Amy Sherald, the celebrated American painter best known for her portrait of Michelle Obama, is relocating her major exhibition American Sublime to the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) after withdrawing from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery amid concerns of censorship.
The exhibition is set to open at the BMA on November 2, 2025, and will run through April 5, 2026. The show had previously opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. It was slated to travel next to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. before Sherald pulled it in July.
The dispute centred on Sherald’s portrait Trans Forming Liberty (2024), which depicts a Black trans woman in the pose of the Statue of Liberty. Sherald says that museum officials raised internal objections to the work and discussed removing it from the show to avoid political conflict—especially with voices in the Trump administration. The Smithsonian reportedly suggested replacing the painting with a video component. Sherald rejected the proposal, saying that doing so would undermine trans visibility. The Smithsonian, meanwhile, has stated that its intention was never to remove the work but to contextualise it with an accompanying video.
Sherald has spoken about the decision as one made in defence of artistic integrity, saying, “institutional fear shaped by a broader climate of political hostility toward trans lives played a role.”
Moving the exhibition to Baltimore is deeply symbolic for Sherald. She has close ties to the city, having earned her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and having spent formative years there. Sherald described Baltimore as part of her “DNA,” saying that bringing American Sublime there is “to return that love.” Asma Naeem, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, praised Sherald’s voice and vision, calling the work “powerful and resonant in their profound humanity.”
The move also places Trans Forming Liberty back on public view in a major institutional setting. Baltimore will host approximately 40 paintings in the American Sublime show, spanning works from 2007 to 2024, including Sherald’s depictions of Black American life, as well as historical and everyday subjects.
Sherald is also being honoured by the BMA this fall. At the museum’s Ball on November 22, she will receive one of its “Artist Who Inspires” awards, alongside artist Wangechi Mutu.
The controversy and relocation of American Sublime highlight broader tensions in the intersection of art, politics, and institutional autonomy—particularly under increasing scrutiny of museums and cultural institutions regarding LGBTQ+ representation in artwork.