other Black Americans who worked with figuration and symbolism to fight oppression. Her works were featured alongside many other African-American artists in galleries and shows, such as
1057-489: A close friend for the rest of her lifetime. When Thomas studied with Kainen in fall 1957, he considered her as a fellow artist rather than as a student. Kainen had met Thomas in 1934, at the Barnet-Aden Gallery, and in 1957, he agreed to take over teaching an intensive year-long A.U. class for six selected top painting students, including Thomas, but the administration allowed 32 students, many of them beginners, to take
1208-570: A ferry terminal at Claiborne , west of St. Michaels , to Ocean City, via the Baltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad and the Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad . Travelers could also take a ferry to Love Point on Kent Island, board a Queen Anne's Railroad train, and travel east to Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware . Automobile transportation across the Chesapeake Bay was by ferryboat until 1952, when
1359-578: A few major roads; the main connection to the other parts of Maryland is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge , which carries U.S. Route 50 and U.S. Route 301 . U.S. Route 13 connects the southern part of the Eastern Shore to both Delaware and points north and Virginia and points south. The Eastern Shore of Maryland comprises Caroline , Cecil , Dorchester , Kent , Queen Anne's , Somerset , Talbot , Wicomico , and Worcester counties. These lie on
1510-545: A flat, sandy area that forms the coast. The coastal plain includes the Delmarva Peninsula and hence the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The geology of Delmarva is an inseparable part of the Eastern Shore, which has few rocky outcrops south of Kent County. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal crosses from Back Creek on the Elk River to Port Penn, Delaware . While it was a shallow canal with locks after its construction in 1829, it
1661-408: A garden-lined grand avenue about 1 mile (1.6 km) long and 400 feet (120 m) wide in an area that is now the National Mall inspired by the grounds at Versailles and Tuileries Gardens. In March 1792, President Washington dismissed L'Enfant due to conflicts with the three commissioners appointed to supervise the capital's construction. Andrew Ellicott , who worked with L'Enfant in surveying
SECTION 10
#17330853125631812-696: A librarian at Howard University, shared the house with her.) That home, now known as the Alma Thomas House , was built in about 1875 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Alma Thomas died on February 24, 1978, in Howard University Hospital, following aortal surgery. Thomas' papers were donated in several periods between 1979 and 2004 to the Archives of American Art by her sister, J. Maurice Thomas. Alma Thomas' early work
1963-516: A man but my art. What man would have ever appreciated what I was up to?" She wrote, "Once upon a time it was said, don't die having a " Miss " on your tombstone. I feel very proud of having maintain[ed] my Miss. I say that Miss stand[s] for all the Jackasses I missed in life." She added, "A fine man is a delight, but for God sake don't get entangled with a Jackass." She had an active social life, with many artist friends. She reportedly "rarely missed"
2114-496: A modern glass exterior and heavy curvature. CityCenterDC is home to Palmer Alley, a pedestrian-only walkway, and houses several apartment buildings, restaurants, and luxury-brand storefronts with streamlined glass and metal facades. Outside Downtown D.C., architectural styles are more varied. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the Queen Anne , Châteauesque , Richardsonian Romanesque , Georgian Revival , Beaux-Arts , and
2265-475: A monograph until 1998 when the Fort Wayne Museum exhibited a retrospective on the artist, the lateness of in-depth scholarly attention is not representative of her legacy and influence on the realm of Visual Arts . Jacob Kainen , her teacher at American University in autumn 1957, asserts that "Thomas played a key role in the development of abstract painting throughout the mid 20th century." Kainen wrote in
2416-459: A museum or gallery opening in Washington. Thomas lived in the same family house in Washington, at 1530 15th Street, NW, for nearly her entire life, from 1907 when her family moved from Georgia so she could attend high school until her death in 1978 (aside from a few years in her 20s when she worked elsewhere). Her younger sister John Maurice Thomas, who was named for their father and had a career as
2567-644: A new record price was set for Thomas's work when Alma's Flower Garden , painted in approximately 1968 to 1970, was deaccessioned by the Greenville County Museum of Art , which sold it in a private sale to an unidentified purchaser for $ 2.8 million. The museum had bought the painting in 2008 for $ 135,000. Thomas' work was included in the 2021 exhibition Women in Abstraction at the Centre Pompidou . Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally
2718-503: A notable focus on color theory. Her work at the time resonated with that of Vasily Kandinsky (who was interested in the emotional capabilities of color) and of the Washington Color Field Painters , "something that endeared her to critics . . . but also raised questions about her 'blackness' at a time when younger African-American artists were producing works of racial protest." She stated, "The use of color in my paintings
2869-469: A possible reasons for leaving Georgia. As another example of the racial violence that her family faced in Georgia, Alma's father had an encounter with a lynch mob shortly before Alma was born, her family attributed her poor hearing to the fright from that incident. Although still segregated, the nation's capital was known to offer more opportunities for African-Americans than most other cities. As she wrote in
3020-431: A relatively high homelessness rate, despite its high living standard compared to many American cities. Washington, D.C., is divided into four quadrants of unequal area: Northwest (NW) , Northeast (NE) , Southeast (SE) , and Southwest (SW) . The axes bounding the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol. All road names include the quadrant abbreviation to indicate their location. House numbers generally correspond with
3171-577: A snowstorm in January 1772. Hurricanes or their remnants occasionally impact the area in late summer and early fall. However, they usually are weak by the time they reach Washington, partly due to the city's inland location. Flooding of the Potomac River , however, caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and runoff, has been known to cause extensive property damage in the Georgetown neighborhood of
SECTION 20
#17330853125633322-657: A special committee charged with beautifying Washington's ceremonial core. What became known as the McMillan Plan was finalized in 1901 and included relandscaping the Capitol grounds and the National Mall, clearing slums, and establishing a new citywide park system. The plan is thought to have largely preserved L'Enfant's intended design for the city. By law, the city's skyline is low and sprawling. The federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 prohibits buildings with height exceeding
3473-507: A state delegate seat in district 37A. Ocean City 's skyline, containing tall hotels and condominiums, stands out within Delmarva . At the southern end of the town, a recreational boardwalk spans over thirty blocks, containing carnival rides and games, restaurants, bars, arcades, and clothing boutiques. Tourists visit St. Michaels on a neck surrounded by water; the colonial former port of Oxford ; Chestertown ; and isolated Smith Island in
3624-552: A state encompassing the Delmarva Peninsula . The 1998 proposal by state Senators Richard F. Colburn and J. Lowell Stoltzfus did not specify a status for Eastern Shore's nine counties following secession, but suggested the new state's name could be "Delmarva". The Delmarva Shorebirds are a minor league baseball team who play Class A baseball in the Carolina League at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury , affiliated with
