“Sweaty Eyeballs” was born out of a Baltimore summer. The humid words hung in the air when animator Phil Davis, M.F.A. ’07, imaging and digital arts, was putting his plans into place in summer 2012 for the first edition of the animated film festival that now bears the moniker.

“I liked how they sounded, they felt like a memorable name,” Davis says. “And after watching 92 animated shorts in a weekend, your eyes will feel like they’ve been through a workout!”

Davis, now a professor at Towson University’s Department of Art + Design, is an animator whose own hand-drawn, stop motion and digital animations have screened around the world. “Animation has the ability to tap into so many human emotions, it’s part of why I love it so much—its expressive potential is boundless,” he says. 

The 13^th edition of Sweaty Eyeballs runs October 18 – 20 at several Baltimore venues, including MICA’s Falvey Hall and Towson’s Van Bokkelen Hall Theatre. The festival showcases 92 short films from around the world, featuring four international competition blocks, as well as a Baltimore showcase that runs on the opening night, which will feature numerous works from UMBC creators.

From its inception through 2018, the Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival existed as a one-night-only invitational offering a diverse array of animated narrative, documentary, music video, and experimental work that pushed the boundaries of art, craft, and technology. Over the years, the festival partnered with theaters across Baltimore, including the Creative Alliance, The Charles and The Parkway, as well as theaters run by local Baltimore universities. In 2019, Sweaty Eyeballs emerged as a full-fledged film festival in its own right, and its steady growth continues.

A platform for world-class programming

While submissions to the festival span the continents, many of them originate close to home. From UMBC’s visual arts program, recent graduate Carter Gray ’24 and senior Mariel Chavez are featured in the Baltimore Showcase Competition, among many other faculty and staff. “Carter Gray’s film Tempus is a really cool short animation that has an environmental bent, and it’s basically the history of the world and how humans are kind of destroying the earth,” says Davis. “Mariel Chavez’s The Beautiful Pain of Trichotillomania is very short, beautifully animated drawings on paper.”

Left: a still from Carter Gray’s animated “Tempus.” Right: a still from Mariel Chavez’s “The Beautiful Pain of Trichotillomania.”

UMBC faculty and staff with work featured in the 2024 Sweaty Eyeballs lineup include Tima Aflitunov (Earthlings), Jim Doran (Magus Incognito), Eric Millikin (The Dance of the Nain Rouge), and SKRFF by Corrie Francis Parks and Daniel Nuderscher. (Parks, an associate professor of visual arts, also serves this year as curator of a concurrent gallery exhibition, Sweaty Eyeballs: Animation Adjacent).

“Corrie’s new film is amazing,” says Davis, “It’s sort of deconstructing graffiti art on this wall that’s had graffiti on it for years and years and years. And Eric Milliken’s is a really mesmerizing piece utilizing these custom-made AI training sets to create imagery.”

Expanding animation

Festival programming will also include a young audiences program featuring kid-appropriate animation, as well as an animation workshop for kids.

Los Angeles-based animator and production designer Miguel Jiron, who worked as head-of-story on the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movies, will give an industry talk at the festival on October 19. Jiron will also offer a Story Development Masterclass at UMBC on October 18.

In addition to the more traditional theatrical screenings presented, this year Sweaty Eyeballs has expanded to include a cornucopia of free events and exhibitions.

Sweaty Eyeballs: Animation Adjacent, the exhibition curated by Corrie Francis Parks, opened September 13 and runs through October 20, features artists from the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas, spanning aspects of animation from the earliest forms of animation such as praxinoscopes and zoetropes—mechanical devices that created the illusion of motion—through modern digital techniques.

“I wanted to highlight the ways that animation can stand outside the picture and in different formats, and show the approaches of different artists who incorporate animation into their practice,” Parks says. ”There are a lot of artists practicing ‘expanded animation,’ that expands outward in different modes and mediums, work that necessarily needs to be in a different space.”

An animator who has exhibited her work around the globe, Parks notes that Sweaty Eyeballs stands out as a unique event in U.S. film programming. “I’ve really been thankful for Sweaty Eyeballs,” she says. “There are few other cities in the United States where you would get such good animation programming in an actual festival devoted to animation.”

Numerous UMBC-affiliated artists are featured in Animation Adjacent’s programming, including Jim Doran, an AOK Library staff member who presents an assemblage of fragmental stories contained in small containers, and Kelley Bell, associate professor of visual arts, whose installation Enchanted Jangle is the epic cardboard fort your five-year-old self dreamed of. Adjunct professor Kat Navarro taps family history and diasporic longing to present The view from my childhood window.

The show includes two interactive, generative installations by Timothy Nohe, visual arts professor, and McCoy Chance ’19, music technology and media and communication studies. “Both artists use sound translated into electronic signals as the catalyst for animation,” says Parks, “and invite the viewer to be the ‘animator’ by activating the works with their voice.”

On October 11, Area 405 will host a free Animation Adjacent Variety Show and Film Screening, featuring eclectic performances and short animations by exhibition artists pushing the boundaries of animation as an artform. One featured act will include Baltimore musicians Bonnie Lander and Shelly Purdy interacting with Nohe’s Entr’acte-Interact.

