Of the three building, the middle building is used for special events with a little sculpture garden on the side. The third building is the Jim Rouse Visionary Center and home to some more of the museum's permanent collection--most notably some of it's larger pieces. There is also an education center with classroom space and I believe offices. If you've never been before (or been dozens of times like me) you must save time to explore this component of AVAM, too. And don't be afraid to go upstairs to the second and third floors. You may even be able to taken a great panorama of Baltimore the "nest" balcony. You've paid for admission--don't waste it.
Baltimore's one and only world famous drag queen, Divine is immortalized in the museum's most recognizable piece of sculpture. As one of the young girls attending a summer arts camp observed, "She scares me!" Hun, I think Divine would have been delighted by that response. This collection of sculptures are made by found objects--trash really--and clay and are among the hundreds created by Pakistani/Indian artist Nek Chand (1924-2015). He worked as a road inspector during the day and at night toiled away creating a secret garden full of landscapes with people and animals that he sculpted. It was done on public land without permits and when it was discovered, the government was so impressed that they dedicated the area as a park and paid Nek a pension to do nothing but create his art.
An homage to the tradition of painted screens, this exhibit features several examples. The works show off home pride and create an optical barrier to peering through a plain screen without keeping the people inside from seeing the world outside. Pretty nifty.
THE VIEW FROM THE CATWALK
The John 3:16 balloon, religious zealotry is celebrated in many works throughout the museum.
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