Born in Baltimore, MD. Lives and works in Ellicott City, MD.
EDUCATION
68-72 BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1970 Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
74-76 MFA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
1995 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2026 [Forthcoming] The Gurlz of Baltimore, Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2025 Ayida-Virginia Commonwealth University, curator: Serubiri Moses
Baker Artist Award exhibition, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
2024 In Transit: Body as Currency, Kunstmatrix Virtual Gallery, curators: H. Frederick and K. Chernush
Connect & Collect Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2023 Let the Right One In, CPM Gallery, Baltimore, MD, curator: Vlad Smolkin
The Radical Voices of Resistance and Joy Speak, Banneker-Douglas Museum,Baltimore, MD
2023 Group Exhibition, Dave Radford, curator, Tuttle Gallery, Owings Mills, MD
2022 The Radical Voice of Blackness Speaks of Resistance and Joy, Banneker-
Douglass Museum, Annapolis, MD, Curator: Myrtis Bedolla
Exploring Presence: African American Artists in the Upper South, James E. Lewis
Museum of Art, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
FIRED UP!, Coppin State University in collaboration with The American Ceramic Society’s
Glass & Optical Materials Division and the United Nations International Year of Glass,
Coppin State University, Baltimore, MD Curators: Howard L. Cohen, Amy Eva Raehse,
Linda Day Clark
From the Realm of Dust, Center of Art, Design, and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore
County, MD, Curator: Lowery Stokes Sims
Artists from the Upper South, Angela Carroll, curator, James E Lewis Museum, Baltimore
34th National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Gormley Gallery, Notre Dame of Maryland
University, Baltimore MD
Spectrum of Light & Spirit, Center of Art, Design, and Visual Culture, Baltimore, MD
2021 Kawanda Block MICA Raffle Quilt Exhibition, Reginald F. Lewis Museum Baltimore, MD
2019 Traces of the Spirit, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, curator: Virginia Anderson
Trawick Prize Finalists, Gallery B, Bethesda, MD
Love from Baltimore, Brentwood Art Gallery, Washington D.C, curator: Schroeder Cherry
2018 Elixir: Artists Respond to Making and Healing, Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, Washington, DC
RECOLLECTION: Celebrating 15 Years, BlackRock Center, Germantown, MD
Relics and Prospects, Montpelier Art Center, Laurel, MD
In Her Own Words, James E. Lewis Museum of Art, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
Collaboration & Innovation, The American Craft Center, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Trafficking, Watergate Gallery, Washington, DC
The Other Side of Darkness, Project 1628 Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2016 Black in White America, Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD
International Solarplate Exhibit, Alex Ferrone Gallery, New York, NY
2015 Abu Dhabi-Resident Exhibition, Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, United Arab Emirates
Breathe in Gold Light, New Door Creative Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Inside/Outside, (two person exhibition with Christopher Kojzar). Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
2014 Ordinary Woman, Howard County Art Center, Ellicott City, MD
13-14 Ashe to Amen: African-Americans and Biblical Imagery, Museum of Biblical Art, New York,
NY (traveling: Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD; Dixon Gallery and Gardens,
Memphis, TN) Curator: Leslie King-Hammond
2013 Noetics, The Cosmos Club, Washington, DC
Miami Basel: Gurlz of Baltimore, The Betsy Hotel, Miami, FL
MICA: Then and Now, Ethan Cohen Gallery, Beacon, NY
2012 Four Artists-Sondheim, Top of the World Trade Center Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2011 Corridor, The Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC, Curators: Irene Hofmann and
Laura Roulet
Altered Truths, Fractured Myths, City Arts Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Art Select, Corcoran Gallery, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC
Femme Fatale, The Gallery, Catonsville Community College, Baltimore, MD
Miami Basel/Global Africa Project, The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
2010 Semi Finalist Sondheim Exhibition, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art,
Baltimore, MD
National Juried Exhibition, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY
National Juried Draw/Print, College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD
The Wine Dark Sea, St. Johns College, Mitchell Gallery, Annapolis, MD
2009 Mother, Daughter, Sister, Self, Gallery Myrtis, Baltimore, MD
NuVoodoo, African American Art Conference West North Gallery, Baltimore, MD,
curator: Amy Eva Raehse
Life’s Hardest Things, James E. Lewis Museum, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
2008 Tracks/Trails/Tarmac, Thurgood Marshall Airport, Anne Arundel County, MD
2007 Conflict/Peace, Columbia Art Center, Columbia, MD
Mirror Me, Catonsville Community College, Baltimore, MD
2006 Riffs/Rhthyms, James E. Lewis Museum, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
Collaborations, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
2005 Collaborations, Pyramid Atlantic Print, Silver Spring, MD
Witness (permanent video installation), Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American
History and Culture, Baltimore, MD
2004 Artscape, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
2003 Charmopolis, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
Select/Art Auction, Corcoran Gallery, WPA, Washington, DC
2002 Arts Maryland, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD
Masks, Artscape, Villa Julie College, Baltimore, MD
2001 Kings, Hummingbirds, & Monsters, Evergreen Museum & Library, Johns Hopkins
University, MD (artist book)
2000 Artafexus, Artscape, Pinkard Galleries, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Women’s History, James E. Lewis Museum, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
1999 DeVane, Ford, Jones, Moore, Pierleoni, Chesapeake Gallery, Harford Community
College, Harford, MD
Inside/Outside, Howard County Center of the Arts, Ellicott City, MD
Through the Fire to the Limits, African American Artists in Maryland, Annapolis, MD
Selected Work by Maryland Women, Government House, Annapolis, MD, curated by
Doreen Bolger.
