Joshua Budich ’00 is one of a small group of artists selected to create original screen prints inspired by the nine best picture nominees in this year’s Academy Awards. Budich, who created artwork based on the film Silver Linings Playbook, earned his BFA from UMBC in 2000, and currently works as an independent illustrator for a number of galleries and media-outlets around the globe. This work was commissioned by The Academy in conjunction with Gallery 1988.

See all of the artwork at the Oscars’ official website.

Read a Q&A with Budich at Retreiver Net.

UMBC alumnus and staff member Kevin Gibbons-O’Neill ’86, economics, shared this photo of himself and his team of family and friends shortly after emerging from the cold waters of the Chesapeake Bay at this year’s Polar Bear Plunge.

Gibbons-O’Neill, who works in development for the Department of Athletics, is also a co-chair of UMBC’s annual Homecoming. Together, his team raised more than $2,000 for Special Olympics of Maryland.

Pictured in front: Bryce Gibbons-O’Neill. Middle (L-R): Rory Gibbons-O’Neill, Olivia McNulty, Brittan Gibbons-O’Neill, Keira McNulty, Cole McNulty. Back:  Kevin Gibbons-O’Neill ’86.

UMBC Alumni: Did you take the plunge this year? Send your photos and a caption to jogrady@umbc.edu, and we’ll post your accomplishment for the world to see!

Every so often, we’ll chat with an alum about what they do and how they got there. Today, we’re talking with independent illustrator Joshua Budich ’00, visual and performing arts, about what it’s like to start a business in the arts — and to create screenprint designs for some pretty big names. Most recently, he was one of a small group of young international artists to create original screen prints inspired by this year’s nine Best Picture Academy Awards nominees (he illustrated Silver Linings Playbook).

Name: Joshua Budich
Job:  Independent Illustrator
Based In: Maryland
Website:  www.joshuabudich.com

Q:  What would you most like people to know about the work you do?

A:  I’ve been working as an independent illustrator for various galleries, and media agencies around the globe for the past 6 years or so. My main focus has been in producing small-edition screenprints. I work primarily in a digital format, utilizing various software tools in conjunction with a Wacom drawing tablet; everything from the initial sketch to final illustration.

Q:  What’s the coolest job you’ve done so far?

A:  It’s hard to pick just one job as the “coolest,” as I consider this my dream job. So, each and every new piece is more exciting than the last! But, if I had to choose, I’d put these at the top of my list:

• “Team GB – ADIDAS “Take the Stage Campaign”” for the London Summer Olympics 2012
• “Resist” print, commemorating the final season of FRINGE, collaboration with Gallery1988
• “Peyton Rides Again” cover illlustration for SI Kids Magazine
• “Inglorious Basterds” movie poster, collaboration with Spoke Art Gallery and The Castro Theatre

I’ve also had some serendipitous opps to rub shoulders with some big names: Arnold Palmer, Weird Al Yankovic, Seymour Cassell, and the cast of Silver Linings Playbook. Not too shabby!

Q:  What’s the toughest thing about running your own business?

A:  The toughest thing has always been the careful balancing act between being the artist that actually produces the work, and being the all the more logistical roles that are the backbone of the business (buying supplies, tracking sales, running the website, promotional emails to the mailing list, social media director, packing and shipping, etc.). On those days where I’m chomping at the bit to dive back into a really engrossing illustration, and having to quiet my mind enough to focus on packing and shipping print orders… Those are the really challenging days!

The reality of all this is that there is no one without the other. In order to make this whole “art thing” work for my life and provide for my family, I must play both roles, artist and business manager, and play them well.

Q:  What advice would you give to students trying to make art their work?

A:  You are your biggest supporter. Be a shameless self-promoter! Get your work out there, with no fear. Learn to accept criticism for what it is, constructive or otherwise.

When dealing with clients, always give yourself a “way out” or a “back door” for making changes to your work, and work on anticipating the types of changes that clients will make. Use “non-destructive” design if you work digitally in programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator. Understand the difference between a concept and a final piece, and never over-commit.

Q:  Do any UMBC experiences stand out, when you think about moving from student life into professional life?

