Photograph of the Hanover St. Bridge by Dan Schlapbach

Ned Balbo, MFA, affiliate associate professor of writing, and Dan Schlapbach, MFA, fine arts photography professor, have received a 2009 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in poetry and photography, respectively.

A chapbook containing most of Balbo's grant-winning poems, Something Must Happen, will be published by Finishing Line press in October. This is Balbo’s third Maryland Arts Council poetry grant, having previously received grants in 1992 and 2005.

“The poems touched on a variety of themes,” said Balbo. “From January '08’s surprise snow in Baghdad (a respite of tranquility amid so much tragic violence) to the history of Times Square and Long Island's Levittown.”

Schlapbach's Visual Arts: Photography grant was awarded for a series of wet-plate collodion tintype photographs of historic locales in downtown Baltimore. Schlapbach took the photos in summer 2008 with the aid of a Loyola Summer Research grant. This is Schlapbach’s first grant from the Council.

“It is an honor and privilege to be selected for recognition from a group of my peers,” said Schlapbach. “It is also encouraging to know that in this era of instant digital imaging, there is appreciation for slow, methodic antiquated processes.”

Schlapbach also designed the cover to Balbo’s chapbook.