All posts by: UMBC News Staff

Building a Tradition

Last fall, UMBC and the Maryland Traditions program announced an exploratory partnership for the 2010-2011 academic year.  Now, as that year is coming to a close, Maryland Traditions and UMBC are looking back on a year of working together—and are excited about what has been accomplished.

Maryland Traditions is a statewide program run through the Maryland State Arts Council that supports efforts to discover, share, preserve and sustain traditional arts and culture.  Folklorists in the program work directly with individuals and cultural institutions to encourage the vitality of living traditions and folk arts.

Through the partnership, Elaine Eff, co-director of Maryland Traditions, has been installed in the American studies department as a folklorist-in-residence. If the partnership is deemed a success, Eff will continue working with UMBC to sustain living traditions throughout the state. “Every accomplishment we have here has tremendous value in building towards the future,” she said.

Since Eff arrived on campus, she has been busily finding ways to build and nurture relationships in the university and beyond.  She co-taught, with Nicole King, assistant professor of American studies, a humanities scholars class on Maryland traditions; connected UMBC students with internships; worked with the Orser Center for the Study of Place, Community and Culture to develop relationships with neighborhood organizations; planned a Humanities Forum panel, which will take place on March 30; and, most recently, organized a film series on Baltimore traditions that will be shown over several weeks in April.

“Elaine is such a force, and since she’s been here she’s been meeting with people and building coalitions,” said King. “She’s bringing the energy of the public programming realm here to the university, where things are typically much slower.”

King also said that Eff’s connections have been invaluable to the department.  “If we have these relationships with outside organizations and people, we don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time we go to work with the community,” she said. “When I have a question about Maryland or something related to material culture, I can go to her and immediately get pointers and starting places.”

In addition to providing UMBC with valuable connections, Eff said that she has discovered that UMBC’s campus holds a variety of cultures that she hopes to develop relationships with. “One of the things that has impressed me is the rich ethnic diversity on campus.  We need to figure out how to get our program to intersect with these programs, because these kids are on the ground and these are communities that already exist,” she said.

Eff hopes to inspire members of the UMBC community to connect with Maryland Traditions on March 30, when the Humanities Forum will present the “Meet Maryland Traditions” panel at 4 p.m. in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery.  In addition to Eff and Cliff Murphy, co-director of Maryland Traditions, folklorists from throughout the state will be on hand to discuss how they sustain living traditions. Also featured will be jazz pianist Lafayette Gilchrist ’92, Africana studies, who is a graduate of Maryland Traditions’ master and apprentice program.

 “I’m hoping that we can get people from the community to come to the humanities forum and say, ‘Oh gosh, look at all that we have in common,’” Eff said, pointing out that the panel will be an opportunity to see the diverse range of work supported by Maryland Traditions.

Hopefully, UMBC will be a partner in showcasing that diversity for years to come.

(3/18/11)

Building a Culture of Innovation

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, often says that part of his formula for the success of his campus is engaging his colleagues in questions about education and innovation.

“We are constantly asking questions about important issues. How do we ensure that students from all backgrounds excel? How do we use technology to strengthen teaching and learning?”

It’s this practice that has helped UMBC create an institutional model of inclusive excellence and increase the representation of minority students in science and engineering.

Now, Hrabowski has been recognized for this work with the 2011 TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence. Developed to recognize leadership excellence that reflects both commitment to higher education and contributions to the greater good, the Hesburgh Award is one of the most prestigious and respected awards in the higher education community.

“The achievements this award celebrates are really those of my colleagues and students,” said Hrabowski. “The award says that people around the country are recognizing what we are doing. We believe in the power of education to transform lives.”

The Hesburgh award is named in honor of Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, nationally renowned educator and world humanitarian.

“On behalf of the University System of Maryland, I am very pleased to congratulate Freeman Hrabowski on receiving this prestigious and well-deserved honor, “ said University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan. “As president of UMBC and throughout his career, Freeman has championed academic and research excellence; diversity and inclusion; and access and success for underrepresented students, especially in the STEM fields.”  

“It’s an honor to be in the company of Chancellor Kirwan, who received last year’s Hesburgh award,” said Hrabowski, who became president of UMBC in 1992. “This recognition highlights the strong support that our Governor, legislators and other state officials give to higher education in Maryland.”

In 2008, Hrabowski was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report, which in both 2009 and 2010 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up-and-Coming” university in the nation. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents.

