UMass Lowell Student Art Purchasing Program

This initiative is designed to give the broader UMass Lowell community exposure and access to artwork produced by students in the UMass Lowell Art & Design Department. The program entails selection of a number of graduating students’ artwork at the end of each academic year, followed by placement of the art into a permanent collection distributed across campus. Potential locations include lobbies, offices, meeting rooms, exhibition spaces and classroom spaces.
The Student Artwork Purchase Program is intended to expand, enrich and diversify the UMass Lowell artwork holdings and collections. It will reinforce the University’s commitment to the visual arts and demonstrate the value of artwork in enriching our campus environment.  It provides opportunities to promote, motivate, and reward UMass Lowell Art and Design students.

Program Logistics

  • Two or more purchases are made each year.  Students in both studio art and design concentrations qualify. The artwork shall be selected from (but not be limited to) students participating in the BFA art exhibitions.
  • The Committee has the right to not purchase any work, allowing the funds to accumulate for additional purchases the following year.  
  • The Committee may select particularly competent art work by non-art majors or non-seniors.
  • The reward should be presented to students during the opening event of the BFA art show as a cash prize of $500/each. 
  • The program allocates an additional funding for framing and preparation.
  • Art work placement will be managed and assigned by the UMass Lowell Facilities Planning and Project Management offices, in consultation with the selection committee.
  • Selected work from each academic year will be displayed in University Crossing before rotating to other locations on campus when new awards are made.
If you have any questions, please contact Facilities Planning via email: planning@uml.edu.

2018 Selected Student Artwork

Coast to Coast - Student Art Purchasing Program 2018 Selection

Coast To Coast

Brandon Beaudoin

48" x 48" Plexiglas, mixed media assembly

In Coast to Coast, Brandon Beaudoin expresses the intangible nature of family connections and the human bond. Using Plexiglas, light, and space, He creates a visual language of mixed imagery and scale shifts that allows these interpersonal forms to emerge.  

Each Piece was individually laser cut in the shape of family facial profiles: his brother, mother, father, and himself. The land form created by the formation of the facial profiles symbolizes and imaginable island where his family lives cohesively as one, united as tree rings symbolizing growth and connection. The negative cut out surrounding the land form refers to his longing for a united family through separation between layers and space.

The Iron Shell - Student Art Purchasing Program 2018 Selection

The Iron Shell

Armando D. Hopson

10 min 39 sec Animated film

The majority of short animated films by commercial studios have no dialogue or voice overs. Despite their lack of dialogue, animated shorts such as Paperman, LOU, La Luna, and Piper receive high praise from audiences and critics for their ability to tug at viewer's heat strings. Armando Hopson created The Iron Shell as a corresponding investigation of video content driven entirely by nonverbal portrayal of emotions.

The Iron Shell tells the story of the relationship between a two-year-old mining robot named Axel and a baby desert tortoise. Axel is stranded in the desert and separated from his family, able to reunite with them only if he catches a truck that can take him home. During his search, Axel meets a three-legged baby tortoise who is in danger of being eaten by hungry ravens. Axel must decide whether to be reunited with his family or to help the defenseless tortoise.

To emphasize emotional content, Armando amplified the color and intensity of lighting to communicate the overall mood of each scene. Shapes and forms of the characters, along with their positioning and movements, are also carefully constructed to enhance the emotional impact on an audience.

Hollywood Golden Age - Student Art Purchasing Program 2018 Selection

Hollywood Golden Age

Kevin Awino

33.5" x 44" Metal print

Kevin Awino has a passion for clothing design and the use of high fashion in the movie industry, and has interpreted female fashion icons from the Golden Age of Hollywood dating between 1917 and mid-1960s. He has been inspired by the renowned illustrator Megan Hess, and has used a minimal black, red and white palate to simplify his depiction of each actress in her iconic clothing. 

His process involves doing researching on famous actresses in their most fashionable moments, producing sketches of the historic photographs, and refining images using Adobe Illustrator.