Established in 1958 by six locals, Academy Art Museum (AAM) has a permanent collection that holds works from such figures as Francisco Goya, Mary Cassatt, Ansel Adams and Pablo Picasso, along with contemporary artists like Zanele Muholi, Graciela Iturbide and James Turrell. And it stages regular exhibitions of artists who are closer to home.

What’s not in its permanent collection comes from major loans. “Fickle Mirror” included an early work by Amy Sherald. Also featured in the show was a soaring painting by Nigerian-born artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby titled “I Refuse to Be Invisible.” The work — one of the largest in the exhibit — was on loan from the Art Bridges Foundation, founded by Walmart heiress Alice Walton. With a shared vision of bringing great art to rural spaces, Art Bridges — in Bentonville, Ark. — funded the considerable cost to transport the work to Maryland.