UMUC to Host Maryland Artist Joseph Sheppard’s Beast of Burden

University of Maryland University College (UMUC), will welcome Joseph Sheppard, one of Maryland’s best known artists, and his show Beast of Burden to its art gallery. His vivid exhibition examines the notion of work, particularly the conditions of hard, physical and often dangerous occupations. Sheppard applies his talents to condemn exploitation and bring attention to the universal condition of labor and the dignity of the working class.

Beast of Burden will showcase more than 50 of Sheppard’s drawings, paintings and sculptures. The exhibit continues UMUC’s involvement with Beast of Burden since it debuted in Italy in 2005.

Joseph Sheppard was born in Owings Mills, Md., in 1930. From 1948 to 1952, he attended the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where he studied with Jacques Maroger, the former technical director of the Louvre. Throughout his career, Sheppard has received many awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Traveling Fellowship to Europe. He was Artist-in-Residence at Dickinson College from 1955 to 1957 and taught drawing, anatomy and painting at MICA until 1975.

Since 1978, UMUC has proudly shown works from a large collection of international and Maryland artists at the UMUC Inn and Conference Center. The center is located in Adelphi, Maryland, a few miles from the nation’s capital.

Through the years, UMUC’s collection of works by Maryland artists has grown substantially. Today, the UMUC Arts Program has over 1,100 artworks including major collections of Chinese and Japanese art. With dedicated galleries to artists Herman Maril, Gladys Goldstein and Selma Oppenheimer, along with hundreds of Maryland artists, UMUC houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of 20th century Maryland art. Through its ambitious exhibition schedule and its extensive curatorial activities, University of Maryland University College continues to be a prestigious and wide-ranging forum for emerging and established artists.

Inn and Conference Center
Lower Level Gallery
3501 University Blvd E.
Adelphi, Md. 20783

Gallery admission is FREE and open to the public. Reception guests can
RSVP ONLINE, by e-mail, or by calling
301-985-7937.