Arts for All is pleased to announce the recipients of the most recent cycle of 2025 ArtsAMP grants which support a wide range of faculty and graduate and undergraduate student projects that integrate the arts with other disciplines, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and/or address issues of social justice.
The next round of grants will open in October for undergraduate and graduate students.
Here are the winners:
ArtsAMP Collaborative Student MicroGrants
Yooeun Lee ’26, a computer science and immersive media design double major with a minor in creative writing, will present “After.Live,” an interactive installation exploring digital memory, algorithmic authorship and the lingering presence of online identities. By drawing from social media archives, audiovisual manipulation and real-time audience interaction, this project invites viewers to reflect on authenticity in a digital world where data persists beyond the living.
ArtsAMP Student Impact Grant
Amrutha Alibilli ’27, a neuroscience and Spanish double major with a minor in data science, received funding for the “ARTiculate Narratives Project: Weaving Marginalized Voices into a Tapestry of Hope.” In collaboration with the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Arulchandru School for Children with Neurodisabilities in Tamil Nadu, India, the initiative strives to serve marginalized global artists by alleviating the financial burden of art supplies, promoting artwork online and organizing an international art exhibit at the UMD Stamp Gallery in May 2026.
Jordan Bennet ’26, an information science major, will receive funding on behalf of Haus Magazine, a publication focused on music and subculture in the DMV region. The grant funds will be used to further Haus Magazine’s mission of amplifying independent artists, documenting underground movements and creating a tangible space for creativity in an increasingly digital world.
ArtsAMP Graduate Student Research Grants
Himadri Agarwal, a Ph.D. candidate in English, will develop “In Between,” an interactive, interdisciplinary storytelling project. Rooted in her own experiences, the project combines digital and physical media to explore how migrants craft meaning, belonging and joy. “In Between” also aims to explore the textures of migrant life beyond crisis or fear by merging creative writing, design and digital tools to center personal narrative, sensory memory and participatory engagement.
Jamie Chen a dance M.F.A candidate, will present “hard work doesn’t work,” a dance-based research project inspired by sociologist Erin Cech’s “passion principle,” the Chinese phenomenon 躺平 (Tang Ping) and comedian and author Trevor Noah’s reflections on labor culture. This project will examine the myth of meritocracy and how effort, value and success are constructed across cultural and economic systems.
Felicity Dogbatse, a Ph.D. candidate in communication, will explore the rhetoric of Adinkra symbols within digital home-space-making. In collaboration with local photographers in Ghana, this project aims to develop a web-based structure that integrates visual storytelling, multimedia content and an interactive database of Adinkra symbols to reclaim stories of the past, reconfigure the present and shape a future where African culture and traditions are communicated, preserved and imagined innovatively.
Atiya Dorsey, a Ph.D. candidate in performance studies, will develop “Dark Archiving,” a forum that discusses the ways in which Black performance art is currently being archived in museums across the country and the implications of understanding these processes in relation to the care for other Black art forms, especially Black visual art. Ultimately, this curated discussion aims to demonstrate that understanding art objects through a Black performance theory lens revolutionizes how Black art is archived and displayed, and shapes how we conceptualize the Black American experience.
Jeffery Hampshire, an M.F.A candidate in art, will pilot “OPENSOURCE,” a series of free, artist-led workshops designed to expand access to creative technology in underserved communities. Rooted in the belief that creative technology should be inclusive and widely available, this project will introduce participants at local schools, art centers and makerspaces to digital art processes including 3D modeling, 3D printing and digital image-making.
Amber Chevaughn Johnson, a Ph.D. candidate in urban education, will create a series of mixed media and collage works that center on the stories of Black women’s stewardship of cultural knowledge on the South Carolina Sea Islands during Reconstruction. As an accompaniment to her dissertation work, this project aims to offer a critique on the limits of public archives, honor the humanity of Black women unrepresented in public archives and position the arts as an invaluable part of the research process.
Wednesday (Ha Na) Kim, an M.F.A candidate in studio art, will launch “Summoning.exe: Digital Tattoo Ritual,” an interactive installation transforming forgotten digital memories into tattoos, visually revealing how traces of the past can permeate the present. As a reinterpretation of the Korean folktale of the goblin, this project explores the flow of loss, memory and identity and connects traditional myths with the senses of the digital age.