A:  I always loved the critique sessions we would have at the end of each project we were assigned. You learn more from your peers than you ever will working in a vacuum. Everyone’s perception of your work is unique and valid in its own way, and many times they’ll see things you won’t. These critiques with faculty and students really helped me to prepare for the transition from student to professional artist.

Another experience that definitely stands out, would be meeting my wife our sophomore year. We’ve grown up together. She’s kept me humble, and given me a lot of perspective. Her critical eye has been invaluable to me as my work continues to evolve.

Q:  What job (commission or personal) would be your dream job?

A:  I’m living my dream job, so each new project I get is absolutely amazing to me! I can’t complain, I’m a lucky guy. If I had to choose, I’d love to continue working in other media; editorial/commercial illustrations for magazines, movie poster designs for a Hollywood movie studios, or concept art for Pixar or Lucasfilms.

A True Inter-Arts Experience

Known throughout Maryland as a beacon for innovation, avant-garde collaboration and local outreach, Baltimore Dance Project provokes and enraptures new and loyal audiences each season. Founded in 1982 and originally known as the Phoenix Repertory Dance Company, the ensemble now celebrates its 30th anniversary on the stage of UMBC�s new Performing Arts and Humanities Building Theatre.

Co-directed by UMBC�s Carol Hess and Doug Hamby (associate professors, Dance), Baltimore Dance Project features interdisciplinary collaborative works with other faculty at UMBC, as well as with a broad range of artists throughout the greater Baltimore/Washington region.

As its name suggests, the Phoenix Repertory Dance Company was dedicated to the re-creation and performance of modern dance choreography already in the canon. Unlike similar repertory troupes however, the company focused not on preserving the choreography as it was originally tooled: along with co-founder Elizabeth Walton (associate professor, Dance), Hamby and Hess used the language of known works to inspire and challenge the traditional presentation of dances, laying the foundation for the completely original works they present today.

The company moved quickly into the types of interdisciplinary works it is known for today, commissioning original music and video for its performances�even working with Tony Farquhar (associate professor, Mechanical Engineering) to build a dancing robot. Audiences began to heartily applaud collaborative pieces �that demonstrated all the diverse forms contemporary dance can take,� and company premieres such as Hamby�s Quintet (1991) and Hess� Unknown Territory/Credo in US (1993) began to define a changing aesthetic. The pieces integrated live music with spoken word, and traversed complex boundaries between disparate art forms, and by 2005 the company had rebranded itself as Baltimore Dance Project. Hess and Hamby continue to work this way today, and their success can be attributed to their extensive, diverse backgrounds in dance.

Baltimore Dance Project maintains its freshness each year, challenging its own choreography to improve by reworking pieces over seasons. The upcoming 2013 performances will be no exception as the company revisits old repertoire and presents two premieres. The lineup also features two dances featuring UMBC�s Sandra Lacy, and various works featuring some of Baltimore Dance Project�s most celebrated UMBC alumni. Tom Goldstein (associate professor, Music) will lead a percussion ensemble performance of John Cage�s Second Construction, and Tim Nohe (associate professor, Visual Arts) will collaborate on Common Axis, which blends movement with video images of past company works.

The complete program includes:
If I Told Him (premiere), in which a dancer creates a compelling and theatrical event as he dances, recites poetry by Gertrude Stein and manipulates a rope stretched across the stage.

Common Axis (premiere), created in collaboration with artist Timothy Nohe. In celebration of the company�s 30th anniversary, Hamby, Hess and Nohe blend movement with video images of notable Baltimore Dance Project works of the past.

Construction #2, re-created by Hamby in honor of American composer John Cage�s centennial year, is a dance set to the music of Cage, performed live by percussionist Tom Goldstein and UMBC Department of Music alumni.

Hamby�s Past/Forward, a visually stunning work in which today�s dancers perform with beautiful, silent dance films from the 1950s, originally created by choreographer Helen McGehee.

Once Again, in which Sandra Lacy shares the stage with 50 white balloons. A surreal journey into the haunting interior life of a performer, Once Again is performed in three sections��Driven,� �On Display� and �Downward Spiral��set to the music of Elvis Presley and Tom Waits.

