Black Earth Rising opens May 18, 2025
Cover
Alejandro Piñeiro Bello. Viajando En La Franja Del Iris. 2024. Private Collection.
© Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, courtesy Pace Gallery and KDR. Photo courtesy Pace Gallery and KDR
OFFICERS
James D. Thornton, Chair
Clair Zamoiski Segal, Immediate Past Chair
Darius Graham, Vice Chair
Elizabeth Hurwitz, Vice Chair
Pamela Hoehn-Saric, Secretary
Paul Oostburg Sanz, Treasurer
Ellen Dame, Vice President
Amy Gould, Vice President
Pat Lasher, Vice President
John Meyerho Vice President
Steven Pulimood, Vice President
Katherine Schulze, Vice President
David Wallace, Vice President
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
James D. Thornton, Chair
Clair Zamoiski Segal, Immediate Past Chair
Darius Graham, Vice Chair
Elizabeth Hurwitz, Vice Chair
Vacant, Secretary
Paul Oostburg Sanz, Treasurer
Ellen Dame, Vice President
Amy Gould, Vice President
Pat Lasher, Vice President
John Meyerho Vice President
Steven Pulimood, Vice President
Katherine Schulze, Vice President
David Wallace, Vice President
Virginia K. Adams
Sam Callard
Amy Elias
Nancy Hackerman
TRUSTEES
Derrick Adams
Virginia K. Adams
Michael Brown
Adam Burch
Sharon Butler
Sam Callard
Beverly Bentley Carroll
Ellen R. Dame
Amy Elias
Nupur Parekh Flynn
Joanne Gold
Amy Gould
Darius Graham
Kim Mumby Green
Divesh Gupta
Nancy Hackerman
Elizabeth Hurwitz
Sherrilyn Ifill
Lori N. Johnson
*Mary Hyman passed away on September 23, 2024, after serving for 19 years on the Board of Trustees. See page 12 for reflections on Mary’s extraordinary legacy.
Patricia Lasher
George McCulloch
John Meyerho
Sheela Murthy
Antoinette Peele
George Petrocheilos
Steven Pulimood
Paul Oostburg Sanz
Mark Saudek
Katherine Schulze
Clair Zamoiski Segal
Lynn Selby
Michael Sherman
Stuart O. Simms
Anne L. Stone
James D. Thornton
David W. Wallace
John Waters
HONORARY TRUSTEES
Alexander C. Baer
Rheda Becker
Constance R. Caplan
Kathryn (Lynn) Deering
Janet E. Dunn
Sandra Levi Gerstung
Katherine M. Hardiman
Margot W. M. Heller
Louise P. Hoblitzell
Freeman A. Hrabowski III
Mary B. Hyman*
Patricia H. Joseph
Susan B. Katzenberg
Jeanette Kimmel
Frederick Singley Koontz
Je rey A. Legum
Amy Frenkil Meadows
James S. Riepe
Frederica K. Saxon
Jean Silber
Louis B. Thalheimer
David Warnock
Ellen W. P. Wasserman
NATIONAL TRUSTEES
Sylvia de Cuevas
Monroe Denton
Barbara Duthuit
Phillips Hathaway
Joseph Holtzman
Edward S. Pantzer
EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEES
The Honorable Bob Cassilly
The Honorable Edward Rothstein
The Honorable John Olszewski
The Honorable Steuart Pittman
The Honorable Wes Moore
The Honorable Bill Henry
The Honorable Calvin Ball
The Honorable Brandon M. Scott
The Honorable Nick Mosby
Dean Christopher Celenza, KSAS
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BMA Today is published three times a year for Members of the Baltimore Museum of Art. © 2025 Baltimore Museum of Art
In Normandy Landscape, a painting acquired by the BMA in 2002, Hale Woodruff—an artist and teacher who greatly influenced many other Black artists and worked tirelessly to create opportunities for them to exhibit their work—carefully structured the composition by applying delicate pigments in thoughtfully delineated strokes. Stark willow trees in the foreground are set against an overcast sky, conveying the somber character of the northern French countryside. The influence of such artists as
Paul Cézanne and Claude Monet is evident in this work, in which Woodruff played with the paint— creating texture using a palette knife and a brush and choosing to restrict his range of colors to subdued grays, blues, and greens.
Born in Cairo, Illinois, in 1900 and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Woodruff enjoyed a nearly six-decade career that embraced both figuration and abstraction. In 1926, he entered a painting in a show at the Harmon Foundation, an organization that presented achievement awards to
Black artists and mounted exhibitions of their art. His entry received a bronze medal and one hundred dollars in prize money. With these funds, along with other gifts raised by local supporters, he traveled to Paris to continue his art education. There, in the City of Light, Woodruff experimented with a variety of modernist styles and paid a visit to Henry Ossawa Tanner, the celebrated African American artist, who encouraged him to continue his work.
Hale Woodruff would become one of the most influential figures
in American art history. He joined the faculty of Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) and founded one of the first art schools in a southern Black university; to address the lack of exhibition opportunities for Black artists there, he established the Atlanta University Art Annuals. He taught at Talladega College, Alabama, before relocating to New York to teach art at New York University until his retirement. He died in 1980.
Ever since my early museum experiences as an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University, I have considered museums as places where I can challenge my mind and nourish my soul. It is now my absolute joy as a museum director to provide opportunities for visitors to have similar experiences, and I am thrilled to share with you the following new ways the BMA is growing to meet the needs of our audiences.
Last fall, we launched two programs that are beautiful examples of how museums can be a catalyst for lifelong learning and community building. Our extremely popular Baby Art Dates are multisensory tours that support language, physical, and emotional development for children ages two and under as well as provide social opportunities for children and their caregivers. Creative Connections offers adults with dementia and their care partners an opportunity to socialize while enjoying and making art. These programs draw on the increasing evidence in the field of neuroscience that making art enhances brain function by affecting brain wave patterns, emotions, and the nervous system—and observing art can stimulate the creation of new neural pathways and ways of thinking.1 Art benefits all ages, and these programs not only warm my heart but also make the case that the BMA’s mission is to serve you through the power of art.
