Avenue at the Oaks, Goose Creek

A Charleston native, Verner received her formal training under Thomas Anshutz at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1902 to 1903. Her career as an artist bloomed in the 1920s when her friend and fellow artist Alice Smith introduced her to woodblock printmaking and then to etching. On the death of Verner’s husband, Smith persuaded her that she could earn a living as a professional artist. Etchings were Verner’s primary preoccupation from 1923 to the late 1930s, after which pastels appear to have taken over because of her failing eyesight. An outspoken advocate for the arts in Charleston, Verner was the founding vice-president of the Southern States Art League, and a founding member of the Charleston Etchers’ Club. The popularity of her etchings helped fueled a national awareness of the unique attributes of the Carolina Lowcountry in the 1930s and 1940s.