Out to Play, choreographed and performed by Sandra Lacy and Adrienne Clancy. A fanciful and fun-loving duet that celebrates the ability to play, take risks and indulge in whimsy, with music composed and performed by Hazmat Modine.

Baltimore Dance Project performs Thursday through Saturday, February 7, 8 and 9 in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building Theatre. Admission is $20 general, $10 for students and seniors, and $7 for UMBC students. More information is available on UMBC�s Arts and Culture Calendar.

(2/7/13)

© 2012 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

“The desire to empower citizens directly is alluring in principle but can be very problematic in practice,” writes UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller in his latest Baltimore Sun column.

Schaller is referring to the practice of using ballot referenda to impact policy, rather than working through the legislature. He writes, “Last week, top Maryland Democrats announced their intention to make it more difficult to put statewide policy referenda on the ballot. The move is a clear response to Republicans’ success last year in putting to referendum policy questions in the hope of achieving victories the GOP couldn’t win in the legislature.”

But what, exactly, is the problem with this form of “direct democracy”? Schaller suggests, “Policy fights should be won by persuading the public to elect officials who will fight to pass laws, issue orders and appoint judges who in turn rule in accordance with public preferences. Circumventing the checked-power lawmaking process with referenda, or trying to manipulate the referendum process to embolden or thwart the other party, offends our constitutional traditions.” For these reasons, he argues, Maryland Democrats’ efforts to limit referendum access are right on merits, but wrong on motives.

Lisa Moren, Associate Professor of Visual Arts will be speaking as part of a distinguished speaker lecture series for Hexagram-Concordia, a “center for research-creation in media arts and technology,” affiliated with Concordia University in Montreal.

“Moren will present several projects that intersect technologies, phenomena and compelling narratives.” Her lecture and seminar titled “Phenomena, Ecology and Technology” and “Ecology and Economy: The Outback Stock Exchange” respectively, will discuss her personal art projects and works in progress, and their relation to current ecological issues including the health of the Australian Outback, the Chesapeake Bay and the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill.

Learn more about the presentations, at Hexagram-Concordia’s website.

Mathematics Professor Manil Suri has been in the news recently, as his latest novel, “The City of Devi,” hits bookstore shelves.

On Wednesday, February 6, the Baltimore City Paper published a review of the book, saying that it “is “streamlined and cinematically purified… by narrowing his focus and heightening the emotional tenor of the city, he manages to give it a mythological quality.”

Suri also spoke with the Baltimore Sun for a February 3 interview entitled “UMBC mathematician Manil Suri publishes his third novel.”  This novel completes a trilogy about hindu dieties that Suri began with his 2001 book, “The Death of Vishnu.”  Speaking of this book, Suri said, “When I first started thinking about the trilogy, I always had an arc in my mind of the past, the present and the future… But my book about the future was an evolution. It took me 12 years to write. Even when I got to the midpoint, I didn’t know if it was going to be about Brahma or about Devi. Every story needs a creator. As the most well-known, Brahma was the most logical face to put there. But when you dig deeper, the true Hindu trinity really is Vishnu, Shiva and Devi, who represent the three different strands of Hinduism. Brahma was a later addition. He came in during the post-Vedic period, when people tried to tie those strands together. Because Devi has nine incarnations, she can be anything: the destroyer, the creator and the symbol of art. But, Brahma’s mythology is such that he doesn’t get activated until you’re at the end of a cycle. If I had been writing a post-apocalyptic novel, he might have been the right person.”

Suri also spoke to NPR’s Weekend Edition, where he talked about how leaving India has affected his writing about the country. “I grew up in like one room of a large apartment, and we were kind of the only Hindu family in an apartment that had three families of Muslims, so you know, that’s why I think the Hindu-Muslim thing keeps coming up in my novels. I don’t think I would have had the space or the quiet to actually concentrate on fiction. I do think that coming here I can sort of see the country much more — much more like a globe, like you would see the moon from the Earth or vice versa. And I think especially with this novel, I can see these relations like, OK, [India is] sitting there next to Pakistan and China, you know, all three of which are armed with nuclear weapons. So that’s one of the advantages,” he said.

