Amy Sherald (American b. Columbus, GA 1973, lives Baltimore) received her MFA in Painting from Maryland Institute College of Art (2004), BA in Painting from Clark-Atlanta University (1997), and was a Spelman College International Artist-in-Residence in Portobelo, Panama (1997). In 2016, Sherald was the first woman to win the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition grand prize... (http://www.amysherald.com/about/) “I’m just going to pretend it’s not a big deal,” said the artist Amy Sherald, speaking in her spare studio in the neighborhood known as Station North. “I paint paintings of people. And I’m painting a painting of another person.” But it is a big deal, since the person Ms. Sherald happens to be painting is Michelle Obama. Earlier this month, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery announced that it had commissioned Ms. Sherald, 44, for the official portrait of the former first lady, and tapped Kehinde Wiley, 40, for the likeness of former President Barack Obama — the first time black artists have been selected to paint a presidential couple for the Gallery. ...A tall, athletic woman in white-framed glasses who lives with her Pekingese-Jack Russell terrier, named August Wilson, Ms. Sherald said she is not allowed to speak about the commission until it is unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery early next year. Nor would Mrs. Obama comment. ...The selection of Ms. Sherald, who typically depicts African-Americans doing everyday things — two women in bathing suits, a man holding a child — has historical significance. “It’s as if she’s saying, ‘Let’s be clear: the President and I are African Americans and proudly so,” Mr. Staiti said, “and these portraits are going to have an African-American vibe — they’re going to break out of that... (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/arts/design/amy-sherald-michelle-obama-official-portrait.html?ribbon-ad-idx=5&rref=arts&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Arts&pgtype=article) undefined

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