For the past five years, For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, an exhibition organized by UMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC) in partnership with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, has traveled the nation through the National Endowment for the Humanities’ NEH on the Road program. Now, the NEH has extended the exhibition’s tour for an addition five years, marking the first time that the NEH on the Road program has doubled to ten years a tour period for an exhibition. 

Through a host of media— including photographs, television and film, magazines, newspapers, posters, books, and pamphlets — the project explores the historic role of visual culture in shaping, influencing, and transforming the fight for racial equality and justice in the United States from the late-1940s to the mid-1970s. 

The first full-scale version of the exhibition opened at the International Center of Photography in 2010 and traveled to six venues through 2013, including the National Civil Rights Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the DuSable Museum of African American History, and UMBC.

The NEH on the Road version of the show opened in Kansas City in April 2012, and has toured to more than 20 venues since then, including stops in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Wilmington, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Eu Claire, Wisconsin; San Antonio, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas.

Maurice Berger, research professor and chief curator at the CADVC, noted:

…the role of the National Endowment for the Humanities, as the principal funder of For All the World to See, has been extremely important. But no more so than its support of the NEH on the Road version of the exhibition. By allowing the show to travel across the United States, to more than 50 venues, the NEH will also allow its novel ideas about the civil rights movement to reach many more people.
 
So much research and writing about the modern civil rights movement — and so many exhibitions — have focused on photography or have ignored visual culture completely. The NEH on the Road version of For All the World to See will help thousands of new visitors to understand the powerful role that visual media — including film and television, graphic art and posters, advertising, photography, and even toys — played in altering prevailing ideas about race in America. By 2023, more than a million visitors will have seen both iterations of the show.

Image: Ernest C. Withers, Sanitation Workers Assemble in Front of Clayborn Temple for a Solidarity March, Memphis, TN, March 28, 1968; Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Museum Purchase, ©Ernest C. Withers, Courtesy Panopticon Gallery, Boston MA

This story, by Catherine Borg for UMBC News, originally appeared here.

After class one day in 2015, Brigitte May, senior lecturer in German, turned to her student, Matthew Kelly, to talk about his plans for after graduation. “Matt, I know what you are going to do when you graduate,” she told him. “You are going to win a Fulbright grant and teach English in Germany.” A year later, Kelly is heading to Germany with an English Teaching Assistantship Fulbright award.

Kelly’s story reveals the caring mentorship and high level of student preparation common across UMBC’s 2016 Fulbright award class.

“What I loved about this year’s class is that they threw themselves into the process early,” says Brian Souders, associate director of international education services and Fulbright program advisor. “They really got into the spirit of Fulbright, which is all about cultural exchange.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries that are needed to solve global challenges. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.

Matthew Kelly ’16, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, is one of several UMBC students and recent alumni receiving Fulbright scholarships this year. UMBC’s additional English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) recipients include: Emily Bernstein ’16, psychology and political science (Malaysia); Alexandria Clay ’16 M.A., intercultural communication (Mexico); Matthew Poissant ’15, American studies (Indonesia); and Alexander Szabo ’15, history (Nepal, alternate). Ayushi Aggarwal ’16, biochemistry (Laos) also received an ETA but is unable to complete the program at this time. Shruti Gujaran ’16, biochemistry and molecular biology (Australia), and Rachel Rettaliata ’14, history (Moldova) have both received Fulbright research grants.

Rettaliata is using her Fulbright research grant to study public monuments in Moldova and how they represent the evolution of the country’s national identity through its pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet history. She plans to apply research skills she developed as an undergraduate to make the most of her research abroad.

“I really think that UMBC’s history department has prepared me for the Fulbright grant,” explains Rettaliata. “Through various coursework, I’ve been able to research in archives, databases, and pursue oral and digital history projects…there are so many different areas that I’ll be able to translate into my research in Moldova.”

Gujaran is the second UMBC Fulbright recipient for Australia. Timothy Nohe, professor of visual arts and director of the Center for Innovation, Research, and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA), received a Fulbright Senior Scholar award in 2006 to Australia to teach at University of Wollongong.

Gujaran will use her research grant to study antibiotic drug resistance at the University of Melbourne’s department of microbiology and immunology. She credits her experiences pursuing civic engagement opportunities through The Shriver Center and Honors College with inspiring her to become a well-rounded researcher, dedicating her time to help improve access to healthcare for people who need it the most.

