Lee Boot
Director, Imaging Research Center
Research Associate Professor
Affiliate Professor, Departments of Visual Arts
& Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

UMBC

Did you attend the 2019 Visual Arts Senior Exhibition's opening reception? 

Did you take any pix at the Pixilated photo booth? 

Well, even if you didn't, DO click on the link below to see some of the wacky pix graduating seniors and others took while celebrating the opening of this awesome exhibition. You won't be sorry you did.

Link to online gallery is HERE.

Use code PIX10 for 10% off all prints ordered from Pixilated's website!

The link for the zip file download can be found HERE, which will take you to the high-resolution non-watermarked photos. The zip file link will expire in 2 weeks so we suggest that you download them beforehand.

The 2019 Visual Arts Senior Exhibition, celebrates the work of graduating seniors in Photography, Graphic Design, Cinematic Arts, Animation/Interactive Media, Intermedia, and Print Media.

Admission to the exhibition is free and open to the public, and the show is open until 5 pm on Saturday, June 8th.

The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located in the Fine Arts Building.

Click here for directions and parking information.

Here’s a recap of what’s in the news in and around the UMBC campus, originally brought to you by UMBC News.

This news recap is brought to you by UMBC’s Division of Professional Studies, offering a broad array of professionally-focused master’s degree and certificate programs that address industry needs while anticipating future opportunities.

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Indie rock band, The Happy Fits invites listeners to share their joy and get in tune with their inner happiness. Band members Ross Monteith (guitar), Calvin Langman (cello) and Luke Davis (drums) focus on creating vibrant vibes and changing sound to strike specific emotions that linger with the audience.

Monteith, Langman and Davis share their love for music and its ability to touch each of its listeners. Davis explains, “Music is escape for people.” The trio creates music that provides listeners with a sense of comfort all the while pushing forth their own individuality.

When asked what separates them from other artists, The Happy Fits came to a general consensus that Langman’s addition of the cello greatly contributes to the band’s distinctiveness. The cello adds an unexpected yet exceptional sound the band is remembered for. It allows The Happy Fits to diverge from traditional expectations of alternative rock and create their own presence in the music industry.

The Happy Fits’ first album, “Concentrate,” was released in 2018. It explores an extensive set of topics including love, growth and the pursuit of a creative career. Each song elaborates on the expression of specific emotions and perspectives in an unforgettable way.

“Concentrate” portrays a beautiful eclecticism that welcomes the praise and admiration of listeners of a variety of music genres. This eclecticism, however, does not disrupt the album’s overall cohesiveness. If anything, the variation of their styles and sounds has become a laudable, notable characteristic of The Happy Fits. The uniqueness of each song in relation to the others magnificently presents the band’s wide range of musical abilities and talents.

“So Alright, Cool, Whatever” speaks of the lingering regret and sorrow following heartbreak. Lyrics such as “I wanna be dancing, dreaming, bawling and weeping over you all of my life,” explain how delirious any slight presence of a loved one becomes after the unwanted ending of a relationship. The upbeat intensity of the song contrasts with the vulnerability of the lyrics, paralleling the intensity of one’s feelings in the midst of emotional turmoil.

“Best Tears” pokes fun at seniors unhelpful aid during youth’s difficulties, mocking their supposed words of encouragement, “So, all the girls and bad boys made you cry?/ Well, you know, those were the best tears of your life, of your life.” The song plays with the lack of empathy and overall discredit towards an adolescent’s daily struggles. It’s a beautifully composed work of satire.

Their songs, reminiscent of the band’s musical inspirations, sound hauntingly familiar all the while sustaining an admirable sense of originality. Langman explains, “My main goal is to get a good chorus…some melodies tug on your soul. That’s what I want to get —that ‘yeaaahhhh’ feeling.” The Happy Fits achieve the extremely difficult task of taking the music they’ve been inspired by and making it their own, of making art out of art.