In addition to caring for individuals, the BMA has launched its Turn Again to the Earth initiative to become better stewards of the environment. Be sure to see our new exhibitions and installations exploring the relationships between art and the environment across history and geography. We are also in the final stages of developing a sustainability plan for the Museum, which will support our goals to reduce the BMA’s overall energy consumption and transport-related emissions. Lastly, I am thrilled to announce that more than 20 other cultural and civic organizations have joined us as part of the citywide eco-challenge, and they too are making progress toward their own sustainability goals.
What are your goals for 2025? I hope Turn Again to the Earth inspires you to consider ways you can also contribute to the protection of our environment and that you give yourself the gift of art as often as possible. I look forward to seeing you in the galleries. Don’t hesitate to say hello!
Asma Naeem
Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director
This past fall, the BMA embarked on an ambitious initiative, Turn Again to the Earth. Centered on the environment, the museum-wide undertaking encourages conversation and action around climate change and the role of the museum.
Turn Again to the Earth takes its name from the writing of environmental activist Rachel Carson:
“In these troubled times it is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility.”
Turn Again to the Earth’s suite of exhibitions continues through January of 2026. A sustainability plan for the BMA’s continued path to environmentally friendly practices will be published this spring, and a citywide eco-challenge led by the Museum is ongoing.
Turn Again to the Earth is generously supported by the Cohen Opportunity Fund, the Eileen Harris Norton Foundation, Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.
channels make up the video Lay Me Down in Praise by Justen Leroy. This recent acquisition addresses Black environmentalism through sound and earth. Slow-moving footage of volcanic eruptions, glaciers melting, and turbulent seas meld with a transfixing soundtrack. Inspired by melisma—a vocal technique combining a single word with multiple notes—Leroy carefully wove together references to the Black music traditions of blues, R&B, gospel, and jazz. 3
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eco-friendly supply-chain practices are embraced by Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen: sourcing local ingredients for seasonal menu offerings; transforming invasive species into innovative dishes; cultivating produce and herbs onsite in Gertie’s Garden; purchasing ingredients from the 32nd Street Farmers’ Market; ordering restaurant supplies from Feeser’s of Hershey, Pennsylvania, a nearby family business; and buying sustainable paper products from H.C. Walterhoefer, a family business that has operated in Baltimore since the 1800s.
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works of art included in the exhibition Watershed: Transforming the Landscape in Early Modern Dutch Art explore the role of water and landscape in defining the early modern Dutch Republic from the perspective of the water’s edge. This imagery invites reflection on Baltimore, a port city.
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exhibitions and installations capture the relationships between art and the environment. Look for the Turn Again to the Earth icon (at left) on your next visit to find exhibitions, audio resources, touch samples, and more.
civic and cultural organizations in the region have joined the citywide eco-challenge, led by the BMA, as of early January 2025. These partners are embracing environment-related conversations and sustainable plans.
Through July 27, 2025
In the early modern Dutch Republic, the water’s edge was a site of rich and often fraught ideas, where environmental, economic, political, and social narratives came to the fore. The shoreline also served as a site of immense inspiration for Dutch artists such as Frans Hals, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Salomon van Ruysdael, among many others. Landscapes depicting harbors, trade, travel, and leisure abounded, as did the production of maps, still lifes, and portraits. This exhibition features 42 paintings, prints, and drawings from the BMA’s collection, as well as rare books on loan from Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries. Together, these images o er insight into the identity of the young Dutch Republic and examine the concept of the water’s edge as a pivotal means for understanding the historic relationship between people, the environment, and climate change. Watershed seeks to provide insight into not only our 21st-century challenges but also how such historical perspectives can help inform our modern-day relationships to land and water, including our local environment in Baltimore, a city that is inextricably linked to the water.
Through February 22, 2026
This focused exhibition explores the relationship between burning fossil fuels—namely, coal—and the emergence of European modernism. Drawing on research conducted by climate scientists and art historians, the exhibition presents a range of paintings and works on paper by Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, James McNeill Whistler, and others to explore the ways that their artistic practices and style emerged, in part, in response to widespread pollution in London and Paris.
Curated by Lara Yeager-Crasselt, Curator and Department Head of European Painting and Sculpture.
This exhibition is supported by Dutch Culture USA, part of the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Netherland-America Foundation.
This exhibition is part of the BMA’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative.
April 6–August 17, 2025
Art is, at its core, grounded in the extraction of nature. Artworks are made of and made through the transformation of earth, air, light, animals, and plants. This focused exhibition foregrounds the natural materials used to make all artworks and tells a history of art making’s relationship to the earth— from historic sustainability to exploitative practice and sustainable futures.
Spanning the 14th through 21st centuries and representing cultures from around the world, this exhibition of
approximately 20 objects includes works produced through a communal relationship with nature. It also features artworks created by the extraction of materials for industry, leisure, and even explicit domination over nature.
Co-curated by Brittany Luberda, Anne Stone Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, and Kevin Tervala, Eddie C. and C. Sylvia Brown Chief Curator.
This exhibition is part of the BMA’s
Opening February 26, 2025
In 2025, all Contemporary Wing galleries will be reinstalled according to themes that range from the environment and ecology to social protest, cohabitation, and migration. Artworks include a new commission by Abigail Lucien, collection cornerstones such as Robert Motherwell’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic CII (1965) situated in dialogue with Nari Ward’s Peace Keeper (1995/2020), as well as recent acquisitions on view for the first time, such as Justen Leroy’s Lay Me Down in Praise (2022) and Shahzia Sikander’s Touchstone (2021). A newly commissioned work by Dala Nasser will debut later this year. Spanning mosaic, sound sculpture, everyday objects repurposed into installations, video, ceramics, painting, and furniture, the works on view invite close attention to the artist’s materials.
April 27–July 27, 2025
The 2025 Baker Artist Awards exhibition at the BMA showcases the work of five artists: 2019 winner Selin Balci, 2023 winners Oletha DeVane and Jordan Tierney, and 2024 winners Kelley Bell and Stephen Towns. These artists—who span generations and whose works embrace myriad media and styles—are grounded in histories and stories that relate to spirituality, place, and identity and are deeply connected to the Baltimore region, its ecology, and people. The themes and narratives presented in this group exhibition also resonate with the BMA’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative.
The Baker Artist Portfolios and associated awards were established by the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund and are a program of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.
Curated by Katie Cooke, Manager of Curatorial A airs, and Antoinette Roberts, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.