With Baltimore philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, Hrabowski co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC in 1988 for minority students committed to pursuing advanced degrees in science and engineering. Today, UMBC is among the nation’s leading institutions in producing African American graduates who go on to complete STEM Ph.D.s and M.D./Ph.D.s. Hrabowski recently chaired a National Academies committee that has recommended strategies for expanding underrepresented minority participation in science and engineering.

UMBC is committed to providing a distinctive undergraduate experience, providing students with learning communities and hands-on research and creative opportunities throughout the Baltimore-Washington region and beyond. The success of the Meyerhoff program has led to initiatives that provide opportunities for all students to learn in community. For example, the University has redesigned first-year STEM courses, emphasizing group learning and technology, resulting in higher pass rates, and the campus is now part of an NSF-funded program to track student success and enhance STEM retention and graduation rates.

Model undergraduate scholars programs in the humanities, arts and public affairs; living-learning communities in residence halls; and First-Year Seminars and the Introduction to an Honors University course also build on the group-learning model, while at the same time providing connections to faculty from the moment students arrive on campus. Competitive awards in undergraduate research are offered across disciplines, and student work is celebrated during Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievement Day and in two undergraduate journals.

In addition, UMBC’s NSF-funded PROMISE program is providing support and resources for graduate students in order to increase the graduate student population in STEM fields. Also, UMBC’s NSF-supported ADVANCE program has been instrumental in  helping to increase the number of women faculty in science and engineering.

UMBC also is committed to supporting economic development and enhancing the region’s quality of life. Over the past 20 years, UMBC has been a model for developing partnerships focused on technology development and commercialization, supported by bwtech@UMBC, UMBC’s research park and incubator. Two sites house more than 70 biotech, IT/engineering and cybersecurity tenants.

Hrabowski said that innovation within the academy is critical as the nation faces an unprecedented set of challenges.
 “It takes all of us in the academy to build our institutions and prepare the next generation of leaders. Higher education is more important now than ever before for both our nation and humankind. I am honored to accept this award on behalf of my UMBC colleagues and students, and to have our work associated with the example of extraordinary leadership provided by Father Hesburgh.”

Click on www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/innovation to read more about innovative initiatives at UMBC.

(3/7/11)

Value Judgments

On March 3, four philosophy students will become UMBC’s first Ethics Bowl team to compete in the national Ethics Bowl tournament. The National Ethics Bowl will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio as part of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics’ 20th anniversary meeting.

Although UMBC has previously participated in mock ethics bowls, this is the first year that the university has supported a registered team. The team placed third out of 16 in the Mid-Atlantic regional tournament, which was held on November 20.

An ethics bowl is structured similarly to a debate tournament. However, rather than being judged on whether their position is convincing, teams are judged on their ability to think through the moral implications of their possible decisions. The 40 teams invited to the National Ethics Bowl, who represent the top four teams from each of the 10 regional ethics bowls, were given 15 ethical issues to research. They will not know the specific question they have to answer until the day of the tournament.

“There’s excitement in having to think on your feet and find that loophole in your opponent’s argument. By the end you learn so much critical thinking-wise,” said Kayla Smith ’12, biological sciences and philosophy.

The ethics bowl team has met with Greg Ealick ’89, philosophy, and adjunct professor of philosophy, twice a week since the beginning of the semester to discuss the issues. The group has discussed moral dilemmas ranging from advertisements targeted towards children to alcoholic drinks enhanced with caffeine, from “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to hybrid animals.

In order to prepare, the group learned to look at the issues from all sides and consider the repercussions of potential decisions. For example, for a case on punishments for violating a school’s academic integrity policy, the students thought about how their possible position might affect the student, their classmates, their professor, the university and their future employers.

“The first time you see a case you see it from a certain perspective, but when you take the time to discuss it you start to see things about it that you didn’t see before,” said Nana Owusu-Boaitey ’11, philosophy and biological sciences.

Danielle Albrecht ’13, philosophy and political science, agrees. “It’s only when we come here and discuss the problems as a group that all these different ideas start to come out and we see all these different possibilities. That’s part of what makes it so exciting, and what makes it really relevant,” she said.

The ethics bowl team members agreed that what they’ve learned preparing for the ethics bowl is applicable to their life outside the tournament as well. They cite the fact that they’ve learned to look at a problem from multiple angles and think quickly on their feet. “It helps you communicate with people who might disagree with you and it helps you to get your point across,” said Smith.

