Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence
The Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence celebrates Baltimore’s vibrant creative community by supporting composers whose work bridges disciplines and reimagines artistic boundaries. Through collaboration and experimentation, the residency fosters new connections between music, art, and culture.
Each composer receives a stipend, behind-the-scenes access to the BMA’s collection, and dedicated workspace within the museum to develop new work. The residency culminates in a public presentation, a gallery resource connecting visitors to the artist’s collection-inspired work, and a BMA Stories interview that offers insight into the creative process and residency experience.
Multi-disciplinary artist, musician, and poet abdu ali was the inaugural Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence. Ali created between every breath, there is atmosphere, an immersive sonic and visual performance exploring how the atmospheric and ecological conditions of Maryland’s southern Atlantic region shape the lives and experiences of contemporary Black Baltimoreans.
Baltimore music icon Ultra Naté is the second Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence. Drawing on a musical practice that spans house, soul, disco, electro-pop, R&B, hip-hop, and rock, Naté is developing new work inspired by the BMA’s collection.