Sept.-Oct. 2013 - Maryland Institute College of Art

Transcription

Sept.-Oct. 2013 - Maryland Institute College of Art
NEWS, EVENTS, & EXHIBITIONS
September–October
’13
MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART
PRESIDENT LAZARUS IV
ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LAZARUS ERA
UP TO THE CHALLENGE
3-D PRINTING TAKES OFF AT MICA
GLOBAL COLLABORATION WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON
CONNECTING COURSEWORK TO THE COMMUNITY
STUDENTS, ALUMNI CREATE CUTTING-EDGE APPS
On Campus
CONGREGATE Art + Faith + Community
STEPHANIE GARMEY: Wetlands
CONSTITUTION DAY
Find up-to-date event details and expanded
information at fyi.mica.edu.
NEWS
SPECIAL SECTION: FRED LAZARUS IV
President Fred Lazarus IV Announces Plans to Retire 4
Highlights of the Lazarus Presidency 6
COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Using Apps to Hack Energy Culture 15
New Program Helps Connect Coursework to the Community 16
Governor and Mayor Visit MICA 21
INNOVATION
Digital Fabrication Studio Looks to the Future 12
Cutting-Edge Smartphone Applications 14
GLOBAL
MA in Social Design Students Tackle Global Challenges 23
Artists Celebrate the Culture of the Caribbean in Their Work 26
CONNECTIONS
Employers Agree on MICA 18
New Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies 28
New Director of Mount Royal School of Art 28
Norman Rockwell Scholars Lead Illustration Class 45
ALUMNI
Peter W. Brooke Creates First Mount Royal School of Art Fellowship 23
Harry T. Pratt: MICA History Maker 24
Alumni Applauded for Film and Entertainment Work 45
(this page) Eugene W. “Bud” Leake Hall, part of the newly renovated Founders Green Residential Complex. Located
along North Avenue, the residence hall serves as home to two new living/learning communities focused on performing
arts and health and wellness. In addition to living space, the building features a performance space, lecture hall, and
expanded studio facilities.
(cover) The faculty commissioned faculty member Paul Moscatt to create this work celebrating President Fred
Lazarus IV’s 10th anniversary at MICA. It hangs in the president’s suite in the Main Building.
(Story, page 4)
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
MICA Venues
Main Building
1300 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Brown Center
1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Fox Building
1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Bunting Center
1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.
The Gateway
1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Dolphin Building
100 Dolphin St.
Jewelry Center at Meadow Mill
3600 Clipper Mill Road
Mount Royal Station
1400 Cathedral St.
Retrospective
Spring Recap
Graduate Studio Center
131 W. North Ave.
9/18
29
Lecture: Kerr Houston
9/24
September
Lecture: Dona Nelson
Through 9/29
Lecture: Julia Denos
Through 9/22
39
Through 9/22
Sabbatical Exhibition
39
9/6–9/25
CONGREGATE Art + Faith +
Community
37
9/9–11/1
Student Exhibitions
44
9/16
Lecture: Matt Bollinger
40
9/17
Constitution Day
40
10/18–11/17
40
Stephanie Garmey:
Wetlands
39
Creative Time Summit
MICA Gallery Hours
42
41
38
MICA PLACE Hours
39
By appointment; contact the
Department of Exhibitions
at 410.225.2280 or
exhibitionsdept@mica.edu
42
Lecture: Chip Kidd
43
Twitter: @mica_news
10/29
10/7
41
Lecture: Jered Sprecher
42
10/9
Lecture: Tim Portlock
Monday through Saturday,
10 am–5 pm
Sunday, noon–5 pm
Closed major holidays
10/28
10/1
Lecture: Sherill Anne Gross
Juried Undergraduate
Exhibition
MICA PLACE
814 N. Collington Ave.
10/25–10/26
October
Lecture: Katherine Bradford
42
10/23–11/24
9/27–10/13
Faculty Exhibition
Lecture: Michelle
Hagewood ’02
41
9/26
Ignite Baltimore
Lecture: Stephen Rosenthal
10/17
41
9/26
Ashe to Amen: African Americans
and Biblical Imagery
36
Foundation Exhibition
10/15
41
facebook.com/mica.edu
41
10/10
Lecture: Joann Hill
42
YouTube: MICAmultimedia
LinkedIn: mica.edu/linkedin
mica.edu/googleplus
President: Fred Lazarus IV Vice President of Advancement: Michael Franco, EdD Associate Vice President of Institutional Communications: Cedric Mobley
Editors: Jessica Weglein ’13, Libby Zay, Lorri Angelloz Contributing Editors: Imani Carter, Claire Cianos, Tamara Holmes
Designers: Mike Weikert ’05 and Becky Slogeris ’11 ’12
Thank you for your support of MICA and its programs! MICA’s exhibitions and public programs receive generous support from the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Special Programs
Endowment; the Amalie Rothschild ’34 Residency Program Endowment; The Rouse Company Endowment; the Richard Kalter Endowment; the Wm. O. Steinmetz ’50 Designer in Residence
Endowment; the Rosetta, Samson, and Sadie B. Feldman Endowment; the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive;
and the generous contributors to MICA’s Annual Fund. BBOX—Betty • Bill • Black Box—is named for Betty Cooke ’46 and Bill Steinmetz ’50.
Although every effort is made to ensure the completeness and accuracy of Juxtapositions, information does change. We suggest you confirm event details by checking MICA’s website at
mica.edu, where you will also find driving directions and a campus map. Events and exhibitions are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. To request disability accommodations,
call 410-225-2416 or email events@mica.edu. For more information, to adjust your subscription options, or to submit story ideas or comments, email news@mica.edu or call 410-225-2300.
