A Must See in Baltimore
by Michael HoffmanTuesday, June 20th, 2006
Last week when I was in Baltimore I had the pleasure of once again visiting my friend Rebecca Hoffberger. Rebecca is the Founder and Director of the American Visionary Art Museum.
If you don’t know about this museum it’s worth the trip no matter where you live. I can’t do the subject justice at all, but visionary art is art by untrained artists. It differs from folk art, I take it, because folk art is “learned at the knee.” Many of the people who make this visionary art are truly visionary people.
What interests me about this museum is not the objects themselves. It is how Rebecca has tied the objects to social issues. Around visionary artists – who often see though a lens unavailable to ordinary folk – Rebecca has created exhibits highlighting social issues. Whether it is gender, religion, cities, or poverty, the art and the stories of those who make the art are incredibly moving. You will just say “wow” a lot at this museum.
This place works because Rebecca is not afraid just to do. She has an idea and she just goes for it. The money will be found, the solution will appear, but she just pushes ahead. A great example is how she shows movies in Federal Hill, the neighborhood where the museum is located. The museum sits next to a two-tiered grass hill. Rebecca looked at the hill and thought, “this would be a great place to show movies.” Today, a 14-foot high metal hand made by one of these visionary artists is attached to the side of the museum. The hand holds a movie screen large enough for 2,000 people to watch on a summer evening.