The way The Happy Fits’ music connects to its audience is extraordinary. The emotions and feelings within their songs create an indestructible relationship between the musicians and the audience. The band’s stage presence is absolutely electric, feeding off of the reciprocating radiance of the audience. An aura of cheerfulness, sparked by the beats and melodies of their music, permeates throughout the venue. The energetic passion of Langman, Monteith and Davis flows through their performance.

The Happy Fits effortlessly create music that is tastefully catchy, uplifting and appealing to audience preference all the while preserving their own artistic integrity through the complexity of their lyrics. The band members’ talents effortlessly collaborate with one another. They are great people who make great music that leaves you beaming and singing along.

In a world where pessimism has become dependable, it is important to shine a light on those who make an effort to bring brilliance and vitality to society. The Happy Fits present an inimitable brightness and ingeniousness. Their music leaves its listeners with a happiness everyone is looking for.

The Happy Fits band members (left to right) Luke Davis, Calvin Langman and Ross Monteith. Photo taken by Madasyn Andrews.

In 1989, Baltimore philanthropist Robert E. Meyerhoff sat down with then-UMBC vice provost Freeman Hrabowski with a bold vision for the University—to create a program that would offer high-achieving African American men a doorway into STEM scholarship at the highest levels. Thirty years later, the Meyerhoff Scholars Program is a national leader on the forefront of efforts to increase diversity among future leaders—both women and men—in science, engineering, and related fields. Because of that, UMBC is also the leading producer nationally of African American undergraduates who go on to earn M.D./Ph.D. degrees.

This spring, as the program celebrates its 30th anniversary with its more than 1,100 alumni worldwide, Meyerhoff and Hrabowski sat down again to discuss the impact of what they started. This is an edited excerpt of that conversation.

Hrabowski:  Bob, you may recall that at that time UMBC was having a challenge in that young African Americans were coming in wanting to major in science or pre-med, and they were not doing well. They were not doing well….

Bob Embry of the Abell Foundation called me and he said, “Bob Meyerhoff has an interest in talking to you.” And when I got to you, it was like a marriage made in heaven, because all you did, the whole time, was ask me questions. You were trying to understand the problems, and the issues, and you did tell me, I will never forget it, that you truly believed that if children were given the same opportunities as your children, with the same support, they would do just as well. They would do quite well. And that’s how we got started.

Meyerhoff: And, there’s no question about it, that I was impressed right from the beginning with the first class. the students you had … were really impressive….And almost every year, they are more impressive.

Hrabowski: And let me just say, the fact that [the] Howard Hughes [Medical Institute] has put so much money into replicating the program at other places, and that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is just starting this process out in California, replicating the program, says a lot. The most important thing is…you have to have people who really care, and as you said at the beginning, who believe these young people can do it. And then we have to be clear about those expectations…And then we have to evaluate and be honest about what works and what doesn’t work. That makes the difference.

Meyerhoff: I’m so proud. I mean, if I wasn’t proud of them, I wouldn’t like the idea they call themselves Meyerhoffs. It’s complimentary to me that they’re called Meyerhoffs. I mean, they’re all much more educated in science than I am, and they have accomplished much more in science and engineering than I have or ever could. So I’m so very proud of the fact that they are where they are. They’re just so outstanding, and they’re just proving day after day after day how successful the program is.

Hrabowski: That’s right. And you have been a pioneer in being a visionary for this program, and these students are pioneers, because many have become the first African American, for example, or the first woman to complete these degrees. And once the first does it, then other people say, “I want to be like that.”

Meyerhoff: Right.

Hrabowski: “And I want to do that.” And that’s for every race in the program, for every possible group, they have been leading and showing other kids that it can be done…

You know when I think about it, this 30th anniversary, Bob, represents two things. Number one, your belief in the dream. The dream that these young people could excel. And number two, the magical notion that this is a time that we celebrate dreams realized. These are dreams realized, when you look out and you see hundreds of young people who are now serving society as scientists, and engineers, and physicians, we can’t help but think dreams realized. We continue to hold fast to dreams.

For more information about the Meyerhoff Scholars Program and the 30th Anniversary Celebration, visit meyerhoff.umbc.edu.

*****

Header image by Marlayna Demond ’11.