Tess McRae presents her artwork

Tess McRae, ’21, is a Humanities Scholar majoring in Individualized Studies with a minor in Creative Writing. She serves as Civic Design and Campus Engagement Intern for the Center for Democracy and Civic Life. She was a STRiVE 2020 coach and attended the retreat as a participant in 2018. McRae served previously as the director of communications for UMBC’s Student Government Association, has worked for commonvision, as a peer facilitator for the Introduction to an Honors University program, and the secretary of Retriever Poets. She is the Design Coordinator for TEDxUMBC.

Over the past two years, McRae worked with CDCL director David Hoffman and assistant director Romy Hübler to collect the stories of UMBC student-made spaces to inspire community members to be active in co-creating UMBC. This exhibition and McRae’s digital illustrations reflect the outcomes of those efforts.