3775-627: A stream valley that bisects the city. Established in 1890, it is the country's fourth-oldest national park and is home to a variety of plant and animal species, including raccoon, deer, owls, and coyotes. Other National Park Service properties include the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park , the National Mall and Memorial Parks , Theodore Roosevelt Island , Columbia Island , Fort Dupont Park , Meridian Hill Park , Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens , and Anacostia Park . The District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation maintains
3926-570: A supportive review from Helen Hoffman in The Washington Post of May 4, 1966, titled "colorful abstract reflects her spirit". Inspired by the Moon landing in 1969, Alma Thomas began her second major theme of paintings. The series Space, Snoopy and Earth were applying pointillism. She evoked mood by dramatic contrast of color with mosaic style, using dark blue against pale pink and orange colors, depicting an abstraction and accidental beauty through
4077-808: A teaching position in the Princess Anne schools on the Eastern Shore of Maryland , where she taught for four months. In 1915, she started teaching kindergarten at the Thomas Garrett Settlement House in Wilmington , Delaware, until 1921. Thomas entered Howard University in 1921, at age 30, entering as a junior because of her previous teacher training. She started as a home economics student, planning to specialize in costume design, only to switch to fine art after studying under art department founder James V. Herring . Her artistic focus at Howard
4228-468: A variety of Victorian styles. Rowhouses are prominent in areas developed after the Civil War and typically follow Federal and late Victorian designs. Georgetown 's Old Stone House , built in 1765, is the oldest-standing building in the city. Founded in 1789, Georgetown University features a mix of Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture . The Ronald Reagan Building is the largest building in
4379-499: Is considered to be the first English settlement within the Province of Maryland . Talbot County was formed in 1662. Cecil County was formed in 1674, by proclamation of the Governor, from eastern portions of Baltimore County and the northern portion of Kent County. Wicomico County was formed in 1867, as the 9th and last county, created from Somerset and Worcester counties. Ocean City
4530-529: Is dominated by three industry sectors: fishing along the coasts, especially for shellfish such as the blue crab ; farming, especially large-scale chicken farms; and tourism, especially centered on the Atlantic coast and beach resort of Ocean City . Because of its coastal and low-lying geography, the region is vulnerable to extreme weather events, including hurricanes and larger environmental issues like climate change and rising sea levels . The region contains
4681-546: Is for all time and is therefore independent of time. It is of all ages, of every land, and if by this we mean the creative spirit in man which produces a picture or a statue is common to the whole civilized world, independent of age, race and nationality; the statement may stand unchallenged. " -Alma Thomas, 1970 Thomas became a full-time, professional, artist when she was 68 or 69 years old, in 1960, on retiring from teaching. Within twelve years after her first class at American, she began creating Color Field paintings, inspired by
Alma Thomas - Misplaced Pages Continue
4832-861: Is generally popular among tourists and locals. In 2007, six of the top ten buildings in the American Institute of Architects ' ranking of America's Favorite Architecture were in the city: the White House , Washington National Cathedral , the Jefferson Memorial , the United States Capitol , the Lincoln Memorial , and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial . The neoclassical , Georgian , Gothic , and Modern styles are reflected among these six structures and many other prominent edifices in
4983-446: Is home to a fishing, crabbing, and seafood processing industry. In the 21st century, the main economic activities on the Eastern Shore are vegetable and grain farming , seafood , large-scale chicken breeding ( Perdue Farms was founded in Salisbury and is still headquartered there today), and tourism . Tobacco was the chief commodity crop during colonial times. The agricultural economy switched to mixed products, including grain, in
5134-650: Is home to many national monuments and museums , located most prominently on or around the National Mall , including the Jefferson Memorial , the Lincoln Memorial , and the Washington Monument . It hosts 177 foreign embassies and serves as the headquarters for the World Bank , the International Monetary Fund , the Organization of American States , and other international organizations. Home to many of
5285-480: Is in plant hardiness zone 8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in the city. Summers are hot and humid with a July daily average of 79.8 °F (26.6 °C) and average daily relative humidity around 66%, which can cause moderate personal discomfort. Heat indices regularly approach 100 °F (38 °C) at the height of summer. The combination of heat and humidity in the summer brings very frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in
5436-468: Is of paramount importance to me. Through color I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness in my painting rather than on man's inhumanity to man." Speaking again about her use of color she said: "Color is life, and light is the mother of color." In 1963, she walked in the March on Washington with her friend, the opera singer Lillian Evans . Although Thomas was largely an apolitical artist, she portrayed
5587-568: Is often considered a member of the Washington Color School art movement but alternatively classified by some as an Expressionist , earned her teaching degree from University of the District of Columbia (known as Miner Normal School at the time). She was the first graduate of Howard University 's art department, and maintained connections to that university through her life. She achieved success as an African-American female artist despite
5738-507: Is quoted as describing her as "the Signac of current color painters." In 2009, two paintings by Thomas, including Watusi (Hard Edge) , were chosen by First Lady Michelle Obama , White House interior designer Michael S. Smith (interior designer) , and White House curator William Allman to be exhibited in the White House during the Obama presidency . Watusi (Hard Edge) was eventually removed from
5889-470: Is sea level at the Potomac River. The geographic center of Washington is near the intersection of 4th and L streets NW. The district has 7,464 acres (30.21 km ) of parkland, about 19% of the city's total area, the second-highest among high-density U.S. cities after Philadelphia . The city's sizable parkland was a factor in the city being ranked as third in the nation for park access and quality in
6040-492: The Anacostia River to the east. Washington, D.C.'s street grid was extended, where possible, throughout the district starting in 1888. Georgetown's streets were renamed in 1895. Some streets are particularly noteworthy, including Pennsylvania Avenue , which connects the White House to the Capitol; and K Street, which houses the offices of many lobbying groups. Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue , located on
6191-734: The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal . There are three major routes to the Eastern Shore: The two major highways on the Eastern Shore are U.S. Route 13 and U.S. Route 50 , which meet in Salisbury . Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport , in Salisbury, is the only commercial airport on the Delmarva Peninsula . Airports for private aircraft include: The Eastern Shore has made several attempts to separate from Maryland. Proposals were debated in Maryland's General Assembly in 1833–1835, 1852, and 1998. There were earlier proposals visualizing
Alma Thomas - Misplaced Pages Continue
