WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER VISIONARY TOURISM AWARD
Like its namesake, this award is reserved for a select group of visionaries whose leadership and commitment to growing Baltimore has lifted us all up, and made strong Visit Baltimore’ s ability to promote our city as a distinctive destination.
REBECCA HOFFBERGER
As the founder, director, primary curator and beating heart of the American Visionary Art Museum( AVAM), Rebecca Hoffberger has dedicated her career to bringing the light of new ideas to Baltimore, by championing the role intuition plays in creative invention and innovation of all sorts. Her work challenges conventional thinking, beginning with the very definition of art. Unlike many revered cultural institutions, AVAM is dedicated to featuring the uniquely imaginative work of self-taught artists, such as farmer and master Whirligig maker Vollis Simpson, Maryland metal artist David Hess and matchstick artist Gerald Hawkes.
The pieces in AVAM’ s collection are also bound by Hoffberger’ s belief that social justice is“ life’ s highest performance art” because“ societal change for the better requires the fiercest of all creativity to achieve.” Throughout its 26 years, AVAM’ s 41 original exhibitions have woven multimedia art forms with science, philosophy, humor and social justice, engaging the visitor in a dialogue with the art, creating the kind of transformative experience that changes minds. Such has been AVAM’ s impact that many of the luminaries of our time have collaborated with the museum, from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and civil rights leader Julian Bond to scientific scholars and Nobel Prize Laureates.
Thanks to Rebecca’ s dedication to showcasing visionary thought in all its manifestations, Baltimore itself has become a place that people are excited about visiting. Today, travelers from around the world make annual pilgrimages just to see AVAM’ s sparkling mosaic exterior— a creation of
AVAM has remained a world-class art institution, and has helped to make Baltimore a bucket-list destination.
TOM AUSTIN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER FOR TRAVEL + LEISURE
AVAM’ s youth-at-risk and youth incarcerated apprenticeship program, the largest of its kind in the world— and the thematic mega-exhibitions that“ celebrate the full spectrum of what it is to be a human being and speak in a language that can be visually read by all.” AVAM also hosts beloved annual events like the Kinetic Sculpture Race and Flicks from the Hill. The reputation of Hoffberger’ s museum is consistently hailed by countless national and international outlets as a bucket list destination.
Through the celebration of creativity, self-expression and compassion, Rebecca reminds us of the power within each of us to make Baltimore, and the world, a place we want to be. Visit Baltimore thanks Rebecca for her lifelong service to our city, and for reminding all of us that each moment is an opportunity for creation.
16 VISIT BALTIMORE