Closing the festival on October 20, UMBC visual arts professor Eric Dyer—named by Creative Capital as “The Modern Master of the Zoetrope”—will offer a live performance with Jiayin Shen as Duo Kinetica, combining zoetropes with a live piano score.

With plans to become a professional photographer, Luna Siesko, a rising senior in visual arts, has already generated an impressive portfolio of work, ranging from portraiture to landscapes to event photography. But Siesko knows that in order to succeed as an artist, in today’s world, that also means succeeding as a small business owner—promoting herself and her work in the marketplace.

For Siesko, a summer internship at the Baltimore County Arts Guild (BCAG) in nearby Catonsville provided a key opportunity to broaden her skills, expanding her background in social media, website posts, space management, and event planning, developing capabilities that she feels will ground her in the future. “I’ve always had this dream of having my own studio space, and some sort of exhibit space for my work,” Siesko says. “And so this internship has been really applicable to that—making sure that the space is managed and accessible, and everything is running smoothly.”

Young artists like Siesko who study in UMBC’s dance, music, theatre, and visual arts programs often choose to establish themselves as independent practitioners, whether performing on stage, creating artwork, or expressing their work in other ways. Siesko says this will allow her to continue doing what she loves: “I just really enjoy working with people and being able to capture how multifaceted people can be.”

Engaging the community in the arts

A special focal point of Siesko’s work this summer was promotion of BCAG’s Arts & Drafts Summer Music Festival, held at Guinness Open Gate Brewery in late June. “A lot of the work I’ve been doing for them I would consider to be outreach work,” Siesko shares. “So I’ve been making posts on their website and doing social media. And for Arts and Drafts, I voiced a video, a little commercial they made to promote the festival.”

Established in 2012, the non-profit Baltimore County Arts Guild fosters the arts throughout Baltimore County, and is also the managing entity of the Catonsville Arts District, which is centered along downtown Frederick Road. “Luna’s creativity always shines through in her work,” says Gloria Fajimolu, programs and events manager at BCAG, who supervised Siesko’s internship. “Throughout her internship, she’s engaged with clients for rentals, liaised with contractors, established connections with a myriad of businesses, and fostered collaboration with talented artists.She’s always exploring new ideas and growing, despite any challenges along the way.”

Two untitled portrait photographs by Luna Siesko, courtesy of Siesko.

On campus, Siesko has been able to hone her skills through work at commonvision, UMBC’s print and design center, where she has focused on event photography and videography—images of people on campus and signature events such as Homecoming and Quadmania, as well as helping film a promotional video for the Woolies at UMBC.

Looking forward to what comes next

Siesko gives a special shout-out to the Career Center, where she  found her summer internship opportunity. “My first two years at UMBC I didn’t really go to any career fairs, because I wasn’t sure what I was looking for at all. But then I went to one to try to find an internship, and that was very helpful to me,” says Siesko, “and that’s how I am where I am now.”

After graduation next spring, Siesko plans to continue work as a freelance photographer, basing her work in the Baltimore area. “I’ve really fallen in love with the arts scene, and have met a lot of great people here,” she says. “I can’t imagine myself ever being too far away from Maryland.”

Since 2014, multimedia artist Levester Williams has developed a personal connection and exploration with a natural material that is a historic staple of Baltimore life—Cockeysville, Maryland, marble. 

Go down specific streets in neighborhoods like Highlandtown, Charles Village, Cherry Hill, or Mount Vernon and you’ll see the ubiquitous, three-to-four tiered steps made of marble outfitting the exterior of many rowhomes throughout Baltimore, much of it from Cockeysville. Beyond the steps, you’ll also find the stone in landmarks such as Baltimore’s City Hall, the Washington monuments in Baltimore and D.C., and the 108 columns of the U.S. Capitol Building. 

“The stone is a literal and figurative bedrock of our nation. It’s used in many prominent monuments and institutions,” explains Williams, who is a 2023 – 2024 artist in residence in UMBC’s Exploratory Research Residency Program, a component of the university’s Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture (CADVC).

In this pilot artist residency program, Williams is collaborating with the CADVC to complete a new video art project called “dreaming of a beyond: Baltimore,” in which the artist is researching the history of Cockeysville marble, underscoring the “intertwined history of African Americans’ plight to self-determined agency and full citizenship, and a rather benign stone.”

More than just marble

In his work, Williams examines the relationship between objects, humans, and the physical world with art that includes sculptures, installations, sound, animations, drawings, and videos. Williams is continuing that exploration in “dreaming of a beyond: Baltimore,” part of his ongoing series focused on the dolomitic stone that is quarried in Cockeysville, 25 miles from Catonsville. The series explores Williams’ desire to examine his idea of “the beyond—where race is no longer tethered to value; where my body matters just as much as other bodies matter,” he says. 

The artist began his exploration into the stone after reading a passage in Lindon Barrett’s book Blackness and Value: Seeing Double about jazz singer Billie Holiday’s time growing up in Baltimore. The book references Holiday’s autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, which documents her stint cleaning the marble steps in Baltimore as a teenager. 

“White homeowners were obsessed with keeping the white marble stoops clean, and didn’t care how the inside of their homes looked, as long as the steps were clean,” says Williams in reference to the passage about Holiday in Blackness and Value. The steps were seen as a marker of class and economic status, he adds, explaining how “Holiday knew that and was able to bargain to get more money for cleaning the stoops.”