© 2013 Maryland Institute College of Art
04
SPECIAL SECTION
President Fred Lazarus IV
Announces Plans to Retire
After a historic career spanning more than 34 years, President Fred
Lazarus IV announced his retirement this past spring. During his time at MICA,
Lazarus repositioned the school from a small, regionally known art school
comprised largely of students from Maryland to a high ranking, internationally
recognized trailblazer with students from 57 countries and all 50 states. Since
he began his role in 1978, MICA’s enrollment has more than doubled, the size
of the campus has increased more than tenfold, the endowment has grown
over 70 times, three research centers have been created, and more than a dozen
undergraduate and graduate academic programs have been added. Today, MICA’s
MFA graduate programs are ranked in the top 10 nationally by U.S. News &
World Report. Parade magazine recently promoted MICA’s undergraduate studio
arts programs as one of the top two nationwide, and Graphic Design USA named
the institution one of the top 20 design schools.
As the College prepares to celebrate his legacy, Juxtapositions looks at a
few of the many highlights of the Lazarus presidency. For more, visit
mica.edu/lazarus.
SPECIAL SECTION
Reactions to President Lazarus’ Retirement
“Fred Lazarus has long been a tireless advocate to advance art and design
education, revitalize our communities, and raise awareness about the
importance of culture in the lives of every Marylander. ... His leadership
has not only helped empower countless cultural organizations, but also
strengthened the state’s colleges, arts education in K–12 schools, and even the
economy through the thousands of visitors who attend the annual Artscape
festival. Because of Fred’s legacy, I know that MICA will continue to attract
the most creative students to Maryland to learn and eventually become key
members of the innovative workforce that makes Maryland unique.”
—Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley
“Under the leadership of Fred Lazarus, MICA has become a strong
anchor institution, helping to spur new growth and development in the
neighborhoods surrounding the college. MICA graduates enhance the
diversity of our thriving arts and culture community. They are committed
to improving the quality of life for others in Baltimore—in fact, many of
our most prominent urban farming initiatives were spearheaded by MICA
graduates. These efforts are emblematic of Fred Lazarus’ guiding principles as
leader of this great institution.”
—Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
“Under Fred Lazarus MICA has set and maintained an extraordinarily
high standard for post secondary art and design education nationally and
internationally. Its forward edge programs and exceptional faculty and
students have made it a clear thought leader and that in turn has raised the
quality of education at many other institutions.”
—Tom Manley, president of Pacific Northwest College of Art and
vice chair of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and
Design
“As a mainstay of this city, Fred Lazarus has encouraged, cajoled, and
inspired colleagues within MICA and across Baltimore to work harder,
dream bigger, and envision a brighter and more vibrant community. He
has been a creative and energetic partner in many of Johns Hopkins’
community-focused efforts, and his leadership has catalyzed the kind of
lasting change that will benefit all of us for years to come. Very simply, this
city is better for Fred’s presence.”
—Ronald J. Daniels, president of The Johns Hopkins University
05
06
SPECIAL SECTION
Highlights of the Lazarus Presidency
(left to right) Jonna Lazarus and Fred Lazarus IV, Board Chair Eleanor Hutzler,
and President Emeritus Eugene “Bud” Leake at Lazarus’ inauguration.
A crowd gathers outside Mount Royal Station during Artscape.
October 26, 1978
July 11, 1982
Lazarus is inaugurated as MICA’s fourth
president and 18th leader.
At Lazarus’ urging, the first Artscape is anchored
on MICA’s campus. The annual event has become
the nation’s largest free arts festival.
September 21, 1980
The Fox Building is dedicated.
(left to right) Hazel Fox, Al Decker, Governor Harry Hughes, and Fred Lazarus IV cut a
ribbon opening the Fox Building, named for Charles James Fox 1884.
1985
The Ford Foundation Fellowship Program is
launched, an initiative led by Lazarus that
increased the number of minority graduate
students at MICA by 280 percent.
(left to right) Graduate Dean Emerita and Founding Director of
MICA’s Center for Race and Culture Leslie King-Hammond, PhD;
Fred Lazarus IV; Ford Fellow Tom Miller ’67 ’87; and faculty member
Robert Colescott.
SPECIAL SECTION
George L. Bunting Jr. (center) and his sons outside Bunting Center.
MICA students pose for a picture while taking part in a study abroad program.
Spring 1998
Summer 1990
Bunting Center, which increases academic space
20 percent, is opened. The building is named in
honor of long-serving trustee George L. Bunting Jr.
First summer study abroad programs established (in
Italy, Greece, and Canada).
1992
1996
The Commons, the first student
residence built by MICA, opens and the
Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Career
Development is established.
Lazarus helps found Americans for the Arts
and becomes its first board chairman.
Fred Lazarus IV leads the audience in a recent toast to Americans for the Arts
in the Brown Center.
Students socialize outside The Commons.
07
08
SPECIAL SECTION
Trustee George L. Bunting Jr.
July 27, 2011
(left to right) Fred Lazarus IV and President Emeritus
Eugene “Bud” Leake.
One of Baltimore magazine’s
“Top 25 Moments that Shook
Baltimore,” MICA announced
its largest gift, a $10 million
endowment, from George L.
Bunting Jr. and his wife, Anne, to
support graduate education.
Fireworks blaze at the dedication of the Brown Center.
2000
As the College celebrated its
175th anniversary, the Plan for
the 21st Century was adopted,
which mandated steps to make
MICA the preeminent art college
in the nation.
October 17, 2003
The Brown Center, named for Eddie and
Sylvia Brown, is dedicated. Architectural
Record called it the “finest modern
building erected in Baltimore or
Washington…since 1978.”