6342-650: The Civil War by local companies; by the late nineteenth century, all were controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad (which also bought control of the steamboat and ferry routes), then Conrail and Norfolk Southern . Today the remaining active railroad tracks on the Eastern Shore are operated by short-line railroads Delmarva Central Railroad and the Maryland and Delaware Railroad . Commercial east–west ties between Delaware towns and Maryland towns were culturally significant in Colonial and Early American periods despite
6493-623: The Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, which ended slavery in the district, freeing about 3,100 slaves in the district nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation . In 1868, Congress granted the district's African American male residents the right to vote in municipal elections. By 1870, the district's population had grown 75% in a decade to nearly 132,000 people, yet the city still lacked paved roads and basic sanitation. Some members of Congress suggested moving
6644-685: The Continental Congress and under the Articles of Confederation . New York City was the first capital upon the adoption of the Constitution , succeeded by Philadelphia , which was capital from 1790 to 1800. On October 6, 1783, after the capital was forced by the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 to move to Princeton, Congress resolved to consider a new location for it. The following day, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts moved "that buildings for
6795-580: The District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C. , is the capital city and federal district of the United States . The city is on the Potomac River , across from Virginia , and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. It was named after George Washington , the first president of the United States . The district is named after Columbia , the female personification of
6946-739: The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 , which officially organized the district and placed the entire territory under the exclusive control of the federal government. The area within the district was organized into two counties, the County of Washington to the east and north of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west and south. After the Act's passage, citizens in the district were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which ended their representation in Congress. On August 24, 1814, during
7097-518: The Mason–Dixon line forms the border between Maryland and Delaware. The border was originally marked every mile by a stone, and every five miles by a "crownstone". The line is not quite due north and south, but is as straight as survey methods of the 1760s could make it. It was surveyed as a compromise solution to a century-long wrangle over colonial territory between the Penn and Calvert families of England. If
7248-477: The Potomac River forms the district's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries, the Anacostia River and Rock Creek . Tiber Creek , a natural watercourse that once passed through the National Mall , was fully enclosed underground during the 1870s. The creek also formed a portion of the now-filled Washington City Canal , which allowed passage through the city to the Anacostia River from 1815 until
7399-602: The Twenty-third Amendment , passed in 1961. Washington, D.C. anchors the southern end of the Northeast megalopolis . As the seat of the U.S. federal government , the city is an important world political capital . The city hosts the buildings that house federal government headquarters, including the White House , the Capitol, the Supreme Court Building , and multiple federal departments and agencies . The city
7550-428: The U.S. East Coast . The city has a total area of 68.34 square miles (177 km ), of which 61.05 square miles (158.1 km ) is land and 7.29 square miles (18.9 km ) (10.67%) is water. The district is bordered by Montgomery County, Maryland , to the northwest; Prince George's County, Maryland , to the east; Arlington County, Virginia , to the west; and Alexandria, Virginia , to the south. The south bank of
7701-616: The War of 1812 , British forces invaded and occupied the city after defeating an American force at Bladensburg . In retaliation for acts of destruction by American troops in the Canadas , the British set fire to government buildings in the city, gutting the United States Capitol , the Treasury Building , and the White House in what became known as the burning of Washington . However, a storm forced
SECTION 50
#17330853125637852-600: The Washington Metro stations and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden are designed with strong influence from the 20th-century Brutalism movement. The Smithsonian Institution Building is built of Seneca red sandstone in the Norman Revival style. The Old Post Office building, located on Pennsylvania Avenue and completed in 1899, was the first building in the city to have a steel frame structure and
8003-629: The White House collection. Thomas and the artist Delilah Pierce , a friend, would drive into the countryside where Thomas would seek inspiration, pulling ideas from the effects of light and atmosphere on rural environments. To meet the challenge posed by the Howard show, according to Romare Bearden and Henry Henderson, her style changed again, in a crucial way: "Thomas evolved the specific style now recognized as her signature - playing color against color and over color with small, irregular rectangular shapes of dense, often intense color." This exhibition received
8154-653: The White House Historical Association . It was "the first artwork by an African-American woman to hang in the public spaces of the White House and enter the permanent collection." The choice of Thomas for the White House collection was described as an ideal symbol for the Obama administration by The New York Times art critic Holland Cotter. Cotter described Thomas' work as "forward-looking without being radical; post-racial but also race-conscious." In 2016,
8305-478: The segregation and prejudice of her time. Thomas's reputation has continued to grow since her death. Her paintings are displayed in notable museums and collections, and they have been the subject of several books and solo museum exhibitions. In 2021, a museum sold Thomas's painting Alma's Flower Garden in a private transaction for $ 2.8 million. Alma Thomas was born on September 22, 1891, in Columbus , Georgia, as
8456-486: The "pivotal" development in, her development as a professional artist." It put her into contact with leading contemporary national artists, which "heightened her awareness of art trends and directions," and it provided exposure to local artists which "both challenged and inspired her." In the 1940s Thomas also joined Lois Mailou Jones 's artist community, "The Little Paris Group (or "Little Paris Studio," or "Little Paris Studio group"). This group of Black Washington artists
8607-515: The 1850s. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal starts in Georgetown and was used during the 19th century to bypass the Little Falls of the Potomac River, located at the northwest edge of the city at the Atlantic Seaboard fall line . The highest natural elevation in the district is 409 feet (125 m) above sea level at Fort Reno Park in upper northwest Washington, D.C. The lowest point
8758-493: The 1963 event in a 1964 painting. A detail from that painting became a 2005 U.S. postage stamp commemorating the March on Washington. Her first retrospective exhibit was in 1966 (April 24–May 17) at the Gallery of Art at Howard University , curated by art historian James A. Porter . It included 34 works from 1959 to 1966. For this exhibition, she created Earth Paintings , a series of nature-inspired abstract works, including Resurrection (1966), which in 2014 would be bought for
8909-591: The 1970s, "At least Washington's libraries were open to Negroes, whereas Columbus excluded Negroes from its only library." In Washington, Thomas attended Armstrong Technical High School , where she took her first art classes. About them, she said "When I entered the art room, it was like entering heaven. . . . The Armstrong High School laid the foundation for my life." In high school, she excelled at math and science, and architecture specifically interested her. A miniature schoolhouse that she made from cardboard using techniques learned in her architecture studies at Armstrong
