Arts for All Fellowship Cohort 2025-26

Adriane Fang, Associate Professor of Dance
Fang and a multidisciplinary team will continue to develop their work DANCExDANCE, an interactive performance piece that involves a robot, a dancer and the audience, which invites participants to consider their relationship with emerging tech like AI and robotics. The team will present it at Oregon State University in January. Watch this video for more on Fang's research →

Sarah Frisof, Associate Professor of Flute
Two commissioned composers will complete works to be performed by four Terp musicians, including Frisof. The musicians will be in residence at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center over three days, performing the works as well as teaching students. They will also produce a professional video recording. 

Jason Kass, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Art 
Kass’ research will explore “appreciative failure,” or the recognition that general audiences often find exhibitions of contemporary artworks challenging and sometimes struggle to appreciate individual works. He will conduct an online study and in situ data collection that asks participants to reflect on their experience with contemporary art works, with the larger goal to ultimately impact how the public understands and interacts with contemporary art. 

Elizabeth Massey, Assistant Clinical Professor with the First-Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE) Program in the Office of Undergraduate Studies
In FIRE’s Music & Social Identity stream, which Massey leads, students conduct original research into music history based on examinations of power structures, individual agency and intersectional social identities, then create research products that are accessible and meaningful to a public audience. Funding will support an ongoing physical exhibit installation, develop a more visible exhibit on campus, fund undergraduate conference presentation and participation, support digital humanities software implementation and support site and graphic design development.

Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner, Assistant Professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Resources will support the growth and development of Meissner’s "Bead, Weave, and Read" workshops at the Indigenous Futures Lab. In Fall 2024, workshops will focus on basket weaving, and in Spring 2025, regalia-making. Funds will support the purchase of necessary supplies and compensate the Indigenous experts who come in to teach and share their knowledge. Watch this video to learn about the Indigenous Futures Lab →

Irina Muresanu, Associate Professor of Violin
Muresanu will expand the development of her “Four Strings Around the World” project, in which her image performing violin works is immersed in various 3D locations around the world in the form of a “virtual concert” accessed by VR headset. She will introduce the project to large audiences at other universities and concert venues and continue the recording of its virtual reality component, which was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Maile Neel, Professor in the Department of Plant Science & Landscape Architecture
Neel, who teaches “The Quest for Color: Science, Culture, History, and Practice of Dyeing Fiber,” will conduct replicated, controlled experiments with natural dyes to test the effectiveness of methods that would reduce the use of tannin and mordant—both which are used in the natural dyeing process—to improve sustainability without sacrificing quality. In addition to publishing at least one peer-reviewed, open-source journal article, she will aim to publish in outlets accessed by non-academic natural dye artists and artisans.

Tim Powell, Assistant Clinical Professor of Saxophone
Powell aims to introduce Maryland youth to diverse composers through classical saxophone repertoire chosen from living composers from a wide variety of backgrounds. He will perform a rotating program at a combination of 8-10 high schools and community colleges in the state throughout the academic year. Watch this video for more about Powell's project →

Andrew Smith, Visiting Assistant Research Professor of Digital Humanities and Digital Studies 
Smith’s interactive arts installation “LiteraryDJ” brings viewers and participants on an immersive journey across African American artistic heritage, weaving together works of computational poetry, natural language processing and hip hop lyrics. Taking both virtual and physical forms, “LiteraryDJ” will strategically expand reach to diverse audiences on campus and beyond. 

Krishnan Vasudevan, Associate Professor in Visual Communication
Vasudevan will use his fellowship to support “Signs of Life,” a feature-length documentary that focuses on the efforts of residents of Curtis Bay, Baltimore, to envision a sustainable future in the wake of generations of industrial exposure. The film builds upon over a decade of ethnographic research and media collaboration with residents and community organizers in Curtis Bay. Vasudevan will present scenes from the film at the 2024 International Visual Sociology Association Conference in Xalapa, Mexico later this year. Watch a sneak peak of Vasudevan's documentary →