Kromah Gallery Revisited, Artscape Festival 98, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute
College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Oletha DeVane, Howard Community College Gallery, Columbia, MD
Unfolding Cycle, West Friendship Elementary, West Friendship, MD
1998 Kromah Gallery Revisited: Artscape Festival, Meyerhoff Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Works by Oletha DeVane, Howard Community College Gallery. Columbia, MD
94-95 What We Need to Know About Art: Shroeder Cherry, Oletha DeVane, Angela
Franklin, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD (Traveling Exhibition)
What We Need to Know About Art, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
1993 Five Baltimore Artists, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
God Bless the Child: Tribute to Billie Holliday, Eubie Blake National Museum and
Cultural Center, Baltimore, MD
Women Image Women, Life of Maryland Gallery, Owings Mills, MD
1992 One Person Exhibition, Western Maryland College, Westminster, MD
Marketplace, National Black Arts Festival, Atlanta, GA
1991 New Works Exhibition, School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD, curators: Faith Ringgold and Clarissa Sligh
Women of Color National Book Art Project, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD,
curators: Faith Ringgold and Clarrisa Sligh
Benefit Exhibition, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD, Curator: Susan Badder
1990 Visual AIDS, Museum for Contemporary Arts, Baltimore, MD, Curator: George Ciscle
1984 Group Exhibition, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD, Curator: Olivia Georgia
Joyce Scott & Oletha DeVane, Ohio State University Gallery, Wilberforce, OH
Group Exhibition, Meredith Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1980 One Person Exhibition, Catonsville Community College Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1979 Afro-American Women in Art, FAMU Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Ten Abstract Painters, Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bmore Art. “BmoreArt’s Ten Best Baltimore Exhibits of 2022.” Bmore Art Dec 30, 2022.
Reed, Lilian. "Complex Legacy': A Baltimore County Private School Considers How
To Remember Those Enslaved by Its Founder.” Baltimore Sun, April 19, 2022.
Henderson, Teri. “New Worlds — Women to Watch.” Baltimore Beat Dec. 6, 2022.
National Museum of Women in the Arts. “Art Fix Friday”, September 30, 2022.
Tooten, Tim. "’It Just Really Touches Me’: New Memorial at McDonough School Honors
Enslaved People." WBAL-TV, April 19, 2022.
Cascone, Sarah. "The Anonymous Was a Woman Grant Has Selected Its Largest-Ever
Cohort of Female Artists Over 40." Artnet, November 9, 2021, https://news.artnet.com
Baltimore Brew. "Critical Look at the BMAs' Year of Acquiring Art Only by Women.", January 23, 2021.
Guntz, Ed. "Local Artists Selected for Lexington Market." Baltimore Fishbowl, Nov. 16, 2021.
Michaels, Leah Clare. "The Divinity of Water: An Interview with Artist Oletha DeVane." 2020.
The Debutante: The Feminist-Surrealist Arts Journal, October 29, 2020.
“Oletha DeVane Showcases Sculptural Works in 'Traces of the Spirit' at the BMA". Baltimore
Magazine, August 12, 2019.