Christopher Lawrence, an M.A. candidate in documentary journalism, will film his master’s thesis, “Flown from the Nest,” a documentary following incarcerated youth participating in Sound Impact, an outreach program that brings professional musicians into juvenile detention centers to teach and perform. Following participants over three days of the Sound Impact program, this film seeks to preserve the unique art created by the incarcerated youth during this residency, as well as provide an up close and personal look at the state of juvenile justice in the DMV area.
ArtsAMP Faculty Collaborative Grants
Alireza Vaziri, assistant professor of art, and Jonathan David Martin, lecturer in Immersive Media Design, will collaborate on “Future Frames: Exploring AI in Creative Expression.” This exhibition examines the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence, art and design through a dynamic program of visual works, workshops and artist talks that invite audiences to reflect on the creative possibilities and implications of AI.
ArtsAMP Faculty Impact Grants
Max Barnewitz, collegiate fellow in the University Honors program, will launch The Zinemobile, a mobile zine library designed to engage UMD students in sharing and distributing their own zines, comics and DIY print publications. This project will engage students within the Honors College through the Zine Club, as well as any interested UMD organizations, to envision, build and populate the zinemobile.
Jonathan Bisesi, director of percussion in the School of Music, received funding on behalf of the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion to organize “NDCP Live @ 5!,” its first in-person festival of youth and emerging artists. Held June 14-17, 2025, in collaboration with the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, this event included seven percussion masterclasses, four solo and percussion ensembles and a final performance at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. This inaugural event aimed to build a more inclusive percussion community where underrepresented students have access to in-person training and mentorship opportunities.
Jill Bradbury, director of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS), received funding for TDPS to present “A Touch of Slavery” at the Cafritz Theater Oct. 2-5. The play is created and performed by DeafBlind artists and utilizes Protactile, a DeafBlind language communicated through touch. This groundbreaking project will expose the UMD community to a radically different kind of theatrical experience in which audiences will interact directly with the actors, demonstrating how theatrical conventions can be reimagined to serve diverse performers and audiences.
Shannon Collis, associate professor of art, received funding for “Resonant Site,” an immersive audiovisual installation that explores the intersection of industry and environment in Baltimore. Projected onto dimensionally layered screens, this installation immerses viewers in a vivid sensory environment that invites contemplation about how the harbor, industry, neighborhoods and natural areas interconnect.
Josanne Francis, director of steelbands, received funding to support the Pan & STEM Festival. This groundbreaking free and public event will provide an interactive educational platform where students explore acoustics, material science and the historical significance of steelpan while celebrating diverse musical traditions. The event will be held at the University of Maryland and will feature performances, workshops and discussions led by renowned guest artists and educators.
Oliver Gaycken, associate professor of English and affiliate of the Comparative Literature and Cinema and Media Studies programs, will launch the “16mm Time Machine,” a mobile, media arts education experience, in partnership with Greenbelt Cinema. With an aim to reconnect communities with lost media and reignite appreciation for a historic media form, this project will create a series of film shows for K-12 classrooms and also take historic local films back to the communities in which they originated.
Dan Ortiz Leizman, lecturer in art, will expand “SoundForms,” an interactive sculptural project that transforms furniture into vibrational sound instruments. The artist presents these pieces to viewers as spaces for meditation and opportunities for neural plasticity through a disruption of preconceived sensory expectation. “SoundForms” will be activated through live performances and workshops, gallery exhibitions and classroom research integration.
Daune O’Brien, senior lecturer in English, and Daniel Sidman, lecturer in English, will collaborate on the “NeurodiverZine” through two writing courses this fall. Students in the courses will practice using a diverse range of genres common in the professional and civic contexts by composing and designing contributions to the NeurodiverZine—a student-created zine publication centered on sharing disability and neurodivergent experiences through artistic and creative expression.
William Robin, associate professor in musicology, received funding to organize the 10th International Conference on Music and Minimalism. This conference will provide a showcase for scholarship and the performing arts at the University of Maryland, as well as a unique opportunity for experiential, innovative learning across disciplines. The weekend of events will include academic papers, keynote lectures by prominent musicologists and a series of performances of major works of minimalist music presented by students and faculty from the School of Music and TDPS.
Heidi Scott, associate clinical professor in the School of Public Health, received funding to develop a fruit, vegetable and pollinator garden at the University Park Elementary School garden in Hyattsville, Maryland. The outdoor classroom space will be used for hands-on learning about ecology, nutrition and art. UMD students will create a mural for the space and produce a short documentary film about the garden's story.