It’s also, the team said, made them trust their own thoughtful opinions. “It’s pretty confidence-boosting to present a viewpoint and know that you had some great arguments and made some great points,” said Michael Iafolla ’11, philosophy and English.

Still not sure what the ethics bowl team does?  Watch this video of the team practicing.

(2/25/11)

GRRL PARTS

In 2006, Susan McCully, a dramaturg and lecturer in UMBC’s Department of Theatre, decided to take action against a problem that seemed to crop every with every production: “In faculty meeting after faculty meeting, we would say ‘We have ten women in our scene class, and there just isn’t a decent play with substantial roles for even four women.’ And every theatre department has the same problem–I had this experience when I was in college.” Her solution was to inaugurate the annual “IN 10” festival, which commissioned short plays (most about ten minutes in length) with roles for female actors.

Now known as the GRRL PARTS festival, the tradition continues this year from March 2 through 6 at the UMBC Theatre with a presentation of three plays–two world premieres and one U.S. premiere–all directed by Eve Muson, an assistant professor in UMBC’s Department of Theatre. The commissioned works include Runaways by Ellen McLaughlin, whose plays have been staged throughout the U.S.; Snip, by Karen Hartman, whose multiple awards have included grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts; and What Is the Custom of Your Grief? by Timberlake Wertenbaker, a renowned British playwright who is a recipient of the New York Drama Critics Award.

McCully comments, “This is very engaging literature, and it’s the first time the plays as a group have had a global perspective. The three plays share a theme of young women–sisters, wives, mothers and lovers–bound together by desires and destinies beyond their control.”

Over the past seven years, GRRL PARTS has commissioned new plays by Heather McDonald (The Two Marys), Tina Howe (Milk and Water), Naomi Wallace (Duet for Water), Lee Blessing (Into You), Caridad Svich (Stepping on Water), Kia Corthron (Trickle), Phyllis Nagy (The One, The Other) and Naomi Iizuka (This Girl I Used to Know).

McCully plans to eventually publish all the commissioned works as an anthology. “The value of the anthology is that people will be able to pull from it according to their needs–these will be used by colleges and universities throughout the country.”

More information about the GRRL PARTS festival is available at http://www.umbc.edu/arts.

Dept of Theatre
Susan McCully
Eve Muson

(2/25/11)

Practical Idealism

On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order, initiating a program that has sent over 200,000 volunteers to promote global peace through service in 139 countries. The Shriver Peaceworker Program has been a natural extension of the Peace Corps since 1985, when the Shriver family created it to forge a pathway for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RCPVs) to become public service leaders.

The Shrivers later expanded and refined the Peaceworker Program, making it an integral part of the UMBC Shriver Center, where RCPVs now pursue graduate study while continuing their service work locally. More than 125 RCPVs have received advanced degrees through the UMBC program and over the last five years although just 15% of UMBC Peaceworkers have come from Maryland, 90% have chosen to stay and serve the Baltimore-DC region after completing the program.

The Peaceworker Program supports the Shriver Center’s mission to “address the need for remedies to the problems of our central cities,” extending beyond the primarily international mandate of the Peace Corps to tackle the challenges urban America is facing today. After all, reflected professor emeritus and former Peace Corps Member Ed Orser at a recent Peaceworker event, “Baltimore is a hard city to love, but at the same time, it’s a city that’s in so much need of love and so much need of understanding.”

No one understood this challenge better than Sargent Shriver, who served as first director of the Peace Corps and helped craft the Shriver Center’s mission statement. UMBC joined the Shriver family and the nation in mourning Shriver’s passing last month. Today, the campus community is committed to carrying on Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver’s extraordinary legacy of public service.

At UMBC, the Peaceworker Program seeks “to educate and train a new generation of citizen leaders who are able to critically, creatively and responsibly address…complex economic, social and cultural problems.” Program alumnus and Practical Idealist Award recipient Richard Kimball ’10, Ph.D., health policy, used his period of service to redesign the Baltimore Homeless Census. Now affiliated with Johns Hopkins, he focuses on caregiving for people with long-term degenerative diseases.