August 24, 2008
The Gateway student residence opens and
is presented with the American Institute of
Architects’ Honor Award for Excellence in Design
the following year.
2008
The Office of Research is established,
and MICA appoints the first senior
academic position for research at an
art college.
The Gateway marks the intersection of MICA’s main campus and the Station North Arts &
Entertainment District.
MICA’s first Vice Provost for Research
Gunalan Nadarajan.
SPECIAL SECTION
09
Honoring the
Lazarus Legacy
A mockup of the Baltimore Design School. (Courtesy Ziger/Snead Architects)
2011
Lazarus co-founds Baltimore Design School and serves as
vice-chair of the board.
September 2012
Ground is broken on Eugene “Bud” Leake Hall in
what is now the newly renovated Founders Green
Residential Complex.
October 21, 2012
MICA officially reopens its Graduate
Studio Center on North Avenue after an
$18 million renovation.
In response to the April 2013
announcement by President Fred
Lazarus IV of his plan to retire next year, the
College’s Board of Trustees has established
Honoring the Legacy, a yearlong series of
activities and initiatives to recognize his
outstanding leadership of more than 34 years
in transforming MICA into an international
leader in art and design higher education. This
trustee–led program will involve not only the
MICA family but also the greater Baltimore
community, as well as many national
arts, cultural, education, and community
development organizations where Lazarus has
also had a major impact throughout his career.
In addition to a range of celebratory events
and tributes, a key element of the overall plan
will be a comprehensive fundraising effort.
Under the title The Legacy Fund Campaign,
the effort will be focused on three areas that
have been a priority to President and Mrs.
Lazarus: Access—ensuring that talented
students of today and tomorrow can achieve
their dream of a MICA education regardless
of their own financial circumstances;
Graduate Programs and Facilities—securing
the resources to sustain the stature of MICA’s
graduate programs and seize new academic
opportunities; and Community—enhancing
MICA’s many community engagement
programs in Baltimore and beyond.
For more information on supporting
The Legacy Fund Campaign, visit
mica.edu/give.
Breaking ground at Eugene “Bud” Leake Hall.
Fred Lazarus IV outside the Graduate Studio Center.
10
SPECIAL SECTION
FRED LAZARUS IV’S TENURE BY THE NUMBERS
Endowment
Full-Time
Enrollment
$1,000,000
$72,000,000
1978
2012
900
2033
1977–1978 Academic Year
Fall 2012
Faculty
96
408
1977–1978 Academic Year
2011–2012 Academic Year
Annual Fund
Size of Campus
(square feet)
Number of
Undergraduate
and Graduate
Programs
$124,000
$2,500,000
1978
2012
138,000
1,000,000
1977–1978 Academic Year
2013
18
34
1977–1978 Academic Year
2013
7100%
increase
126%
increase
278%
increase
1912%
increase
693%
increase
89%
increase
?
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For the most up-to-date information and
additional news, events, and exhibitions
as well as videos, photos, artwork, and
interactive features, visit:
fyi.mica.edu
12
INNOVATION
Andy Ta, a technician in the Digital Fabrication Studio, demonstrates how objects are taken from a digital file and turned into a 3-D work of art, as demonstrated by the sculptures on the table in front of him.
Digital Fabrication Studio Looks to the Future
The advent of 3-D printing, a technology that uses digital data to make practically any shape, has fired up the public’s
imagination. President Barack Obama mentioned it in his most recent State of the Union address, and the European Space
Agency talks about using the technology to build a base on the moon. From simple plastic toys to controversial applications such
as plastic guns, it seems as though nearly anything can be 3-D printed. It is perhaps the most transformative technology in the
world, and artists and designers at MICA have it right at their fingertips.
As technologies such as 3-D printing have become increasingly
popular, MICA has stayed on the cusp of the technological
revolution. One of the most dynamic hubs of activity at
MICA is the Digital Fabrication Studio, a facility housing 3-D
printers, milling machines, laser cutters, a computer lab, and
additional tools for creating interactive electronics, located in
Mount Royal Station.
“We’re committed to hands-on learning, as well as to
creative applications of these new technologies,” said Ryan
Hoover ’06 (Mount Royal School of Art), the director of
fabrication studios who also teaches in the Interdisciplinary
Sculpture and Environmental Design departments.
Just a few years ago, processes that could take a digital
file and turn it into an actual object were difficult to use and
prohibitively expensive. Tools and work flows were designed
for conventional mass-production manufacturing, and not
relevant or accessible for most artists and designers—but
now, inexpensively transforming design ideas into concrete
reality can take just a matter of hours. At MICA, objects can
be printed out of photopolymers, plastics, or a powder-based
material similar to plaster.
MICA students and faculty members across all disciplines
embrace these tools and technologies to create innovative works
of art. Most of these projects start either with the studio’s 3-D
scanners, which can be used to replicate or modify already
made objects, or in the studio’s computer lab, where computeraided drafting takes place. Trained technicians on staff
demonstrate how to use the technologies, while also ensuring
the lab remains a safe working environment.
One artist who could often be found in the Digital
Fabrication Studio during her undergraduate studies was
Karine Sarkissian ’13 (environmental design), who utilized the
technologies for her thesis project.
INNOVATION
(clockwise from top left) Michael Petrick ’13 (animation) creates work using the Digital Fabrication Studio’s laser cutter; Ryan Hoover ’06 (Mount Royal School of Art), director of fabrication studios, instructs
Sharon Kong ’13 (Social Design) on how to use a CNC router; Taryn Delinsky ’13 (environmental design) puts together a piece of work created using the CNC router.
