Renowned artist and former Baltimore resident Amy Sherald will receive the Human Rights Campaign’s “Ally for Equality Award” at its sold-out National Dinner in Washington on Saturday.
The HRC, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, announced that Sherald is being honored “for amplifying the existence and experiences of the LGBTQ+ people in her art, best exemplified by her work “Trans Forming Liberty” which reimagines Black transgender artist Arewà Basit as the Statue of Liberty.”
That 2024 painting, ”alongside her outspoken advocacy, serves as a bold demand for visibility and a call for inclusion in the American dream — especially at a time of enhanced political and social antagonism,” the HRC stated.
The dinner at the Washington Hilton will bring together more than 2,000 members, leaders and advocates to raise funds and support LGBTQ+ equality across the country.
A longtime ally of the LGBTQ+ community, Sherald has featured LGBTQ models in her work. Her paintings have been in the spotlight this summer because of a touring exhibition, “Amy Sherald: American Sublime,” and her decision not to bring it to the National Portrait Gallery this fall as previously scheduled.
In July, the artist canceled the show in Washington due to concerns about potential censorship involving the “Trans Forming Liberty” painting, which was part of the exhibit when it was displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Sherald said she learned that the museum officials were considering removing that painting from the exhibit because they wanted to avoid provoking the Trump administration, which has been targeting for banishment works that it considers ‘woke’ or examples of a DEI agenda. Sherald’s painting was on a hit list of 26 artworks and shows that it believes convey “divisive narratives.”
“In response, Sherald decided to pull her exhibit, standing strong against this attempt to erase transgender representation,” the HRC said in its announcement of her award. “Sherald continues to be an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, through both her work and her actions, with the larger goal of making equality a reality for all.”
On Sept. 3, the Baltimore Museum of Art announced that it would replace the National Portrait Gallery as the third stop for the “American Sublime” tour. The exhibit will open in Baltimore on Nov. 2, 2025, and remain on view until April 5, 2026. Sherald will also receive one of the museum’s “Artists Who Inspire” awards during its 2025 BMA Ball & After Party on Nov. 22.
The museum is treating the exhibit as a homecoming for the 52-year-old artist, who was born in Georgia but received a master’s degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Sherald continued to live and work in Baltimore after college for more than a decade, formative years during which she launched her career and started getting widespread attention in the art world.
“Baltimore has always been part of my DNA as an artist,” Sherald said in a statement about moving the show. “Every brushstroke carries a little of its history, its energy, its people, and my time there. To bring this exhibition here is to return that love.”
“Amy Sherald’s work brings to life the diversity, beauty and power of our community. Her talent, advocacy and bravery, in the face of cruel and politically motivated censorship, calls forward a vision of the American Dream that is not only inclusive, but celebrates the diversity of our beautiful community,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson, in a statement.
“We are so excited to honor her at this year’s National Dinner, as we work toward making LGBTQ+ stories, faces and voices an undeniable part of our country’s history and future,” Robinson said. “This night will be a moment to lift up the voices of our advocates, celebrate the beauty of our authentic selves, and unite around a future where our community’s dreams know no limits.
“In the fight for social justice, art has served as a megaphone — it has been a place where dreams are held and a lens through which we can imagine a better, inclusive and more authentic world,” Sherald said in a statement. “Through my work, I seek to make visible the full, complex truth of American life. Transgender people, Black and Brown people, we are all part of the American identity. Attempts to erase our existence is not only futile, but a blatant disservice to the truth.”
As the LGBTQ+ community faces numerous attacks designed to strip back rights and representation, “I hope my work reminds us that the LGBTQ+ community is an inseparable thread in the fabric of our country,” Sherald said. “I am grateful to receive this honor from the Human Rights Campaign and will continue to stand against censorship, discrimination and exclusion — until the world we live in reflects the brightness we’re reaching towards.”
More information about the American Sublime exhibit coming to Baltimore is available on the museum’s website, www.artbma.org.
