Contact: Thomas Moore
Director of Arts Management
410-455-3370
tmoore@umbc.edu

Gary Kachadourian, a graduate student in UMBC's MFA program in Imaging and Digital Arts (IMDA), has been named a recipient of a 2011 Baker Artist Award, which carries a $25,000 prize. As part of the award, Kachadourian's work will be on display at the Baltimore Museum of Art from September 2 to October 7.

Kachadourian makes drawings and Xeroxed or ink jet printed booklets, prints or posters and occasionally curates small scale multi-artist exhibitions. He often creates pencil drawings of everyday objects and textures (traffic barriers, furniture, dumpsters, etc.) and then generates small and large environments by folding his drawings into 3D models and placing them on or against photocopied and enlarged versions of his drawn surfaces which serve as floors or walls. His works have been exhibited frequently in the Baltimore region and nationally. He worked for the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts for 22 years where he coordinated grant programs, exhibitions for Artscape, the city's mural program and numerous temporary public arts projects.

The William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund established the Baker Artist Awards in 2008 to recognize Baltimore's artists and engage regional, national and international audiences in supporting the artists' work. The program encourages Baltimore area artists working in any creative discipline to register and exhibit their work online at the Baker Artist Awards website. Three artists annually receive awards. In 2009, another UMBC MFA graduate, Hadieh Shafie, was honored with a Baker Artist Award.

Vin Grabill, chair of the Department of Visual Arts, remarked, "Our IMDA program provides a unique opportunity for graduate students to explore new media and methodologies. Established in 1992, the IMDA program equips artists with relevant and engaging media tools to empower them to generate evolutionary artistic solutions. The Baker Artist Awards won by Hadieh and Gary are testament to the effectiveness of the IMDA program in preparing students to develop into successfully practicing artists. We offer our warmest congratulations to Gary for his award and look forward to his continuing success."