Amy Sherald (1973-) is an American painter currently based in New York City. Sherald is most known for her portrait painting of former First Lady Michelle Obama. Through her portraits, Sherald explores how people construct and perform their identities in response to political, social, and cultural expectations. Her colorful, contrasting canvases demand the viewer to see the subject. She uses grey-scale as a skin tone palette to challenge the idea of color as race. Sherald received her bachelor’s degree in 1997 at Clark Atlanta University. She received her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2004. In 2021 she received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art.