This exhibition is generously funded by the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund.
Co-curated by Jessica Bell Brown, former BMA Curator of Contemporary Art, Cecilia Wichmann, Curator and Department Head of Contemporary Art, and Leila Grothe, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, with Antoinette Roberts, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, and Oscar Flores-Montero, Curatorial Assistant for Contemporary Art.
This installation is made possible by the Suzanne F. Cohen Exhibition Fund
March 29–April 6, 2025
Organized by Maryland State Senator Cory McCray, this exhibition celebrates individuals who have selflessly served their communities of Belair-Edison and Johnston Square. Portraits by artist Mary Jo Messenger shine a light on the unsung heroes of everyday life who quietly enrich both individual lives and the collective spirit of Baltimore.
May 18–September 21, 2025
The splendor of the natural world is explored by some of today’s most celebrated artists of color and Native identity in Black Earth Rising, the spring’s most anticipated exhibition.
Each of these monumental paintings, sculptures, and films demonstrates a form of resisting social and environmental injustices and reclaiming connections to the natural environment against the legacy of European settlement of the New World. Among the artists featured are Firelei Báez, Alejandro Piñero Bello, Teresita Fernández, Sky Hopinka, Tyler Mitchell, Wangechi Mutu, and Yinka Shonibare.
The show takes its title from terra preta, Portuguese for “black earth,” which refers to a type of fertile soil created by ancient Indigenous civilizations in the Amazon basin thousands of years ago. Recently rediscovered by scientists, it remains more fertile than ordinary land.
The exhibition is guest curated by Ekow Eshun, who has been at the heart of international creative culture for several decades, curating exhibitions,
authoring books, presenting documentaries, and chairing high-profile lectures. His work stretches the span of identity, style, masculinity, art, and culture.
Eshun rose to prominence as a trailblazer in British culture as the first Black editor of a major magazine in the U.K. (Arena in 1997) and continued to break ground as the first Black director of a major arts organization, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London (2005–2010). Eshun leads one of the world’s most famous public art projects as Chairman of the group that commissions works for the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. In July 2022, Eshun curated In theBlack Fantastic at the Hayward Gallery. The landmark exhibition of visionary Black artists explored myth, science fiction, and Afrofuturism. His recent exhibition, The Time Is Always Now, is a study of the Black figure and its representation in contemporary art that opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London and is traveling to multiple venues in the U.S.
Eshun’s writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Financial Times, The Guardian, Esquire, and Wired
For Black Earth Rising, the curator and author has produced a compelling and thought-provoking exhibition catalog (Thames & Hudson, 2025), featuring works by more than 150 contemporary artists. Read an excerpt from the book’s poignant introduction on page 18.
Members, reserve your free tickets starting Earth Day, April 22, at artbma.org/blackearth.
Guest curated by writer and curator Ekow Eshun with support from Katie Cooke, Manager of Curatorial A airs.
This exhibition is part of the BMA’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative.
August 27, 2025–January 4, 2026
More than 50 works on paper investigate how European and American artists both documented and contributed to the transformation of the environment into an industrial resource to be hoarded or shared. Drawn from the BMA’s George A. Lucas Collection, this exhibition of 19th-century art foregrounds the ecological issues at stake in these works and opens up new ways of understanding extractive relationships among people, including imperialism and capitalism. Deconstructing Nature is organized thematically,
focusing on five specific environments and the ways artists explored them in their work: The Desert, The Forest, The Field, The City, and The Studio.
Born and raised in Baltimore, George A. Lucas (1824–1909) spent most of his adult life immersed in the Parisian art world and amassed a personal collection of nearly 20,000 works of art. In 1996, the BMA, with funds from the State of Maryland and the generosity of numerous individuals in the community, purchased the George A. Lucas Collection, which had been on extended
loan to the Museum for more than 60 years.
Exhibition co-curator Joanna Karlgaard, BMA Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, notes, “The George A. Lucas Collection is a treasure trove of 19th-century European and American art. We’re thrilled to be thinking about works from this important collection in a new way—one that centers on conceptions of nature and ecological issues. And visitors will be able to see many works that have never before been on view at the BMA.”
Co-curated by Joanna Karlgaard, Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, and Robin Owen Joyce, Assistant Curator of Academic Engagement.
This exhibition is supported by the Nancy Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff Fund of the Baltimore Community Foundation.
This exhibition is part of the BMA’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative.
Above: Eugène-Stanislas-Alexandre Bléry. The Large Trunk of a Beech Tree. (Detail). 1862. Baltimore Museum of Art, The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community, BMA 1996.48.227
Honorary Trustee and a member of countless BMA committees, Mary Bloom Hyman passed away on September 23, 2024, at the age of 97. Mary’s immeasurable contributions to the Museum ensure that her legacy will have a resounding effect for generations.
A truly engaged philanthropist, Mary gave her time, energy, and support in numerous ways to those causes most dear to her heart, such as the BMA, where she served on its Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2012 and became an Honorary Trustee in 2012. During that time, she was a member of many committees, including the Executive Committee, Finance Committee, and Learning and Engagement Advisory Committee. She also served on the Painting, Sculpture, and Graphic Arts Accessions Committee, where she truly embraced the Museum’s commitment to expanding the canon of art history.
Mary and her husband Sig were passionate champions of American art, and she gave generously from their outstanding collection. In 2009, 2023, and 2024, she made an indelible impact on the Museum with her gifts totaling 106 exceptional artworks. Within this remarkable group were significant examples of sculpture, painting, works on paper, textiles, and photography. These gifts greatly enhanced the diversity of the BMA’s holdings of American art and transformed the BMA’s collection of American modernism from the first half of the 20th century.
“The gifts from Mary’s thoughtful and charming collection include dynamic scenes of urban life by artists such as John Sloan, Everett Shinn, Martha Ryther, and Jerome Myers as well as lyrical abstractions by Marguerite Zorach, Stuart Davis, and Dorothy Dehner, among others,” said Virginia Anderson, Senior Curator of American Art “These works, which are so full of color and life and action, reflect Sig and Mary’s civic and cultural commitment to art and education.”
