The American Visionary Art Museum, or AVAM, is the official showcase for artistic creations produced by non-artists. The creators of the work housed in the museum or outside in its grounds have had no formal training as artists and are drawn from all fields of life. Some are homeless, disabled or suffering from mental illness. All of them, however, are brilliantly talented, often taking a hilarious approach to their work. Most of their remarkable pieces of art are created from everyday objects.
Exploring more than 4,000 works of mainly visual art displayed in the collection makes for an inspiring day out. Many of them reveal the inner thought processes of the creative minds behind them, giving them a highly personal feel. They are created by people from a diverse range of backgrounds – retired people, medical patients, military veterans or homemakers. All of them decided to create something out of everyday objects, such as old clothing, junk and even old toothbrushes, without aspiring to be artists.
The incredibly innovative work confronts you as soon as you enter the main building. Just over the threshold, the welcome mat has been made from 1,500 toothbrushes.
The site is split into a series of buildings, with the main building housing the permanent collection. Other buildings of note include the Tall Sculpture Barn which was originally a whisky barrel warehouse and now houses various artwork including a life-sized chess game featuring angels and aliens as pieces. Another building is filled with creations left over from Baltimore’s annual Kinetic Sculpture Race. These human-powered, moving sculptures are made out bits of bicycles, beds and other spare parts.
Situated at the bottom of Federal Hill, AVAM can be reached by public transport. Travel there free of charge on the Charm City Circulator shuttle bus. There is also ample metered parking should you choose to drive there.
There is a feeling among some local people that the admission price is high for a museum without any famous works of art. Others, however, deem this to be a unique experience and therefore well worth the cost! AVAM is closed on Mondays and at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