Through archival research, Williams learned more about the stone’s connection to Black people in Baltimore and their bodies as they handled, cleaned, and labored over the marble. As part of his CADVC residency, Williams conducted research at the Maryland Center for History and Culture, using the center’s digital archives of Baltimore’s historic Afro-American newspaper and photographer Paul Henderson’s collection of images he captured for the paper from 1930 through 1960. The archives showcase the long history of Baltimore’s Black residents who cleaned and maintained the marble steps as part of their daily routines. 

“Bodies in space”

The “dreaming of a beyond” series consists of short vignettes capturing performers touching and physically engaging with structures, objects, and buildings made with Cockeysville marble at different sites throughout the northeast region. Beyond Maryland, the marble can be found in places such as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in upstate New York; the Fisher Building in Detroit; Girard College in Philadelphia; and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. 

In Baltimore, Williams filmed performers interacting with the (original) Washington Monument in Mount Vernon Place. Nia Hampton, an intermedia and digital arts (IMDA) graduate student at UMBC, and her mother, Sheila Gaskins, were featured in “dreaming of a beyond: Baltimore,” filmed with the assistance of IMDA student Bao Nguyen. A sneak peek of Williams’ in-development projection demo was on display at the CADVC in February.

The film—which was projected onto the side of a building across from the CADVC’s outdoor amphitheater space—captures the mother-daughter duo physically engaging with the monument with movements that included hugging, caressing, scaling, and sprawling various body parts across the marble-encased statue. Williams worked with artist and intimacy coordinator Savannah Knoop to “reconfigure and think about bodies in space, non-human bodies, and what it is to give consent to these things,” he says. 

“What I appreciate about Levester’s work is its level of obscurity,” says Hampton. “When I saw his work, I thought it was different—I never saw anything like it before.”

When she learned that the artist wanted the film’s subjects to be local residents with a deep connection to Baltimore’s history, Hampton referred Williams to her mother. Gaskins, a multi-disciplined artist who has been a local arts advocate and educator for more than four decades, wrote and directed “Last House Standing: A Play About the Highway to Nowhere”in 2016. The play included performers playing the role of the marbled stoop steps. 

“When I was interacting with the marble [in the work with Williams], it wasn’t a pretty thing. I was thinking about my ancestors. Nia and I were having conversations about the slaves that probably built the monument. All of that was in our minds when we were interacting with the marble,” says Gaskins. 

“Black folks touching the stone have been an anchor in this master-slave dynamic. I reimagined this relationship between the Black body and the stone, which is not in service of this power dynamic,” says Williams. “I’m using this stone as a way to reimagine Black folks in public spaces.”

Artistic practice as research

This fall, the CADVC gallery is set to premiere a selection of Williams’ artwork that emerges from his “dreaming of a beyond: Baltimore” research as part of the introduction to the center’s public video projection gallery series, which will be on display in the Fine Arts Building Amphitheater. The series is anticipated to rotate new video artwork presentations and will run for the next several years, says Rebecca Uchill, director of the CADVC.

The fall projection presentation will also coincide with the “all matters aside” exhibition at the CADVC that will feature a retrospective of Williams’ work from the last 10 years, organized by curator Lisa Freiman. Williams’ work was previously featured in “Declaration,” the inaugural exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University that Freiman curated as the institute’s inaugural director. 

Wiliams’ projection work will also feature an accompanying booklet that includes an essay by Michelle Wright, professor of history and Africana studies at the Community College of Baltimore County. Wright’s essay, “Scrubbed Clean,” examines the complex history of Beaver Dam marble, its use in Baltimore’s Washington Monument, and its connections to the city’s history of racial division.

Along with Williams, the CADVC Exploratory Research Residency Program also hosted artists Tomashi Jackson and Paul Rucker. Portions of the program have been funded by the Maryland State Arts Council, the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Culture, and UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences’ Big Ideas initiative. The pilot program, which launched in 2022, “recognizes the inherent research that is artistic practice,” Uchill explains. 

“Artists are researchers, technicians, and producers. I think some of that occasionally may be underemphasized in certain contexts, but fortunately not at UMBC. CADVC’s residency program aligns with the rigor, creativity, and civic engagement of the university at large, and feeds into other areas of our center’s programs in exhibition, publication, and creative production,” says Uchill. “This has been an especially enriching opportunity because of UMBC’s laudable, sincere belief in the importance of the arts as research.”

For Williams, the exploratory residency program is helping him to expand his interpretation of being Black and existing in public spaces: “There’s no hierarchy of us existing in space and doing that through touch is what my project is focused on. Having these performers touch the stone in any way that they want is [my idea of] pushing back and getting to that ‘beyond’.”

During her office hours, President Valerie Sheares Ashby makes it a point to meet weekly with students and hear about their UMBC experiences and their aspirations for life after UMBC. Today, Jenna Beshara, a senior English and visual arts double major, shares her Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) project with the president. Beshara, who spent last summer on a study abroad program in Wales, painted a series of Welsh watercolor landscapes with paints she made herself using only natural ingredients. In this excerpt of their conversation, she and President Sheares Ashby discuss the importance of pursuing art and research through a sustainability lens.

President Sheares Ashby: These paintings are just beautiful. I feel like the water is just coming off the page. Is that the way you painted it or is it actually texture?