UMBC Peaceworkers combine graduate study, intensive community service with Greater Baltimore community partners and ethical reflection to “intellectually and personally…integrate the practical, theoretical and moral dimensions of their experience.” Sally Scott (Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers) recognizes, “It’s very hard just on your own to go show up on some city street and say, ‘Hey, I’m here to help.’” The goal is that alumni, like Kimball, develop the knowledge, skills and community connections to identify and implement solutions to deep-rooted social problems.

Even at this time of fiscal challenges, there is broad recognition that service has the potential to profoundly impact society. President Obama signed into law the largest Peace Corps appropriation to-date for FY 2010: $400 million.

UMBC will celebrate the Peace Corps turning 50 – a tremendous milestone in service history – at “Bringing the World Home: Stories from 50 Years of the Peace Corps” on March 1 at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance. For more information on service opportunities and the Peaceworker Program, see the Shriver Center website or contact program Director Joby Taylor or Deputy Director Jennifer Arndt Robinson.

(2/25/11)

Star on the Rise

When Luke Roberts plays piano and sings, he is at ease and does so with a purely natural ability.  He is confident and plays his original songs with the grace and passion of a seasoned pro.

It is no surprise that a junior mechanical engineering student and Meyerhoff Scholar has many talents, but it was Roberts’ positive attitude and dedication to his craft that made it clear why he won the second season of the international YOBISing online music competition.

Roberts, who is from Laurel, Md., began his musical journey by learning drums when he was young.  He soon realized it was a hobby that was going to stick.  He eventually learned piano and began singing and writing songs.  His father was in a local band, and his brother Daniel, also a UMBC student, plays guitar, piano and sings.  His younger brother Michael plays bass, piano and sings.

“Music connected to a part of me and allowed me to let things out that I couldn’t any other way,” said Roberts, who was one of 30 semifinalists out of nearly 3,000 international musicians. 

Roberts entered the YOBISing contest in January of 2009, and only those with enough votes advanced in the competition until the contest closed this past May and a winner was selected. He made it clear that he wouldn’t have gotten far without support. 

Roberts utilized Facebook and the support of the UMBC community through 40 weeks of the competition to push his song “Turn Me Around” all the way to first place after seven weeks of semi-finals.  Flyers, banners, emails to listserves and t-shirts were created by Roberts and friends to promote his participation in the contest. 

“It was cool for everyone else, almost like a UMBC victory too,” he said. “People I don’t even know still come up to me and say ‘congrats man!’”

As the winner of theYOBISing contest, Roberts received $18,000, a trip to Los Angeles, VIP tickets to the 2011 Grammy Awards and VIP tickets to a celebrity awards after-party. 

Roberts admits he spent most of the money paying for school. 

While Roberts has a passion for music and songwriting, he is also very interested in studying mechanical engineering and getting a Ph.D.  He is interning at Johns Hopkins where he is doing research on prosthetic hands, and working to develop a glove that can detect if an object is slipping through its grasp. 

“Always have back-up options,” said Roberts. “A huge part of me is engineering.”

Roberts does find the time to balance his two worlds.  He plays drums and piano simultaneously (one instrument with each hand) in his band, Band of Brothers, with his siblings. They just released a CD and play locally at community events, and will perform at “A Taste of UMBC” during Homecoming on Saturday, October 16.

He also emphasizes that music is sometimes a profound experience, and that he strives to connect to people with his art.  This is something that he shares with his brothers.

“I think that the real success of the band will lie in whether or not our music is able to reach people where they are, in a way that helps them to come to a better place,” said Roberts.  “If we achieve that, then we will have succeeded.  That is something that all of us as brothers deeply want to achieve.”

If you plan to enter the YOBISing competition this year, Luke Roberts will greet you on the website as the host of the third season. 

(9/17/10)

Excellence & Affordability

UMBC is one of 50 public institutions in the United States recognized by The Princeton Review as a “Best Value College” offering a combination of educational excellence and affordability.  The ranking was announced February 22 on the Today Show and in USA Today.

The honor is the third major national distinction UMBC has received from leading higher-education rankings publications this academic year. For the second year in a row, UMBC was named America’s #1 “Up-and-Coming” national university by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges Guide.  The University was also included on Kiplinger’s Best Value Public Colleges list.

The Princeton Review recognizes UMBC, a research university with nearly 13,000 students, for  attracting serious students and supporting them with undergraduate research opportunities throughout the Baltimore-Washington region and beyond. The campus location near BWI-Marshall Airport gives students access to internships with government agencies, nonprofits and leading private-sector companies.

