Call for Logo Design

A new start-up, Chesapeake Genomic Systems, has been formed by two Biological Sciences faculty members at UMBC. The company will produce products for the biotechnology research community that involve multiple aspects of DNA and RNA purification and assembly. 

They are seeking help to create a logo that honors the beauty and bounty of Chesapeake Bay, while capturing the essence of our mission to provide exceptional products to genomic researchers. We would welcome designs that incorporate, in subtle ways, the legend of Chessie https://www.wbaltv.com/article/legend-of-chessie-alive-well-in-maryland/13126354#.

This final week, in our discussion with the Association of Black Artists on Maurice Berger’s Race Stories, ABA Secretary and visual artist, Justin Okpara, has reflected on “On the Streets of Harlem, a Sense of Erase and Replace.” In his response, Justin reflects on the education system’s role in gentrification and deliberate disregard of Black narratives in core curriculum courses, redlining and gentrification in Baltimore, and his role as an artist to address racial issues in his work.

Check out his reflection here: tinyurl.com/yyuzxwm9

We would like to thank the Association of Black Artists for furthering this conversation about race in art and we’re looking forward to seeing and supporting all they continue to do on campus!

Today, we’re closing our audio meditation series, “Nature as Teacher,” with our third meditation, “Cultivating Peace in Uncertain Times.” This meditation focuses on grounding ourselves with gratitude and setting practical goals in order to calm any anxieties or worries that arise amidst these uncertain times. 

Thank you so much for joining us for the past three weeks for this “Nature as Teacher” mindfulness practice. We invite you to revisit these meditations on our website when you feel the need to recenter and refocus. 

Each meditation is kindly presented by UMBC’s Director of Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness and Founder & CEO of Wardell Development Group LLC., Jill Wardell and supported by the Joseph Beuys Tree Partnership with a generous gift from Nature Sacred (https://naturesacred.org/).

Check out the meditation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck5cYHczVk8

Website: https://cadvc.umbc.edu/nature/

We’re concluding our eight week retrospect on Maurice Berger’s Race Stories by revisiting "On the Streets of Harlem, a Sense of Erase and Replace.” This article features large-scale color photographs of Harlem by photographer Dawoud Bey, which address the gentrification and erasure of the mecca of Black heritage and history. The photographs expose the unsettling juxtaposition of fading Black cultural hotspots with the colonialist connotations of the white tourist.

Article: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/on-the-streets-of-harlem-a-sense-of-erase-and-replace-dawoud-bey/

Thank you for joining us for the past eight weeks to reflect on Black American history and culture, as well as to commemorate Maurice Berger’s contributions to and research on Black narratives. We encourage you to continue to revisit the remaining essays in Race Stories that are archived on our website (https://cadvc.umbc.edu/race-stories-essays/).

While this eight week retrospect has come to an end, our dedication to Black artists, voices, and communities has not. 

We look forward to seeing you this fall at our upcoming exhibition, Southern Rites, that features the work of photographer, Gillian Laub and looks at one community’s struggle to confront longstanding issues of race and equality in Montgomery County, Georgia.      

Today, we’re continuing our audio meditation series, “Nature as Teacher,” with our second meditation, “Creating a Space of Nonjudgment.” This meditation focuses on acknowledging our tendency to quickly react to situations, rather than manifesting understanding or acceptance, so that we can learn to let go of expectation and judgment. 

Each meditation is kindly presented by UMBC’s Director of Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness and Founder & CEO of Wardell Development Group LLC., Jill Wardell and supported by the Joseph Beuys Tree Partnership with a generous gift from Nature Sacred (https://naturesacred.org/).

Check out the meditation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_wi359PxUQ&t=3s

Website: https://cadvc.umbc.edu/nature/

"One Drop, but Many Views on Race” this week's featured article from Maurice Berger’s Race Stories, realizes race as not simply biological or genetic, but a matter of how one is seen and treated by others. The article looks at the arguments of scholar-activist Yaba Blay in her book “(1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race” and accompanying portraits by photographer Noelle Théard. “The book challenges narrow conceptions about Blackness, both as an identity and as an experience, and the stereotypes and rigid boundaries of color that continue to divide us.”

Article: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/one-drop-but-many-views-on-race/