Hailed as “groundbreaking” by The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik, this exhibition is the first to explore how avant-garde art influenced the look and content of network television in its formative years. It is on display at UMBC through December 10. Continue Reading “Revolution of the Eye” opens at UMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture The Department of Theatre presents Voracious by Susan McCully, directed by Nyalls Hartman, running from November 19 through 22 in the Proscenium Theatre in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building. Obsessed with getting a 4-star review for his restaurant, Chez Rachel, Chef Jean-Jacques spies Suzanne Falmagne, the impossible-to-please restaurant critic, ordering in the dining room and snaps the staff into action. Mistakenly, the woman is actually Joanie, an amateur critic pretending to be the infamous Suzanne. Meanwhile, at the bar sits Ceely a “vegetarian” with a troubling, voracious appetite for Jean- Jacques and his blood sausage. As Joanie’s long-suffering boyfriend, Lawrence, begs for… Continue Reading UMBC Theatre performs Voracious by Susan McCully In conjunction with the exhibition They Fight With Cameras: Walter Rosenblum in WWII from D-Day to Dachau, the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery presents public programs on Wednesday, November 11. A 12 pm film screening of Walter Rosenblum: In Search of Pitt Street will be followed at 6 pm by a talk given by Nina Rosenblum, film producer for Deadalus Productions, Inc. Admission is free. Complete information is available on the Arts and Culture Calendar here. In the latest essay for his Race Stories column in The New York Times, published September 17, Maurice Berger, research professor at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, examines the work of photographer Marion Palfi and her relatively unknown photo book, There Is No More Time: An American Tragedy. “Juxtaposing portraits,” says Berger, “Ms. Palfi’s written observations and interview excerpts, There Is No More Time chronicles the many faces and viewpoints of white supremacy in Irwinton: the obedience to God and family; the religious and pseudoscientific justifications for believing that black people were inherently inferior; the resentment of outside intervention… Continue Reading Maurice Berger, CADVC, latest “Race Story” column in The New York Times Susan McCully, Theatre, was highlighted in a September 19 article, “Women’s Voices Theater Festival aims to level the playing field,” by Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun. Her play Kerrmoor will be premiered at the multi-city festival, running from October 29 through November 15, and will be directed by Eve Muson (Theatre) and acted by Katie Hileman (’12, Theatre). “I just decided to be brave and write about Appalachia, where I come from,” McCully explained to Smith. “It’s a place full of amazing, noble people who are all about sacrifice, and at the same time are insular and xenophobic. It’s a dangerous mix. [Kerrmoor]… Continue Reading Susan McCully, Theatre, Discusses her new play, Kerrmoor, with Baltimore Sun Eric Dyer, associate professor of Visual Arts, will be among six artists featured in an exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art that celebrates the winners of the 2014 and 2015 Baker Artist Awards. The exhibition opens Wednesday, September 16 and closes Sunday, November 15, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 17. Professor Dyer was the recipient of the 2015 Mary Sawyer Baker Prize, which included a $25,000 cash award. Read more about the exhibition here and the Baker Awards here. Dyer’s creations explore a variety of cyclic ideas and themes through zoetrope-like sculptures, several of which can be viewed on… Continue Reading Eric Dyer, Visual Arts, at the Baltimore Museum of Art The campus community is invited to the inaugural gala fundraising event for the David W. Smith Scholarship for Vocal Arts. This fund seeks to honor the memory of David W. Smith, an extraordinary singer and a brilliant and dedicated UMBC professor, through its support of young singers pursuing degrees at UMBC. The event will be a concert featuring the amazing bass-baritone, Simon Estes, as well as David’s beloved Camerata and UMBC alumni. A small reception will follow the concert. The first half of the program will feature a collaboration of alumni, faculty and staff who worked with David Smith and will include art… Continue Reading First Annual David W. Smith Gala The exhibition Where Do We Migrate To?, organized by the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture and curated by Niels Van Tomme, is traveling to Sweden, where it will open on Saturday, September 19, at the Värmlands Museum in Karlstad, remaing on display through February 22, 2016. The exhibition explores contemporary issues of migration as well as experiences of displacement and exile. Situating the contemporary individual in a world of advanced globalization, the artworks address how a multiplicity of migratory encounters demand an increasingly complex understanding of the human condition. As such, the exhibition allows multiple perspectives about its subject… Continue Reading CADVC’s “Where Do We Migrate To?” exhibition travels to Sweden In the latest essay for his Race Stories column in The New York Times, Maurice Berger, research professor at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, examines the research of photographers Martin Parr and Ruben Lundgren, whose exploration of Chinese photobooks has resulted in The Chinese Photobook, published by Aperture. Largely unknown in the West, the photobooks, dating from the early 20th century to current times, document a nation undergoing profound cultural change. “The sheer quantity of important Chinese photobooks that remain unexamined by scholars within and outside of the country suggests that considerable work remains to done,” says Berger. “In… Continue Reading Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times On July 23, James Smalls, professor of Visual Arts and affiliate professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, published an article in The Conversation that discussed the rationale behind his upcoming course, Roaming the Star Trek Universe: Race, Gender, and Alien Sexualities. Sensing that students often seem very “connected” but are simultaneously distanced from the overwhelming complexities of the world around them, Smalls set out to find ways in which to explore the difficult topics of race, gender and sexuality. “I found part of the answer,” he said, “by traveling back to the 1960s, when difficult social change movements around race (civil rights,… Continue Reading James Smalls, Visual Arts, Writes on Race, Gender, and Sexuality in The Conversation In the latest essay for his Race Stories column in The New York Times, Maurice Berger, research professor at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, examines the shifting attitudes toward the Confederate battle flag. “The image was at once mundane and historic. In Alabama last Wednesday, on the order of Gov. Robert Bentley, workers took down the Confederate battle flag on the grounds of the state Capitol and were photographed as they did. The camera, whose role it was to record a reality — and thus to make visible its compelling details of the world — now documented a symbol’s imminent… Continue Reading Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times Linda Dusman, Music, and Eric Smallwood, Visual Arts, were interviewed by The Baltimore Sun’s Tim Smith about their app Octava, which is designed to enhance the audience experience at symphony orchestra performances. Read the full article on the Sun’s website here. “The app, called Octava, is aimed at enhancing the musical experience for listeners by delivering information via Wifi, synced with the music being played in the concert hall,” says Smith. In development for several years and formerly known as Symphony Interactive, the project received a $150,000 Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) grant in 2014 (read more here).
“Revolution of the Eye” opens at UMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture
UMBC Theatre performs Voracious by Susan McCully
Kuhn Library Gallery presents “They Fight with Cameras”
Maurice Berger, CADVC, latest “Race Story” column in The New York Times
Susan McCully, Theatre, Discusses her new play, Kerrmoor, with Baltimore Sun
Eric Dyer, Visual Arts, at the Baltimore Museum of Art
First Annual David W. Smith Gala
CADVC’s “Where Do We Migrate To?” exhibition travels to Sweden
Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times
James Smalls, Visual Arts, Writes on Race, Gender, and Sexuality in The Conversation
Maurice Berger, CADVC, Latest “Race Story” in The New York Times
Linda Dusman, Music, and Eric Smallwood, Visual Arts, Discuss Their Octava App with The Baltimore Sun