9060-410: The 2018 ParkScore ranking of the park systems of the nation's 100 most populous cities, according to Trust for Public Land , a non-profit organization. The National Park Service manages most of the 9,122 acres (36.92 km ) of city land owned by the U.S. government. Rock Creek Park is a 1,754-acre (7.10 km ) urban forest in Northwest Washington, which extends 9.3 miles (15.0 km) through
9211-493: The American Austrian Society's painting exhibition with her painting The Viennese Waltzes, and later in 1972, at the age of 81, Thomas was the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art . Later the same year, a much larger exhibition was also held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art . Thomas denied labels placed upon her as an artist and would not accept any barriers inhibiting her creative process and art career, including her identity as
SECTION 60
#17330853125639362-504: The British to evacuate the city after just 24 hours. Most government buildings were repaired quickly, but the Capitol, which was largely under construction at the time, would not be completed in its current form until 1868. In the 1830s, the district's southern territory of Alexandria declined economically, due in part to its neglect by Congress. Alexandria was a major market in the domestic slave trade and pro-slavery residents feared that abolitionists in Congress would end slavery in
9513-408: The Chesapeake Bay. North of Crisfield is Janes Island State Park , with camping and kayaking trails through marshlands. Cambridge continues to be a popular destination for tourism because of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge , the Hyatt Chesapeake Bay Resort, Spa & Marina, and the Harriet Tubman National Park. At the southern end of the Chesapeake coast of Maryland, the town of Crisfield
9664-426: The Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Bay watershed divide had been taken as the borderline, the state of Delaware would be about half its current size. William Claiborne was granted land that was then part of the Colony of Virginia in 1629. He named it "Kent County". In 1631, he sailed north up the Chesapeake Bay from its south and west side to the area known today as Kent Island . There he made a fortified settlement that
9815-408: The D.C. African-American art dealer (and grandson of Thomas's friend Lillian Evans , the opera singer) as Thomas's "fermenting period;" during them she absorbed many ideas and influences, and after 1960 from those ideas and influences she would create her own distinctive art. While she taught at Shaw Junior High, Thomas continued to pursue her art, her formal and informal education, and activities with
9966-405: The District from its founding. The building of Washington likely relied in significant part on slave labor, and slave receipts have been found for the White House, Capitol Building, and establishment of Georgetown University. The city became an important slave market and a center of the nation's internal slave trade . After its survey, the new federal city was constructed on the north bank of
10117-433: The District of Columbia. Shepherd authorized large projects that modernized the city but bankrupted its government. In 1874, Congress replaced the territorial government with an appointed three-member board of commissioners. In 1888, the city's first motorized streetcars began service. Their introduction generated growth in areas of the district beyond the City of Washington's original boundaries, leading to an expansion of
10268-565: The Eastern Shore overall. At the presidential level, the Eastern Shore also leans Republican. But Kent and Somerset counties have flipped back and forth in supporting Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. The last Democrat to win Dorchester County was Bill Clinton from Arkansas in 1996 . Cecil County has not gone Democratic since Jimmy Carter from Georgia won the county in 1976 . Queen Anne's, Caroline, Wicomico, and Worcester counties have voted Republican at every election subsequent to Lyndon Johnson's landslide . Up until 2020, this
10419-444: The Potomac River, to the east of Georgetown centered on Capitol Hill . On September 9, 1791, three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington. The same day, the federal district was named Columbia, a feminine form of Columbus , which was a poetic name for the United States commonly used at that time. Congress held its first session there on November 17, 1800. Congress passed
10570-399: The Residence Act, the exact location was to be selected by President George Washington , who signed the bill into law on July 16, 1790. Formed from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side and totaling 100 square miles (259 km ). Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory,
10721-458: The School Arts League Project, to bring art opportunities to children. In 1943, Thomas helped James W. Herring, her former professor at Howard, and Alonzo J. Aden found the Barnett-Aden Gallery , the first successful Black-owned private art gallery in the United States. She served as the gallery's vice president. Thomas's association with the Barnett-Aden Gallery has been described as "critical to" and, according to curator Adelyn Dohme Breeskin ,
10872-588: The Senate and signed by president; it would have renamed the city Washington, Douglas Commonwealth and shrunk the Federal District to about the size of the national mall. Designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant , the city is divided into quadrants , which are centered around the Capitol Building and include 131 neighborhoods . As of the 2020 census , the city had a population of 689,545. Commuters from
11023-464: The Senate, the statehood bill was introduced again in January 2023. The bill would have made D.C. into a state with one representative and two senators, with the name Washington, Douglas Commonwealth (thus keeping the same abbreviation Washington, D.C.). The legalities, reasons, and impact of statehood have been heavily debated in the 2020s. Washington, D.C., is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of
11174-682: The Tang Museum and Lauren Haynes , Associate Curator, Permanent Collection at the Studio Museum in Harlem and supported by the Friends of the Tang. The exhibit's promotional material noted that "Thomas's patterned compositions, energetic brushwork and commitment to color created a singular and innovative body of work." They also noted that it "includes rarely exhibited watercolors and early experiments." This exhibition
11325-881: The United States Constitution was ratified in 1961, granting the district three votes in the Electoral College for the election of president and vice president, but still not affording the city's residents representation in Congress. After the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in the city , primarily in the U ;Street, 14th Street, 7th Street, and H Street corridors, which were predominantly black residential and commercial areas. The riots raged for three days until more than 13,600 federal troops and Washington, D.C., Army National Guardsmen stopped
11476-494: The Washington, D.C. art community, the latter often in ways connected to Howard University. During this time Thomas painted, especially in watercolor; while her style in the 1930s was described as still "quite traditional" and naturalistic, she has been called a "brilliant watercolorist." Over summers, she would travel to New York City to visit art museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art , and galleries. During
11627-567: The White House due to concerns about the piece fitting into the space in Michelle Obama's East Wing office. Sky Light , on loan from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden , hung in the Obama family private quarters. In 2015, another of her paintings, Resurrection (1966), was prominently hung in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House, having been acquired for the White House collection in 2014 with $ 290,000 in funding from
