There is no museum in America quite like AVAM. The American Visionary Art Museum, perched below Federal Hill at the harbor’s south shore, is the country’s congressionally designated national museum for visionary, self-taught art — work made by farmers, mechanics, prisoners, grandmothers and other creators who never waited for permission to be artists.
Founded by Rebecca Alban Hoffberger and opened in 1995, the museum sprawls across three historic buildings wrapped in mirrored mosaics and outdoor sculpture. Its beloved Giant Whirligig — a 55-foot-tall wind-powered sculpture by North Carolina farmer Vollis Simpson — spins over Key Highway as one of Baltimore’s defining icons, and the museum’s annual thematic exhibitions tackle big subjects like hope, humor and wonder.
Every spring AVAM also unleashes its Kinetic Sculpture Race, sending human-powered amphibious artworks through the harbor. Visionary indeed.
AVAM is at 800 Key Highway. Hours and exhibitions at avam.org.
