BALTIMORE - The director of the Walters Art Gallery, Gary Vikan, will speak at UMBC on "Accessing the Sacred in the Art of the Middle Ages," at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 16 in the Faculty/Staff Dining Hall. Vikan is the UMBC Honors College Visiting Scholar for spring 1998 and his lecture is free and open to the public.

Vikan, one of the world's leading scholars, has curated some of the most significant exhibitions at the Walters, including Silver Treasure from Early Byzantium; Holy Image, Holy Space: Icons and Frescoes from Greece; Gates of Mystery: The Art of Holy Russia and African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia. Vikan has participated in conferences around the world and he lectures extensively on a wide range of topics. He was named director of the Walters in 1994 after serving as assistant director for curatorial affairs and curator of medieval art at the gallery for nine years.

Before coming to the Walters, Vikan was senior associate for Byzantine art studies at Dumbarton Oaks, a 19th-century mansion in Washington, D.C. that houses a large collection of pre-Columbian Byzantine art. He is adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and he teaches in the JHU School of Continuing Studies. Vikan received his B.A. from Carleton College and his Ph.D. from Princeton.

Vikan's visit is presented by the UMBC Humanities Forum, a free annual public series that brings nationally and internationally known scholars to discuss contemporary issues in the humanities. The Honors College, UMBC Summer and Winter Programs and the UMBC Special Sessions Policy Committee are sponsors for the event. For more information please call 410-455-3720.