Model for 21st Century Art
Spanning all six concentrations animation/interactive media, art history and theory, film/video, graphic design, photography and print media UMBC’s 2008 Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition is a opportunity to learn what the university’s faculty are thinking about and what methods and processes they are using.
“We focus on contemporary tools and technologies,” said Vin Grabill, interim chair of the visual arts department and a film/video artist. “It’s kept us on the cutting edge in the region, and the challenge is to continue to push that forward and set a model for how 21st century artists continue to utilize these practices for the benefit of establishing relevant visual culture.”
UMBC’s internationally recognized visual arts faculty are also committed to research. “This is a visual arts department at a research university, so all of our faculty are actively working as practicing artists and researchers. They really prefer this – they are afforded the time to pursue research, which benefits our students, who pick up on the energy that results from ongoing creative research,” Grabill added.
Kelley Bell ’06, MFA, Imaging and Digital Arts, who recently joined the visual arts faculty, appreciates the diversity of artwork and views in the visual arts department. “There’s such a wide range of work and research going on in the department – I’m really affected by the things other faculty are working on, hearing different points of view about what art is.”
Bell, a graphic designer who also works in animation and interactive media, enjoys her new role at the front of the classroom. “I try to engender a healthy respect and consciousness about doing design,” she said. “Design has a lot to do with educating yourself, having a keen intellectual curiosity and being able to synthesize information.”
Visual arts faculty members consistently receive recognition for their work in and outside of Baltimore. Their art has been exhibited at a variety of venues, including: the American Academy in Rome, Andy Warhol Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Biennial of Seville, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Chelsea Art Museum, the Contemporary (Baltimore), Georges Pompidou Center (Vienna), Los Angeles County Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Biennial and many others. They have been recognized with numerous awards including Fulbright Fellowships, the Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, J. Paul Getty Post-doctoral Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants, among other honors, in addition to film/video festival awards and artist residencies.
More information on the Faculty Exhibition is available online.
Watch Vin Grabill’s Mexico Painting and Barcelona Mosaics.
Learn more about UMBC’s undergraduate and graduate visual arts programs.
(12/2/08)
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