BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Museum of Art is preparing to unveil what could be its biggest exhibition yet.
"American Sublime", a collection of 38 of Amy Sherald's works, debuts this Sunday after a censorship controversy caused the artist to pull out of a planned show at the Smithsonian.
It was a larger-than-life depiction of the Statue of Liberty as a Black and trans woman that sparked a political controversy almost as large as the more than 10 feet tall portrait.
The exhibition was originally scheduled to open in DC, but concerns about censorship to appease the Trump administration caused Sherald to withdraw. The White House celebrated this news, but Baltimore Museum of Art curators quickly stepped in to host the show.
"The reason we did it is because Amy's work deserves to be seen by Baltimoreans. She has loved this city with every inch of her heart and we want to show her her love back," Dorothy Wagner Wallis director and co-curator Asma Naeem said.
The portraits date back to Sherald's early career in 2007, including one of her most recognizable pieces: the former First Lady Michelle Obama's historic official portrait.
"What you begin to understand is that there is a humanity in each of us that Amy has so vividly constructed with her beautiful choice of colors and clothing," Naeem said.
"Even if you think you know Amy Sherald's work, what you may not know is the true kind of breadth, beauty, imagination, possibility entails," co-curator Cecilia Wichmann said. “[She] is an artist at the height of her powers and what we hope visitors take away— is this sense of wonder and awe in the presence of extraordinary technique and imagination.”
An exhibit like this would normally take two years to complete but was done in just months to accommodate the quick change.
"When so much art and culture is under siege, but at a moment also when so much creativity is showing us the way forward in dark times, it was a really important moment for the Baltimore Museum of Art," Naeem said.
Baltimore may be a more fitting location than Washington, D.C. Sherald attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, and nearly half of her subjects are Baltimore natives.
"Amy's work is a story that tells all of us to believe in humanity, to believe in difference and to respect each other no matter what we look like or what we believe in," Naeem said.
The exhibition will run until April 5.
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