Jenna Beshara: Thank you! It’s a little bit of both, because the pigment—no matter how much you grind it or sift it—it’s still going to be a little bit coarse and gritty. I found out that it takes about a week to make one batch of pigment. You start with flowers or vegetables or plants—red cabbage actually makes the best blue—and you put them in a pot and pour boiling water over it. Then it’s a sequence of simmering and letting it rest. After you strain out all the materials, you add in a salt compound and baking soda. You grind what’s left, which turns into a mud-like consistency. It needs a week to dry and then you grind it and strain it several times. 

But to make the paint, there’s quite a bit of chemistry involved. The idea just kind of came to me because acrylic paint is like liquid plastic. It’s really bad for the environment.

Sheares Ashby: I am a polymer chemist, so I know what you mean. I appreciate that you did watercolor and environmentally friendly materials. That is very impressive. How did you decide to start this project?

Beshara: After I came back from Wales, I knew I wanted to apply for a Fulbright student grant to do more arts research. My mentor, Timothy Nohe, a professor in visual arts, suggested I use URCAD as a jumping-off point for my research project.  He supports me in everything that I do. I’ll come to him and I’m like, “Hey, I want to do this.” And he’s like, “Awesome, do it.” 

At one point in this project, I was so frustrated because I wanted to make oil paintings. The homemade oil wasn’t drying, and it looked so gritty. So I went to Professor Nohe and said, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” And he said, “Well, if the medium isn’t working, just change it.” And that blew my mind, and I was like, “Whoa, I can do that?”

Sheares Ashby: When I look at these paintings of these beautiful landscapes, it reminds me that from an environmental framework that if we do not care for this, it will not continue to look like this. This beauty that you have captured is not guaranteed. We have a responsibility to keep this as beautiful as it is.

Beshara: I’m applying for an Undergraduate Research Award to keep studying this because the supplies to make the paint can get a little pricey. But it’s so important, with climate change, that sustainability and art can go hand-in-hand.

Sheares Ashby: I love UMBC because our students are so focused on making some version of difference in the world, no matter the discipline. It is rare that I run into a student who doesn’t think about whatever they care about in an interdisciplinary way. Most of my students—like you—are thinking about how they are going to change something in the world to make it better. 

As flowers start popping up on campus and we get some warmer (if rainy) days, it’s the perfect time to go out and catch some of the arts events happening at UMBC. Whether you need a break from studying, work, or are just looking for some fun, you can be sure to find many entertaining and thought provoking arts and culture events happening on campus!

1. Enjoy an Artful Conversation All About Dance

No dance skills are required to enjoy an evening all about dance with Artful Conversations: An Evening with Misty Copeland. On the night of March 6, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Misty Copeland, the first African American female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, and a New York Times best selling author, will be discussing topics all about dance and her historical performances. The night will begin with dance works performed by UMBC students and faculty. Later, in conversation with College of Art, Humanities, and Social Sciences Dean Kimberly Moffitt, Copeland will talk about her ground-breaking career.

In case the event is sold out or if you just want to watch on a later date, a livestream and recording will be available via the UMBC Youtube Channel. (Photo by Drew Gurian/MasterClass)

2. Bask in the Glow at a Poetry Reading

If you’re unable to make the Misty Copeland event, the English Department’s spring reading series event on March 6 features Taylor Johnson, poet laureate of Takoma Park, Maryland. Johnson is the author of Inheritance, and winner of the 2021 Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America. Inheritance was influenced by living in Washington, D.C., and it explores the complexities of language. The event, which includes a reading, Q&A, and book signing, is free, and runs from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Albin O. Kuhn Library. (Photo by Sean D. Henry-Smith)

3. Listen to an Enchanting Evening of Music from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

On March 8, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will perform at UMBC. The ensemble will be led by conductor Ken-David Masur. The program includes Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, Toshio Hosokawa’s Meditation to the victims of Tsunami 3.11, and the orchestra will be joined by cellist, Zlatomir Fung, for a performance of Camille Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto. The performance is being held at the Linehan Concert Hall from 8 to 10 p.m., and tickets are only $5 for students. (Ken-David Masur conducting. Photo taken by Stu Rosner.)

 4. Join WMBC for its Entertaining Spring Music Festival

WMBC Radio, UMBC’s independent, student-run radio station, will be hosting their second annual music festival on March 29 in the UC Ballroom, from 6 to 11 p.m. The festival will be featuring some student artists, bands, and other creatives! The bill includes Fly by The Seat, Regan Lewis, Eat the Cake, and more. Don’t forget to check out the art vendors who will be there as well!

5. Chuckle with Dog Collar at “Saturday Bite Live”

Either before or after WMBC’s music festival, stop by Saturday Bite Live, a free improv show put on by UMBC’s comedy troupe, Dog Collar. Contrary to its name, the show will be on a Friday, March 29, and will take place in the ITE building in room 104. Doors open at 7:30, and the show begins at 8 p.m. Come out and support these students while having a laugh! (Members of the Dog Collar troupe performing at the UMBC Gritty Kitties charity show. Photo by Anthony Rivera.)

