By Barbara A. Preston for The Montgomery News | June 25, 2026
Herma Ahlers, who recently opened a solo art exhibition at the Montgomery Municipal Center, is attracted to bold subjects with attitude.
Herma Ahlers in her home-based studio in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery.
It could be a blue heron with a swanky crick in its neck, or a quirky look-you-in-the-eye pelican in flight showing-off its goofy unabashed spirit.
Blue Heron
And, of course, it’s Muhammad Ali, who taunted his opponents with his poetic banter: “I can float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.”
Ahler herself is not one to shy away from things.
“I need to be brave,” she told The Montgomery News. “I work with students as a tennis coach.”
Her energy is as electric as her work.
Muhammad Ali, oil painting.
“I find that when I bring energy and a positive attitude to anything in life, everything is better,” she said. “I go for it. I’m not holding back no matter what I do.”
Her art is vibrant, and she is quick. She can complete a painting in just hours.
Born in Germany, Ahlers grew up playing handball. Her parents gave her the nickname Mücke — the German word for mosquito — because she says she was “always buzzing around.”
She always enjoyed art and later studied visual communication in Mainz. She worked as an art director for an advertising company in London, representing such clients as Kellogg, the company well know for its breakfast cereals.
Ahlers relocated to the United States with her family when her husband, Markus Schmidt took a job here working with airport conveyer belt systems for Swisslog Logistics Americas.
She switched from handball to competitive tennis, and worked in Virginia coaching high school tennis and raising their two children—Aileen and Robin— who are now adults. Ahlers and her husband moved to Montgomery in 2023 when he took a job as CEO and president of Beumer Corporation.
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She now plays competitive tennis at the Nassau Tennis Club and is an assistant tennis coach for the boys and girls varsity team at Montgomery High School.
Since Spring 2024, Ahlers has been a student in the adult art program at Art Studio 23, located on Route 601 in Skillman. Jeff Zhou, owner of the studio, says, “Ahlers’ work connects people across cultures and places. Her artwork reflects a vibrant sense of energy, curiosity, and optimism.
“During her studies at Art Studio 23, she developed a distinctive palette-knife technique that has become a signature element of her work, perfectly complementing both her artistic vision and dynamic personality.”
Ahler is showing 22 pieces of her art work, mostly oils, in the huge lobby. She says she learned about the space when reading an article The Montgomery News, and then applied to show her work.
“It’s an honor to be in that brand new beautiful space,” she said. “People enjoy visiting the center, and I hope they are inspired to do art themselves, or to take an art class.”
Artist Herma Ahlers
