When movie producer and Baltimore Museum of Art trustee Michael Sherman suggested hosting an artist on his family-owned property in Maine, he was initially met with pushback.
“I pitched the idea to my mom, and she was like, ‘Absolutely not. I don’t want anyone in my house,’” Sherman recalled. “But there was this empty cottage next door to where she was living, and I would walk by it every day. I was able to convince her since it wouldn’t be in her own house.”
This idea led to a fruitful summer spent hosting artist Alexander Harrison, providing him with studio space and financial aid to work on a variety of projects. One of these works, the painting “Mt. Hatchet,” is now displayed in the BMA.
Sherman and his mother, Sherman Family Foundation founder Betsy Sherman, actually enjoyed the experience so much that they have created an annual residency at the BMA inspired by that summer.
The Sherman Family Foundation Residency will see the foundation choosing an artist and providing them with similar resources that they gave to Harrison during his time in Maine, as well as support from BMA, professional development opportunities and the chance to have their work displayed in the museum.
“It’s a huge opportunity to help us support artists in creating new work,” says Kevin Tervala, BMA’s Eddie C. And C. Sylvia Brown chief curator. “I think sometimes people think about museums as just being spaces where we present work that artists have already made. And I think that is certainly part of what we do, but I think sometimes what we do is to also help fund the creation of new work.”
The first official recipient of the residency was Kenturah Davis, who began her 30-day term on July 8. Davis works across several mediums, including sketches, textiles and performance art, to create pieces about identity and the role of language in determining personhood. Her work has been featured in galleries across the country, and is on permanent display on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line in Los Angeles.
Choosing the residency’s inaugural recipient was a no-brainer for Sherman.
“I’m a huge fan of Kenturah’s work. I bought two of her works in 2020, and went on to see her exhibit at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia,” he says. “It’s awesome to be able to spend time with an artist and their family, to talk to them about their art and life. There’s a sense of camaraderie and intimacy that this residency establishes for an artist.”
In addition to offering a space for selected artists to work freely without having to worry about budget constraints, the residency also aims to create closer relationships between independent artists and the BMA.
“Part of our practice is about figuring out the best way to be in community with artists, and the residency became the perfect format for that,” explains Jessica Bell Brown, BMA’s curator and department head of contemporary art. “I had known [Davis’s] art for many years, and we’re big fans of her at the museum’s Contemporary Art team. So there’s no better artist to engage with this residency.”
The Sherman Family Foundation Residency is not BMA’s first residency — the museum’s Joshua Johnson Council, an affinity group for Black artists, has an artist-in-residence program held in cooperation with the Maryland Institute College of Art. But the Sherman Family Foundation Residency is distinct for the opportunities it offers and its singular focus on one artist at a time.
“We’ve been eager to build on and create more artist residency programs,” Tervala adds. “We really want to become a more artist-centered institution, and what that looks like is creating more opportunities for artists to create great work and for us to support their new work.”
