The Legacies Around Us

For more than a generation, the BMA’s Sculpture Gardens have beckoned visitors to dwell on the sun-dappled terraces, stroll the shaded walkways, and admire the impressive collection of modern sculpture arranged across more than three acres. The gardens offer visitors moments to live with art. Lunches are eaten while observing works, conversations are held between sculptures, and even proposals of marriage are made within these gates. There is an intangible value in interweaving art, nature, and moments of everyday life. Alan and Janet Wurtzburger knew this in donating their collection and supporting the creation of the bluestone terrace upper garden, and Ryda and Robert H. Levi did the same because they so deeply cherished the collection visitors now encounter in the wooded lower garden.

Moving inside the Baltimore Museum of Art, visitors can be enchanted by the multitude of gem-like gifts from benefactors whose wishes have been for the visual arts to reach more people in Baltimore. We speak frequently of the Cone sisters, whose vaunted collection of modern art elevated the BMA’s status on a global stage. Beyond the outdoor oasis formed by the Wurtzburgers and the Levis, our city has also benefited from the contributions to exhibitions and scholarship offered by the Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies and The Nancy Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings and Photographs; from the exhibition fund provided by the Thalheimer family, and from the generosity of trustees past and present like Clair Zamoiski Segal, who ensure our exhibition program each year is rigorous in scholarship and compelling to every visitor who enters into our galleries. All in all, the BMA is a jewel-box of treasures, meant for all of you to explore and discover.

Throughout this summer, work will continue on two more incredible initiatives that will profoundly expand how visitors are able to bring art into their lives. The second iteration of the Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker Biennial Commission will open in November, featuring the work of Raúl de Nieves. As with the work created by Mickalene Thomas in 2018, we expect de Nieves’ evocative and colorful work to transform our East Lobby, entrancing visitors to gather and linger, to engage with his joyful artmaking. Bob and Rheda are helping us reshape the BMA to be more inclusive from the moment visitors enter the building. Their gift also supports a fellowship for an ascending curator to be involved in every aspect of the exhibition making.

Additionally, construction is moving steadily along in support of the reimagination of the Patricia and Mark Joseph Education Center. The Josephs are committed to immersive and experiential arts education, and the new center will offer families, K-12 students, and learners of all ages the opportunity to interact, engage, and touch, and to think critically about the connections that art forges in the world.

The BMA is so fortunate to partner with such incredible advocates connecting communities through both access to art and art education. For many of you, the BMA is home, and we are certain that with these new projects, as well as those on the horizon, we will be welcoming many more who have never entered our doors, allowing us to meaningfully engage with our community, artists, and visitors from our city and across the world.

Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director