“The exposure we have to the machines—especially in an
educational institution—is so great,” Sarkissian said.
“I loved the variety of things I could make with the
machines,” she explained, noting that she used a variety of
machines to cut into clear acrylic and engrave detailed designs
on paper for her thesis.
The experience paid off in a big way when she was
offered a job at an architectural firm after graduation. There,
she’ll continue to work with 3-D software, CNC routers, and
3-D printers.
“It should be exciting as this is a relatively new technology
that is booming everywhere. MICA students really have an
advantage knowing so much so early in the evolution of 3-D
printing,” she added.
To ensure students have access to the technologies after
graduation, the studio has conducted weekend workshops led
by the studio technician, Andy Ta, in which participants build
3-D printers of their own. Amazingly, well-functioning printers
can be created out of some basic materials from a hardware
store and online, as long as the maker also has access to a 3-D
printer that can produce a few specialized parts.
For Hoover, this process of replication and recreation is
symbolic of the ethos of sharing prevalent in the 3-D printing
community, in which many people believe everyone should
have access to a product’s design or blueprint.
“We are actively engaged in research and development to
advance these fields, particularly in the realm of 3-D printing,”
Hoover said. “We recognize that we must build upon and
spread access to and knowledge of these tools.”
The result is that everyone who passes through the
studio—including students, faculty, and staff—constantly
learns new things.
“We teach our students to think critically about these
tools, which are reshaping our world physically, socially, and
economically,” Hoover said. “While they are learning technical
skills for their art and design practice, which are currently in
high demand, they are also developing the knowledge to be
thoughtful leaders in these new fields.”
See inside the Digital Fabrication Studio at fyi.mica.edu.
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14
INNOVATION
Zak Crapo ’16 (graphic design, interdisciplinary sculpture) and Jordan Bradley ’16 (interaction design & art) created the Sendasock app when they were freshmen at MICA.
Cutting-Edge Smartphone Applications Created
by the MICA Community
As smartphones have become increasingly prevalent, members of the MICA community are at the vanguard, using
their talents to create mobile applications, commonly known as “apps.”
Emily Ragle ’12 (graphic design) has contributed to apps
for the Food Network, National Geographic, Fast Company,
the Royal Irish Academy, and more. She works for Joe Zeff
Design, a firm in New Jersey that designs and develops apps for
publishers, corporations, agencies, and institutions. Her role
includes everything from coding and design to copyediting and
bug testing.
“It’s been exciting to be involved in such important
projects within a short period after graduating from MICA,”
she said. “The College taught me how to collaborate, which is
absolutely essential to the success of our studio.”
Out of all of these projects, Ragle said the Food Network
Favorites app is the one she uses at home most often.
“I’m a foodie and I love to cook, so looking at beautiful
food photography and having access to great recipes are just a
couple of the perks of working on the app, but I think all the
apps are interesting in their own way,” she said.
Ragle isn’t the only recent graduate to dive into the world
of smartphone software. Another group of alumni and their
friends—including Andy Mangold ’11 (graphic design) and
Anthony Mattox ’11 (interaction design & art)—started
Friends of the Web, a Baltimore-based company specializing in
building websites and smartphone applications, including the
newly designed Wikiweb.
“Wikiweb started as an art piece and programming project
of Anthony’s,” Mangold said. “It was originally web-based and
very simple.”
The application allows users to read Wikipedia and
visualize the relationship between articles. It also helps users
discover new articles through unexpected connections.
“We take a normally hidden layer of Wikipedia and turn
it into the primary means of navigation, so as you’re reading
and exploring you’re also creating a miniature map of a specific
corner of human knowledge,” he said.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
While some applications are meant for learning or to
increase productivity, other apps are just for fun. In the past
four years, during which Charles J. Carr ’07 (graphic design)
has worked at Nickelodeon in New York, he has enjoyed
creating a variety of apps that support the company’s television
programming, including SpongeBob Diner Dash, iCarly Sam’s
Remote, The Last Airbender, and Nick Jr.’s A-Z with Moose
and Zee.
Carr also has a pet project of his own, Z - HEAD, an
app he developed with help from his girlfriend, Allison Choi
Braun ’07 (fiber), who assisted with background art. The game
asks users to take care of a zombie head, an undead companion
that will ask to be fed brains but will never die, but instead
deteriorates (as zombies do).
Users can tap anywhere on the screen to trigger a variety
of reactions from the zombie head. “If you tap the nose, for
example, you might get a sneeze or a sniff, or a sneeze followed
by the zombie licking the glass in front of him. Tap the mouth,
and you might get a kissy face or the zombie might stick its
tongue out at you,” Carr said.
Students have also found themselves creating amusing
apps. When they were freshmen, Jordan Bradley ’16
(interaction design & art) and Zak Crapo ’16 (graphic
design, interdisciplinary sculpture) worked together to create
Sendasock, an app that lets others know when you want
privacy in your dorm or apartment.
“We designed Sendasock specifically for college students
and young adults who live together,” Bradley said. “While
sharing living space, for the first time in some cases, there is
often a strong concern about privacy and how to leverage that
in a healthy relationship with those you live with.”
Here’s how the app works: when a roommate wants some
privacy, he or she uses the app and “sends a sock.” The user’s
roommates will instantly be notified and encouraged to honor
the “quick and discrete request,” as the creators put it.
To download these apps and others created by the
MICA community, visit fyi.mica.edu.
A screenshot of Recess!, the app that won Best in Show at the GOOD Design Hackathon 2013.
