When James Dorsey arrived at UMBC in 2002 to major in music performance and composition, becoming an educator was not the original plan. But when opportunity knocked, Dorsey answered the call to teach. In the intervening years, Dorsey’s interactive, empowering methods of teaching music to kids have made him popular, and this fall he marks his 19th year of teaching music and performance to the elementary school students in the Prince George’s County Public School system. And if that wasn’t enough, Dorsey ’05, music, is back at UMBC, sharing his pedagogical experience with a new generation of musicians and educators.… Continue Reading Music education helps others find the right note
Safiyah Cheatam, M.F.A. ’21, intermedia and digital arts, always has her hands in something. In just the past few years, the multidisciplinary conceptual artist has exhibited work at The Peale and VisArts. She co-produced OBSIDIAN, a Rubys Grant-funded Afrofuturist podcast, with alum Adetola Abdulkadir ’17, and served as curatorial research assistant at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture for the special exhibition Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures. This summer, Cheatam is also serving as a juror for the Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship. Cheatam devotes her days to providing programming for teen artists as the assistant manager… Continue Reading From nurture to apocalypse (and back again) —The Mundane Afrofuturism of multimedia artist Safiyah Cheatam
A new exhibition, Ola Belle Reed: I’ve Endured, on view at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery at UMBC through June 30, traces and contextualizes Reed’s rise to national prominence in the 1960s performing traditional Appalachian music with her powerful voice and signature clawhammer banjo. Continue Reading The Enduring Legacy of Ola Belle Reed
UMBC’s art galleries are already in full bloom for the spring. With exhibits showcasing historic and innovative 20th century photography, interactive hip-hop data visualization, and the legacies of political resistance as seen through Black hair, the university’s exhibition spaces are bountiful with thought-provoking work. Continue Reading UMBC’s galleries deliver interactive and thoughtful art
SPARK, an annual group exhibition of works by faculty, staff, alumni, and students at UMBC and Towson University returns for its fifth edition August 13-September 25. SPARK: New Light features work from 24 artists, and opens concurrently with the Founder’s Day Grand Reopening of The Peale, a celebration of the completion of extensive renovations to the historic facility. Continue Reading Sparking History at The Peale
Retiring after 30 years, Symmes Gardner is leaving UMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture as strong as ever. Incoming director Rebecca Uchill brings with her a commitment to carry on CADVC’s tradition of exceptional art and engagement. Continue Reading A Season of Change for the CADVC
