User:Jill Lough/sandbox

Thelma Smalling Confer, born November 15, 1924, in rural Macon, Tennessee. married Byron Confer in 1946 and died in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA on November 8, 2013. An Indiana artist who operated her studio from 1968 until the 2000s.

Thelma started her career studying art in night school in Indianapolis. She then attended and graduated with a BFA from Herron Art School, Indiana University in 1968. She taught at the Indianapolis Art Center (then the Indianapolis Art League) and maintained a studio at 3503 Brookside Parkway, South Drive in Indianapolis, first producing hard edged abstracts and figures. Later in her career, Confer switched to historic Indiana architecture and landscapes, producing 35 oil paintings ranging from the first Corydon Statehouse, an Underground Railroad cave and State Park landmarks.

She had more than thirty one person shows and was represented in more than 100 private and and public collections, winning many awards and cash prizes in more than 80 competitive shows. Her affiliations included artNET, Hoosier Salon, the Indianapolis Art Center, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana Artists Club (Past President), Indiana State Museum and Association of Professional Artists.