Since 2008, the Sigmund M. and Mary B. Hyman Fund has supported countless acquisitions and exhibitions of American art, including By Their Creative Force: American Women Modernists (2019–2020), Art/Work: Women Printmakers of the WPA (2022–2023), and most recently, Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum
A lifelong learner, Mary majored in sociology and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Goucher College in 1971 and earned a master’s degree in adult education from Johns Hopkins University in 1977. She then went to work for the Maryland Science Center (MSC) for two decades, eventually becoming its director of education. It was through this role that she also became involved with the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
(CTY), designing the first science curriculum for its summer programs. Later, Mary accepted a position at Loyola College, where she coordinated science education programs at its Institute for Childcare Education until her retirement in 2016.
She enjoyed an active retirement, serving not only in various capacities at the BMA but also on the boards of Goucher College, the Maryland Association of Science Teachers, CTY, the Scientific Council of the Maryland Academy of Sciences, the Maryland School-Age Child Care Alliance, and Franklin & Marshall College.
“Mary’s dedication to the BMA was wholehearted, as she fully believed in making museums sites of joy, laughter, and learning.”
Everyone who had the pleasure of knowing Mary can attest to her steadfast philanthropy—and to her irrepressible sense of humor. Her loss will be felt in many ways: from her perfect delivery of one-liners to her unwavering advocacy for education. As Asma Naeem, Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director of the BMA, put it, “Mary’s dedication to the BMA was wholehearted, as she fully believed in making museums sites of joy, laughter, and learning. She genuinely cared about the impact she could make as a Trustee and will long be remembered for her enthusiasm for American art, her generosity of spirit, and especially her dedication to education. I will miss her dearly as one of my most favorite supporters and friends.”
THE SPECTACULAR EVENING HONORED BMA TRUSTEE SHERRILYN IFILL AND ARTISTS SIR JOHN AKOMFRAH AND LATOYA RUBY FRAZIER
To the ear- and eye-catching rhythm and swagger of the Baltimore Twilighters Marching Band, BMA Ball guests ascended the steps of the Merrick Historic Entrance for a special night honoring acclaimed artists Sir John Akomfrah and LaToya Ruby Frazier and renowned civil rights lawyer and BMA Trustee Sherrilyn Ifill. R&B GRAMMY® winner John Legend congratulated Ifill via video and sang “Happy Birthday” to the BMA to mark 110 years since its founding.
In inspiring remarks, Governor Wes Moore recounted some of the Museum’s significant milestones and spoke to how Maryland and Baltimore thrive when the arts community does.
Following a seated dinner in the BMA’s celebrated collection galleries, guests took to the dance floor, where the After Party was in full swing with beats by DJ Tanz and step shows by the Lethal Ladies and Morganettes.
The BMA Ball and After Party raised a record-setting $1 million.
The evening’s remarkable fundraising milestone was made possible through the generous support of donors and sponsors at all levels. Their contributions will help the Museum to continue its outstanding artistic and educational programs—such as the Turn Again to the Earth environmental initiative—and expand upon its mission of fostering artistic excellence and social equity for the benefit of communities throughout Baltimore and beyond.
HONORARY CO-CHAIRS
GOVERNOR WES MOORE AND FIRST LADY DAWN MOORE
MAYOR KURT SCHMOKE AND PATRICIA L. SCHMOKE, MD
R&B GRAMMY® WINNER JOHN LEGEND
BMA BALL CO-CHAIRS
AMY ELIAS
GEORGE PETROCHEILOS
DIAMANTIS XYLAS
MICHAEL SHERMAN
BMA BALL 2024 SPONSORS AND DONORS
DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN
BMA BALL COMMITTEE
ALEXANDER BAER
PATRICIA LASHER
JAMES D. THORNTON
KWAME WEBB
GEORGE PETROCHEILOS AND DIAMANTIS XYLAS
PATRICIA AND MARK JOSEPH, THE SHELTER FOUNDATION
SHERMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION
TONI AND DWIGHT BUSH, JANICE AND RICHARD ROBERTS, AND ANN DIBBLE JORDAN
ANGELOS FAMILY
LOUISE AND NICK CORTEZI
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WMS PARTNERS
One of the nation’s oldest museum groups devoted to African American and Black Diaspora art supports artists, programs, and acquisitions.
Baltimore artist Ainsley Burrows found a welcoming art family through the Summer Artist-in-Residence program of the Joshua Johnson Council (JJC).
“The program gave me more than just a place to create—it gave me community, intellectual growth, and a deeper connection to my art,” Burrows said recently while reflecting on the council and its impact.
In 2022, the JJC—one of the nation’s oldest museum groups devoted to African American and Black diaspora art—launched the residency program jointly with the BMA and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). It is designed to support and elevate a rtists of African descent by offering them the opportunity to develop new work, engage with the community, and participate in public programming.
Over the course of eight weeks in June and July, selected artists work in MICA’s Fred Lazarus IV Studio Center Studio; there, these creators can expand their work and its scale and deepen connections to the college community.
The council recently marked its 40th anniversary, galvanized by the success of its lively suite of programs, including JJC Talks, a conversation
series with area artists. JJC members— artists, administrators, museum professionals, collectors, and others— regularly gather online and in person for tours, talks, studio visits, panel discussions, and other events.
Founded in 1984, the JJC seeks to forge meaningful connections between the BMA and Baltimore’s African American communities by promoting and highlighting the achievements of African American artists. The council is named after Joshua Johnson, an 18th-century African American painter who lived and worked in Maryland and was the earliest documented professional African American painter.
Reflecting on the past and future of the council, Rose A. McNeill, JJC Chair, remarked: “The Joshua Johnson Council has been a beacon of African American culture and community at the BMA for an incredible 40 years. May our legacy continue to inspire, educate, an enrich the lives of all who come to experience the power of art and history.”
Membership dues support and further the JJC’s mission of service. To join the council or donate to support its vital work, visit artbma.org/jjc.
Finding healing and liberation in our joyful and profound connections to nature
Part of the Turn Again to the Earth initiative, Black Earth Rising explores the splendor of nature through paintings, sculptures, films, and works on paper by some of today’s most celebrated artists of color and Native identity, such as Frank Bowling, Sky Hopinka, and Wangechi Mutu. Even as they grapple with the impact of cultural displacement and the legacies of slavery, many of the featured artists find healing, liberation, and transcendence in nature. Organized by guest curator and
renowned author Ekow Eshun, Black Earth Rising both sheds light on the historical trajectory of today’s climate crisis and celebrates the beauty of the natural world and our ties to it.
