It is with profound sadness that The Studio Museum in Harlem mourns the loss of artist Valerie Maynard.⠀ Born in 1937, Maynard grew up in Harlem during its renaissance—she lived on 142nd Street, next door to Audre Lorde. Maynard was a part of a vibrant Harlem community that included James Baldwin and Langston Hughes and institutions such as the Savoy Ballroom and the nearby Abyssinian Baptist Church, which her family attended. From a young age, she understood the value of community, especially within Black spaces. This knowledge would go on to instill a lifelong commitment to preserving humanity, engagement, and education as important facets of her artistic practice. Maynard remains deeply embedded in the fabric of Harlem.⠀ ⠀ Dear to us, she was the Studio Museum's first artist in residence. From 1969 to 1974, she participated in a five-year residency, just one year after the Museum opened to the public. Later, she established a print workshop at the Museum that saw visitors learn about various printmaking techniques and create their own work. Working across prints, sculpture, and painting, Maynard participated in a number of exhibitions at the Studio Museum, beginning with a two-person presentation in 1970 and eleven other shows between 1974 and 2018. Her work "3 A.M. 125th Street" (1973) was part of the final season of exhibitions in the Museum's former building before it closed in 2018 in preparation for construction of our new home. We are honored to have five works by Maynard, including several created during her residency, in our collection. And many of Maynard's works still exist in public space today—this includes a set of mosaics installed in Harlem's 125th Street subway station. ⠀ ⠀ Valerie Maynard's contributions both to Harlem and the Studio Museum are interwoven into the very fabric of the two's shared histories. She will be dearly remembered for her wit, passion, and dedication to the arts.