Merrell Hambleton

Merrell Hambleton (she/her) is the Director of Public Engagement, leading the BMA’s efforts to connect and collaborate with audiences in Baltimore City and beyond. Prior to joining the museum, Merrell led arts-based planning and cultural programming at the Neighborhood Design Center. In this role, she developed engagement strategies for landmark public art projects like the Bloomberg Philanthropies-supported Inviting Light and piloted an NEA-funded designer-in-residence program. Previously, Merrell produced public art projects with the artist Stephen Powers and the New York-based nonprofit Creative Time.

Merrell has presented her work at conferences hosted by AIA Baltimore, Project for Public Spaces, and others, and contributes reporting on art and design to publications like The New York Times, New York Magazine, and MOLD magazine. She holds a BA in history from Columbia University, an MA in social design and critical studies from MICA, and studied landscape architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Merrell serves on the board of the Compound, a nonprofit artist studio and performance space in East Baltimore.