Black Earth Rising takes its title from terra preta, Portuguese for “black earth,” which refers to a type of very fertile soil found in the Amazon Basin. Terra preta was created through a process of intentional soil management by ancient Indigenous civilizations many thousands of years ago and was characterized by its dark
color, high fertility, and ability to retain nutrients. In the colonial period, European powers exploited it for agricultural production and economic gain, contributing to deforestation, soil degradation, and the suppression and erasure of Indigenous knowledge systems— including those related to the soil management of terra preta.
The exhibition’s themes have a particular resonance for North America, where conservationist policies and discussions about climate change have largely
remained silent on how settler tactics of forced Indigenous dispersion and the occupation of Native lands have shaped today’s environment. In urban areas, Black and Brown communities typically have been confined to underfunded inner-city zones blighted by poor air and water quality and lack of access to green space. Works in Black Earth Rising make a connection between the economic, environmental, and social inequalities that undergird the climate crisis.
The exhibited artworks shift the direction of environmental discourse—by both reflecting on the persistent ramifications of colonialism and celebrating the power of nature to offer extraordinary beauty, joy, and respite. The works in Black Earth Rising are as vividly colored, dynamic, and ecstatic as they are thoughtful and moving; they inspire optimism, even as they confront the history—and future—of climate change.
A companion volume, published by Thames & Hudson, will be available in the BMA Shop in May. In the following excerpt, Eshun explains the impetus for this groundbreaking show and catalog:
“Forced to endure the cruelties of slavery, many Black and Indigenous people in the Americas looked to the land as a source of resistance and refuge. During the 17th century, for example, more than 20,000 enslaved Africans and Native peoples escaped Portuguese rule to gather in the fugitive haven of Palmares, in northeastern Brazil. In Jamaica, communities of
maroons (runaway slaves and their descendants) controlled their own strongholds in the island’s mountainous interior.
And in the American South, many thousands fled slavery between 1700 and 1860 to live in tracts of uncultivated land in the Great Dismal Swamp which ran through Virginia and North Carolina.
For the many that could not escape, the natural world still offered the possibility of renewal.
At nights or on Sundays, in their scant free time away from the plantation, enslaved people in the Caribbean were allowed, or often required, to grow their own food. They did so on garden plots close to their quarters, or on so-called provision grounds— areas of poor-quality mountainous or stony land located at the periphery of an estate.
For enslavers, the creation of provision grounds meant a cheap way to feed a labour force. For the enslaved, the grounds offered a rare chance of autonomy. In addition to producing food for themselves, they were able to raise livestock, and to grow wild plants to cure ailments. Sometimes they could raise
enough crops to sell the surplus for profit at the Sunday markets where the enslaved gathered in large numbers.
Through such labour, Afro-Caribbeans were able to take ‘control of a large part of their lives.’1 By the late 18th century, for instance, the Sunday market in Kingston, Jamaica, drew over 10,000 participants. Trade was so vigorous, plantation owners complained that up to half of the island’s currency was in the hands of the enslaved.
And the provision grounds themselves could sometimes be sites of extraordinary abundance. The range of foods grown in Jamaica ‘astonished all who saw it….’2 Tending crops on the provision grounds was also an opportunity for Caribbeans to gather in kinship, to eat and rest, to speak in the banned languages and practise the forbidden religious beliefs of their African homelands. The walk from the estate to the provision grounds represented a powerfully symbolic transition. ‘It was a journey back to the (African) origins … a powerful counternarrative to the oppressive and racist ideology of the dominant plantation system. The provision grounds, thus, were a material and spiritual space of freedom.’3
To look back today at the plantation and the provision ground is to be conscious of the complex histories of subjection and resistance bound up in the relationship between people of colour and the natural world. Writing of the Caribbean, the Martinican philosopher Édouard Glissant said that the Black relationship to land was characterized by the ‘ruptures … and explosive forces’ of slavery. It was the role of the writer or the artist to ‘dig deep’ into the soil and create a ‘language of landscape’ that re-established the link between displaced people and nature.4
What might it look like, this language of landscape? Not just
in the Caribbean, but also more widely, across the Black Atlantic…, within which slavery, colonialism and the plantation continue to leave their mark.
This is the subject matter of Black Earth Rising.”
Black Earth Rising opens May 18.
Members: Reserve your free tickets starting Tuesday, April 22, at artbma.org/blackearth.
Exhibition Catalog
Available at the BMA Shop Members: $54 Non-Members:
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Every Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
Learn to think like an artist! Explore exhibitions and works from the collection through hands-on art-making workshops each and every Sunday in the Ellis A. Gimbel Children’s Studio of the Joseph Education Center. Designed for children and families, Free Family Sundays feature artist-led making sessions focused on different themes and in a variety of media.
Stay tuned to artbma.org and sign up for the BMA Families email list for upcoming program information.
Thursday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Join us at the BMA’s branch location inside America’s oldest market and enjoy free art experiences. Connecting Baltimore’s creative community with Lexington Market’s patrons, this space invites visitors to make art, participate in public programming, read from our noncirculating library, or simply just be. Twice monthly, every second and fourth Saturday, we offer workshops, artist talks, screenings, and performances with Baltimore-based creatives. Stay updated on upcoming programming by visiting artbma.org/bmalexingtonmarket.
First Wednesday of every month, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Creative Connections at the BMA is a free, monthly program for adults with dementia and their care partners. The program includes an educator-led gallery tour of a diverse selection of artworks, followed by a guided art-making workshop. Tours can accommodate a limited number of participants, and registration is required. Please register online at artbma.org/events or email Suzy Wolffe at swolffe@artbma.org to reserve your space.
Baby Art Date is a tour specifically designed for children ages 2 and under and their caregivers. This multisensory experience supports children’s language, physical, and emotional development and provides social opportunities for participants. Explore a new theme each month!
For more information, visit artbma.org/event/baby-art-date/.
Interactive tours highlight artworks across the Museum. Choose from topics including the renowned Cone Collection, Contemporary Artists, BMA Collection Highlights, and Black Artists. All tours include art from around the world made by historically underrepresented groups.