 “UMBC provides a distinctive undergraduate education to outstanding students, many of whom go on to prestigious graduate schools and professional opportunities. We’re delighted to be recognized by The Princeton Review’s list of ‘Best Value Colleges,’ ” said UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III.

The Princeton Review selected schools by using institutional data and student opinion surveys. Broadly speaking, it examined factors covering undergraduate academics, costs and financial aid. A school’s academic rating was derived from admissions and other institutional data and student opinion surveys.

A school’s financial aid rating was based on data about tuition, fees, room and board and need-based financial aid packages and student opinion surveys regarding award packages and the service provided by a school’s financial aid office.  Approximately seventy-seven percent of students at UMBC receive some financial aid in the form of scholarships, loans and grants.

Dale Bittinger, director of undergraduate admissions and orientation, said, “Being named to the ‘Best Value Colleges’ list once again is something that we are proud of as it reaffirms, among many values, our commitment to attracting a highly diverse community of high-achieving students.”

UMBC was also named a “Best Value College” in 2009 and in 2008 was ranked the second “Most Diverse Student Body”  in The Princeton Review’s “The Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition.”

(2/22/11)

NCAA Bound

For the second time in school history, the UMBC men’s soccer program will compete in the NCAA Division I Championships as the Retrievers advanced, 5-4, in penalty kicks in the America East Conference title game after playing visiting New Hampshire (UNH) to a 0-0 scoreless draw.

“I am extremely proud of our Men’s Soccer program,” said UMBC Athletics Director Charles Brown. “Coach Pete Caringi, his staff and our student-athletes have had an amazing season.  It is great to see that a team with such hard work and dedication has won the America East Conference Championship.  The atmosphere at our championship game was amazing and everyone in attendance was treated to a very special day.  I am sure our team will make UMBC proud in the NCAA Championships.”

The game pitted the league’s top offense of UMBC against the best defense in UNH.  The second-seeded Retrievers (11-4-3) and fifth-seeded Wildcats (9-5-6) played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, necessitating the penalty kicks. After both teams converted their opening kicks, UMBC junior goalkeeper Dan Louisignau made a diving save to his right on an attempt by UNH’s Joe Corsello.

The next three shooters for each squad converted, leaving it up to UMBC senior midfielder John Paul Waraksa with the shootout knotted at 4-4. The Retriever captain placed his shot inside the left post, setting off a wild celebration from the Retriever players and partisan crowd at UMBC Soccer Stadium.

Senior forward Levi Houapeu was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He scored two goals in the semifinals vs. Stony Brook and was the game’s most dangerous player in the finals. Warkasa, senior captain Chris Williams and junior midfielder Andrew Bulls were also selected to the All-Championship Team.

“This is a very confident team,“ Caringi said. “We played a lot of good teams on the road and won games at Bucknell and Penn State. It shows that we can play with anybody if we play our game. Our team had tremendous support this season from UMBC students, alumni and fans. We’re very excited to represent UMBC in the NCAA tournament.”  

The Retrievers are now 7-1-3 in their last 11 outings heading into the NCAA tournament.

The team will face host Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championships on Thursday, Nov. 18. Kick-off time is set for 7 p.m. at Roberts Stadium in Princeton, N.J.

UMBC previously went to the NCAA’s in 1999, after winning the Northeast Conference Tournament and advancing in penalty kicks over Lafayette in an NCAA play-in game. The Retrievers, who owned the country’s best record at 19-1-1 in that season, lost, 4-3, in overtime at top-seeded Duke.

(11/15/10)

Victory!

      Watch game highlights >

UMBC junior midfielder Andrew Bulls scored with 11:58 remaining, as the Retrievers rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat tenth-ranked Princeton, 2-1, and advance to the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championships.

“We are ecstatic to come away with a victory against a really, really good team,” said head coach Pete Caringi. “Princeton is one of the best teams in the country and this is a very tough place to come up and get a win. I am really proud of our players.”

The Retrievers improve to 12-4-3 and extending their unbeaten streak to seven straight games, while snapping the Tigers’ (13-4-1)12-game winning streak. 

UMBC advances to take on host 12th-seeded William & Mary on Sunday, November 21, at 5 p.m. The fan bus departs from UMBC’s Stadium Lot at 12 p.m. The cost is $20 per person round trip but does not include a ticket to the game. Contact Kristen Alexander at kristen2@umbc.edu by 6 p.m. Saturday to reserve a seat on the bus. Tickets to the game, which can be purchased at William & Mary’s Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field, are $5 for adults and $3 for youth 14-and-under and for students with valid ID.

