{"id":780452,"date":"2026-07-05T11:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T11:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780452\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T11:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T11:14:11","slug":"american-visionary-art-museum-director-ellen-owens-is-thinking-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780452\/","title":{"rendered":"American Visionary Art Museum director Ellen Owens is thinking big"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you hear a first-time visitor is planning a trip to Baltimore, certain itinerary ideas jump to mind: Cheer on the Orioles at Camden Yards. See the rain forest at the National Aquarium. And check out the American Visionary Art Museum, the mosaic-tiled shrine to artists without formal training.<\/p>\n

For museum director Ellen Owens, that kind of recommendation to outsiders is priceless. But the flip side presents a tricky challenge. How do you reinvigorate the residents in your own backyard about a decades-old institution?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ways that it\u2019s been promoted has been a lot of like, \u2018I always invite my out-of-town guests here,\u2019 which we are so grateful for,\u201d said Owens, who became AVAM director roughly a year ago. \u201cBut we\u2019d like to be more intentional about the practice of sharing out who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under her leadership, the Federal Hill museum is trying to cultivate stronger local ties in new ways, including targeted marketing for the first time and collaborations with fellow Baltimore organizations to engage the community beyond its walls \u2014 all while shoring up AVAM\u2019s financial future. <\/p>\n

Owens, who made her name in the industry with stops at New York\u2019s Castellani Art Museum and Philadelphia\u2019s Magic Gardens, knows there\u2019s a lot of work to do to grow AVAM\u2019s $4 million endowment. \u201cCertainly, that is not the size we would like it to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our peers here have a pretty large endowment,\u201d Owens said. \u201cWe do not, and that\u2019s something that I would like to build so that way our daily operations can be taken care of while we\u2019re really dreaming big, thinking about how we are truly the nation\u2019s center for outsider visionary art.\u201d<\/p>\n

For decades, AVAM has stood out among local cultural institutions for its deeply personal paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works made by artists with no formal training. Collectively, it\u2019s an unabashedly quirky, often surreal reflection of its hometown, driven by the idea that anyone can be creative.<\/p>\n

But in 2023 AVAM publicly stumbled, parting ways with director Jenenne Whitfield only a year after she was hired to succeed the only other person to hold the job: museum founder Rebecca Hoffberger. <\/p>\n

The abrupt breakup was AVAM\u2019s board \u201cexercising its responsibility, oversight and fiduciary responsibility,\u201d museum spokesperson Gregory Tucker told The Banner<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n

Whitfield\u2019s exit raised eyebrows in the arts community; BmoreArt executive director and Banner contributor Cara Ober called the decision \u201ca glaring misstep\u201d in a critical op-ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u200bHolly Gudelsky Stone, treasurer of AVAM\u2019s board, said recently that Owens \u2014 who grew the Magic Gardens\u2019 operating budget<\/a> from $160,000 to nearly $1 million in four years \u2014 has a more established track record of raising money at other museums than Whitfield did.<\/p>\n

\"\"Owens made her name in the industry at New York\u2019s Castellani Art Museum and Philadelphia\u2019s Magic Gardens. (Kaitlin Newman\/The Banner)<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you could say we picked more wisely this time,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>\n

Asked what she saw as the biggest challenges facing AVAM, Whitfield said in a statement: \u201cIn a world marked by profound social and cultural change, museums must be bold and elevate their practices to become more consciously responsive to the needs, voices, and lived experiences of the communities they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitfield, who has returned to her native Detroit, said her tenure at AVAM \u201cbecame more of an experiment than a genuine opportunity to fully apply my experience and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding relationships, establishing trust and demonstrating fundraising capacity take time, and I do not believe I was afforded a fair opportunity to do so,\u201d said Whitfield, who added she wishes AVAM continued success.<\/p>\n

Following Hoffberger \u2014 who opened AVAM\u2019s doors at 800 Key Highway with her late then-husband, LeRoy Hoffberger, in November 1995 \u2014 was always going to be a tall task for any hire. <\/p>\n

As founding director, her fingerprints are embedded throughout the 1.1-acre campus, which has expanded over the years to include the educational Jim Rouse Visionary Center, outdoor sculpture plazas and a wildflower meditation garden.<\/p>\n

