Kerry Kleid (International Female Ride Day!) OC

This piece was made for a special motorcycle show organized by the all-girl Baltimore motorcycle gang The Mufflers. They held the art show at Gallery 788, which I helped curate at the time.

April of 2013 • Clarendon font by Linotype

Kerry Kleid opened the doors for professional women motocross riders by becoming the first woman to possess an American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) professional motocross license, as well as being the first woman inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame.

She applied for the license in the 1970s so that she could enter an all-male racing competition. Although her request was initially denied, she eventually received the license and consequently succeeded in progressing from the novice to expert class in less than a year at the age of 21. Kleid was also a highly respected member of the Metropolitan Sports Committee (MSC).

She hailed from New York and was highly respected on the New England circuit in those pre-AMA National, pre-women’s motocross years. She went from Novice to Expert in one year, racing the guys in the MSC.