The game was tied at 1-1 at intermission when the potent tandem of Bulls and Levi Houapeu struck for the second time in the game. Junior back Andy Streilein served a ball deep into Princeton territory, where the duo both tried to run it down. Houapeu got to it first and after breaking into the box, slid a pass to the right for Bulls, who just tucked the ball into the far left corner.

The Tigers dominated the early action, but did not break through until the 32nd minute in unorthodox fashion. Antoine Hoppenot’s corner kick from the left corner eluded UMBC goalkeeper Dan Louisignau and bent into the goal, just inside the far corner.

But a Tiger handball seven yards outside the box provided UMBC an opportunity that they would convert. Bulls took the kick and bent it around the wall and off the right post. The rebound came out diagonally and Houapeu converted the rebound to knot the score at 1-1 in the 42nd minute.

Houapeu’s goal was his 15th of the season, matching his total of the 2009 campaign. The assist for Bulls was the 28th of his career, tying UMBC’s all-time leader James Hamilton (’01).

Louisignau made a season-high 10 saves in the UMBC cage.

UMBC improved to 4-4-0 when allowing the game’s first goal this season and held Princeton below two goals for only the second time since Sept. 19.

“Our game against Princeton was monumental for the Men’s Soccer program,” said Charles Brown, director of athletics. “We beat a nationally ranked opponent on their own turf and our team played with grit and determination. We are very proud of the entire team and coaching staff. We look forward to traveling to Williamsburg, Virginia to take on the 12th ranked William & Mary as we advance in the NCAA Division I Soccer Championship. GO RETRIEVERS!”

(11/19/10)

Spectrum

The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC) presents “Spectrum: 2010 Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition.” The first exhibition in a new series, “Spectrum” is designed to give a look into the current research and studio practice of faculty members Dan Bailey, Steve Bradley, Cathy Cook, Vin Grabill, Calla Thompson and Fred Worden.

The moment visitors step into the exhibition space, they are immersed in the artists’ work. Soundtracks from the films of Cook, Grabill and Worden, screened in the darkened theatre, create an ethereal accompaniment to the contemporary visual work on display.

Sounds drift across the room from the loudspeakers connected to the interactive installation created by Steve Bradley. “’TAP’ utilizes architectural infrastructure to perform a live sonic composition determined by the sound frequencies of a building,” Bradley writes in the exhibition’s accompanying catalogue.
                 
Across from the installation hang prints of 360-degree spherical panoramas shot and digitally manipulated by Dan Bailey. His piece, “Retriever Planet,” gives observers a unique perspective on a familiar campus location. “For me, the process of creating an image was one of making or building. With the advent of digital photography, it was a seamless transition to build and make images on a computer,” he writes.

Calla Thompson created pigmented prints and collage-based work raises questions about power. “I am interested in the collapse of a good/evil dichotomy, and instead create a place where characters have the potential to be both the goodie and the baddie, at times simultaneously,” she writes.

Inside the screening room, Vin Grabill, collaborated with two sound artists for his film “Frontier.” He explains that he edits short audio clips and visual footage “to generate visually musical compositions.”

In her documentary, “Immortal Cupboard: In Search of Lorine Niedecker,” Cathy Cook, explores the life of a working artist. She writes, “’Immortal Cupboard’ encompasses many of the subjects that have been central to my work for a long time: nature, women’s roles, rural living, the intersection of personal memory and history and the mechanics of everyday life.”

Fred Worden, creates experimental films that challenge viewers “to make sense of stimuli coming, not from the natural world out in front of the eyes, but rather from a source behind the eyes, the conscious mind.”
                 
“Discernable in all the work is an investigative quality that continually tests the boundaries of technical processes and formats found within each artistic discipline,” writes Symmes Gardner, executive director of CADVC.

“Spectrum” is on view through December 13. Accompanying artist lectures take place at noon on the following dates:

October 27 – Steve Bradley
November 3 – Vin Grabill
November 8 – James Smalls
November 17 – Cathy Cook
December 1 – Calla Thompson

CADVC is located on the first floor of the Fine Arts building and is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit the CADVC website or call ext. 5-3188.

(10/21/10)