Leslie King-Hammond and Lowery Stokes Sims, eds. “Oletha DeVane: Traces of the Spirit.”
Exh. cat. Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art.
Benitez, Sylvia. "On Oletha DeVane.” Gentileschi Aegis Gallery Association 2019.
Copeland, Oswald. "Baltimore Needs a Black High Priestess." Theculturepagedotcom, July 2019.
Carroll, Angela N. "Dark Things Matter: Oletha DeVane's The Other Side of Darkness at
Project 1628." Bmore Art, May 10, 2017.
Bayehe, Simone E. "Baltimore Artists Bring Life to the City." Baltimore Watchdog, Dec 4, 2016.
Ober, Cara. "Scene Seen: Inside/Outside: Christopher Kojzar & Oletha DeVane at the Creative
Alliance.” Bmore Art October 24, 2015.
Roulet, Laura, and Irene Hoffman. Corridor: Baltimore, Maryland- Washington, DC. Exh. cat.
Washington, DC: Art Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States, 2011.
McNatt, Glenn."Works by Contemporary Artists, in a Range of Style, On View", Baltimore Sun,
March 29, 2006.
PUBLICATIONS
2024 “City of Artists: Baltimore.” eds, Ober, Cara and Ed Berlin. Published by Ipsis, Brazil.
2023 “Oletha DeVane: Spectrum of Light and Spirit.” eds, Sims, Lowery Stokes and Symmes
Gardner. Published by Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture. University of
Maryland – Baltimore County.
2019 “Oletha DeVane: Traces of the Spirit.” editor, Anderson, Virginia. Published by the
Baltimore Museum of Art.
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS & COMMISSIONS
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (Collection)
Creve Coeur Memorial, St. Louis, MO
Hilton Hotel, Downtown Baltimore, MD (Collection)
Homewood Museum, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (Collection)
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baltimore, MD (Collection)
James E. Lewis Museum, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD (Collection)
Jones Tabernacle Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD (Commission)
Lexington Market, Baltimore, MD (Commission)
McDonogh School of Maryland, Memorial to Those Enslaved and Freed (Commission)
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture, Baltimore, MD (Commission)
Sheppard Pratt Hospital, Baltimore, MD (Collection)
West Friendship Elementary School, West Friendship, MD (Commission)
*Numerous private collections
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2023 Baker Artist Award in Interdisciplinary Arts
2021 Anonymous Was a Woman Grant
2020 Art Matters Grant Award
2019 Trawick Prize Bethesda Contemporary Art Award
2017 Ruby Foundation Grant, Art Matters Fellowship
2010 Sondheim Award, (semi-finalist)
2010 Purchase Prize, National Drawing & Print Exhibition
2007 Rollins / Luetkemeyer Chair Award for Distinguish Teaching
RESIDENCIES
2016 Build Haiti Foundation, Camp Coq
2015 Abu Dhabi Art Hub Alliance, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2014 Residency for Ubuhle Women, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
2010 Bau Institute Artist Residency, Lecce, Italy
2004 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer
2003 Banff Center for the Arts, Canada
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024 Hoffberger School of Painting, Graduate Critiques
2023 Maryland Creative Classrooms, Master Artist Class
2022 Graduate Student Critiques, Visiting Artist with Piper Shepard and Susie Brandt
13-20 McDonogh School Director, Tuttle Gallery
2017 Maryland Institute College of Art, Adjunct Faculty, Community Arts
93-13 McDonogh School Head, Visual Arts Department and Gallery Director
RECENT PRESENTATIONS & LECTURES
2023 Oletha DeVane: Master Class. BMA and Maryland Creative Classrooms. Baltimore, MD
POTE Conference: Service to the Oneness of Humanity. Allen Building. Owings Mills, MD
2022 Women, Arts, and Social Change. National Museum of Women in the Arts. Washington D.C.
Sight Unseen: Exploring Presence. The Parkway Theater, Baltimore MD
2020 Women Heal through Rites and Rituals, Myrtis Gallery Baltimore, MD
Art, Life, and Spirit. Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture. Baltimore, MD
2019 Materials and the Meaning they Hold. BMA Stories. Interviewer Virginia Anderson
Tea with Myrtis: Artistically Speaking with Oletha Devane. Myrtis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2018 Art Matters: Christopher Bedford and Oletha DeVane. WYPR (NPR affiliate)