Explore arts venues and spaces at the Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building, including the UMD Art Gallery and the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture. Don’t miss the projections installation in the building’s outdoor courtyard!

The evening will also feature a pop-up performance from Thalea String Quartet, the UMD School of Music’s Graduate String Quartet Fellowship Ensemble.

Faculty Exhibition 2021

UMD Art Gallery
5-8PM

The Faculty Exhibition 2021 is a triennial exhibition of professional work by the University of Maryland's world-class Department of Art faculty and adjunct faculty. The exhibition underscores the faculty's creative achievements over the last several years while emphasizing that their scholarship and teaching is grounded first and foremost in an art-making practice. This year's participating artists include Mollye Bendell, Emily Conover, Patrick Craig, Pete Cullen, Brandon Donahue, Jessica Gatlin, Wendy Jacobs, Cy Keener, Richard Klank, Julia Kwon, Matthew McLaughlin, Brandon Morse, Irene Pantelis, Narendra Ratnapala, John Ruppert, Foon Sham, Justin Strom, Jowita Wyszomirska and Rex Weil. In addition, an In Memoriam section recognizes the vast contributions to the Department of Art made by longtime faculty members David C. Driskell (1931-2020) and James Thrope (1951-2021).

LEARN MORE>>

Giving Up the Ghost, Spiderland & At the Ramparts

Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture
6-9PM

Swing by the Michelle Smith Collaboratory and become absorbed in worlds of generative code, the rules governing which have been created by Brandon Morse, artist and professor (and chair) in the Department of Art at the University of Maryland. These works are unique with each iteration, but will transfix you and invite you to meditate on the poetic and metaphorical power of the random. Feel free to sit a spell (or even lie down) and just let the experience wash over you. Also, explore the wonders of photogrammetry and follow (and perhaps even try!) the steps in the process of turning photosets into virtual and 3D-printed models in a hallway pop-up display.

Daniel Canogar’s Amalgama Phillips

Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building Courtyard
7-9PM

This digital work blends images from the permanent collection and will be presented both as a site-specific installation and as a digital installation project. Amalgama Phillips explores how digital media is shifting our experience and understanding of art and the history of art. The swirling visual effects that have transformed the original artworks parallel our ever-changing reality and the ceaseless flow of information on social media that has also altered how artworks are consumed.

LEARN MORE>>

This event is part of NextNOW Fest. The Clarice’s NextNOW Fest is an inspiring arts experience that celebrates imagination, creativity and community. By amplifying the voices of intriguing, inventive artists from around campus and our community, NextNOW Fest creates a forward-looking microcosm where art transforms our future and (re)connects us all.

NextNOW Fest is a signature event in University of Maryland's new Arts for All initiative, which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time. In addition to our traditional student, academic and touring arts lineup at The Clarice on Sep 17 and 18, we’re thrilled to forge new partnerships with more student-led groups, academic departments and community organizations to expand the festival to seven days at sites throughout campus and into College Park!

View Full NextNOW Fest 2021 Lineup & Schedule>>