Using Apps to Hack Energy Culture
Although some apps take months and even
years to develop, others can come to fruition in a matter
of a day. Last February, MICA hosted the GOOD Design Hackathon
2013, a conference developed by forward-thinking media platform
GOOD Worldwide. This 24-hour challenge asked participants to
design a tool that addresses energy problems and makes a positive
impact on the world. For several of these groups, creating interactive
apps was an innovative solution.
Out of eight teams, which included both MICA students and
members of the public, the Best in Show award went to Kacie Mills
’14 (graphic design and humanistic studies), Katrinna Whiting ’13
(graphic design), and Kevin Zweerink ’15 (graphic design), who
worked with The Johns Hopkins University alumnus Nicholas DePaul
to develop Recess!, a desktop app that alerts users to how much
time they spend on a computer.
“We were interested in making the invisible visible, and we
identified computer use time as an ‘invisible’ cost in people’s daily
lives,” the creators said. The playful app allows users to efficiently manage their time
on the computer by sending reminders like, “Late night, huh? Maybe
time to shut down,” and “Bamboo grows six inches per hour. What
did you do for the last hour?” It also provides analytics, so users and
organizations can become conscious of exactly how much time and
energy they waste.
Also at the GOOD Design Hackathon, Noah Boyle ’14 (graphic
design), Christine Brown ’13 (graphic design), Maria Chimishkyan
’13 (graphic design), and Bryan Connor ’11 (graphic design) won the
People’s Choice Award for What’s On?, an app designed to reduce
the amount of money spent on electricity by informing people of
their energy habits.
“We were inspired to create an app which made the benefits of
conserving energy easily understandable compared to things like an
estimated carbon footprint, which is more abstract and complex to
understand,” Boyle said.
The app collects snapshots that paint a bigger picture of a
person’s energy usage over time. This data is visualized within the
app through graphs and charts and made available to share with
friends via social networks.
“The Hackathon was a great opportunity to work on a
fun project with my friends, and a way for me to start building
something that has significance beyond being a portfolio piece,”
Zweerink said. Since the Hackathon, the group that created Recess!
has started its own design company called Something Dangerous,
which plans to tackle other real-world issues through design.
15
16
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
A tour of Lexington Market, led by Brian Greenan, project coordinator for the Mayor’s Office of Economic & Neighborhood Development.
New Program Helps Connect Coursework
to the Community
MICA is deeply committed to supporting community partnerships providing experiential learning where students
and faculty collaborate with communities to address issues and opportunities. This fall, the Office of Community Engagement
launches a new Community-Based Learning (CBL) program that works proactively with faculty across disciplines to develop and
support course projects that meet the needs of both students and the community.
“The program supports partnerships embedded within the
curriculum that respond strategically to community-identified
issues and opportunities,” Director of Community Engagement
Karen Stults said.
Last spring and summer, the office supported a handful of
pilot programs, including one that worked with the Office of
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
“In essence, these are triangular relationships between
the class, the community partner, and our office, where
everyone is seen as equal contributors,” said Stephen Towns,
the MICA program coordinator who acts as the liaison for
these partnerships.
“We want to promote these partnerships because they
allow students to learn by doing. It’s great professional
development,” he explained. “For the partners, it’s a beneficial
relationship, too: our students bring their groundbreaking ideas
and artistic talents.”
Brian Greenan, project coordinator in the Mayor’s Office
of Economic & Neighborhood Development, was looking
for a way to elevate the licensed street vendors at Lexington
Market, a historically important icon of Baltimore, as part of the
movement to establish the Bromo Tower Arts & Entertainment
District on Baltimore’s west side. He came to MICA’s Office
of Community Engagement and was connected with faculty
member Kyla Fullenwider ’12 (Social Design), who leads the
Design for Change class.
The class aimed to come up with solutions that not
only took into account physical stand improvements, such as
addressing mobility issues and the threat of various weather
conditions, but also created a new brand for the group of street
vendors that elevated their credibility. For students, the project
was a vehicle to learn social design best practices in theory,
methodology, data collection, behavioral economics, design,
and techniques.
Aviva Paley ’13 (painting), who credits the class for
teaching her how to work from the ground up to create positive
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Students stand near one of the rebranded street vendor stands at Lexington Market (Photo by Molly Needelman).
outcomes through design, said the process has gone much
deeper than simply revamping a stand and the vendors’ general
visual identity. “It’s become a much more meaningful process of
building relationships in this community,” she said.
“Part of the aim is to remind the community that these
vendors are a positive asset,” she added. “We want to help
continue to grow vendor culture—it’s what Baltimore is built off
of in that area.”
Student Molly Needelman ’14 (Design Leadership), who
brought a unique point of view to the project as a dual MA and
MBA student at MICA and The Johns Hopkins University, was
impressed by the vendors’ action-oriented business knowledge
and advice. She said the project helped her understand how the
street vendors are passionate and successful entrepreneurs.
“I’m very excited to have done a project that can be
implemented and will impact the city,” Needelman said.
“Sometimes small changes work better than big dramatic ones,
and often designers need to work based on assets available in the
community instead of creating something shiny and new.”
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was also delighted by the
project outcome, which is moving forward to implementation.
“These community development initiatives demonstrate
that the City validates the concerns of property owners, small
business owners, pedestrians, and retailers,” wrote RawlingsBlake in a letter to Stults.
Greenan echoed the mayor’s praise, especially impressed
with the level of trust students garnered with vendors in such
a short period of time. “This is exactly why I contacted MICA.
You’ve come up with exactly what I was hoping for: a solution
that is simple and effective,” said Greenan, who hopes to
continue working with the College on future projects.
Fullenwider expressed her gratitude for the support from
the Office of Community Engagement, with “It’s given me
the capacity and resources to make the project so much
more successful.”