6. Check out Plays for Our Planet

Get an early start on Earth Day this year at one of the UMBC Department of Theatre’s multiple plays centered around the theme of climate science and activism. The play Slime, by Bryony Lavery, directed by Nigel Semaj, will run from April 4 to the 14 in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building’s Proscenium Theatre. Slime is a dystopian comedy about seven grad students who are translators of different animal species, who must work to save all life on earth from a toxic slime. On April 14, there will be a free matinee for UMBC students and post-show actor talk-back. 

For more theatre events, you can check out the entire production season here!

7. Explore the FloodZone

The eerie and alluring photographs of Anastasia Samoylova’s FloodZone, depict the painstaking reality of what it’s like to live in the southern U.S. at a time when the climate crisis has greatly affected the environment. The exhibition was first featured at the George Eastman Museum in 2022, and has been on display in a few other locations throughout the U.S. as well as internationally, but the alligators and flamingos and other coastal life forms have now arrived at UMBC for a limited time. The exhibition will be on display at the AOK Library Gallery until May 29.

On Monday, April 22, in the Library Gallery, the artist will participate in an Earth Day panel on Climate Change, Science Communication, and the Arts. How do climate scientists share their research and data with the wider public in a way that non-specialists can understand? How might art contribute to this urgent work? Samoylova will discuss her photography while in conversation with scientists and media historians specializing in science communication.

Meet Noah Cruz, a senior pursuing B.S. degrees in both psychology and biological sciences on the pre-med/Ph.D. track. As a first generation student and a member of multiple scholars programs, Noah takes part in student organizations and undergraduate research while also following his passions of advocating for underrepresented students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. We can’t wait to see where Noah goes from here, and we’re excited to share his story.

Q: Tell us about yourself. What would you want another Retriever to know about you?

A: I am a senior concurrently pursuing dual bachelor of science degrees in psychology and biological sciences, complemented by minors in chemistry and photography on the Pre-M.D./Ph.D. track. I take pride in being a first-generation Salvadoran American student, and I am a strong advocate for underrepresented students in STEM. I am from Rockville, Maryland, and went to Northwood High School where I earned my associates degree and high school diploma concurrently.

I am also one out of 200,000 patients with a rare blood disorder called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Idiopathic means “of unknown cause.” This highlights the importance of bridging the gap within the immunological field of research, and drives me toward pursuing a career in the biomedical sciences!

Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.

A: There are numerous individuals who come to mind, and I am truly grateful for their unwavering support throughout my academic journey. Among them, Dr. Jacqueline King stands out as a cornerstone of support in my experience at UMBC. She has not only served as my advisor but has also been my steadfast advocate and personal cheerleader for all my accomplishments. Her inspiration has propelled me forward on the challenging path of higher education.

Another significant supporter of my aspirations is Dr. Charles Bieberich. His unwavering support, mentorship, and profound knowledge of the scientific field have been instrumental in motivating me to pursue my M.D./Ph.D. journey. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Diana Hamilton. She not only supervises my principles of chemistry teaching assistantship but also provides unwavering support for all my academic pursuits.

Additionally, I must express my gratitude to Dr. Sarah Leupen for her invaluable support in my academic endeavors. Each of these individuals saw potential in me that I often failed to recognize within myself. As a first-generation student navigating the complexities of higher education, their investment in my education—offering support, mentorship, and words of encouragement—has made an indelible impact on my journey. I cannot express my appreciation enough for their contributions to my academic success.

Q: What do you love most about your academic program or an organization you’re involved in?

A: UMBC’s psychology and biology departments have played a pivotal role in shaping my academic journey, and I couldn’t be more appreciative of the invaluable resources and experiences they have provided me. One of the aspects I truly love about this academic program is the seamless integration of interdisciplinary approaches within the psychology and biology departments. One of the standout features of this program is how it effectively connects the dots between neuroscience, behavioral pathology, genetics, and biology.

This holistic approach has not only broadened my horizons but has also allowed me to harness the power of knowledge across these fields to enhance my own research. Whether it’s understanding the intricacies of brain function or delving into the biological underpinnings of behavior, UMBC’s program has provided me with a well-rounded education that I can leverage in my academic pursuits.

Currently, I am fortunate to be involved in neuroscience clinical research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The foundation laid by UMBC’s program has been instrumental in my ability to contribute effectively to this research. The skills, knowledge, and interdisciplinary perspective I gained from my time in UMBC’s psychology and biology departments have proven to be a significant advantage in my work at the School of Medicine.

Q: Since you’ve been a part of the UMBC community, how have you found support of your WHY?

A: During my time at UMBC, Peter DeCrescenzo played an indispensable role in jumpstarting my academic and career journey. As a newcomer to the university and a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Scholar, I was initially unaware of the vast opportunities and resources available to me in the field of biomedical research and academia. Peter’s guidance and support proved to be transformative in several ways. Firstly, he provided me with invaluable guidance on crafting a compelling resume—a crucial tool in presenting myself as a competitive candidate for various academic and research endeavors.

Additionally, Peter equipped me with the skills necessary to create engaging and informative poster presentations, an asset that would prove indispensable in showcasing my research projects. He also encouraged me to explore and apply to other scholars’ programs, ultimately leading to my acceptance into the U-RISE Program, a significant milestone in my academic journey.

Overall, Peter’s unwavering support and mentorship initiated a pathway to academic excellence that I had never imagined. His guidance not only imparted practical skills but also instilled in me the confidence to pursue my academic goals. Peter DeCrescenzo’s dedication to my growth at UMBC made a profound difference in my academic journey and played a pivotal role in shaping my career in biomedical research and academia.

