Arts + You
You belong in the arts.
The arts are for all
No matter your major or background, the arts are for you. At Maryland, creativity isn’t limited to a single classroom or stage—it’s woven into every corner of campus. Explore new perspectives, experiment with ideas and find your voice through the arts.
Find creative spaces on campus
From stage to studio to makerspaces, explore where you can create.
Create
Find creative opportunities, resources and communities that inspire.
Arts snapshots
Check out the boundless creativity of UMD students, faculty and staff.
Meet 2025-26 Arts for All Faculty Fellow Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, a poet and associate professor of English.
This fall Bertram launched UMD’s new Studio for Literary Technology through their fellowship funding. The studio focuses on the intersection of AI, language models and computational narratives, through campuswide programming that makes AI literacy accessible to the entire UMD community.
Learn more about Bertram
Did you know?
You can submit your original work in the categories of poetry, music composition, chamber music ensemble, visual art and film as part of the annual Sadat Arts for Justice and Peace Competition. Housed in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the competition encourages students to explore themes of peace and reconciliation. In 2024, Arts for All began its partnership with the Anwar Sadat Chair for Justice and Peace.
Apply for the 2026 competition
Join a steelband ensemble.
Did you know that the School of Music offers two steelband ensembles, welcoming both music majors and non-music majors? Bringing the steelpan traditions of Trinidad and Tobago to UMD, Steelbands Director Josanne Francis Ph.D. ’24 leads the ensembles.
Check out this video to learn more about the steelpan
Harriet Tubman Day
UMD’s Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies commemorates Harriet Tubman Day each year on March 10. The event brings together scholars, artists and activists to celebrate the legacy of Harriet Tubman and frequently features Ernestine “Tina” Wyatt, Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece and a UMD alum. Arts for All is proud to support this important event.
Learn more
Exploring AI in creative expression.
In Fall 2025, the “Future Frames” exhibition examined how the growing presence of AI in our lives affects social, cultural and environmental issues/resolutions and featured posters and videos submitted by UMD students and artists from around the world. An Arts for All ArtsAMP Faculty Collaborative Grant supported the exhibition curated by Alireza Vaziri, assistant professor in the Department of Art, and Jonathan David Martin, lecturer in the College of Information.
Watch the video
Arts+Quantum
Did you know that UMD is a hub for quantum research? We’re proud to support researchers from the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences and the College of Arts and Humanities who are exploring new ways to think about quantum concepts. Check out our early workshop video featuring “Quantum Choreographies,” exploring how dance and the human body can serve as a visual metaphor to communicate quantum principles.
Watch the video
Meet artist and UMD alum Korey Richardson ’16.
As a student, Richardson majored in studio art and even had the opportunity to create a print inspired by legendary artist and UMD art professor David Driskell, whose collection is housed at the campus center bearing his name. Today Richardson works at the Driskell Center and the UMD Art Gallery as their preparator, a role in which he installs and cares for the collections, while building on the inspiration he found as a student.
Learn more about Richardson
Meet Arts for All’s 2025-26 Faculty and Graduate Student Fellows.
Spanning poetry, education, dance, AI, anthropology, music, data science and more, these interdisciplinary researchers are leading the way in creating an arts-informed university.
Learn more about our fellows
Creating community through music.
In 2025, over 50 UMD students, faculty and staff gathered to perform together. The musicians possessed varying levels of skills—and that was exactly the point. The brainchild of cellist Wesley Hornpetrie D.M.A. ’24 and her collaborator, J. Clay Gonzalez, the Regenerate! Orchestra aims to illustrate that music making can be more fun than formal. The performance was presented by the Creative Placemaking minor in partnership with Arts for All, and funded by the J. Guy Lombardo, Jr. Memorial Fund.
Learn more about the experience
Did you know?
In 2024 and 2025, Arts for All commissioned two artists to lead murals at Maryland Day. Visual artist and LGBTQ+ activist Lisa Marie Thalhammer joined guests of all ages to paint a "Love for All" mural in 2024. Painter and ceramicist Hana Ward’s mural offered community members the opportunity to paint and write their intentions in 2025.
Watch a video featuring Ward