In another CBL pilot, a ceramics class asked groups of
students to “gift” objects to members of the community in
exchange for knowledge or to increase awareness about a
particular issue. For example, one group increased awareness
about pollution in the Chesapeake Bay by creating porcelain
oyster shells, and then distributing the artwork to the
community with packaging that provides facts about the bay and
what one can do to take care of it.
The Office of Community Engagement plans to
support three classes each semester over the course of the
next two years, jointly funded by the Baltimore Community
Foundation, the Charles T. Bauer Foundation, and the
President’s Community Service Fund. Additional funding for
the Lexington Market project was provided by the Downtown
Partnership of Baltimore.
For more information about the Community-Based
Learning program, visit mica.edu/CBL.
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18
CONNECTIONS
Sarah McCann ’08 (MA in Community Arts) is the development director at Baltimore Clayworks.
Employers Agree: MICA Artists and Designers
Are the Cream of the Crop
It’s no secret the MICA community is making its mark around the globe. Many companies and organizations
reap the benefits of the skills and talents of MICA graduates. Juxtapositions spoke with a few of these employers to find out
exactly why they come to MICA to find artists and designers ahead of the game for internships and employment.
CONNECTIONS
The Walters Art Museum’s Family Programs staff, which includes education assistants from MICA.
Inside Mission, a graphic design firm that has hired several MICA students and alumni.
Walters Art Museum
Mission
“Whenever I get a cover letter from a MICA student, I’m excited to read
it,” said John Shields, manager of docent and internship programs for the
Walters Art Museum, a world-class museum, especially in conservation
and research. “The enthusiasm and the skills that MICA students bring are
wonderful.”
Over the years, many MICA students have served as interns, events
assistants, and part-time employees who help out with family programming.
MICA interns have also been able to enhance their art education at Walters
Art Museum, learning firsthand about art education, art conservation, and
curatorial practice.
While some students and alumni have interned and moved on to
different opportunities, others grew a career at the museum. One such
alumna, faculty member Emily Blumenthal ’03 (general fine arts), has
worked there for the past decade.
“I interned at the museum in my senior year, and then my first position
was as the adult programs assistant,” she said. Blumenthal is the manager of
family and community programs. In this role, she oversees efforts to engage
children, as well as the adults who accompany them. “We want to make
their experience within the museum’s permanent collections and galleries
meaningful,” she said.
Blumenthal credits MICA with helping prepare her to excel at the
museum. According to her, the Exhibition Development Seminar created by
MICA Curator-in-Residence George Ciscle was particularly instrumental
because “the hands-on experience was paramount to my ability to function
in a professional setting,” she said. MICA also taught her collaboration
skills, which have helped her work more effectively with others in different
departments of the museum.
The general consensus: the relationship between MICA students and the
museum is a win-win for all involved. The museum gets access to a steady
stream of talent that sees the value in art education while the students get
to spread their wings in a professional museum setting.
“We’re not just looking to enhance someone’s résumé. We’re allowing
them the opportunity to see the diverse opportunities that exist within
museums and within art educational careers,” Blumenthal said.
Some employers understand the value MICA students and alumni bring
because they passed through the College’s halls themselves. This includes
Todd Harvey ’98 (general fine arts), a co-owner of the Baltimore-based
creative agency Mission.
“One of the things that is unique about MICA is that the students aren’t
just technicians when it comes to graphic design,” Harvey said. “There’s such
a heavy emphasis on conceptual thinking and purpose.”
Those skills have led MICA students to excel at Mission, serving in roles
ranging from interns to art directors.
Harvey credits MICA with giving him the confidence to believe that he
could start a company of his own. As one of the 10 founding members of the
H. Lewis Gallery, the gallery that launched a legacy of student-run galleries
at MICA, Harvey learned the value of following through on his creative
ideas. He knows that every intern and employee Mission hires from MICA
shares that same confidence and capability, which is what he looks for when
making hiring decisions.
“Employees must have a willingness to be collaborative and a willingness
to get on with it—not just wait for direction,” Harvey said.
One recent MICA graduate who has grown as a result of his time at
Mission is Calvin Blue ’13 (video). Blue started at Mission as an intern in
2012 and was later hired to do contract work for the company. By the time
Blue left the company, he had a new appreciation for the professionalism
that’s needed for an art career.
While one of his main roles was editing video, he also took part in
meetings with Mission clients, which taught him communication skills
needed to effectively connect with his own clients when doing other
freelance work.
“The internship got me used to the whole office experience and really got
me thinking about how professionals work within a business setting,” Blue
said.
Blue believes he was prepared to work for Mission largely because
of the training he received at MICA, as well as the support of the Joseph
Meyerhoff Center for Career Development, which helped him perfect his
résumé and make valuable professional contacts.
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20
CONNECTIONS
William Niu ’12 (illustration) stands outside of Nickelodeon, where he works as a background designer
for The Legend of Korra.
Dominique Hellgeth ’10 (ceramics) working with students at Baltimore Clayworks, where she has
worked since 2011.
Nickelodeon
Baltimore Clayworks
Eloisa Lopez, production coordinator at Nickelodeon, said the company
values a helpful and positive attitude she often finds in MICA students.
“If you want to excel as an intern here at Nickelodeon, the most
important thing would be to take pride in your work,” Lopez said. “Even
if it is the simplest of tasks, do it with a positive attitude and be attentive
to detail.”
A number of students have interned at Nickelodeon with a range of
duties. Hannah Spitz ’14 (general fine arts) for example, recently interned
for Lopez and assisted the production team with prepping, checking, and
listing materials for artists and video conferences.
“She was a great addition to the team because she knew how to conduct
herself in a very professional and positive manner,” Lopez said. “She was
able to meet with other artists and hear about their beginnings in this
business as well as ask for advice and feedback from them.”