11778-508: The already-implemented L'Enfant Plan , with the new McMillan Plan leading urban development in the city throughout the movement. Much of the old Victorian Mall was replaced with modern Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts architecture ; these designs are still prevalent in the city's governmental buildings today. Increased federal spending under the New Deal in the 1930s led to the construction of new government buildings, memorials, and museums in
11929-498: The area. Blizzards affect Washington once every four to six years on average. The most violent storms, known as nor'easters , often impact large regions of the East Coast . From January 27 to 28, 1922 , the city officially received 28 inches (71 cm) of snowfall, the largest snowstorm since official measurements began in 1885. According to notes kept at the time, the city received between 30 and 36 inches (76 and 91 cm) from
12080-491: The border line, which largely cut through woods and swamps. Trade with Philadelphia was conducted by overland routes to Delaware towns such as Odessa (then called Cantwell's Bridge) and Smyrna , then called Duck Creek. Agricultural products and milled grain were taken up the Delaware River by "shallop men" in small vessels called shallops . These cultural connections continue to this day. An east–west rail route ran from
12231-556: The capital farther west, but President Ulysses S. Grant refused to consider the proposal. In the Organic Act of 1871 , Congress repealed the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown , abolished Washington County , and created a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia. These steps made "the city of Washington...legally indistinguishable from the District of Columbia." In 1873, President Grant appointed Alexander Robey Shepherd as Governor of
12382-585: The capital. In the Compromise of 1790 , Madison, Alexander Hamilton , and Thomas Jefferson agreed that the federal government would pay each state's remaining Revolutionary War debts in exchange for establishing the new national capital in the Southern United States . On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act , which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River . Under
12533-521: The catalog of the Fort Wayne show that he met Thomas in 1943, at an event at the Barnett-Aden Gallery . Kainen remembers her at that time as "a small, slim woman whose elegance of dress and manner and unmistakable firmness of character made the matter of her size irrelevant." In the program of the 1966 Howard University Art Gallery's show "Alma W. Thomas: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1959-1966," Kainen
12684-556: The city's 900 acres (3.6 km ) of athletic fields and playgrounds, 40 swimming pools, and 68 recreation centers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates the 446-acre (1.80 km ) United States National Arboretum in Northeast Washington, D.C. Washington's climate is humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ), or oceanic ( Trewartha : Do bordering Cf downtown). Winters are cool to cold with some snow of varying intensity, while summers are hot and humid. The district
12835-402: The city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area , which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia , is the country's seventh-largest metropolitan area , with a 2023 population of 6.3 million residents. A locally elected mayor and 13-member council have governed
12986-696: The city's classical-style architecture include buildings constructed in the French Second Empire style, including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building , and the modernist Watergate complex . The Thomas Jefferson Building , the main Library of Congress building, and the historic Willard Hotel are built in Beaux-Arts style , popular throughout the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Meridian Hill Park contains
13137-421: The city, was then tasked with completing its design. Though Ellicott revised the original L'Enfant plans, including changing some street patterns, L'Enfant is still credited with the city's overall design. By the early 20th century, however, L'Enfant's vision of a grand national capital was marred by slums and randomly placed buildings in the city, including a railroad station on the National Mall. Congress formed
13288-530: The city. Many of the government buildings, monuments, and museums along the National Mall and surrounding areas are heavily inspired by classical Roman and Greek architecture. The designs of the White House, the U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court Building , Washington Monument , National Gallery of Art , Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial are all heavily drawn from these classical architectural movements and feature large pediments, domes, columns in classical order, and heavy stone walls. Notable exceptions to
13439-462: The city. Precipitation occurs throughout the year. The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 6, 1918, and on July 20, 1930. The lowest recorded temperature was −15 °F (−26 °C) on February 11, 1899 , right before the Great Blizzard of 1899 . During a typical year, the city averages about 37 days at or above 90 °F (32 °C) and 64 nights at or below
13590-473: The class and Kainen quit in frustration after one term. When Thomas began her advanced studies at American University in 1950, she was still a figurative painter. During the 1950s her style evolved in several major shifts, from figurative painting to cubism and then to abstract expressionism, with "monumental," dark paintings largely in blue and brown tones, to beginning to embrace the bright colors that she would later use in her signature style. " Creative art
13741-515: The coastal geography, infrastructure is already being damaged both due to sea level rise, and storm surge from tropical storms and hurricanes. The Eastern Shore's economy depends on the larger fisheries and farming, both of which are sensitive to climate change. Various waterways provide a medium for commerce and boaters: the Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay , the Susquehanna River , and
13892-550: The colors that Matisse used, and named it after a Chubby Checker song. In contrast with most other members of the Washington Color School, she did not use masking tape to outline the shapes in her paintings. Her technique involved drawing faint pencil lines across the canvas to create shapes and patterns, and filling in the canvas with paint afterwards. Her pencil lines are obvious in many of her finished pieces, she did not erase them. Thomas's post-retirement artwork had
14043-496: The cosmos. The title of her painting Mars Dust (1972) alluded to news stories of a dust storm on Mars.. Art historian Richard J. Powell wrote in 1997 about the position of Thomas and Sam Gilliam as the two best known African-American members of the Washington Color School, "While conversant with the works of fellow Washington Color School artists ( Gene Davis , Morris Louis , and Kenneth Noland ), they also addressed, through rhythmic and high key color abstract painting techniques,
14194-597: The distribution of student designed holiday cards which were given to soldiers at the Tuskegee Veterans Administration Medical Center . Also, according to her reminiscences, "At Shaw, I organized the first art gallery in the D.C. public schools in 1938, securing paintings by outstanding Negro artists from the Howard Gallery of Art." The three and a half decades of Thomas's teaching career, from 1924 to 1960, were described by Thurlow Tibbs,
14345-477: The district . Alexandria's citizens petitioned Virginia to retake the land it had donated to form the district, a process known as retrocession . The Virginia General Assembly voted in February 1846, to accept the return of Alexandria. On July 9, 1846, Congress went further, agreeing to return all territory that Virginia had ceded to the district during its formation. This left the district's area consisting only of
14496-537: The district over the next few decades. Georgetown's street grid and other administrative details were formally merged with those of the City of Washington in 1895. However, the city had poor housing and strained public works, leading it to become the first city in the nation to undergo urban renewal projects as part of the City Beautiful movement in the early 20th century. The City Beautiful movement built heavily upon