Finally, on February 6, Suri spoke with WYPR’s “Maryland Morning” for a segment called “When a Mathematician Turns Novelist.”  Host Tom Hall pointed out that the theme of a trinity appears often throughout the book, and Suri admitted that even he didn’t pick up on the theme until late in his writing process. “I actually gave up this novel, and I started a new novel, and I told my agent ‘This is not going to work.’ I even had a mathematical proof that this novel could not be completed. .. and then when I saw the number three, I realized that these three characters have to somehow come together,” Suri said.

Cambridge, Mass.- UMBC senior guard Brian Neller has been named America East Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for games ending Feb. 3, 2013.

Neller netted a heavily-contested 25-footer with 0.5 seconds to play to propel the Retrievers to a thrilling 68-67 victory over Maine at the RAC Arena on Sat., Feb. 2.

He shook off a difficult first half and hit 3-of-6 from behind the arc in the second half to finish with 12 points. On Wednesday, Neller scored a season-high 18 points, hitting 6-of-13 from behind the arc in the Retrievers’ 61-58 victory at Binghamton on Wed., Jan. 30.

Neller, who moved into fifth place on UMBC’s all-time 3-point field goal list (now 228) with six at Binghamton on Wednesday, has 25 treys in his last six outings. He needs four more treys to move past Skip Saunders (1990-94) and into fourth place. He leads America East in treys per game (now 3.6) in league play and is fifth in 3-point percentage at 39.5.

The books may sit quietly on their shelves, but the rest of The Ivy Bookshop buzzes with the activity of book selling.

In the back of the Baltimore shop on this particular early evening, employees race to load Bill Clinton biographies onto a cart in time to sell at a symposium downtown later that night. And near the reading nook, UMBC professor Robert Provine prepares for a reading and Q&A in the bookshop about his new book on the psychology of hiccups.

At the center of the commotion in his favorite leather reading chair sits Eduard Berlin ’70, political science – cool as a cucumber despite the frenetic activity spinning around him.

Berlin and his wife, Ann, took over The Ivy Bookshop a little more than a year ago from its previous owner, Baltimore arts philanthropist Darielle Linehan. They’ve thought long and hard about what the future of independent bookstores could – and must – become to survive a changing reading landscape, and have already taken big steps to do so: upgrading the bookstore’s web presence, forming selling partnerships with a bevy of big-time area organizations and schools, and organizing events at the shop.

“It’s not just about selling a book anymore,” says Berlin, a member of UMBC’s first graduating class who now has a 30-year career in corporate and financial tech behind him. “People can buy a book anywhere. What we’re doing is making an experience that’s unique for this community.”

Knowing a bit about Berlin’s former career – one in which he repeatedly surfed ahead of the curve, taking chances on web solutions that didn’t exist until he conceived and built them – makes his choice to start a second career at an independent bookstore seem a little less, well, crazy. After graduating from UMBC, Berlin got his law degree and practiced corporate law for the FCC before moving on in the 1980s to help companies including Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Reuters implement global reporting systems when the Internet was still a novelty. Talk about pioneering.

Berlin also credits his alma mater with helping to develop his business sense. “The real pioneers of UMBC were experimenting on so many different levels that I think maybe subliminally I took this concept of being out-of-the-box, being willing to try different things, not needing as much structure,” he said. “My entire career, I was always the first person to do a particular job, or open up new territory, or build new product, or explore things that maybe on the surface at least seemed to be cutting edge. And the fact that I went to a new school like UMBC maybe had a lot to do with that.”

That drive to innovate (and succeed at it) – along with a genuine love of reading – made The Ivy the perfect match for Berlin. It helps, too, that his wife spent a career in publishing.

“We’ve always been a book family,” said Berlin, whose son Sam – the spitting image of his parents – helps direct traffic from behind the front counter.

“I thought it was less crazy than his original plan, which was to have an art gallery,” Sam quips. “This seems slightly less volatile by comparison.”

Keeping the place busy is a key to the plan. On any given night, visitors might stumble upon a reading by an interesting author, or a book club talking animatedly in a corner nook. Berlin’s staff is quick to help browsers, and the owner prides himself on choosing every book that lines these shelves.