MICA alumni have also taken full-time jobs with Nickelodeon. William
Niu ’12 (illustration) has worked at Nickelodeon in its Burbank, California,
offices since 2012. Niu is a background designer for the television show The
Legend of Korra.
One of his duties is to “make sure all the backgrounds hook up to each
other and are consistent,” he explained.
Niu considers his time at MICA to be instrumental in his ability to adapt
to the professional environment at Nickelodeon and to feel confident he is
equipped to succeed.
“The Illustration Department was very helpful, not only in terms of what
I learned, but I think institutionally MICA is one of the greatest art schools
for my field,” he said.
Niu also said MICA gave him another edge. “I was fortunate enough to
have a class full of like-minded people. We pushed each other and gave each
other information, so a lot of stuff I learned was not only from school, but
also my friends.”
Baltimore Clayworks, a cultural organization dedicated to ceramic arts,
has worked with many MICA students and alumni since it was founded
in 1980.
“One of the things about MICA students is they’re generally self-directed,
and we look for people who want to learn and know what they want to
learn,” said Sarah McCann ’08 (MA in Community Arts), development
director at Baltimore Clayworks. McCann has worked for the organization
since 2009, when she was hired to teach a clay class to homeless families
in a shelter.
Like other MICA alumni, McCann finds Baltimore Clayworks an excellent
training ground for those who have a passion for community arts. Depending
on the time of year, she may find herself doing anything from grant writing
to membership processing to donor cultivation, and her experience at MICA
has helped her be flexible enough to adapt.
As McCann explained, when a student starts MICA’s graduate
Community Arts program, “you hit the ground running.”
“You have the support of the institution to give you feedback and help
you to problem solve,” she said.
Another alumna who has taken the skills she learned at MICA to
Baltimore Clayworks is Dominique Hellgeth ’10 (ceramics). Through
the Community Art Collaborative program, Hellgeth started working at
Baltimore Clayworks a year after finishing at MICA as an AmeriCorps
Community Artist-in-Residence.
“I wanted to work with youth in the city and experience joy though craft
and creativity, so Baltimore Clayworks was a natural fit,” Hellgeth said. Her
duties run the gamut: she manages supplies, teaches a class to youths and
teens, creates lesson plans, does video and photo documentation, recruits
new participants, and serves as a liaison for the organization’s partnership
with Jubilee Arts, and more.
Hellgeth believes the skills she gained in MICA’s Ceramics Department
prepared her to make a difference at Baltimore Clayworks, and she also
thinks Baltimore Clayworks has a lot to offer MICA students and alumni.
“The environment here provides structure and support. All of the staff
are helpful in providing ways to learn and take leadership on different
projects. So it’s really a good experience for folks who want to be in the field
or want to work in the community.”
To learn more about the career successes of MICA
students and alumni, visit mica.edu/careerdevelopment.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
During their visit, Gov. Martin O’Malley and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake help YouthWorks participants working at MICA.
Governor and Mayor Visit MICA’s YouthWorks
Participants
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Baltimore
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake visited MICA in
July to announce a combined $2.8 million in investments to
create over 2,300 summer jobs for local youth through Baltimore
City’s YouthWorks program while visiting with 20 YouthWorks
participants employed by the College this summer.
Baltimore City’s dedicated private sector, including MICA,
contributes significantly to the YouthWorks program. Together,
state, city, and private sector investments in YouthWorks created
over 5,000 jobs for Baltimore City youth this summer at more
than 545 worksites throughout the city.
“There is no progress without jobs. By making better choices
to support initiatives like YouthWorks, our State continues to
expand opportunity and give teens a work experience that will
serve them not just this summer, but on the way to the next step
of their careers,” said O’Malley. “Together with our local partners,
we continue to provide our youth with job opportunities that
will strengthen their skills and prepare our workforce for the 21st
century economy.”
YouthWorks, operated by the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office
of Employment Development, places young people between the
ages of 14 and 21 in six-week summer jobs with private sector,
nonprofit, and city and state government employers throughout
the city, where they develop familiarity with the workplace,
become better prepared to meet employers’ expectations, and gain
exposure to career opportunities in the Baltimore metropolitan
area’s high growth industries.
“MICA’s partnership with YouthWorks is another example
of our longstanding commitment to integrating community
engagement into everything we do,” said MICA President Fred
Lazarus IV. “Like our academic programs, our work with these
fantastic young people emphasizes our belief in the power of
their potential. We are committed to not only helping them
understand the empowering nature of employment, but also
to exposing them to role models and professional development
programming that can help them chart a path to fulfilling careers
and productive citizenship.”
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22
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
In its first year participating as a YouthWorks host site, MICA
serves as a model of an engaged YouthWorks partner. Working
under the jurisdiction of MICA’s Operations Division, the College
directly hired 10 students through Hire One Youth and served as a
YouthWorks worksite for an additional 10.
“Baltimore is grateful for the strong investment by Governor
O’Malley, and the State of Maryland, to help fund our 2013
summer jobs program,” said Rawlings-Blake. “Through our Hire
One Youth initiative, YouthWorks is a worthy example of a publicprivate partnership that results in positive work experiences that
benefit our young people, businesses, and our communities.” Hire
One Youth is an initiative launched by Rawlings-Blake in 2012 to
challenge Baltimore employers to join the City in creating valuable
private sector summer employment opportunities for Baltimore’s
older YouthWorks participants.
During the governor and mayor’s visit, YouthWorks
participant Hakeem Muhammad said, “I appreciate working at
MICA because it has degree programs in which I would like to
study in a field in which I would like to have a career, graphic
design. So, not only am I getting ready for responsibility
through YouthWorks, I’m working at a College in which I have
great interest.”
