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PAULA HAYES NAMED THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART’S FIRST LANDSCAPE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

BALTIMORE, MD – The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) today announced it has named visual artist and landscape designer Paula Hayes as its first Landscape Artist in Residence. In this role, Hayes will develop the overall creative direction of the museum’s physical environment for the next two years, reengaging audiences with the institution’s landscape through her fresh vision. The BMA encompasses 7.5 acres, including two sculpture gardens, a historic building designed by John Russell Pope, several building additions, and adjacent lawns.

“We are very excited for Paula to lead the way in reactivating the BMA’s exterior areas through her expertise and ability to create art with the natural world,” said BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director Christopher Bedford. “We are looking forward to providing more opportunities for our visitors to gather and connect with art beyond the museum’s walls.”

Hayes is best known for her blown-glass terrariums, botanic sculptures, and interactive spaces. Her work draws on the untouched, natural world to inspire her landscape designs, seeking to create spaces that are meant to feel like an oasis from over-stimulating, everyday-life environments. Her landscapes, as well as her sculptures and other living artworks, are notable for their organic, relaxed forms.

“Throughout my career I have worked with a mix of public and private spaces, but working with an institution like the BMA is a new endeavor for me,” said Hayes. “I am honored to have the chance to help shape the natural environment of such a prized community landmark and I look forward to collaborating on the vision for its renewed ecosystem.”

The BMA is located in a park-like setting adjacent to Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus. Two terraced sculpture gardens comprising nearly three acres are home to 33 masterworks of modern and contemporary sculpture ranging from Auguste Rodin’s striding bronze Balzac (1892) to Ellsworth Kelly’s stainless steel arc Untitled (1986)—providing a 100-year survey of sculpture from the figural to the abstract. The 17,000-square-foot Janet and Alan Wurtzburger Sculpture Garden was designed by George E. Patton and opened in 1980. It presents 19 early modernist works by artists such as Max Bill, Alexander Calder, Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, and Auguste Rodin. The adjoining two-acre Ryda and Robert H. Levi Sculpture Garden was designed by Sasaki Associates and opened in 1988. It features 14 artworks from the latter half of the 20th century by artists such as Anthony Caro, Ellsworth Kelly, Jóan Miro, Louise Nevelson, Mark di Suvero, and Tony Smith. Other sculpture installations surround the 210,000-square-foot museum, as well as a historic Spring House designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, architect of the U.S. Capitol.

For museum information, call 443-573-1700 or visit artbma.org

Paula Hayes. Photography by Béatrice de Géa.