Anne Thomas was born in Lilesville, NC and received her art education at the Greensboro Women’s College, now UNC-G. She matriculated during the post WW II era, when “abstract” art was considered avant-garde. Thomas, along with Maud Gatewood and Lee Hall, studied under the guiding hand of Gregory Ivy, who invited to speak and teach such luminaries as Josef Albers and Walter Gropius.