For nearly 20 years, Mr. Burgess has been affiliated with the University of Maryland in several teaching capacities including his stewardship of the Arts program since 2008.  Prior to his appointment as program director, Mr. Burgess was an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre (now the School of Theatre Dance and Performance Studies) where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in lighting design, drafting, drawing for theatre and a number of graduate seminars.  An alum twice over, Mr. Burgess earned his bachelors and Master of Fine Arts from the University of Maryland.

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As a professional theatrical lighting designer based in the Washington and Baltimore region, Mr. Burgess views the multidisciplinary aspect of design as a broader platform from which to engage students in discussion about the ideas and influence of lived experiences that drive the creative process across the spectrum of the arts. Working with as many as eight theatre productions each year, the collaborative and deeply creative elements of the profession informs his personal perspective about art in general and allows him to share those experiences directly with students in the form of occasional field trips to see live performances.  Mr. Burgess's theatrical design credits include productions for Studio Theatre, Round House Theatre, Theatre J, Adventure Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Rep Stage and Olney Theatre Center among others.  He has also designed for The Clarice at UMD, Georgetown University, American University and George Washington University and worked on productions for the Shakespeare Theatre and the Kennedy Center.

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In the spring of 2020, Mr. Burgess received an Independent Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council in recognition of his artistic achievements in lighting.  He is a member of United Scenic Artists, USA Local 829, the representative professional union for theatrical designers and also serves on the arts review panel for the Howard County Arts Council.

Gabrielle Tillenburg is an Ph.D. student in Art History at UMD.  She received her Masters in Art HIstory from UMD in 2022. She has worked as an intern for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and is currently the Curator in Residence at VisArts. She has over five years of experience in arts administration as the Exhibitions Coordinator at Strathmore, a multidisciplinary arts non-profit in Maryland. Her curatorial work spans seven years with exhibitions and installations at Willow Street Gallery, Torpedo Factory, Strathmore, and UMD Gallery among other sites. She worked with Adah Rose Gallery at Pulse Miami, juried the 5th Annual Rehoboth Art League Photography Exhibition, and served as a volunteer critic at various local art critiques and portfolio reviews.  She holds a B.F.A. in Film from the University of Central Florida. Her film, Fantasy Land, exhibited at film festivals throughout the United States and abroad, and her production work was awarded competitive grants from Kodak and the Coup de Coeur at Cannes Film Festival.    

Heather Bremenstuhl joins College Park Scholars with 14 years' experience that spans the disciplinary boundaries of design and social science. Having earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Lehigh University, she worked for more than five years in architectural firms in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. As a designer, she focused on large-scale international public parks—such as New Songdo City Central Park—that reflect the culture and history of the region while highlighting the dynamic and reciprocal influences between art, culture and society. 

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Bremenstuhl subsequently earned a Certificate in Sociology from Northwestern University, and a Master of Arts in Sociology from The University of Arizona. She recently held faculty and administrative roles at Allegany College of Maryland and George Washington University, and aided in the administration of a $31 million evaluation study of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As an educator, Bremenstuhl's courses have explored artistic taste as a form of status marking, the production and consumption of artistic and cultural goods, and the role of culture in identity and social boundary formation. An enthusiastic participant in the Washington arts scene, Bremenstuhl is passionate about the power of the arts as a mechanism for self-expression, community building and social change.