14647-425: The district since 1973, though Congress retains the power to overturn local laws. Washington, D.C., residents are, on the federal level, politically disenfranchised since the city's residents do not have voting representation in Congress; the city's residents elect a single non-voting congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The city's voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with
14798-434: The district with a total area of about 3.1 million square feet (288,000 m ). Washington Union Station is designed in a combination of architectural styles. Its Great Hall has elaborate gold leaf designs along the ceilings and the hall includes several decorative classical-style statues. Eastern Shore of Maryland As of the 2020 census, its population was 456,815, with about 7% of Marylanders living in
14949-515: The district, though the chairman of the House Subcommittee on District Appropriations, Ross A. Collins of Mississippi , justified cuts to funds for welfare and education for local residents by saying that "my constituents wouldn't stand for spending money on niggers." World War II led to an expansion of federal employees in the city; by 1950, the district's population reached its peak of 802,178 residents. The Twenty-third Amendment to
15100-524: The eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna River , which is the western border of Cecil County with Harford County . The region borders the Mason–Dixon line with Delaware to the east and north, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and Virginia's Eastern Shore on the south. Maryland's and Virginia's Eastern Shores, along with most of Delaware, form the Delmarva Peninsula . The location of
15251-602: The end of her life, her style moved "to a color-filled, impastoed geometric abstraction of tessellated brushstroke patterns." These paintings have been compared to Byzantine mosaics and the pointillist paintings of Georges-Pierre Seurat . Thomas' style has qualities similar to West African paintings as well as Byzantine mosaics. Her watercolor and oil paintings incorporated the use of (sometimes overlapping) colorful rectangles. She continued to use this technique, in works which explored colors found in trees, flowers, gardens, and other natural imagery. Her painting Evening Glow
15402-438: The exhibition Alma Thomas , described in promotional materials as "the first comprehensive look at the artist’s work in nearly twenty years," and as presenting "a wide range of evolution of Thomas's work from the late 1950s to her death in 1978," was organized by The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College and The Studio Museum in Harlem . This exhibition was curated by Ian Berry, Dayton Director of
15553-629: The fact that she was a nearly 80-year-old woman at the time of her national debut. The New York Times reviewed her exhibit four times, calling her paintings "expert abstractions, tachiste in style, faultless in their handling of color." Many white critics complimented her as “the Signac of current color painters” and as “gifted, ebullient abstractionist”. Alma Thomas's philosophy of her own art is that her works are full of energy, and those energies cannot be destroyed or created. New York art curator and editor Thomas B. Hess bought Thomas's 1972 painting Red Roses Sonata , and in 1976 his family's foundation gave
15704-616: The first Chesapeake Bay Bridge was opened for traffic. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, developers began selling lots on Assateague Island, south of the inlet. However, a storm on March 6, 1962 destroyed houses, shacks, and roads. The state and federal governments intervened before reconstruction by creating the Assateague Island National Seashore and Assateague State Park to preserve this area rather than have it be developed. An Eastern Shore Baseball League operated during three periods between 1922 and 1949. It
15855-501: The first Black-owned gallery in the District of Columbia. After her show at the Whitney, Thomas's fame within the fine arts community rocketed. Her newfound recognition was due in part to Robert Doty's vocal support of her, as he organized Thomas's Whitney show as part of a series of African-American artist exhibitions, intended to protest their lack of representation. New York critics were impressed with Thomas's modern style, especially given
16006-407: The first session in the unfinished Capitol Building in 1800 after the capital moved from Philadelphia . In 1801, the District of Columbia, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia and including the existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria , was officially recognized as the federal district; initially, the city was a separate settlement within the larger district. In 1846, Congress returned
16157-571: The first steamboat traveled the Bay. By the 1880s, railroad lines linked the Eastern Shore to Philadelphia and later, Norfolk, Virginia , by way of a railroad line straight south from Wilmington to Dover , Delmar , Salisbury , and Cape Charles . Maryland's Eastern Shore was served by branch lines running generally southwest from the main route. See List of railroad lines in the Delmarva Peninsula . The Eastern Shore's many branchlines were built after
16308-666: The first to use electrical wiring in its design. Notable contemporary residential buildings, restaurants, shops, and office buildings in the city include the Wharf on the Southwest Waterfront , Navy Yard along the Anacostia River , and CityCenterDC in Downtown . The Wharf has seen the construction of several high-rise office and residential buildings overlooking the Potomac River . Additionally, restaurants, bars, and shops have been opened at street level. Many of these buildings have
16459-404: The freezing mark (32 °F or 0 °C). On average, the first day with a minimum at or below freezing is November 18 and the last day is March 27. Washington, D.C., was a planned city , and many of the city's street grids were developed in that initial plan. In 1791, President George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles L'Enfant , a French-born military engineer and artist, to design
16610-494: The heads of notable women artists collaged over the heads of Christ and his apostles; Alma Thomas was among those notable women artists. This image, addressing the role of religious and art historical iconography in the subordination of women, became "one of the most iconic images of the feminist art movement ." Thomas was, according to all evidence, never married. She told the New York Times in 1977 that she had "never married
16761-399: The inlet permanent, dividing Fenwick Island (north) from Assateague Island (south). Early transportation to the island was by train. Until the 1820s, travel and commerce between the Eastern Shore and Baltimore were less important than the connections between it and Philadelphia. Water travel by sailboat and steamer linked the Eastern Shore to Baltimore more tightly beginning about 1813, when
16912-456: The land originally ceded by Virginia , including the city of Alexandria. In 1871, it created a single municipality for the remaining portion of the district. There have been several unsuccessful efforts to make the district into a state since the 1880s; a statehood bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021 but was not adopted by the U.S. Senate . To become law it would have to be passed by
17063-581: The model, to improve their techniques -- "developing skills and styles," and "to hone their skills and exchange critiques"—as well as a salon, or discussion forum—to "talk about the latest developments in modern art, particularly as it was centered in Paris." Other members of the group in addition to Jones and Tabary included Delilah Pierce and Thomas, as well as Bruce Brown, Ruth Brown , Richard Dempsey, Barbara Linger, Don Roberts, Desdemona Wade, Frank West, and Elizabeth Williamson. A photo, from Thomas's archives, of
17214-537: The more densely populated and urban Western Shore. Since the late 20th century, when conservative whites shifted to the Republican Party, the region has strongly supported Republican candidates for governor. The three Republican nominees for governor from 1994 to 2018 – Ellen Sauerbrey , Bob Ehrlich , and Larry Hogan – swept all nine counties. This streak ended in 2022 when Democrat Wes Moore won Kent and Talbot counties, though Republican Dan Cox still won
