10-15-2023 Women to Watch - Flipbook - Page 25
Asma Naeem
Director, Baltimore Museum of Art
In the eight months since Asma Naeem was appointed director
of the Baltimore Museum of Art, she hasn’t merely thrown open
the front doors to artists from underrepresented backgrounds;
she’s jimmied off the locks and jammed the doors open. She
wants them to never close again.
“We’re beginning to unravel a lot of the assumptions around
what art should look like and what qualifies as fine art,” said
Naeem, 54, the Pakistan-born former New York City prosecutor and the first director of color in the BMA’s history. “We’re
underscoring our commitment to artists who haven’t received
the critical and scholarly attention they deserve.”
Naeem’s first exhibit as director traced the effects of hip-hop
on the visual arts. “The Culture: Hip-Hop and Contemporary
Art in the 21st Century” attracted national attention and received
rave reviews. Best of all, it was her idea.
Last month, the BMA became the first museum in the world
to highlight the full spectrum of female artists from the Middle
Ages in its blockbuster show, “Making Her Mark.”
And stay tuned: Another groundbreaking exhibit is planned
for next summer, though details have not yet been announced.
“New voices are beginning to take over,” Naeem said, “and they
are conveying the majesty and depth of their artistic experience.”
— Mary Carole McCauley
LLOYD FOX
Kristal Hansley
Founder and CEO, WeSolar
It was still early in the COVID-19 pandemic when Kristal Hansley was
furloughed from her job as an adviser to the CEO of a Maryland-based solar
company, but she turned the challenge into an opportunity. In June 2020,
Hansley, 34, founded her own firm, WeSolar, working with commercial
developers and local governments to install solar panels. She said she’s proud
to be a Black woman CEO in an industry largely dominated by white men.
“Not only are we helping create a residual [income] to those existing
businesses, empowering them and building economic resilience, but also
we’re decarbonizing our footprint in the cities and also saving vulnerable
communities money on the BGE bill,” she said.
Hansley grew up in New York City before studying political science at
Howard University in Washington, D.C., and working on Capitol Hill. Today
she lives and works in Baltimore.
“I love Baltimore,” Hansley said. “I think it’s an environment that really
fosters creative ideas.”
When she’s not working Hansley likes to read and take care of her two
dogs, a bichon and a poodle.
— Giacomo Bologna
KENNETH K. LAM
WOMEN TO WATCH | 2023 | 25