Amy Sherald

Mar 10

Written By Lexie

Credit: Smithsonian Magazine — **Credit:** Smithsonian Magazine

Amy Sherald

Amy Sherald was born on August 30, 1973 in Columbus, Georgia. She is from a middle-class background and attended private school where she was one of very few black students. At an early age, she was exposed to art and developed a love of fine art. Her parents also paid for her to attend art classes, nevertheless, they wanted her to have a career in medicine. She states in several interviews that her mother wasn’t initially supportive of her having a career as an artist, which made her even more determined to become a painter (her mother eventually had a change of heart).

“Studies have shown that “students who receive an education in the arts tend to have higher skills in forming constructive criticisms, comparisons, and analyzing alternative viewpoints; develop better brain structures in memory, learning and attention; develop fine motor skills; and demonstrate better language development. Cognitive neuroscience has discovered that fine arts education impacts emotional and social development in children and adults.” Collegiate Times

The impact of art on our developing brain is evident in Amy’s masterful critical analysis of race and identity and the role it plays in her depiction of African Americans whose skin-tones are painted in grayscale in her works of art. She wants the viewer to be able to see themselves in the art. The people in her paintings are everday people, something we should all be able to relate to universally no matter what color. When asked about why she paints her subjects in grayscale, Sherald said the following:

“I didn’t want the work to be marginalized and put in a corner because I didn’t want the discussion around it to solely be about identity,” High Museum of Art (Atlanta)

One of Sherald’s earliest and most influential experiences was on a sixth-grade field trip to the museum where she saw Bo Bartlett’s piece entitled Object Permanence (1986). It was the first time she saw someone who looked like her in a painting like Bertlett’s. In an interview with Artnet, she says the following about the Bartlett painting

“The image of a young black man looking at me, just seeing myself in that work was powerful. I still feel the same about it and it’s still a great part of my inspiration as a figurative painter. It’s a reminder that there need to be more images out there existing in the world that can offer other children and people that same experience that I had in that moment when I first saw that painting in a museum.” Artnet

Being able to see more artists like Sherald emerge & thrive is not only a matter of talent, discipline, and academic achievement; it starts with exposure and with massive budget cuts gutting art education all across the United States, having access to a quality education is becoming more and more difficult for the middle class and working poor.

In his book L’Art qui Guérit, french neuroscientist, Pierre Lemarquis discusses the mental health benefits of art.

“Art stimulates the intellect, as well as the emotional parts of the brain. It gives people joie de vivre.”

“It has been proven to help relieve pain, sleeping problems and anxiety. It improves memory and wellbeing.” Connexion France

I don’t know about you but when I look at one of Sherald’s paintings, I feel at home. I feel like I know these characters. I fell like I am these characters and even as an adult that is extremely impactful. Creating & viewing art is a form of catharsis for me and has played a major role in the way I perceive the world and being able to think critically. We might not all be able to afford to pay for art classes and private school for our kids, but we all have access to the internet whether at home, at school, or at a library. This summer I plan on taking my little one to as many museums as possible and utilizing all the online resources available at my disposal to teach her about art, artists, and to fall in love with more artists like Amy Sherald again and again.