Art News Archive

Seven UMass Lowell students collaborated on a large mural, the latest stroke in a move  to make a once-gritty and blighted alley into a green haven for art and poetry.

It was a hospital, yes. But Lowell’s St. Joseph’s Hospital was so much more to the nuns who worked there and to the residents of the Acre neighborhood. Now, two UMass Lowell students have created a tribute to the hospital, celebrating its singular value to its workers, patients and the neighborhood around it.

Assistant professors Ingrid Hess and Pouya Afshar, both four-year veterans of the UML faculty, have earned 2018 honors from the Fulbright Scholar Program, the cultural exchange program designed to improve intercultural and diplomatic relations across the globe. 

Jordi Love and Thomas Nelson bonded over video and board games. They texted each other their romantic feelings. They worked with professors on a research animation. And now they’re planning to marry. Among their “children” will be their own video games.

Most arrests end in guilty pleas instead of trials, and research suggests that many innocent people plead guilty to escape the threat of a long prison sentence. A psychology professor has teamed up with an art professor to make plea bargains easier to research – and to change an unjust system.

Students in Regina Milan's Design in Motion class took their assignment outside the classroom to help Girls Inc. create videos that would appeal to donors.

What can graphics tell you about a city's history? A new exhibit focuses on design branding in Lowell – including UMass Lowell – over the years.

Concurrently, in four city galleries hang exhibits featuring work by UMass Lowell students, alumni and faculty.

With the sweat of more than their brow, a couple of UML professors lead a team looking to quell conflict with sauna diplomacy.

Ashley Brown's public art project may not have made its full run, but it had an impact.

University Prof. Robert Forrant helped launch a summer history and writing program for Lawrence students from third grade through middle school, with help from the Lawrence History Center, Andover Bread Loaf and a Creative Economy Grant from the UMass President’s Office.

Assoc. Prof. Ellen Wetmore, a veteran filmmaker and photographer, was one of just 18 Bay State artists to win a $12,000 grant.

Steve Tello and Ellen Wetmore hatch the Art-to-Work Incubator, a program designed to train artists in the practical side of making a living with art.

Student Employee of the Year Mary Connell, a sophomore art major from Princeton, helps promote all that Lowell has to offer through her work with the Community Relations office.

This spring, construction begins on a fabrication lab for the Art and Design Department in the basement of Dugan Hall.

Honors students are learning about the hero’s quest in a new film and literature class, A Call to Adventure, and preparing to become the heroes of their own adventurous lives.

The Iranian-born artist is a pioneer in new media who re-created what ISIS destroyed, saw the presidential travel ban up close and returned to the U.S. to reiterate the power of activist art.

The first students in UMass Lowell’s new Master of Public Administration program are getting a crash course in how to manage public and private agencies in the arts and humanities, criminal justice and human services.

UMass Lowell's campus is littered with hidden gems.

The Career & Co-op Center is targeting FAHSS majors with several innovative programs, including Employer-in-Residence days and a one-credit course on career preparation.

The debut of a race of kinetic sculptures from near and far was engineered by UMass Lowell lecturer Michael Roundy. It was a sloppy, kooky and colorful blast, and Roundy says you can count on it returning next fall.

John Cullen, a senior art major, is spending a chunk of his senior year at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a graphic design and video intern.

The Lowell campus has won three UMass Creative Economy grants that will fund educational projects on Southeast Asian folklore and immigrants, environmental history and animation.

More than two dozen people from across the campus community share what’s on their summer reading lists. Their responses run the gamut—with authors ranging from the Dalai Lama to Kurt Vonnegut and topics spanning quantum physics to dieting strategies, and everything in between.

Pouya Afshar, assistant professor of art and design, uses a series of animated stories featuring mythical Iranian hero Rostam to generate discussion about serious issues in Iran.

UMass Lowell is a partner in a dramatic transformation of a troubled alley whose five-year journey was celebrated with an opening June 2.

The work of seven Art and Design students has been selected to appear on an 80-foot multi-screen LED outside the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

As they prepare for commencement, some of our seniors reflect on how they found their place at UMass Lowell and what legacy they’d like to leave behind.

Seven of the 10 student video installations featured in the latest Art on the Marquee exhibit at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center were created by UMass Lowell graphic design students.

Visiting Lecturer Regina Milan’s Design in Motion students created 60-second fundraising motion graphics for Melmark, a school in Andover that treats severely autistic children and teens.

Art students created a mural commissioned by the owner of Drum Hill Ford in Lowell, who was so impressed with the end result, he committed to funding an annual Art Department scholarship.

Assoc. Prof. Stephen Mishol has once again been honored with a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in recognition of his excellence in drawing.

Living-learning communities help students academically and socially, increasing retention and student success.

Distinguished Service Awards, presented at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dinner, go to students, faculty and staff dedicated to social change, service and community engagement.

The recent renovation of Drum Hill Ford is not only giving prospective car buyers a pleasant car-buying experience, but it's also giving UMass Lowell fine arts students a great opportunity to strut their stuff.

New graduate degrees combine specialized knowledge in humanities and sciences with business management, data analysis and leadership skills.

Finnish-born American photographer Arno Minkkinen has been celebrated around the world for his work. Most recently, Minkkinen, a professor of photography at UMass Lowell, was named the 2015 Honored Educator from the Society of Photographic Education for the Northeast Region.

Asst. Prof. Ingrid Hess uses art to educate young people about peace. Her solo exhibit at the Dayton International Peace Museum runs through January 2016.

When Ashley Bolis was a fourth-grader at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Methuen, she started Project Warm & Fuzzy, an annual effort that provides less fortunate folks with new hats, mittens, gloves, scarves and socks during the winter. Fifteen years and an estimated 50,000 articles of clothing later, the UMass Lowell student's mission is still going strong.