Q: What clubs, teams, or organizations are you a part of? What do you love about them and why?

A: I am an active member of two significant organizations at UMBC, and each role holds special meaning for me. Firstly, as the Meyerhoff Scholars lead peer advisor, I have the incredible opportunity to serve as a mentor and guide to incoming first-year and sophomore students, assisting them as they embark on their college journey. What I truly cherish about this role is the chance to share my own experiences and knowledge with these students, offering them valuable insights and personal support to succeed academically and personally.

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a lead peer advisor is assisting students with their applications for scholarships, internships, and research positions. I am deeply passionate about helping students navigate the intricate and competitive application procedures, ensuring that underrepresented minority students are consistently represented in science-related settings.

Secondly, my role as vice president of the Society of Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) holds a special place in my heart. SACNAS is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in STEM fields, and as VP, I play a pivotal role in building a supportive community for underrepresented students. Organizing events, creating networking opportunities, and collaborating with like-minded individuals to advance our mission is both fulfilling and impactful. It’s inspiring to see students from diverse backgrounds come together to pursue their passions in science while breaking down barriers and stereotypes.

Q: As a first-generation college student, what would you tell others who are in your shoes about UMBC?

A: Navigating the world of secondary education, especially as the first in my family to graduate high school and attend college, was undoubtedly an intimidating and overwhelming experience. One piece of advice I would offer to others in my shoes about UMBC is the critical importance of building a solid support system. Throughout my college journey, I found that my advisors and supporters played a pivotal role in my success.

These mentors believed in me from day one, providing guidance, encouragement, and a sense of belonging on campus. Having a support system is like having a lifeline when facing the myriad challenges that college life can present. They can offer valuable insights into academic decisions, personal development, and even career choices. Advisors and mentors can help you navigate the complexities of course selection, major choices, and extracurricular activities, ensuring that you make informed decisions that align with your goals.

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals.

Jennifer Boateng

Degree: B.A., Global Studies
Hometown: Bowie, MD
Post-grad plans: Multimedia content creation for a global humanitarian organization

Jennifer Boateng is ready to take on the world, with a supportive community cheering her on. Boateng joined UMBC with a love for the creative process and interest in designing solutions for people who were also living with sickle cell disease. Later, she was drawn to global studies to explore other approaches to having a global impact through creative work.

Boateng decided to pursue a global studies major with minors in entrepreneurship and visual arts (focusing on cinematic arts), combining methods from a broad range of fields. These approaches also introduced her to the concepts of cultural sustainability and comparative justice, preparing her to find new solutions to both old and new problems and reach a wide and diverse audience.

During a seven-year journey to graduation, Boateng developed an awareness of the importance of investing time in relationships and listening as a crucial skill in creating content that is relevant to the intended audience. She could often be found having deep conversations with faculty, peers, and staff. She strongly believes in the power of human connection and encouragement, celebrating others’ successes, lending a friendly ear during challenging times, and drawing from helpful support and guidance when needed.

Boateng shares that the kindness of this community made it possible to manage the complex challenge of balancing college life and longer-term goals while dealing with sickle cell disease, even when taking classes in the hospital. She feels that it has taken a village for her to complete her undergraduate journey and she is grateful for all the faculty and staff at UMBC and her family and friends, who she says went above and beyond to make it happen. She wants anyone who is facing adversity to know that with the right support, they can graduate, no matter how long it takes or what challenges they encounter

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“Brigid Starkey, principal lecturer of political science and director of the global studies program, has been my biggest cheerleader. Right from the very beginning, she was determined to help me and shared valuable insights about my courses that shaped my path in an incredible way. She helped me not to give up, even though it took me seven years to get to the finish line.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“I have appreciated the small classes. I thought I would only have large lecture classes and wouldn’t have an opportunity to connect, not only with the professor, but with the other students in the classroom. We were encouraged to share our different perspectives on things that were happening around us, like racial issues, police brutality, and politics.”

As a visual artist, Monique Crabb, M.F.A. ’22, intermedia and digital arts, draws from her environment quite literally—producing textile-based artworks colored with the rich hues of plants and objects around her. This fall, she spent a month in residency at the Baltimore County Public Library, teaching workshops and engaging with library users as she created new work inspired by her surroundings. These are her reflections from that experience. 

One of the most calming places to be in is a public library surrounded by people’s research, stories, and history of every place and culture from almost every perspective imaginable. At times, the amount of knowledge at my fingertips can feel daunting knowing I’ll never be able to take it all in. I’m reminded of a scene in the ’80s movie My Stepmother Is an Alien, when the main character Celeste, played by Kim Basinger, travels to earth in a model’s body to conduct research on human life and discovers books. She’s able to retain the books’ information instantly through osmosis, spanning the gamut of human emotions, and is starved for more. This scene has imprinted itself in my mind as a superpower I wish I had. 

Growing up in a working class neighborhood to a mom who would every weekend pull open the large rolling door to our garage for the permanently set-up sale of our used things, and a father who worked various jobs and seemingly was never around, I spent most of my time outside of school on the streets, at friends’ homes, or playing in the woods. My parents did not engage much with books, the arts, or academia; I was mostly influenced by pop culture. 

