This fall, the Baltimore Museum of Art will host a homecoming for one of the country’s most celebrated artists. On November 2, the museum will open Amy Sherald: American Sublime, the most comprehensive survey of her career to date, spanning nearly two decades of painting and featuring roughly 40 works. The exhibition arrives in Baltimore under heightened anticipation—not just because Sherald’s star has only continued to rise since her breakout portrait of Michelle Obama, but also because she recently withdrew the show from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. That decision followed concerns that the museum would censor Trans Forming Liberty, a monumental painting reimagining the Statue of Liberty as a Black trans woman, out of fear of political backlash during Donald Trump’s second term. Rather than allow her work to be altered, Sherald chose to bring the exhibition to a place that has long embraced her vision.
Baltimore serves as a profound return for Sherald—she earned her M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art and spent formative years building her practice in the city. The BMA was among the first institutions to recognize her impact, acquiring Planes, Rockets, and the Spaces in Between in 2018 and including her in several exhibitions and programs since. This fall, the museum will also honor her with one of its “Artist Who Inspires” awards at the annual BMA Ball on November 22, underscoring her lasting connection to the city.
The exhibition, organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and curated by Sarah Roberts, premiered at SFMOMA in 2024 before traveling to the Whitney Museum of American Art earlier this year. In Baltimore, it has been adapted by BMA director Asma Naeem, along with curators Cecilia Wichmann, Antoinette Roberts, and Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill. Highlights include Sherald’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition-winning Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), the instantly recognizable portrait of Michelle Obama, the acclaimed memorial painting of Breonna Taylor, and the new triptych Ecclesia (The Meeting of Inheritance and Horizons).
“I’ve had the great pleasure and joy of knowing Amy Sherald for a decade. In that time, she has become a cultural force, capturing the public imagination through works that are powerful and resonant in their profound humanity. Amy’s story is also deeply intertwined with Baltimore. Beyond her education and time lived in our beloved city, Baltimore is rooted in her subjects, on her canvases, and in her titles,” said Asma Naeem, the BMA’s Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “Presenting American Sublime at the BMA is a celebration of our creative community and a joyful reunion with those shaped by Amy’s extraordinary power to connect. We’re thrilled to share her transformational work with our visitors.”
Amy Sherald: American Sublime is accompanied by the artist’s first comprehensive monograph, which highlights the Sherald’s painting practice as well as her key influences and inspirations. Contributors include exhibition curator Sarah Roberts, as well as Elizabeth Alexander, Dario Calmese, and Rhea Combs.
Visitors to American Sublime will trace Sherald’s journey from early works to the monumental canvases for which she is now known. Her process often begins with photography before translating it into paint. Except in the case of commissions like Michelle Obama or Breonna Taylor, her models are strangers chosen for their poise, style, or wit. She allows them to pose naturally during photoshoots, then crafts a scene around them, dressing them in clothing that layers meaning onto the final composition. Titles, often borrowed or adapted from writers like Toni Morrison or Lucille Clifton, further deepen the works, linking her subjects to a lineage of Black storytelling.
Running through April 5, 2026, Amy Sherald: American Sublime offers audiences the chance to see Sherald’s work in full, unfiltered form. For the artist and the city alike, it is a homecoming that carries both personal and political weight—proof that sometimes, the sublime is found in standing firm.