“There are things that simply cannot be replaced on a tablet or online,” he says. “People like being with other people. They like to discuss things together. There will always be people who value that.”

Mid-interview, a customer taps Berlin on the shoulder. Has he seen the book she’s looking for? Why yes, he says, pinpointing the spot on the shelf behind him. She smiles and wanders to the counter, book in hand.

He returns to his seat and apologizes for the interruption.

“The customer comes first, of course.”

— Jenny O’Grady

Getting healthy is an American obsession. And Matthew Sherman ’08, interdisciplinary studies, is at the forefront of a growing movement that may help make that arduous task easier and more efficient.

It’s all in the juice. But not just any juice. Cold-pressed juices with exotic names like Vamos Green, Goji Lemonade and Coco Verde.

At JugoFresh, Sherman’s burgeoning Miamiarea business, these juices are created with fresh fruits and vegetables in an extraction process that emphasizes quality and care over speed and pasteurization. The process is time-intensive, but the result is a dizzying array of healthy and flavorful drinks that fly off the shelves at the company’s flagship store in Miami’s South Beach – along with an array of smoothies and raw and vegan foods.

The JugoFresh juices are also the building blocks for comprehensive body cleansing regimens that Sherman has devised for athletes and ordinary folks alike.

“The vision of JugoFresh is really simple,” Sherman observes. “Make healthy eating fun.”

Sherman squeezed into the juice business almost as gradually as he makes his products. He began first as a basketball coach, and then as a trainer working with individual athletes. But exercise alone, he says, wasn’t getting the job done for his clients – especially those who had unhealthy diets.

“It was just way too narrow a way of helping them,” observes Sherman, who eventually dove into holistic health training, got certified, and started concocting juice cleanses for clients. Eventually, his juice cleansing business got much bigger than his personal training business. Clients even clamored for the juice all by itself, and JugoFresh was born.

“It really took off as a business,” says Sherman, who now employs 34 people and is looking to expand JugoFresh with a larger dedicated production facility and at least two new locations in Miami in 2013. JugoFresh has also been a hit with media outlets in South Florida, who have raved not just about Sherman’s product, but the positive energy and popularity that he and his colleagues bring to the task of healthier living.

“It’s 20 minutes until closing time at JugoFresh,” wrote Miami-based website Ocean Drive shortly after the opening, “a gleaming new juice bar just off West Avenue, and the line is nearly out the door.”

Sherman says that the cold pressing process – using only fresh ingredients – is the essential element in his approach to juice. Because the fruits and vegetables are pressed, rather than merely chopped, the process keeps the maximum number of nutrients in the juice.

The JugoFresh founder first encountered cold pressed juice during time he spent at the Holistic Natural Health Institute in Hawaii, where Sherman observed the Gerson cancer treatment (which relies heavily on a fresh juice diet) being administered to patients and concluded that its potential benefits might be more widely applied.

“I saw the difference it made in people’s lives,” Sherman says. “And the difference that it made in mine. That’s why I got into juicing. I thought, ‘Why would people wait until they have cancer to do this for themselves?’”

Sherman says that a foundation for his success as an entrepreneur was laid in the shared qualities of his education at Friends School of Baltimore and at UMBC.

“I graduated with a degree in interdisciplinary studies,” says Sherman. “And something that was preached in that program, and in a lot of my classes at UMBC, and also during my experience before that being part of a Quaker community, was to constantly challenge the status quo, and look at things through multiple lenses.”

Sherman adds that another element of his education at UMBC and at Friends School was “a strong commitment not just to an end goal, but a process.”

So how do you create a drink that’s good for you and tastes good? Know that the cucumber, romaine, pear, kale, chard, ginger, lime and Himalayan sea salt that make up the “Green Montaña” will work together on the taste buds? That same willingness to innovate and challenge oneself from a firm base of knowledge also applies to concocting the flavors of JugoFresh.

“As far as flavors, I get pretty inventive,” Sherman says. “But I have a really strong idea of what things are going to taste like before the product is even put together. I can feel it, taste it, know how it’s going to react… But a lot of our flavor profiles are classic flavor profiles that have never been applied to juice. ”

— Richard Byrne ’86