17365-409: The nation . The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for the creation of a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress . As such, Washington, D.C., is not part of any state , and is not one itself. The Residence Act , adopted on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of the capital district along the Potomac River. The city was founded in 1791, and the 6th Congress held
17516-542: The nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks , D.C. is known as a lobbying hub, with K Street as the industry center. The city had 20.7 million domestic visitors and 1.2 million international visitors, ranking seventh among U.S. cities as of 2022. The Algonquian -speaking Piscataway people , also known as the Conoy, inhabited the lands around the Potomac River and present-day Washington, D.C., when Europeans first arrived and colonized
17667-463: The need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution permits the establishment of a "District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States". However, the constitution does not specify a location for
17818-496: The new capital. He enlisted the help of Isaac Roberdeau, Étienne Sulpice Hallet and Scottish surveyor Alexander Ralston to help lay out the city plan. The L'Enfant Plan featured broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping. L'Enfant was also provided a roll of maps by Thomas Jefferson depicting Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Paris, Orleans, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Turin, and Milan. L'Enfant's design also envisioned
17969-541: The north and south sides of the National Mall, respectively, are home to many of Washington's iconic museums, including many Smithsonian Institution buildings and the National Archives Building . Washington hosts 177 foreign embassies ; these maintain nearly 300 buildings and more than 1,600 residential properties, many of which are on a section of Massachusetts Avenue informally known as Embassy Row . The architecture of Washington, D.C., varies greatly and
18120-404: The number of blocks away from the Capitol. Most streets are set out in a grid pattern with east–west streets named with letters (e.g., C Street SW), north–south streets with numbers (e.g., 4th Street NW), and diagonal avenues, many of which are named after states . The City of Washington was bordered on the north by Boundary Street (renamed Florida Avenue in 1890); Rock Creek to the west, and
18271-465: The oldest of four daughters, to John Harris Thomas, a businessman, and Amelia Cantey Thomas, a dress designer . Her mother and aunts, she later wrote, were teachers and Tuskegee Institute graduates. She was creative as a child, although her serious artistic career began much later in life. While growing up, Thomas displayed her artistic capabilities, and enjoyed making small pieces of artwork such as puppets, sculptures, and plates, mainly out of clay from
18422-629: The piece to the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Joshua Taylor, director from 1970 to 1981 of the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum ), also purchased some of her work, and wrote to Thomas in 1975, thanking her for a painting that hung in his living room: "It's like having Spring well before its appointed date." Mary Beth Edelson 's Some Living American Women Artists / Last Supper (1972) appropriated Leonardo da Vinci ’s The Last Supper , with
18573-563: The port of Georgetown , founded in 1751, and the port city of Alexandria, Virginia , founded in 1749. In 1791 and 1792, a team led by Andrew Ellicott , including Ellicott's brothers Joseph and Benjamin and African American astronomer Benjamin Banneker , whose parents had been enslaved, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point; many of these stones are still standing. Both Maryland and Virginia were slave states , and slavery existed in
18724-472: The portion originally donated by Maryland. Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the district, although not slavery itself. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 led to the expansion of the federal government and notable growth in the city's population, including a large influx of freed slaves. President Abraham Lincoln signed
18875-526: The region in the early 17th century. The Nacotchtank , also called the Nacostines by Catholic missionaries , maintained settlements around the Anacostia River in present-day Washington, D.C. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes ultimately displaced the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland . Nine cities served as capitals to
19026-408: The region. The region is politically more conservative than the rest of the state, generally returning more votes for Republicans than Democrats in statewide and national elections. Developed in the colonial and federal period for agriculture, the Eastern Shore has remained a relatively rural region. Salisbury is the most populous community on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The region's economy
19177-511: The river behind her childhood home . Despite a growing interest in the arts, Thomas was "not allowed" to go into art museums as a child. She was provided with music lessons, as her mother played the violin. In 1907, when Thomas was 16, the family moved to the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Describing the family move, she later wrote, "When I finished grade school in Columbus, there
19328-544: The second half of the 18th century. Energy in the Eastern shore is provided by five oil and natural gas plants. As part of the broader Chesapeake Bay watershed , the Eastern Shore confronts common environmental issues of the watershed, such as nutrient runoff from agriculture, but it is also vulnerable to climate change . Because of its low-lying geography and sandy soil, the region is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and salt water intrusion. Moreover, because of
19479-433: The slippery pathways between nature and society," and "epitomize[ing] the integrationist mood of the times." The Washington Post described her as "a force in the Washington Color School ". Writing in 1998, art historian Sharon Patton described Thomas's 1973 Wind and Crepe Myrtle Concerto as "one of the most Minimalist Color-Field paintings ever produced by an African-American artist." Although Thomas did not receive
19630-467: The social aspirations of Washington D.C.'s African American middle class." He continued by noting that in the 1960s Thomas "turned her back" on her earlier representational style "that would have been seen by D.C.'s arts community as ideologically conservative," in favor of "an abstract style inspired by horticulture, scientific color theory, and music." Powell described Thomas's 1976 Azeleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music as "skillfully negotiating
19781-583: The southern border with Virginia was a cause for significant dispute amongst colonists prior to 1668, when Phillip Calvert of Maryland and Edmund Scarborough of Virginia demarcated the Calvert-Scarborough Line. This line ran northeast from Watkins Point in the Chesapeake through the James L. Horsey Farm and beyond to the Atlantic, but was ultimately never observed due to poor marking. The line in use today
19932-529: The subsequent general election to Democrat Frank Kratovil , Queen Anne's County state's attorney. In 2010, Harris again ran for the district and handily defeated Kratovil after a single term in office. Harris has held the seat without serious difficulty since. In the Maryland General Assembly , the Eastern Shore encompasses a portion of district 35B and all of districts 35A, 36, 37A and 37B, 38A, 38B and 38C. All seats are held by Republicans except for
20083-666: The summers of 1930 through 1934, she attended Teachers College of Columbia University , earning her Masters in Art Education in 1934; her studies focused on sculpture, and she wrote her thesis on the use of marionettes. In the summer of 1935, she further studied marionettes in New York City with the German-American puppeteer Tony Sarg , known as the father of modern puppetry in America. In 1936, she founded an organization, called
