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VOL.20, NO.1
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Funky art museum’s new leader
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JANUARY 2023
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By Robert Friedman If you have ever asked, “What is the meaning of art and why should I care?” then Jenenne Whitfield, the new executive director of Baltimore’s popular American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), has the answers for you. Whitfield believes that the creation and appreciation of art can lead to a fuller life. “The key for me,” Whitfield told the Beacon in a recent interview, “is the variety of ways that artistic expression can ignite the senses. Art for art’s sake, and art for the sake of humanity — both are important.” Whitfield took over as AVAM director in September after a 27-year run by founding director Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, who has said of her successor: “Her personal passion for visionary art mirrors my own.” The museum displays art by untrained artists of varied backgrounds: ordinary people from all walks of life, from farmers and mechanics to the imprisoned and homeless. Located at the foot of Federal Hill, the AVAM complex consists of a striking museum building, plus sculpture gardens and an outdoor movie theater, as well as a former whisky warehouse converted to classroom space. AVAM is congressionally designated (thanks to Sen. Barbara Mikulski) as a national museum “dedicated to intuitive, selftaught artistry.” Since its founding 30 years ago, the museum has gained national attention from the likes of Oprah and John Oliver. CNN dubbed it “one of the most fantastic museums anywhere in America,” National Geographic praised it as “an exuberant haven for self-taught artists,” and USA Today deemed it “a temple of outsider art.”
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See Switzerland’s peaks and valleys from a train; plus, try the fresh air, exercise and other benefits of Irish hillwalking page 15
Jenenne Whitfield, the new director of Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum, comes to the area from Detroit, where she and her husband converted a run-down street into an outdoor art project. Baltimore’s museum, located in Federal Hill, showcases the creative works of self-taught artists and emphasizes intuition and creativity.
ARTS & STYLE AVAM receives more than 100,000 visitors a year, from art school students to nursery school students to politicians. Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, honored at a gala last month with the mu-
seum’s Grand Visionary Award, told the Beacon that Whitfield’s arrival at the AVAM is “exciting, promising and right on time.”
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See VISIONARY ART, page 20
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