Students cycle through all roles in a professional-quality studio designed to prepare them for careers in lighting, design, editing and other roles in the burgeoning digital media workforce.

UMass Lowell’s Department of Art & Design greets the fall semester with E is for Elephants, The Etchings of Edward Gorey, on view Sept. 1-Oct. 16 in the University Gallery.

Artwork by Josh Rondeau, Erin Cahill and Rebecca Dolan was selected for Lowell's Nelson Mandela Overlook.

Guggenheim Fellow Arno Rafael Minkkinen, professor of photography at UMass Lowell, has been recording his own physical intervention in the landscape for decades.

In a celebration attended by Broadway producers, a bestselling novelist and a prize-winning actress, students from FAHSS showcased their work in a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood premiere.

Lecturer Jennifer Cadero-Gillette’s art history class got a gripping look at the unsolved Gardner Museum heist from Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author Stephen Kurkjian.

Assoc. Prof. Ellen Wetmore’s works were selected to be featured in Art on the Marquee in Boston.

Artist-in-Residence Leah Buechley combines her love of both art and engineering with her artwork and educational initiatives.

The work of three UMass Lowell students was selected to appear on the side of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center as part of Art on the Marquee.

The new digital media minor is attracting students quickly, especially with the addition of a professional level TV production studio.

With Commencement approaching, several graduating seniors reflect on their experiences at UMass Lowell, how they've changed and what comes next.

The prestigious Nancy Donahue Endowed Professor of the Arts position has been bestowed on Music Prof. Gena Greher, who plans to use funds to support art education in Lowell.

Alumni have used their University educations to achieve their goals, even if their dreams aren’t what they studied.

Mechanical engineering students set out to bring two pieces of Lowell history back to life with their capstone project: recreating the Lowell Cemetery sphinxes.

Jessica Tawczynski was awarded the first UMass Lowell Painting Award and displayed her work in the first exhibit at the new Lydon Gallery.

Art students visited the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, continuing a partnership between several of the school’s departments.

Creative Economy grants improve the quality of life, making the state a more attractive place to live and work.

Two art students had animation proposals chosen to play on the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center marquee as part of a public art project.

“Sound of Light” featuring work by lecturer Wael Kamal and students Duy Hoang and Lars-Erik Miller hints at the achievements ahead for the artists.

Martha Colburn, one of the art scene’s most celebrated experimental filmmakers, shares hard-won wisdom with students during her Center for Arts & Ideas residency.

“Calculated Chaos: The Art of Blue Q,” the first-ever retrospective of the edgy, savvy graphic design that has helped propel Blue Q to the forefront of gift manufacturers, runs through Oct. 26 at UMass Lowell’s University Gallery on South Campus.

A new minor launching in the fall, Journalism and Media Studies, will pull from several departments to prepare students for modern media careers.

Each year, more graduates are choosing to stay in Lowell after their time at UMass Lowell to work in and improve the city they now call home.

Prof. Arno Minkkinen recently gave his first public lecture in Lowell to share his photography adventures with local artists and arts supporters and expand his classroom to the community.

With spring, new and interesting things tend to emerge. At University Gallery, a new exhibit is in full bloom, a mix of wild, whimsy and woe that spills outdoors onto the South Campus quad.

Established and emerging graphic novelists, three of whom visited campus for an artist talk with students, are featured in a show in the University Gallery.

Four students were rewarded for outstanding work in the 22nd Annual BIG Student Show.

A picture, it's been said, is worth 1000 words. And nowhere is that old axiom more clearly defined than in A Picture's Worth: Contemporary Graphic Novel Artists on view through March 23 at the University Gallery on the University of Massachusetts Lowell South Campus.

The "Dickens in Lowell" project, presented by UMass Lowell and community partners, celebrates Charles Dickens' "transformative" visit to Lowell in 1842 with 75 events and a museum exhibit from March to October of 2012.

Raymond Pettibon, the California artist whose work went from telephone poles to the walls of ritzy New York galleries, is featured in the University Gallery in McGauvran Hall through Feb. 17.

An exhibit of work by 12 Bachelor of Fine Arts students graduating in December features art in many media, including website and skateboard design.

Brenda Atwood Pinardi taught in the University’s art department for 35 years, also serving as chair. She will be honored through two exhibits.

Art Prof. Arno Minkkinen has had his work displayed worldwide. Recently, it appeared in an unlikely – and highly visible - location throughout the Paris Metro system as part of a Finnish Tourist Board campaign.

UMass Lowell strengthened its reputation as a hot-spot for creative economy research in the state when all of its proposals seeking funding from the UMass President's Creative Economy Initiative were approved this spring.

Recycled fashion to photo journalism, graduating seniors gain professional experience and exposure in their exhibit.

Art student Diane Shugrue created an entire wedding party outfit out of plastic as part of the UMass Lowell Student Research Symposium.

The University Gallery is featuring a selection of contemporary artwork from Egypt. The exhibit resulted from a visit to Egypt by a UMass Lowell delegation led by Provost Ahmed Abdelal.

Asst. Art Prof. Jim Jeffers created a video each week for the year 2010.

‘Inter-Glacial Free Trade Agency, an Art Installation,’ opened recently in the University Gallery. The artist kicked off the opening of her exhibit with a lecture.

"UMass Lowell: A Thousand Rivers Run Through It," on exhibit at the Dugan Student Gallery through Oct. 14, represents a cross section of current students and alumni photographers.

Art professors and alumni work to open new contemporary art research center in downtown Lowell called Printer on Prescott.