20234-565: The use of Congress be erected on the banks of the Delaware near Trenton , or of the Potomac , near Georgetown , provided a suitable district can be procured on one of the rivers as aforesaid, for a federal town". In Federalist No. 43 , published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that the new federal government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety. The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 emphasized
20385-494: The use of color. Most of the works in these series have circular, horizontal, and vertical patterns. These patterns are able to generate a conceptual feeling of floating. The patterns also generate energy within the canvas. The contrast of colors creates a powerful color segregation, and maintains visual energy. Between the years 1967 and 1975, Thomas received several awards and recognitions from various American art organizations and museums. In 1967, Thomas won an honorable mention in
20536-442: The violence. Many stores and other buildings were burned, and rebuilding from the riots was not completed until the late 1990s. In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act providing for an elected mayor and 13-member council for the district. In 1975, Walter Washington became the district's first elected and first black mayor. Since the 1980s, the D.C. statehood movement has grown in prominence. In 2016,
20687-532: The width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet (6.1 m). Despite popular belief, no law has ever limited buildings to the height of the United States Capitol or the 555-foot (169 m) Washington Monument , which remains the district's tallest structure. City leaders have cited the height restriction as a primary reason that the district has limited affordable housing and its metro area has suburban sprawl and traffic problems. Washington, D.C., still has
20838-528: The work of the New York School and Abstract Expressionism . Thomas was known to work in her home studio (a small living room), creating her paintings by "propping the canvas on her lap and balancing it against the sofa." She worked out of the kitchen in her house, creating works like Watusi (Hard Edge) (1963), a manipulation of the Matisse cutout The Snail , in which Thomas shifted shapes around and changed
20989-420: Was representational in manner. As a black woman, she focused her work on creative spirit rather than race or gender. Thomas believed that creativity should be independent of gender or race, creating works with a focus on accidental beauty and the abstraction of color. After further education at American University and influenced by James V. Herring and Lois Mailou Jones , her work became more abstract . Toward
21140-414: Was a Class D minor league with teams in all three states of Delmarva. Although the Eastern Shore comprises a large part of Maryland's land area, it had a population of 456,815 as of the 2020 Census, representing about 7.4% of Maryland's total population. The most populous city in the region is Salisbury , and the most populous county is Cecil . The Eastern Shore is considerably more conservative than
21291-523: Was deepened in the early 20th century to sea level, and physically separates the Delmarva Peninsula from the rest of the United States. Maryland south of the canal is considered the Eastern Shore by residents. The term Western Shore is used by Eastern Shore residents to describe all the counties of Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay, but especially those of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area and Southern Maryland . The north–south section of
21442-415: Was divided into four sections: Move to Abstraction; Earth, Space, and Late Work. The Wall Street Journal described her in 2016 as a previously "underappreciated artist" who is more recently recognized for her "exuberant" works, noteworthy for their pattern, rhythm and color. In 2019, Thomas's 1970 painting A Fantastic Sunset was auctioned at a Christie's sale. It sold for $ 2.655 million. In 2021,
21593-674: Was established under the Award of 1877; this line travels east from Watkins Point, then up the middle of the Pocomoke River before heading due east along the Calvert-Scarborough Line at the point where it intersects the river. Like New Castle County, Delaware , Cecil County is crossed by the Fall Line , a geologic division where the rockier highlands of the Piedmont region meet the Atlantic coastal plain ,
21744-484: Was exhibited at the Smithsonian in 1912. Although she expressed an interest in becoming an architect , it was unusual for women to work in this profession and this limited her prospects. After graduating from Armstrong High School" in 1911, she studied kindergarten education at Miner Normal School (now known as University of the District of Columbia ), earning her teaching credentials in 1913. In 1914, she obtained
21895-687: Was founded by Jones and Céline Marie Tabary , both artists and members of the Howard University art faculty (Jones from 1930 to 1977, and Tabary beginning in 1945). The date of the group's founding is described variously as during the German occupation of Paris (i.e., 1940 to 1944), "the late 1940s," 1945, 1946, or 1948. It met either weekly or twice per week, at Jones' studio, the "Little Paris studio," in her home at 1220 Quincy Street NE, in Washington's Brookland neighborhood. It existed for five years. It offered developing artists an opportunity to paint from
22046-703: Was founded on July 4, 1875, when the Atlantic Hotel opened on Assateague Island . At the time, Assateague Island was continuous from the Delaware state line to well south of Ocean City: the Ocean City Inlet was not formed until a hurricane in August 1933 cut across the south end of the town. The inlet was cut not by waves sweeping inland, but by 4 or 5 days' worth of freshwater runoff from the coastal creeks running seaward. By 1935, government money had built jetties to make
22197-433: Was inspired in part by Thomas's interest in the colors of natural world: "The holly tree outside her living room intrigued Thomas with designs formed by its leaves against the window panes, and with patterns of light and shade cast on the floor and walls inside her home." She called her paintings 'Alma's Stripes,' as the overlapping shapes of paint created elongated rectangles. Later works were inspired by space exploration and
22348-478: Was nowhere that I could continue my education, so my parents decided to move the family to Washington." Thomas was also able to access the libraries in Washington, unlike Columbus." Her parents made this move despite that the family "kind of came down a bit," socially and economically, in leaving their upper-middle class life in Georgia. Other writers have pointed to the Atlanta race riots and racial massacre of 1906 as
22499-620: Was on sculpture; the paintings she produced during her college education were described by Romare Bearden and Henry Henderson as "academic and undistinguished." She earned her Bachelors of Science in Fine Arts in 1924 from Howard, becoming the first graduate from the university's fine arts program. It has been suggested that might have been first African-American or American woman to earn a bachelor's art degree, however Mary Jane Patterson received her BA, in 1862, nearly 60 years earlier. In 1924, Thomas began teaching art at Shaw Junior High School ,
22650-468: Was regarded in many quarters as 'the' avant-garde art department in the nation." Accordingly, in 1950, at the age of 59, she began a decade of studies at that university, taking night and weekend classes, studying Art History and painting. At American University she studied painting with Robert Franklin Gates and Ben "Joe" Summerford. But Jacob Kainen was her most influential teacher there, and would become
22801-462: Was true for Talbot County as well, but it was won by Joe Biden . The Eastern Shore has long been a part of Maryland's 1st Congressional district . Democrat Roy Dyson represented the 1st district from 1981 until 1990, when he was defeated by Republican Wayne Gilchrest . Gilchrest held the seat until 2008, when State Senator Andy Harris defeated him in the Republican primary. Harris narrowly lost
#562437