The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) has a big birthday coming up, and the public is invited to celebrate.
“Cheers to 30 Years: AVAM’s Birthday Bash” will be a day-long celebration honoring the museum’s founding, taking place on Saturday, Nov. 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The birthday celebration will have family-friendly festivities, guided tours, art-making activities, birthday cake, artist meet-and-greets, and other quirky surprises, all included in the price of admission.
“AVAM is thrilled to commemorate its 30 years of awesome artistic endeavors with a celebration that invites and thanks our beloved visitors,” said Ellen Owens, AVAM’s executive director, in a statement. “Come for the cake, and stay for your unique dose of creativity! We look forward to our next 30 years of manifesting wonder for Baltimoreans through the infinite possibilities of intuitive art.”
Visitors can meet iconic AVAM artists Bob Benson and Matt Sesow, take docent-led tours of the museum’s newest exhibitions (including “Fantastic Realities: Truth Stranger Than Fiction“), and people of all ages can find a hands-on artmaking workshop that is right for them. AVAM Café will be selling food by Absolutely Perfect Catering from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The museum has had its ups and downs in recent years. Co-founder Rebecca Hoffberger retired as full-time director of AVAM in April 2022, and Detroit native Jenenne Whitfield was selected from more than 140 applicants to serve as the new director starting in September 2022. Whitfield was highly regarded and well-known in the field of visionary art, but her tenure at AVAM was short-lived.
Just over a year after Whitfield took the helm, AVAM dismissed her over differences related to “strategic growth,” with Hoffberger saying despite every effort, “it was just not a great fit.”
Mayor Brandon M. Scott later appointed Whitfield to serve on his Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, and she continued to do so. Whitfield joined MCB Real Estate, owner of Harborplace, to be Harborplace’s Director of Experience. After a year, she left to focus on her work as a holistic life coach and spiritual counselor, while continuing to do curatorial work.
In the interim, the museum was led by a team of three who shared duties of running AVAM. Donna Katrinic acted as director of finance and operations, Valerie Williams was director of development and marketing, and co-founder Hoffberger was artistic director. AVAM conducted a 10-month national search for a new director and announced in April 2025 that Ellen Owens would take over as director effective in June 2025.
Owens was director of the Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University, where she launched a new strategic planning process, rebuilt staff and programs, and redefined the museum’s mission, resulting in an increase in visitors of 52 percent and an increase in membership of 100 percent.
Despite the turbulence, the American Visionary Art Museum thrives. In February 2023 AVAM came in second place in USA TODAY’s contest for “Best Art Museum” in the country, and in 2025 it came in fourth. In December 2022 the museum’s gift shop, Sideshow was named America’s favorite museum store, according to the American Alliance of Museums.
AVAM is a Congressionally-designated museum for self-taught, intuitive artists. Since opening in November 1995, it has been dedicated to promoting art as a universal expression of humanity. The American Visionary Arts Museum is a hub for creative education, committed to inspiring generation after generation to discover their innate artistry. AVAM celebrates individuality through visual storytelling, encouraging the sharing of those stories as a way of uniting us even through our differences.
Tickets can be purchased on their website. Prices range from free for children 6 years and younger to $15.95 for adults. The full schedule of activities for the “Cheers to 30 Years: AVAM’s Birthday Bash” is listed below.
Schedule of Activities
- All day: Scavenger Hunt & Fifi photo ops!
- 10 a.m.–12 p.m.: Blinged-Out Birthday Hat Workshop & Face painting
- 10:30–11 a.m.: Meet the Artist: Bob Benson
- 11 a.m.–noon: Collection Highlights Docent Tour
- 11 a.m.–3 p.m.: Pop-Up Kitchen in Café with Absolutely Perfect Catering
- Noon–1 p.m.: Birthday Songs & Cake
- 1–3 p.m.: Screen Painting Demo with artist Michael Seipp
- 2–3 p.m.: Collection Highlights Docent Tour
- 3–3:30 p.m.: Meet the Artist: Matt Sesow
- 2–4 p.m.: Mini Art Car Workshop
