September 7, 2025
Artist Amy Sherald, renowned for her portrait of Michelle Obama, has relocated her major solo exhibition ‘American Sublime’ after pulling it from the Smithsonian over censorship concerns.
Artist Amy Sherald, best known for her portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama, has found a new home for her solo exhibition “American Sublime.” The show will now open at the Baltimore Museum of Art on Nov. 2 and run through April 5, museum officials announced.
The exhibition was originally slated for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery this fall, but Sherald canceled in July after learning that officials were considering removing her painting “Trans Forming Liberty” — a reimagined Statue of Liberty as a transgender figure — to avoid sparking controversy with President Donald Trump.
“When I understood a video would replace the painting, I decided to cancel,” Sherald said at the time. “The video would have opened up for debate the value of trans visibility, and I was opposed to that being a part of the ‘American Sublime’ narrative.”
In her new statement, according to The New York Times, Sherald expressed excitement to bring the show to Baltimore, a city where she built much of her career. “Baltimore has always been part of my DNA as an artist,” she said. “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.”
The Baltimore Museum of Art’s director, Asma Naeem, praised Sherald’s voice and vision, calling her work “powerful and resonant in their profound humanity.” Sherald will also be honored alongside artist Wangechi Mutu at the museum’s annual fundraiser in November.
“American Sublime” marks the largest presentation of Sherald’s work to date. It debuted last year at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, later moving to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, before the Smithsonian controversy derailed its third showing.
The dispute over “Trans Forming Liberty” unfolded as Trump ramped up efforts to reshape the Smithsonian. In March, he signed an executive order accusing the institution of embracing “a divisive, race-centered ideology” and later demanded a review of its exhibitions. Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet resigned in June after Trump said he was firing her.
Sherald has since become vocal about the broader implications. Writing on MSNBC‘s website, she argued: “Constraining museums does not protect the public. It impoverishes us.”
She added, “It became clear during my exchanges with the gallery how quickly curatorial independence collapses when politics enters the room.”
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