To provide the best experience, we limit tour size to no more than 60 participants. For information on pricing and how to register, please visit artbma.org/learn/adult-tours/.
Thursday, March 27, 4:30–7 p.m.
Educators are invited to learn about the major BMA initiative Turn Again to the Earth. Themes running through the exhibitions make the artworks perfect for use by science, social studies, art, and grade-level teachers. BMA educators will be on hand to brainstorm how you can connect these works to your classroom curriculum. Learn about educational resources that the Museum has to offer educators and students, including free guided and self-guided tours, virtual learning experiences, resources on artworks in our collection, teacher workshops, and more.
The program is free. Registration is required. Please register online at artbma.org/events.
Saturday, April 26, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
$30 Members | $35 Non-Members
Join educators from across the state for a hands-on workshop exploring the BMA’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative. Designed exclusively for teachers, this workshop begins with a light breakfast and includes a private curatorial tour of Earth as Medium: Extracting Art from Nature; an art-making session led by a teaching artist; and a discussion connecting works on display to the classroom curriculum. Participants will also receive 10% off any purchases made at the BMA Shop.
Registration is required. Please register online at artbma.org/events.
Sunday, May 18, 12–4 p.m.
Bring friends and family to celebrate Turn Again to the Earth, including the exhibition Black Earth Rising, which showcases monumental artworks inspired by the relationship between art and the environment across time and geography.
On view Wednesday, March 12, through Sunday, March 16
The BMA is proud to once again host fyi ... For Your Inspiration, an exhibition of artwork by students in pre-K through grade 12 from Baltimore City public schools. Now in its 18th year, this standout display allows visitors to experience the creativity and imagination of Baltimore youth through a range of artworks that employ both traditional and surprising materials and techniques.
On view Wednesday, March 19, through Sunday, March 23
The Museum is thrilled to host—for the 37th time—this annual countywide student exhibition. Art Is for Everyone presents the artwork of Baltimore County public school students from pre-K through grade 12. A variety of two- and three-dimensional artworks, including sculpture, photography, drawing, painting, and digital art, shows the breadth of the county’s art program.
A Deep House of Soulful Vision: The Paintings of Terry Thompson, with Special Guest Franklin Sirmans
Thursday, April 10, 6:30–9 p.m.
This ebullient evening of contemporary African American art and house music is presented by the Johns Hopkins University’s Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts. Enjoy a lecture by Franklin Sirmans, Director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, a conversation with Baltimore art fixture Leslie King Hammond and abstractionist painter Terry Thompson, and a reception. Each year, the center invites distinguished intellectuals and arts practitioners to address topical, historical, or philosophical issues connecting the work of the arts to the renewal and revitalization of civic life.
The Donald V. Bentley Annual Memorial Lecture, honors one of Baltimore’s promising young leaders, who lost his life to violence.
Saturday, April 26, 6–10 p.m.
Join us for a celebration of the arts and Baltimore at the opening preview of the Baker Artist Awards exhibition. Enjoy late-night access to the galleries, free hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar. This event is hosted in partnership with the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA).
All programs and events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Chair’s Council Dinner: Crosscurrents: Works from the Contemporary Collection
Saturday, March 1, 6–8:30 p.m.
Join us for an exclusive dinner in honor of the Contemporary Wing reinstallation, Crosscurrents: Works from the Contemporary Collection. Enjoy a curator-led tour of the exhibition followed by a three-course seated dinner in Antioch Court.
Reservations required; invitations will be emailed.
Sponsored by PNC Private Bank®
Contributors Brunch: Watershed: Transforming the Landscape in Early Modern Dutch Art
Saturday, March 8, 8:30–10:30 a.m.
Lara Yeager-Crasselt, Curator and Department Head of European Painting and Sculpture, will explore the role of water and landscape in defining the Dutch Republic in the 17th century. In paintings, prints, and drawings, Dutch artists found great inspiration along the water’s edge, reflecting broader changes taking place at home and abroad. Guests may enjoy a buffet brunch before or after the talk. This event is open to Contributor Members and above. To upgrade to the Contributor level, call 443-573-1800. Reservations required; invitations will be emailed.
Wednesday, March 12, 4–5 p.m.
Join curators Kevin Tervala and Lara Yeager-Crasselt for tours of Air Quality and Watershed Air Quality explores how burning fossil fuels, particularly coal, influenced European modernism, and Watershed focuses on the water’s edge in the early modern Dutch landscape and how it reflected 17th-century environmental, economic, and social changes. Both exhibitions, drawn from the BMA’s collection, offer a unique lens on art’s response to industrial and societal shifts.
Reservations required; invitations will be emailed.
Sponsored by PNC Private Bank®
Thursday, May 1, 5–7 p.m.
Open to Members at all levels. Enjoy evening access to all exhibitions, 20% off at the BMA Shop, and light refreshments in the Clair Zamoiski Segal and Thomas H. Segal East Lobby.
Reservations required; invitations will be emailed.
Friday, May 2–Sunday, May 4
Double your Members discount at the BMA Shop to save up to 20%!
No RSVP required.
Sunday, May 18, 9–11 a.m.
Members at all levels are invited for early access to the exhibition and a light breakfast in Gertrude’s. To update your email on file, please contact membership@artbma.org or call 443-573-1800.
Reservations required; invitations will be emailed.
Sunday, May 18, 6–8 p.m.
Council Members are invited to an exhibition talk in the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Auditorium with guest curator Ekow Eshun. After the lecture, guests will have late-night access to the extraordinary exhibition and enjoy a reception in Antioch Court.
Reservations required; invitations will be mailed.
Sunday, June 1, 1–4 p.m.
Members at all levels and all Corporate Council Members are invited with their families and friends to spend an afternoon in the Sculpture Gardens. Enjoy music, all-ages crafts, and, of course, ice cream by local favorite, Taharka Brothers!
Reservations required; invitations will be emailed.
Ensure your passion for art lives on by including the Museum in your estate plans. Your generosity will fund educational programs and exhibitions that inspire creativity and encourage critical thinking.
Support the future of art—while potentially providing tax benefits for you and your heirs.
• Include the BMA in your will or trust
• Name the BMA as a beneficiary of your retirement plan or life insurance policy
• Establish a charitable gift annuity
Join Our Legacy Society
By notifying us of your planned gift, you’ll become a member of our John Russell Pope Legacy, named for the distinguished 20th-century American architect who designed the magnificent 1929 building at the heart of the BMA.
