Washington, D.C.’s loss is now Baltimore’s gain.

Artist Amy Sherald’s “American Sublime” exhibit, which the Maryland Institute College of Art alum preemptively pulled from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, is coming to the Baltimore Museum of Art on Nov. 2 and will run through April 5, 2026, the BMA announced today.

“Baltimore has always been part of my DNA as an artist,” Sherald said in a statement. “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.”

Sherald made headlines in July when she canceled “American Sublime” at the National Portrait Gallery over censorship concerns related to “Trans Forming Liberty,” a painting that depicts trans model Arewà Basit as the Statue of Liberty. Sherald sensed consternation on the Smithsonian’s part in light of the Trump administration’s efforts against diversity, equity and inclusion arts programming.

“American Sublime” at the BMA will include approximately 40 of Sherald’s paintings, including “Trans Forming Liberty”; her portrait of first lady Michelle Obama; and a memorial portrait of Breonna Taylor, the young Black woman killed by Kentucky police officers in 2020.

The exhibit, which spans Sherald’s career from 2007 to 2024, was first shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art last year and most recently traveled to New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art this past spring.

The decision to bring the exhibit to Baltimore is something like a homecoming for Sherald, who earned her master’s degree in fine arts at MICA and spent formative years here as an artist.

“Presenting American Sublime at the BMA is a celebration of our creative community and a joyful reunion with those shaped by Amy’s extraordinary power to connect. We’re thrilled to share her transformational work with our visitors,” said BMA director Asma Naeem.

Sherald will also be honored at the BMA Ball on Nov. 22 as a recipient of the institution’s “Artist Who Inspires” award, alongside artist Wangechi Mutu and the Sherman Family Foundation.

While admission to the BMA is free, “American Sublime” will require visitors to purchase tickets.