Schroeder's profile
Originally from Washington, DC, Schroeder Cherry is an award- winning Maryland-based, multimedia assemblage artist and puppeteer whose art for decades has captured everyday scenes of African diaspora life. He has performed puppetry in museums, cultural centers, libraries and schools across the United States, and his art is in numerous private and public collections. As a museum professional, he has worked in seven U.S. museums, including the Studio Museum in Harlem; The J. Paul Getty Museum; The Art Institute of Chicago; and The Baltimore Museum of Art. He was a 2019 Janet and Walter Sondheim finalist. He received a 2021 Maryland State Art Council Independent Artist Award and a 2023 Virginia Center for Creative Arts Fellowship. In 2024 he travelled to Salvador, Brazil as the recipient of a Municipal Arts Society of Baltimore Travel Grant. He is a featured artist in the 2024 PBS Episode, Play, by Craft in America.
Cherry's art works are open-ended narratives inspired by travel, music, literature, folklore, and everyday events. Mixed media assemblage paintings on wood often incorporate discarded objects. Keys, and locks represent tools of access. Watermelon images refute negative stereotypes by representing positive aspects of the African diaspora. Glass shards, metal, buttons, playing cards - all become part of the materials telling a story.
The works are open-ended because there is no one story; viewers bring their own experiences to each piece. He often makes art in series. This allows him to explore an idea in depth and play with variations of a theme.
Cherry's puppetry is an extension of the visual art. Puppet performances include: Can You Spell Harlem?; Tuskegee Airmen; Underground Railroad, Not A Subway; Land of Primary Colors; and Civil Rights Children's Crusade. He has performed in museums, schools and cultural centers across the U.S.