As I got older, books came to me at very specific times in my life to change my perspective and help me find my place in the world of things. One of those times was my junior year in high school when my English teacher gave the class a list of authors to pick from for a book report and I selected Kurt Vonnegut, solely on the fact that his name sounded cool and he shared a first name with Kurt Cobain. I then found myself sitting on the floor of my school’s library absorbed by the opening line of Slaughterhouse-Five: “All this happened, more or less.”

The rest of the book was an eye-opening view of one person’s experience in the world during a time so far removed from my own, yet with relatable philosophical ideas with quotes like, “All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.” Books allow us to travel through time and place to help us find meaning in our lives, which is a magical experience that visual arts achieves just as profoundly. 

The Baltimore County Public Library month-long Artist in Residence program was a gift to take part in. Each week I walked through a sea of books and would greet the librarians on my way to their maker space, The Hive. Being there allowed me the time and space to focus on one project.

I also had the opportunity to engage with a community outside of my own through two workshops I gave on eco-printing and dyeing with food waste as well as having the studio space open to visitors while I was working. On my lunch breaks I would browse books and take walks, once visiting the nearest cemetery and other times just taking in the colors and patterns from the intersecting relationship of plants and human-made constructions in the area. 

During my time in residency, I started a project using secondhand vintage linens made with open cut and intricately detailed hand and machine embroidery. I either cut up or used the entire napkin, handkerchief, or tablecloth and machine-pieced them together using pojagi, a Korean form of quilting that creates a seam on both sides of the pliable plane. These textile objects, often made by women, were and continue to be so precious that the folds and creases in them become deep from decades of being stored away unused.

I was drawn to bringing these objects out of storage, unfolding, and piecing one to the other to create a frankensteinian curtain that was large and would present as a confrontation in the middle of a room. I hadn’t fully unraveled the idea, but I knew if I put in the work that richer layers of context would reveal themselves.

Toward the end of my residency I had a library visitor come through and we chatted for a while about art, the artist’s process, and the meaning behind what is made. It was during this exchange that I had a lightbulb moment for my project of painting cyanotype directly onto the napkins and exposing stark images of tools used in the domestic world like a toilet brush. Adding this layer of context expanded my exploration of materials from domestic life by bringing attention and exposing the hidden labor behind the undervalued role of homemaker, woman, and caregiver. 

It’s essential to my growth as an artist to be in new environments and around new people as well as the opportunity to step back from being so deeply inside of my artwork by engaging with communities outside of my own. Meeting the folks who took my workshops and the ones who came through the studio to ask questions about what I was working on reminded me of the importance of my role as an artist. I believe our stories connect us and often find that the narratives I encounter, whether in person or from books, inform and enrich my practice in ways I could never do alone. 

Artist retrospectives have been a significant part of the history of the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture. Since opening on the UMBC campus more than 30 years ago, the CADVC has delivered retrospectives of visionary artists like Fred Wilson, Adrian Piper, Kate Millett, and more. 

This fall, multidisciplinary artist Oletha DeVane joins these esteemed ranks with a new retrospective of her work, Oletha DeVane: Spectrum of Light and Spirit, now on view at the CADVC through December 17. It’s an exciting show for DeVane, a prolific artist and educator who has been a staple of Maryland’s cultural landscape for more than 50 years.  

“I’m honored, and I don’t think it was expected,” says DeVane. “There was a real sense of commitment [by the CADVC] to do the work, and, that’s what I felt was important — the commitment to to take on a project like this. It’s not simple when you have so many variables and mediums happening in a space.” 

The myriad artworks in Spectrum of Light and Spirit span DeVane’s prolific career, including paintings, works on paper, video artworks, and interactive sculpture. Curator Lowery Stokes Sims worked closely with the CADVC to bring all the pieces together into a cohesive whole, and to develop the interactive elements allow visitors to participate directly in the development of some of the artworks – and occasionally with DeVane herself.    

“Lowery is a curator who’s worked extensively with African American subjects and artists, and she’s a good friend as well,” says DeVane. “I’m so glad I asked her to curate, because she was able to carry the through line of what the work itself has been about over the last 50 years, and that was good for me.”

Sims’ curatorial perspective makes powerful connections between DeVane’s works in the gallery space. 

“Oletha DeVane is a way finder and a storyteller,” Sims says. “Over the last five decades as she has traveled in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, she has been inspired by the stories and characters she encounters, bringing the unexpected to light, while finding new nuances in the old and familiar, and unexpected correlations among those varied cultures.”

Art and outreach

Spectrum of Light and Spirit marks the first exhibition at the CADVC under the guidance of newly-appointed director Rebecca Uchill, who took over after the retirement of long-time director Symmes Gardner. 

“It is a true honor for me to have joined CADVC as this important exhibition came into being,” Uchill says. “Oletha DeVane is an artist of incredible vision and artistic range, and a key figure in art and education in our region. We have much to look forward to in the robust exhibition programming, which will include a series of activations of Nkisi Woman-Universal Nkisi, a community-engaged sculptural project by DeVane on view in the CADVC amphitheater.”

A nkisi is a power figure rooted in Congolese culture, imbued with sacred energy by the community where it is created. Over the course of the exhibition, visitors to DeVane’s large-scale nkisi sculpture will be invited to add beads to its surface. DeVane herself will periodically participate in these activations, including hour-long sessions slated for October 6, 8, and 29.

