BMA Names abdu mongo ali as the Inaugural Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence

Residency culminates with a performance on January 22, 2026

BALTIMORE, MD (November 19, 2025)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) has named multi-disciplinary artist, musician, and poet abdu mongo ali as its inaugural Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence. Ali will respond to a creative prompt using the museum’s collection and exhibitions as a site of exploration and inspiration. The residency began in September and will culminate on Thursday, January 22 with a performance of ali’s completed work, between every breath, there is atmosphere. This sonic and visual performance considers how Maryland’s southern Atlantic atmospheric and ecological conditions affect contemporary Black Baltimoreans. The title is derived from a collection of ali’s poems that speak to the interconnectedness of Blackness, gay life, and the afterlives of slavery.

Throughout cultural history, writers and composers have drawn creative inspiration from the visual arts. Whether Keats’ poetic praise of a Grecian urn, or Beyonce’s powerful encounter with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, these cross-disciplinary connections resonate across audiences and provide a lens to see art from a new perspective. As a catalyst and creative incubator for these transdisciplinary connections, the BMA’s prompt centers around ecology, the study of the relationships between living beings, as part of the museum’s Turn Again to the Earth initiative focusing on art and the environment.

The Composer in Residence is given a stipend for their participation, special access to the collections, and a space within the museum to write or work, if they choose. The residency culminates with a public presentation/performance of the artist’s completed work, an in-gallery resource for visitors to access the collection or exhibition-inspired work, and a BMA Stories interview with the artist sharing their residency experience.

“I was prompted to create this residency as a result of some of the cross-disciplinary artistic presentations that have inspired me the most,” said Asma Naeem, BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “Baltimore has a rich artistic community that both connects and transcends traditionally defined genres, and I could think of no one more fitting to be our inaugural Composer in Residence than abdu ali, whose life and work creatively crosses boundaries of all kinds.”

abdu mongo ali

About the Baltimore Museum of Art

Founded in 1914, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) inspires people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, programs, and collections that tell an expansive story of art—challenging long-held narratives and embracing new voices. Our outstanding collection of more than 97,000 objects spans many eras and cultures and includes the world’s largest public holding of works by Henri Matisse; one of the nation’s finest collections of prints, drawings, and photographs; and a rapidly growing number of works by contemporary artists of diverse backgrounds. The museum is also distinguished by a neoclassical building designed by American architect John Russell Pope and two beautifully landscaped gardens featuring an array of modern and contemporary sculpture. The BMA is located three miles north of the Inner Harbor, adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University, and has a community branch at Lexington Market. General admission is free so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.