A native Charlestonian, Alice Smith used her art to bring attention to the beauty and heritage of Charleston and the surrounding Lowcountry region. In addition to studio practice, Smith devoted much time and energy to community activities relating to art and preservation. She was active at the Gibbes Museum of Art where she organized exhibitions of her own work as well as the work of others. She also donated objects to the museum's collection, including this watercolor painting. "Cattle in the Broom Grass, An Autumn Evening" is part of a series of thirty original watercolors Smith created for the book "A Carolina Rice Plantation of the Fifties," which was published in 1936.