To learn more about creating your legacy or to notify us of your planned gift, please contact Anna Lincoln Whitehurst at alwhitehurst@artbma.org. All inquiries are confidential and without obligation.
Are you taking advantage of all your BMA Member benefits?
All Members Receive
Invitations to exclusive Member events
10% discount at the BMA Shop
Twice-yearly shopping days with 20% discount!
10% discount at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen
Special offers at area restaurants and cafes
Discounted parking during Museum hours at the BMA East and West lots
Opportunity to travel with the BMA on Travel Program day trips
Members pricing for innovative BMA programs and performances
Access to digital programming
Subscription to the Members’ magazine, BMA Today, and a monthly newsletter delivered to your inbox
For more information about the benefits offered at higher levels of Membership, visit artbma.org/join, call 443–573–1800, or email membership@artbma.org.
September 22, 2024
Visitors of all ages celebrated Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum and took part in a slate of afternoon festivities that included performances by Uhwachi-Reh Dance Troupe, a Baltimore-based Native American dance company; a special tour of the exhibition Dana Claxton: Spark, led by the artist; a talk by Mark Tayac, Chief of the Piscataway Indian Nation, about his work Traditional Beaver Pouch Bag (2024); and Native American jewelry making with guest artist Nina Gover Brooks.
September 28 and 29, 2024
Members enjoyed early-morning access to Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum and a charming tea at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen, offering a unique opportunity to engage with the exhibition. Council Members were treated to special late-night access to the collections, followed by a reception in Fox Court with a powerful performance blending music and storytelling by Ralph, Dennis, and Kaydee Zotigh.
November 1, 2024
This special evening celebrated the perspectives and histories of Native artists. Preoccupied exhibiting artist, composer, and musician Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) treated guests to a live, amplified violin performance, and DJ Justice The Light Skinned Luke Cage (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina) spun a soulful mix of classics and contemporary sounds.
Guests also explored Wampum, a historical practice of shaping shells, during a hands-on demonstration led by artist Zach Cole (Nause Waiwash band of Indians) and enjoyed a pop-up, in-gallery flute performance by sixth-generation flute player Patrick Brooks (Tuscarora Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy in upstate New York). Art After Hours fan favorite H3irloom Food Group served specialty cocktails and delicious hors d’oeuvres.
Photos by Maximilian Franz
The BMA Council provides opportunities for the Museum’s most generous donors to enjoy a deeper exploration of the BMA’s collection and exhibitions through a carefully curated series of events offered throughout the year.
BMA Council Benefits Include
Invitations to exclusive Council events, including opening receptions for major exhibitions
Curator-led tours followed by a prix-fixe group lunch
Exclusive cocktail receptions and curator presentations
10% discount at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen
15% discount at the BMA Shop
Free parking at the BMA East and West lots
Special recognition at the Museum’s entrance and in the online Annual Report
Subscription to the Members magazine, BMA Today
Reciprocal Members privileges at hundreds of North American museums with the Museum Alliance Reciprocal Program (MARP), North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM), and Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (ROAM)
Opportunity to travel with the Museum Travel Alliance
BMA Council enrollment begins at the $1,650 Patron’s Council level. To join or learn more, call 443–573–1800 or email council@artbma.org.
Lauded
Wednesday–Friday 11:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Saturday
Brunch: 11:30 a.m–3 p.m. Dinner: 4:30–8 p.m.
Sunday
Brunch: 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Dinner: 4:30–7 p.m.
RESERVATIONS
gertrudesbaltimore.com or 410-889-3399
It’s never too early to make reservations for a special day or celebration, and you certainly will want to reserve a table at Gertrude’s on Easter (April 20), Mother’s Day (May 11), or Father’s Day (June 15). Gertrude’s is open for brunch and dinner on those holidays and will serve the regular menu as well as seasonal specialties. Reservations for these dates often fill up weeks in advance.
Whether you’re planning a corporate party, a celebration with family and friends, or a wedding, Gertrude’s makes your event memorable. No matter the size of your group, we will cover all the details to make your time with us perfect. Call 410-889-3399 for more information.
Proceeds from the BMA Shop benefit the Museum’s educational programs.
1. Richie Dromedary Plush Toy by Jellycat London,
2. Brass Sculptural Cuff Bracelet by Sibilia,
3. Brass Sculptural Necklace by Sibilia, $215.00
4. Ochre Lines Bowl by Now Designs, $6.95
5. Ochre Lines Plate by Now Designs, $7.95
LaToya Ruby Frazier: More Than Conquerors: A Monument for Community Health Workers of Baltimore, Maryland 2021–2022 Through March 23, 2025
Raúl de Nieves: and imagine you are here Through May 4, 2025
Watershed: Transforming the Landscape in Early Modern Dutch Art
February 9–July 27, 2025
Air Quality: The Influence of Smog on European Modernism
February 9, 2025–February 22, 2026
Earth as Medium: Extracting Art from Nature April 6–August 17, 2025
Baker Artist Awards April 27–July 27, 2025
Black Earth Rising May 18–September 21, 2025
above: LaToya Ruby Frazier. More Than Conquerors: A Monument for Community Health Workers of Baltimore, Maryland 2021-2022. 2022. Baltimore Museum of Art, Gift of Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland, BMA 2023.114. © LaToya Ruby Frazier, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery. Commissioned by Carnegie Museum of Art for the 58th Carnegie International and funded in part by National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship, 2021–22; Left, below: Jan van der Heyden. Diagram of the Old and New Fire Pumps from Beschryving der nieuwlyks uitgevoden en geoctrojeerde slang-brand-spuiten en hare wyze van brand-blussen, tegenwoording binnen Amsterdam in gebruik zijnde (The Description of the Newly Invented and Patented Hose Fire Engine and Her Ways of Fighting Fires, Now Used in Amsterdam). 1735. George Peabody Library Special Collections, Johns Hopkins Libraries
1
Chair’s Council Dinner, 5:30–8:30 p.m.
