The Baltimore Museum of Art broke attendance records when it presented its landmark Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibit in 2016 and 2017. Another blockbuster was The Culture: Hip Hop & Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, in 2023.
But this fall, museum leaders are bracing for what may be the biggest show in the museum’s history, when Amy Sherald: American Sublime opens on Nov. 2 for a five-month run.
During a media preview on Wednesday, Asma Naeem, the BMA’s Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director, predicted that American Sublime will break all records.
“We’re expecting all records to be smashed, because everyone loves Amy,” Naeem said. “Who doesn’t love Amy Sherald? There’s so much to love. It’s going to probably break all records.”
This is the third stop for the American Sublime exhibit, a mid-career survey of the nationally-prominent artist’s work. It started at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the fall of 2024 and traveled to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York last spring.
The exhibit was scheduled to open in September at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D. C., but Sherald decided to cancel it in August after concerns about censorship. National Portrait Gallery representatives expressed reservations about showing one painting of hers, Trans Forming Liberty, which depicts the Statue of Liberty as a Black trans woman, and that prompted Sherald to reconsider her participation.
After news broke about the cancellation, the BMA offered to present it in Baltimore instead. It wasn’t the only museum to make that offer, but Sherald accepted. American Sublime will travel to a fourth location, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, after the BMA show ends on April 5, 2026.
The Baltimore stop will be a homecoming for Sherald, who studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art and spent her early years as an artist in Baltimore. She later gained widespread recognition as the artist who painted former First Lady Michelle Obama’s portrait. This will be her first solo show at the BMA, which has a painting by her in its collection. The museum is also honoring Sherald with one of its prestigious “Artist Who Inspires” awards during its 2025 BMA Ball on Nov. 22.
According to Anne Brown, the BMA’s Senior Director of Communications, Matisse/Diebenkorn was the museum’s highest ticketed exhibition in recent years, with about 45,700 visitors. The Culture: Hip Hop & Contemporary Art had about 30,000 visitors.
Museum officials say there are several reasons why they think Sherald’s show will break attendance records. First, the artist received extensive media coverage for her decision to pull her show from the National Portrait Gallery – including a feature on CBS’ “60 Minutes” with Anderson Cooper, who owns one of her paintings – and that has generated interest in her work.
Second, though born in Georgia, Sherald has a connection to Baltimore because she attended graduate school at MICA and lived and worked in the city afterwards. Third, many of the paintings in the exhibit were made in Baltimore, and many of the subjects are from the area. Fourth, American Sublime is considered the most comprehensive presentation of Sherald’s work to date, with 38 paintings covering the arc of her career from 2007 to 2024. And fifth, this is an artist who is at “the height of her powers,” as Naeem puts it, with a large and growing following.
American Sublime is a ticketed exhibit, with prices of $18 for adults, $16 for seniors and $10 for students with an ID.
BMA officials say they can tell there is strong interest by monitoring advance ticket sales. A Members Preview event for the show is sold out. So are a Members Only brunch with the artist and a “Baltimore Homecoming” conversation between Naeem and Sherald on Sunday.
After the “60 Minutes” broadcast, there was a surge of traffic on the museum’s website. There has been a corresponding increase in the number of people joining the museum or renewing their memberships. The media preview drew so many people that participants had to be led through the exhibit in two groups.
BMA members, individuals ages 17 and under, and student groups are admitted for free. Free admission is also available on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m., and on opening day, Nov. 2, as well as all day Jan. 15 and Feb. 19. More details are available at artbma.org.
Many of the paintings in the exhibit were made while Amy benefitted from a 3-year residency at the Creative Alliance. This was just before Michelle Obama chose her for the official portrait. Baltimore is blessed to have the Creative Alliance nurturing artists as they establish their practices and careers!