“I want to focus on infectious diseases because I really want to work with international populations, specifically in developing countries that might not have access to healthcare,” says Gujaran.

Humanities scholar Matthew Poissant is hoping to build off of his study abroad experience in South Korea as he pursues his Fulbright ETA teaching English to 10^th and 11^th grade students in Indonesia.

“I feel very honored to have been chosen by my government to be a cultural representative of the United States,” he says. “Because of what I learned from my American studies education at UMBC, I am not scared to have discussions about the complexity of American culture and identity.”

Matthew Kelly will be teaching English at a school in Bavaria, Germany and hopes to embrace the cultural exchange component of the Fulbright program through community service work coaching ice hockey in Munich.

“I really do believe that the sky is the limit, and the more that I put into this experience, the more that I will get out of it,” he shares.

Reflecting on this year’s Fulbright class, Souders is confident the students will embrace cultural exchange, serve as positive ambassadors of the United States, and bring back a breadth of knowledge and experiences to their professional lives when they return to the U.S.

After guiding so many students through the Fulbright experience, what is Souders most excited about for this year’s recipients? It’s not just about their time abroad, he shares. “I love the fact that the students are developing skills that will be useful for the rest of their lives.”

Image: Shruti Gujaran (left) and Rachel Rettaliata (right). Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

What’s the essence of UMBC? According to one UMBC junior, in the latest edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges, “We’re focused on doing big things and being influential people.”

“At the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, you can be king or queen of your academic world,” notes the 2017 Fiske Guide to Colleges, in UMBC’s chess-filled university profile. “Students here are given access to academic and social resources usually reserved for those attending mammoth public institutions or pricey private colleges.”

The Fiske Guide to Colleges is one of the most well-regarded resources for college-bound students seeking an inside look at top colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. The annual guide profiles each selected university in detail, examining academic offerings, cost, social climate and extracurricular opportunities.

What do insiders says about UMBC? It’s all about community.

“UMBC encourages exploration and expects students to support one another and the community at large,” writes Fiske. One English major shares, “The academic climate is more collaborative than competitive, but intense.”

The Fiske Guide highlights numerous UMBC academic departments and programs, including biology, information systems, visual arts, psychology, engineering, interdisciplinary studies, Asian studies, Africana studies, and global studies. It also notes the strengths of UMBC’s Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, Shriver Center, Career Center, study abroad opportunities and support for undergraduate research and creative achievement.

“Students here tend to be on the nerdy end of the spectrum,” writes one senior, “but we embrace it.”

Christos Palios ’02, visual arts, is among the seven talented finalists vying for the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize, which recognizes a working artist in the Baltimore region with $25,000 to further their career. The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) has included his work in a Sondheim Prize finalist exhibition on view now through July 31.

Each year the museum hosts this exhibition in the Thalheimer Galleries. The exhibit enables finalists to present their work to the public and also to the contest jurors. The diverse finalists produce an eclectic array of work each year—work often as significant as that in a solo show.

Palios, born in Baltimore, is a fine art photographer “whose work probes ideas and aspects of identity, memory, and isolation within urban, industrial, and natural spaces.” His work can be found in public and private collections all over the country, and has appeared in such online publications as F-Stop Magazine and Dotphotozine. For the Sondheim exhibition at the BMA, he presents photographs from two series he developed while visiting family in Greece.

UN-FINISHED // Contemporary Ruins is a collection of obviously abandoned unfinished concrete buildings on otherwise empty landscapes in the Greek countryside. Together the pictures are a bizarre and fascinating collection that Palios says are “pillars of stalled progress,” testament to both the current economic struggles and perhaps an ethos, comparable to the American Dream, that fueled it.

Palios’ second series in the exhibition is also devoid of people, but feels far less abandoned. In Conversations, a series of vivid still lives of post-meal tables seen from overhead embody the vitality of the diners just out of view but with their cell phones, keys and other personal items still on the table. The pictures capture their presence and the taste, smells and sounds of the meal and conversation they’ve just shared. Palios is particularly interested in the tech on the table and how our fixation with these devices might be changing the dynamic of the dinner table, recently commenting to the Baltimore Sun “I remember my 87-year-old grandfather picking up a flip phone to look at the time, even though he had a watch on.”

