World-renowned Columbus artist, teacher Geri Davis dies
Geri Davis, the Columbus artist whose work hangs on walls from the Chattahoochee Valley to around the world, has died.
Davis had pancreatic cancer and died Thursday while receiving hospice care in Columbus, former Columbus Artists’ Guild president Rob St. Clair confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer. She was 82.
In addition to her artwork, Davis was known as an excellent teacher in school and in the community. Amy Sherald, the nationally acclaimed artist who painted the official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, credits Davis for recognizing her potential and nurturing her talent at St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School.
Davis developed a scholarship fundraiser for the College of Liberal Arts at her alma mater, Auburn University. According to Auburn’s 2009 alumni spotlight article about Davis, she used her bachelor’s degree in applied arts and her master’s degree in counseling and human development to “utilize art in a therapeutic and creative manner for her students.” She lectured on “Art as Therapy” and “The Preservation of Georgia’s Endangered Wildflowers.”
According to Davis’ bio, her work is displayed in U.S. Senate offices, the State Capitol of Georgia, the National Infantry Museum, the Austrian House of Parliament, the Mayor’s Office in Kiryu, Japan, and in private collections in Germany and Panama.
Primarily a watercolorist, Davis also worked in oil and pen and ink. In 2000, she won the Georgia Watercolor Society’s Membership Award and the GWS selected her artwork to tour the state. She also won first place in the 2005 Watercolor Society of Alabama Member Show.
Davis served as a juror for art shows and chaired the Riverfest art show in Columbus, where she was the featured artist in 2006.
She served in leadership positions as state and Columbus president of the National League of American Pen Women, president of the Southern Watercolor Society and chairwoman of the Joseph House Art Gallery in Columbus, which became the Gallery on Tenth and where she most recently served on the board as vice president.
Davis also served on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Liberal Arts and the Board of the Women’s Leadership Institute at Auburn University. She was a founding member and board adviser for the Bo Bartlett Center and Columbus State University’s Friends of Art.
She was named a Gracious Lady of Georgia in 2005. The Girl Scouts of America named her a Woman of Distinction in 2008.
Along with her talent and dedication to art, Davis was known for her gregarious personality, St. Clair said.
“She was a very welcoming person,” he said. “She was more than happy to teach you. She wanted to see you succeed as an artist and did whatever she could to help you in that way. She was very generous with her time, very patient and always warm, always smiling. That’s why she was so endearing to so many people.”
Gallery on Tenth board member and artist Susan Dolan described the loss of her colleague, friend and mentor.
“I just can’t imagine Columbus without her,” Dolan told the L-E. “Her generosity and her energy were just boundless.”
Columbus artist Suzanne Fine, who worked with Davis through their involvement in the Southern Watercolor Society, the Joseph House and the Bo Bartlett Center, noted Davis helped connect students to art even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Art Makes You Smart program, when coronavirus protocols kept them from visiting schools, they produced videos for teachers to stream into their classrooms. Davis also taught art to people dealing with homelessness and disabilities.
“Geri was a leader in the community who made sure that art was accessible to everyone,” Fine told the L-E in an email. “. . . Her attention to detail was apparent not only in her community obligations but in her work as well. Her paintings garnered many awards in what is considered to be one of the more difficult mediums to master, watercolor. Her detailed, luminous paintings reflect her careful observation of life and her abundant skill. She has done so much for so many. We are feeling her loss and will be for a long time.”
Funeral Mass is scheduled at St. Anne Catholic Church on Nov. 8, starting at 10 a.m., with interment to follow at Parkhill Cemetery. A Wake and Rosary will be held in Edgewood Hall of Striffler-Hamby Mortuary on Nov. 7, starting at 6 p.m., with the family receiving friends after the Rosary until 8 p.m., according to the obituary.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 10:51 AM.
