GALERIE MYRTIS
MORE
GREAT PLACES
TO SEE
BLACK ART
IN BALTIMORE
Founding director Myrtis Bedolla created her gallery in
Washington, D.C. in 2006, then moved her home base
to Baltimore two years later. Once the representative
for Baltimore artist Amy Sherald—now famous for her
portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, which
hangs at the National Portrait Gallery in D.C.—Bedolla
has committed herself to supporting and showcasing
mid-career Black artists. Presenting around six exhibits
a year, Galerie Myrtis focuses on expression through
paintings, photography, sculptures and new media art,
with the selection leaning toward conceptual, political
and socially engaged works. Artist’s talks, a series of
art salons, artist workshops and lectures round out
the programming. Recent years have included exhibits
exploring Black identity and historical blackface;
graphic mixed-media artist Anna U. Davis’s ink, acrylic
and plywood sculptures, which examine misogyny
and gender inequality; and Wesley Clark’s exploration
of reparations via a fictional world that interweaves
themes of history, coded messages and survival.
BLACK ARTISTS
The BMA is making major strides to present
a more diverse collection, but it isn’t the
only place in Baltimore to see the work of
Black artists. Check out some of these local
museums and galleries to get a glimpse at
the work of Black artists from Baltimore
(and from elsewhere around the nation).
WALLER GALLERY
After two years of planning, Baltimore native Joy
Davis, a scholar and artist, opened Waller Gallery
in 2017 as a multi-disciplinary gallery dedicated to
showcasing art by people of color and supporting them
through collecting, exhibiting, programming and
collaborations. Meant to be inclusive of art in all its
forms, the gallery considers art from varied mediums
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