Under her leadership, AVAM also became known for its annual \u201cmega exhibition\u201d centered on a specific theme (this year\u2019s is \u201cFantastic Realities: Truth Stranger Than Fiction\u201d) and its free outdoor movie series, Flicks From the Hill. <\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s most beloved contribution to city culture is arguably the Kinetic Sculpture Race, a signature spring event that encapsulates Baltimore\u2019s do-it-yourself tenacity and creativity through large, human-powered, amphibious works of art such as Fifi, AVAM\u2019s 15-foot pink poodle mascot.<\/p>\n

Hoffberger, now retired and developing a TV series concept, is proud of her legacy but said Owens is better suited to lead AVAM\u2019s next era, when it will need to bolster its footing from a financial and administrative perspective. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe American Visionary Art Museum on Key Highway in South Baltimore. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Banner)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s given me enormous peace because she\u2019s about the hardest-working director of a museum I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Hoffberger said. \u201cIn many ways, she outworks me in that I never had much tolerance for lots of meetings. It\u2019s not my style.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stone said Owens immediately spearheaded a broad strategy for AVAM\u2019s future with its staff and board. The five-year plan, finalized in June, focuses on increased marketing, developing exhibitions, strengthening the donor base and adding members to its board, Owens said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody wants to make more out of it, but I think Ellen is the person who has more of the tools to really move the museum forward,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>\n

AVAM has 14 full-time staff members, a number Owens wants to grow \u201cresponsibly over the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also interested in forging relationships with residents who may never have been to AVAM. Owens is exploring collaborations with city groups such as the Cherry Hill Cares Campaign, co-founded by soul singer Navasha Daya, to introduce young people to the museum.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also partnered with Global Refuge, the Otterbein-based nonprofit that serves refugee children and families around the world.<\/p>\n

Progress \u201cwill take time,\u201d Owens said. \u201cSome of these collaborations will be critical to getting to that, but the bricks are being laid in place right now for those types of things to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Owens is interested in forging relationships with residents who may never have been to AVAM. (Kaitlin Newman\/The Banner)<\/p>\n

AVAM also plans to host a public on-site restaurant again, she said. The caf\u00e9 area, which once housed the restaurants Encantada and Mr. Rain\u2019s Fun House, has been rentable for private events in recent times. Details are to come, she said, with the restaurant likely opening in phases. Owens wants to use visitor data to guide more decisions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a place with a lot of heart and lots of creativity \u2014 and we\u2019ll still be that place \u2014 but it doesn\u2019t mean that we can\u2019t learn a lot from what our visitors are telling us,\u201d Owens said.<\/p>\n

Although finding funding from individual donors and corporations is challenging for any museum, Owens said, she\u2019s ultimately encouraged for AVAM\u2019s future after her first year in the job.<\/p>\n

Early attendance numbers are positive. From January to June, attendance increased 15% compared to last year\u2019s same calendar window \u2014 26,003 visitors, up from 22,595, according to Owens. <\/p>\n

She credited the uptick, in part, to working with local nonprofits designed to boost Baltimore tourism. They include Waterfront Partnership, which has amplified marketing around AVAM\u2019s activities, and Visit Baltimore, which helped place AVAM billboards on SEPTA trains in the Philadelphia region.<\/p>\n

Still, her goal is to make AVAM feel like more of a regular presence in Marylanders\u2019 lives. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not a museumgoer, or even if you are, you\u2019ll find an experience on-site that is powerful for you, and we\u2019re working to amplify that,\u201d Owens said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s room to grow, but AVAM still has the allure to pull in locals and strangers alike.<\/p>\n

Deb Sica of San Francisco researched museums for her recent trip to Baltimore. Only one made her can\u2019t-miss list.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one was obviously the one we needed to go to,\u201d Sica said recently inside AVAM\u2019s gift shop. \u201cThe other ones \u2014 not that they weren\u2019t impressive \u2014 but this one was incredibly eclectic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you hear a first-time visitor is planning a trip to Baltimore, certain itinerary ideas jump to mind:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-780452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}