NEW YORK — On a recent fall evening, Derrick Adams found himself in a familiar spot: the center of attention.

Inside the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, some attendees noticed almost immediately that one of the featured artists was mingling among them.

A smiling, gray-haired woman accosted Adams. “I heard you’re Derrick,” she said before thanking him for lending to the exhibit his 2021 mixed-media work “Fixing My Face,” which honors philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois.

At 55, Adams, a Baltimore native who splits his time between Brooklyn, New York, and his hometown, is one of the most acclaimed visual artists working today. His brilliantly colorful paintings and affecting, stately portraits of Black life are increasingly coveted by museums, art collectors and celebrities from Jay-Z to Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.

Each year he delivers new career milestones — a trend set to continue in 2026: Adams’ debut art book published weeks ago, while “View Master,” a comprehensive exhibition of his works from the last two decades, opens at the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston in April. But Adams’ heart remains in Baltimore, where he’s determined to uplift the creative class.

“As I started to become more established, I realized there are so many different things happening that I needed to take advantage of in order to help what I’m doing in Baltimore,” Adams told me over happy hour in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Amtrak may be Adams’ third home. Recently, he left early from his own party — this time at a Nordstrom pop-up store for the debut of his Marc Jacobs collaboration — to catch a late southbound train.

“My friends here are like, ‘Why are you going to Baltimore again?’”

‘What our community needs’

When Adams says his hometown deserves more prominence in the art world, his words carry weight.

The multidisciplinary artist’s works hang in museums around the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and he’s exhibited in cities like Seoul, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Best known for his paintings and collage work, Adams also practices sculpture, photography, and video and performance art. He’s produced large-scale installations like 2023’s “The City Is My Refuge,” where Adams’ trademark geometric, collage-like faces greeted train riders at New York’s Penn Station.

His work has garnered raves from publications like The New York Times, which named his 2023 “knockout show” at the Flag Art Foundation a Critic’s Pick: “What he mainly reveals is a new level of maturity and ambition in his already distinguished art, with its layered view of Black life and culture in America.”

Adams’ new monograph, a sublime pink coffee-table tome, explores the artist’s evolution across 150 works. The sumptuous slices of American Black life capture the development of Adams’ own visual language, delightfully blending his formal technique with Cubist, pop-art and pop-culture influences.

Depicting everyday life and leisure is a deliberate choice for Adams, who has no interest in bringing more images of Black pain and oppression into the world.

“That never gave me anything,” he said. “My work was never pushing against something else. My work was more centering what I wanted to talk about.”

Maryland first lady Dawn Moore, an arts enthusiast, said Adams’ work is “what our community needs.” Adams loaned his famous “Floaters” series to the first family, and its nine swimming pool paintings hang in their home. They are some of Adams’ most beloved pieces — radiant scenes of untroubled men, women and kids lounging on sprinkled donuts, a flamingo and other inflatables.

The series also subverts the stereotype that Black people don’t know how to swim.

“I love that it’s showing us in this recreational way and inspiring people to want to maybe even jump in the water, learn to swim and learn to be joyful in the water,” Moore said. “It’s just a beautiful piece.”

‘Gotta keep that smoke’

As Adams’ profile continues to grow globally, his focus is still largely on Baltimore — namely Charm City Cultural Cultivation, his nonprofit foundation headquartered on Greenmount Avenue, and its ambitious, arts-focused initiatives.

Core programs under the nonprofit’s umbrella include a residency program, The Last Resort Artist Retreat; the archival initiative Black Baltimore Digital Database; and Zora’s Den, which supports Black women writers. All were created by Adams to give emerging artists spaces to work and shine light on both local and visiting creatives.

“I was so inspired by being in the space,” Chicago artist Eric January said of his four-week stay at the retreat, an invitation-only program that welcomes a rotating cast of Black artists, with at least one person per class from Baltimore. “I ended up creating so much, just being captivated from that energy and from my cohort.”

Adams said it feels like there are more young, enthusiastic artists than ever in Baltimore who just need a support system. His nonprofit’s work aims to fill the gaps.

“We gotta keep that smoke, keep that steam. You’ve gotta keep that joy of being here,” Adams said while Baltimore recently. “And the only way you’re going to do it is by giving them some source of support that is non-transactional.”

Benefiting Baltimore

Adams clearly loves Baltimore. He also felt he had to leave it to pursue his ambitions.

Growing up in Park Heights in the ’70s, he harnessed his creativity from an early age. At 9 years old, he won a city-wide student art contest that landed his drawing of a Black family playing together in their living room on a City Hall wall.

College brought Adams to New York, where he graduated from the Pratt Institute in 1996. He then became a gallerist at Chelsea’s pioneering Rush Arts Gallery, founded by the famous Simmons brothers: Russell of Def Jam, Joseph of Run-D.M.C. and Danny, an abstract painter — all of whom are Adams’ cousins. There, Adams exclusively showed Black artists and cultivated a community that prioritized marginalized voices.

Artist and Maryland Institute College of Art professor Tony Shore said the ripple effects of Adams’ time at Rush are still felt today.

“In the past 15 years, there’s been a real uptick and appreciation for Black artists and an attempt to try and correct so many wrongs that have been done in the past by overlooking them,” Shore said. “A large part of that happening in the art world could be attributed to some of the things that Derek has done.”

Adams has branched out in unexpected ways, too: In 2021, he collaborated with Jay-Z on a non-fungible token (remember that crypto fad?) that sold for $139,000. Tiffany and Co. commissioned an Adams painting, which led the luxury jewelry brand to donate to the Baltimore retreat.

More recently, cannabis brand Gotham sold licensed merchandise based on Adams’ art, while his fall Marc Jacobs collaboration resulted in Converse sneakers, a leather shoulder bag and other fashion items.

To Adams, these brand partnerships are a means to an end: to further fund his efforts in Baltimore.

“I have no other reason to join forces outside of my studio practice — because I don’t need to do it — other than thinking about how to leverage my presence, my so-called brand, to benefit Baltimore,” he said.

It’s not lip service. Adams continues to show up for his hometown, whether he’s spearheading the public art project “Inviting Light” in Station North or co-curating Artscape’s recent Scout Art Fair. He also co-owns the beloved dive bar Mount Royal Tavern, which exhibits local artists’ work.

Suzi Cordish, whose Live! Casino art collection includes pieces by Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol, recently purchased Adams’ “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now,” a “Wonderful Wizard of Oz”-inspired acrylic painting of feet in silver shoes. It’s punctuated by the onomatopoeia “Click Clack,” an example of the artist’s playful, deft touch.

She was impressed by Adams’ thoughtfulness and that he showed up to the Hanover casino for the work’s hanging.

“He wanted to be very involved in the installation — in its height, its placement,” Cordish said. “It just meant everything.”

That hands-on approach mirrors Adams’ commitment to Baltimore and the community his nonprofit builds through workshops, artist discussions and other intimate events.

“I’m just not willing to give up on the vision that I had for the city and what I could offer as a Baltimore-born and -raised person,” he said.