Amy Sherald's traveling mid-career survey, 'American Sublime,' has set a new attendance record at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), drawing 63,000 visitors as of early February with an expected final total of 75,000. This makes it the museum's most-attended show since 2000. The exhibition features nearly 50 grisaille portraits of Black Americans and was previously shown at SFMOMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The record is notable because the BMA was not originally on the exhibition's itinerary. Sherald withdrew the show from its scheduled presentation at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in July 2025, citing censorship concerns over the inclusion of her painting 'Trans Forming Liberty' and proposed contextualizing video. The BMA stepped in to host, resulting in a surge of local and first-time visitors, demonstrating the public's strong engagement with Sherald's work and the institution's role in presenting it without compromise.