“The concept of nkisi to me is about power figures, and a female power figure is sometimes unusual,” says DeVane. “The idea is that they are oriented towards community, you know, in terms of how one begins this whole process of healing. How do you achieve justice in a community? How do you approach nature? What is it that we value? All those questions to me were a part of the nkisi spirit.”

In addition to the sculptural and painting works in the exhibit, DeVane’s video works, Beyond Bars: Prison Women Speak, created in collaboration with writer and media personality Tadia Rice, have been updated for this exhibition. The videos make for a profound dialogue with Prison Nation, the photography show on view across campus at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery through October 14. 

“[Prison Nation] is pretty phenomenal. I was really impressed because the black and white photos are just beautiful,” says DeVane. “Ours is a little different. I chose to set up the photographs and the videos with the idea that the women would be interviewed from the past, the present and the future. It’s really about setting up an opportunity for people to understand that these women are in situations where they’re incarcerated, and happen to have had lives prior, and would like to go back to those lives. Just as our society begins to grapple with the issues around how our prison system works, we have to continue this work.”

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Spectrum of Light and Spirit is on view at the CADVC through December 17.  For more information about the exhibit and associated events, visit the CADVC website at  https://cadvc.umbc.edu/oletha-devane/

The commonly-told histories of the American Civil War don’t usually include any Asian stories, although Asian Americans were certainly engaged with the war to end slavery.

“Thomas Sylvanus (aka Ching Lee, Ye Way Lee, Ah Yee Way), was born in Hong Kong, brought as an orphaned child to America for schooling in 1852, but was enslaved in Baltimore,” says Irene Chan, an associate professor of visual arts at UMBC. “He ran away at age 16 to join the Union Army and served all the war years. His story, along with many 19th-century Chinese in America, has been forgotten.”

Chan’s new six-part intermedia work, “The Thomas Project,” is devoted to telling Sylvanus’ story in many mediums: fabric silkscreens, paper lithography, drawing, hand lettering, embroidery, and book arts, and debuts in August as part of SPARK: New Light at The Peale in downtown Baltimore. 

SPARK, an annual group exhibition of works by faculty, staff, alumni, and students at UMBC and Towson University curated by Catherine Borg, 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. Each of the annual SPARK exhibits has been made possible through a partnership with PNC Bank, which also helped secure the venue.

Community spark

The Peale, the first museum building in the United States, was established in Baltimore in 1814 by the artist Rembrandt Peale. Over the course of its nearly 200 years, The Peale has seen many incarnations before landing on its current role as a center devoted to celebrating the unique history of Baltimore, and telling the stories of the city’s people and buildings. 

“The Peale is Baltimore’s community museum,” says Chan. “I have had the Peale space in mind throughout the development of ‘The Thomas Project,’ and this exhibit uses the unique architectural features of the room to tell part of Thomas’ story, starting with living his early American life in Baltimore.”

Chris Peregoy ’81, M.F.A. ’99, a photographer who manages the photo and print facilities for the Visual Arts department, also incorporated The Peale’s architecture into “Time Capsules,” his new work for SPARK: New Light. 

“Working with The Peale, I placed pinhole cameras on windowsills in east, south and west facing windows for six weeks in May and June,” Peregoy says. “The results capture the streak of the sun and the accumulated light that had fallen on the scene during the long exposure.”

In all, 24 artists are exhibiting new work in SPARK: New Light. UMBC contributors include Chan and Peregoy as well as Lynn Cazabon, Adam Droneberg, M.F.A. ’22, Kathy Marmor (with Penny Rheingans), Lisa Moren (with Tsvetan Bachvaroff, Dan Deacon, and Woody Lissauer), Timothy Nohe, Corrie Francis Parks, Foster Reynolds-Santiago, M.F.A. ’22, and current IMDA graduate students Ahlam Khamis and Fahmida Hossain. 

Hossain’s video work, “Touch,”  focuses on the artist touching different objects in the context of urban life in her hometown, Dhaka, expressing the yearning for physical contact with loved ones and her friends.

“I am always curious about touching objects around me and feeling their textures, but the recent pandemic made us fearful of handling things,” says Hossain. “This work represents my visualization of the human brain, which is a subconscious world where we can have different personalities and experiences, like the changing abstract shapes in my video.”

Participating artists from Towson University include Mark Burchick, Grace Doyle, Carrie Fucile, Alexandra Garove, Danielle Hawk, Jinyoung Koh, Diane Kuthy, Jenee Mateer, Kat Navarro, Sookkyung Park, Lynn Tomlinson, and J. Yablonsky.

Sparking creativity

Additional events will include an artist reception on the evening of September 7, and a cameraless photography workshop by Peregoy on the afternoon of September 11. 

The exhibition will draw to a close with a series of projected artworks by visual arts associate professor Kelley Bell, M.F.A. ’06, and performances by the Towson Percussion Ensemble, the UMBC Percussion Ensemble (a group featuring UMBC faculty and alumni), and the Umbilicus percussion ensemble over the weekend of September 23–25.

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SPARK: New Light opens August 13 and will run through September 25, 2022.  Opening festivities run from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. on August 13. Tickets are free of charge, and masks will be required to attend. Learn more at the UMBC Arts & Culture Calendar or by following The Peale.