An independent panel of jurors chooses the finalists and semifinalists. This year’s jurors are Tim Griffin, executive director and chief curator at The Kitchen; Rujeko Hockley, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum; and Mia Locks, co-curator of The Whitney Museum of American Art’s 2017 Whitney Biennial. The prestigious award is named after the late Baltimore civic leader Walter Sondheim and his late wife, Janet, and presented in conjunction with the Artscape arts festival.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony followed by a reception on Saturday, July 9 at 7 p.m. In addition, M&T Bank has partnered with the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts to grant the M&T Bank Sondheim Finalists’ Awards, which provide a $2,500 honorarium for each of the remaining finalists not selected for the fellowship.

Several UMBC community members will also be presenting work in the 2016 Sondheim Semi-Finalist Exhibition, including Marian Glebes, M.F.A. ’09, intermedia and digital arts; Jason Hughes, M.F.A. ’15, intermedia and digital arts; Vincent Carney ’06, visual arts; Ben Marcin ’80, economics; and Lynn Cazabon, associate professor of visual arts. That exhibition is on view at the Decker and Meyerhoff galleries of MICA from Friday, July 15 through Sunday, July 31, 2016. An opening reception for the semifinalist exhibition takes place July 14, 2016, 6-9 p.m. at MICA.

Images, top-bottom: Bittersweet Inevitable, 2016; portrait of artist Christos Palios by Geoffrey Baker; and Dervenochoria, Greece, 2015. All images courtesy of Christos Palios.

• Exhibit of seven Sondheim finalists’ work opens at BMA (Baltimore Magazine)
• The 2016 Sondheim finalists: Photos (BmoreArt.com)
• Sondheim finalists explore themes of race, religion, sex, violence (Baltimore Sun)
• Christos Palios explores consumption and conservation in Greece’s past and present (City Paper)

Baltimore County Partnership Helps Potomac Change the World

By Potomac Photonics
Category: 3D Printing, Articles, Company, Industry

Potomac Photonics home in Baltimore County

Potomac is thrilled to have recently been featured on a new video from Baltimore County, highlighting recipients of the government-sponsored Boost Fund.  The flexible loan program is designed to help small businesses in growth industries by providing capital in order to increase employment in the County. But of course, our work in advanced manufacturing that helps us change the world is a unique story that captured Baltimore County’s imagination.

 

Using tools of the next industrial revolution such as laser micromachining and 3D Printing, Potomac is changing the world through new devices in the biotech, medical device and microfluidics industries.  Whether to fight cancer, detect concussions, provide point of care diagnostics or create drugs for personalized medicine, much or our work revolves around helping improve people’s lives.

 

Why Advanced Manufacturing?

UV laser can drill features as small as 1 micron.

In recent years there has been tremendous miniaturization of products in the medical field.  Implantable devices must be small enough to fit into the human body with minimal disruption to the entire human system. The latest work involves bringing drugs or micro-robots to the specific area of the body that needs treatment with pin-point accuracy, which also requires tiny delivery systems.

 

Potomac has the unique expertise to manufacture these new devices.  Working in sizes that are smaller than the 70 micron diameter of an average hair is normal on our factory floor.  We routinely drill holes, machine channels and complex patterns, and fabricate tiny parts using feature sizes as small as 1 micron.  In addition, we have the capabilities to do so with high precision, accuracy and repeatability to ensure quality control across the board.  With a toolbox that includes traditional manufacturing processes such as CNC machining beside new technologies such as 3D Printing and laser micromachining, we are always able to provide just the right tool for any specific job.

 

Workforce of the Future

Our employees really are the workforce of the future, utilizing advanced manufacturing tools and technologies today.  We have an active on-site training program, an apprenticeship program through Fab Lab Baltimore at the Community College of Baltimore County, and incentivize our staff to further their education.  Increasing the number of job opportunities in partnership with Baltimore County is as gratifying as helping patients with new medical devices.  We have been able to increase interest in STEM-related [Science Technology Engineering Math] jobs that according to a recent Baltimore study pay 61% more than jobs that require equal training in non-STEM fields.

 

We are grateful to participate in an innovative company that makes going to work every day rewarding!

 

You can watch the Baltimore County video interview with our CEO Mike Adelstein.  It also includes a tour of the Potomac advanced manufacturing plant with some examples of our life-changing applications.