Louisa Edwards, 83, promoted black artists

Louisa Edwards created a niche with the McIntosh Gallery. She exhibited and promoted black artists year-round, giants like Romare Bearden as well as young lions trying to get established.

One notable appearance took place in the early 1980s, when Mr. Bearden attended an opening at her Atlanta space.

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Family photo

Louisa McIntosh Edwards, seen with artist friend Benny Andrews, was a 1947 graduate of Agnes Scott College.

“In fact, I am fortunate enough to have one of Romare Bearden’s lithographs in my home,” said her daughter, Alexa McIntosh Selph of Atlanta. “Mom was interested in living, contemporary artists. She nurtured a lot of young artists who were not so well known, and she appreciated the uniqueness of each individual artist.”

Louisa McIntosh Edwards, 83, of Atlanta and Rabun Gap died Monday of breast cancer at her home on Black Rock Mountain. The memorial service is 2 p.m. today at St. James Episcopal Church in Clayton. Beck Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Edwards graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1947. She became a big supporter of the school, and in later years served on its art advisory committee. On April 17, the school plans to honor her posthumously with the 2009 community service award. Mrs. Edwards served as chairman of the trustees board for the Atlanta-Fulton County Library and as president of the Midtown Business Association (now the Midtown Alliance).

“The work she did with the arts community, the library system and the Midtown business association is unbelievable,” said Kim A. Vickers, Agnes Scott’s director of alumnae relations. “And that doesn’t even touch what she did for Agnes Scott. It wasn’t what she did to make money; it’s what she did to serve the community.”

The McIntosh Gallery opened in 1977. Mrs. Edwards sold it 20 years later. It no longer exists. Kimberley Campbell, the McIntosh Gallery manager from 1990 to 1994, said time with Mrs. Edwards helped prepare her for her own venture: Art Initiative, a consulting arts firm in Atlanta.

“She had the upmost respect for the creativity of the artists,” Ms. Campbell said. “She taught me to not only respect their work, but to appreciate them for their view of the world.”

Sometimes when the going got tough, Mrs. Edwards questioned why she even opened the gallery. Her daughter would remind her of her passion for the arts.

“I would say, ‘Mom, you didn’t exactly do a market survey and find out that Atlanta needed another gallery,’ ” her daughter said. “I’d tell her that this is what she wanted to do, and that she was doing it. She hung in there, and it turned out to be a big success.”

Additional survivors include her husband, John R. Edwards of Atlanta and Rabun Gap; another daughter, Patricia McIntosh of Sharon, Vt.; two sons, Peter McIntosh of Clayton and Stuckey McIntosh of Atlanta; a sister, Mary Samford of Jacksonville; and six grandchildren.