2
Creative Connections at the BMA, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Contributors Brunch: Watershed, 8:30–10:30 a.m. 9
2 WEDNESDAY
Creative Connections at the BMA, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
6 SUNDAY Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
10 THURSDAY
5th Annual
Donald V. Bentley Memorial Lecture and Reception
A Deep House of Soulful Vision: The Paintings of Terry Thompson, with Special Guest Franklin Sirmans, 6:30–9 p.m. 13
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
2–5 p.m.
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Teacher Workshop: Turn Again to the Earth, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Baker Artist Awards, 6–10 p.m.
27 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
1 THURSDAY
Members Shopping Evening, 5–7 p.m.
2 FRIDAY–4 SUNDAY
Members Spring Shopping Days
4 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
7 WEDNESDAY
Creative Connections at the BMA, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
11 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
18 SUNDAY
Members Preview Breakfast: Black Earth Rising, 9–11 a.m.
Council Talk and Reception: Black Earth Rising, 6–8 p.m.
Community Day: Turn Again to the Earth, 12–4 p.m.
25 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
1 SUNDAY
Members and Corporate Council Ice Cream Social, 1–4 p.m.
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
4 WEDNESDAY
Creative Connections at the BMA, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
8 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
12 THURSDAY JJC 40th event (tentative)
15 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
20 FRIDAY
Art After Hours, 8–11 p.m.
Members: $25; Non-Members: $35
22 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
29 SUNDAY
Free Family Sunday, 2–5 p.m.
BMA’s New Chief Education Officer on Supporting Life-Long Learning and Visitors’ Connections to Art
How do you see your position as Chief Education
Officer promoting and strengthening the Museum’s mission and goals?
The Baltimore Museum of Art is dedicated to creating connections between art, Baltimore, and the world, ensuring a space that is welcoming to all. The work of Education is one of the bridges between art and the world around us—connecting the local and the global and creating meaningful points of connection with our visitors. Our work is also driven
ensuring our impact continues to be wide reaching.
What are some of the major initiatives that Education is working on?
Our educators are continually thinking about how we can connect art to lifelong learners of all ages. We serve students (pre-K through grade 12) through multi-visit programs such as Close Encounters and Learning through the Arts, and we serve hundreds of families each month during our weekly Free Family Sundays art-making experiences. We lead tours for college-age students and professors, as well as adults from all over the state. We’ve also recently expanded our programming across the learning continuum—Baby Art Date, a program for infants and their caregivers, and Creative Connections, a program for adults with memory loss and their care partners—ensuring that visitors of all ages always have a way to engage with the BMA.
We are also in the midst of Turn Again to the Earth, a year focusing on art and the environment. We are developing an array of public programs to explore important issues and to engage our audience in thinking about our own relationship to the land and nature.
Wallis Director] has an equally bold and inspiring vision for the future. She recognizes the important role education plays at the BMA, in Baltimore, and in the state more widely, and she has encouraged us to think about how we can continue to work in collaborative and multidisciplinary ways to reach our audiences. I’m excited to be a part of the BMA’s future.
What is your most memorable experience with art?
I have so many! One of my earliest was seeing one of Giotto’s frescos and marveling at how an artist could convey such deep human emotion just using paint on a flat surface. I realized then that art was something I wanted to dedicate time to studying. Closer to home, the recent Joyce Scott exhibition Walk a Mile in My Dreams reminded me that art transcends its materials—to connect us to one another, provoke thought, and generate new perspectives.
What inspires you?
by the Museum’s vision to be “the most relevant publicly engaged museum in the United States.”
Rather than a static display of objects, the BMA feels more like a dynamic dialogue with the public, with art as the catalyst for those conversations. Education plays a key role in supporting this practice, by creating engaging public programs, community partnerships, and thoughtprovoking interpretation that are informed by visitor input. In my role as CEdO, I will be supporting my team to continue the great work they are doing and
Outside of the Museum’s walls, we continue to welcome visitors at our Lexington Market site. Every Thursday through Saturday, you can visit us there to make art and participate in public programming created in partnership with artists and community partners. I highly recommend a visit if you haven’t been yet!
What excites you most about the BMA in this moment?
I started at a really exciting time in the history of the Museum: our 110th Anniversary. The BMA has such a remarkable legacy, and Asma [Naeem, Dorothy Wagner
I am inspired by people working collaboratively to take on challenges, particularly with the creativity and innovation artists bring to the table; LaToya Ruby Frazier’s More than Conquerors is a great example. Frazier uses her art to highlight a group of local community health workers, whose efforts expand access to health care. Work like this inspires me to find new ways to contribute positively to my community. Each one of us has the potential to create meaningful change, and all of our individual actions roll up to collective impact. I see this drive and commitment in my BMA colleagues and in the artists and the community members with whom we work—and that inspires me every day.
Bernadette Despujols
Born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 1986, Bernadette Despujols taught architectonic design at the School of Architecture at the Universidad Central de Venezuela before moving to the United States to pursue an MFA in visual arts at the California Institute of the Arts in 2010. Since then, she has been living and working in the US, training her gaze on her family, the home, and the emotional connections she shares with her sitters. Despujols creates intimate, psychologically informed portraits of immigrants, relatives, and loved ones.
Mi hermana y sus hijas en Febrero is a portrait of the artist’s sister Tamara and her three daughters, created in the artist’s home in Miami. Her work explores intimacy and bonds, often depicted through portraits of motherhood and family.
Her work explores intimacy and bonds, often depicted through portraits of motherhood and family.
Her use of impasto—thickly layering paint, which she then carves out to reveal the underpainting beneath—pays tribute to the psychological portrait paintings of Alice Neel and Lucian Freud. The works’ complex patterning and perspective and the sitters’ placement within homes nods to Despujols’ training and continued interest in architecture and the built environment.
In addition to this interest in architecture, photography has been a central element in her work. Despujols begins her compositions by taking photographs and finishes them from memory in the studio. She has collaborated with photojournalists from Venezuela, painting portraits of families within the communities that have been uprooted or a ected by El Arco Minero, a long-running mining operation in Venezuela that illegally extracts gold, bauxite, coltan, and diamonds from the Amazon rainforest. Describing her overarching aim, Despujols states: “I activate common elements of self-perception—such as guilt, social expectations, sexual desire, and intimate bodily connections and thoughts—to explore the perception that womanhood is somehow always connected with a kind of guilt, and to draw a fine line between sardonic humor and sheer abjection” (Bomb, 2018).