Tiffani Cooper, who has been a YouthWorks participant
since summer 2007 and has her sights on becoming a hotel owner
said, “Working here at MICA has taught me many different
things as far as life, customer service, and treating people the way
that they want to be treated... Most important is learning about
different cultures and works of art. I’m learning what a world class
institution looks and feels like.”
Previously, YouthWorks co-sponsored and helped support a
MICA MA and MFA in Community Arts summer program
for several years. The program partnered with high school students
to implement youth art programs at several sites each summer
in Baltimore, and some of the high school students ended up
attending the College.
“MICA continues to work hard to lead the integration of
art and design education with community engagement in a way
that enhances Baltimore, and all of Maryland, culturally and
economically,” Chair of the MICA Board of Trustees Fredye
Gross said.
(top to bottom) YouthWorks participant Hakeem Muhammad shares his MICA experiences; Gov. Martin
O’Malley announces investment in youth summer jobs. (Photo by Jim Burger ‘82)
GLOBAL
MA in Social Design students Heejin Suh ’13 (left) and Mira Azarm
’13, along with Jonathan Erwin ’13, were invited to the prestigious
Clinton Global Initiative University conference.
Peter W. Brooke ’87 (Mount Royal School of Art).
Peter W. Brooke Creates First Fellowship for
Mount Royal School of Art
After earning a BFA from a liberal arts college and working in advertising for
three years, Peter W. Brooke ’87 (Mount Royal School of Art) knew he wanted to
paint. He chose to immerse himself in the art world through the Mount Royal School
of Art, the first school he, in his own words, had an “identity connection” with.
“The egalitarian nature of the Mount Royal School of Art was extremely
attractive to me when I was considering graduate programs,” Brooke said. “I was
not interested in an autocratic program with a dominant aesthetic. Rather, I wanted
to work among my peers in relative independence.”
Brooke credits Babe Shapiro, the inaugural director of the Mount Royal School
of Art, with creating a program that accommodates those diverse artistic views
and attitudes, while also giving students the tools to succeed in professional careers
as artists.
After a 12-year teaching career that began while at Mount Royal, Brooke is now
a full-time painter in Vermont. Separated by distance, Brooke says that although
he can’t physically be a part of what goes on at MICA on a day-to-day basis, his
“connections run deep.”
In addition to staying in touch with faculty and administration and serving on
the Alumni Council, giving is one way he has continually remained connected. That
mindset is why he has spearheaded the MICA Community Endowed Fellowship for
the Mount Royal School of Art—the first of its kind for the program.
Brooke created this merit- and need-based fellowship with hopes that MICA
community members will grow an interest in developing and sustaining the
scholarship. The $1,500 award will go to one student each year, and Brooke
encourages the community to become involved by contributing to the open fund.
“A fellowship like this, that aids an individual’s artistic development and is
supported by the whole MICA community, is in keeping with the spirit of the Mount
Royal School of Art,” Brooke said.
This year’s MICA Community Endowed Fellowship for the Mount Royal
School of Art recipient is Allana Clarke ’14, a conceptual artist who was born on
the Caribbean country of Trinidad & Tobago. Clarke often uses materials linked to
her heritage, including hair, sugar, and cocoa butter, in her sculpture and
photography work.
Gifts to the fellowship can be made online at mica.edu/give.
MA in Social Design Students
Tackle Global Challenges
The mission of the Clinton
Global initiative (CGI) is to turn
ideas into action, so when students came
together from more than 80 countries last
April to discuss new ideas for tackling global
challenges, organizers made sure MICA’s MA in
Social Design program was represented. After
an outreach director from CGI noticed a series
of guest posts by Social Design students on
GOOD.is, an online platform for collaboration,
three students were personally invited to CGI
University, a conference hosted by President
Clinton and Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy
Central’s The Colbert Report.
“It wasn’t the typical scenario of applying
and getting accepted,” said Mike Weikert ’05,
director of the MA in Social Design program.
“They called and said, ‘We want your students!’”
CGI University, which was founded in
2007, brings together students and youth
organizations, as well as topic experts and
celebrities, to make strides toward solving global
challenges. The MICA students who attended—
Mira Azarm ’13, Jonathan Erwin ’13, and
Heejin Suh ’13—were able to form partnerships
that will help them further their research and
implement new ideas.
After the conference, Azarm and Erwin
were awarded Robert W. Deutsch Social Design
Fellowships, with Azarm also winning a LAB
(Launch Artists in Baltimore) award to continue
her thesis work with urban farms and lowincome residents in Baltimore.
“I plan to work with these students on ideas
to pitch to the next CGI University to find ways
in which design—specifically social design—can
play a bigger role at future conferences and
events,” Weikert said.
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24
ALUMNI
Harry T. Pratt: MICA History Maker
It was more than a century before America would elect its first African-American president, and no
one in the country knew what the future of race relations would be. As is its tradition, however, MICA walked boldly into that
unknown in 1891, enrolling its first black student, Harry T. Pratt, more than six decades before the Supreme Court of the United
States ordered public schools to desegregate in 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education decision. The courage MICA showed was only
trumped by Pratt’s heroism and the legacy the MICA history maker left in Baltimore and across the country.
When Pratt enrolled at MICA, few institutions not solely
dedicated to African Americans would admit them, especially in
Maryland, which was at the time considered part of the South.
Pratt’s admission was a national controversy and spectacle,
with The New York Times declaring his admission, “a departure
which has never before been attempted in this city.” The writer
implored MICA’s board not to admit him, but they not only
admitted Pratt; they admitted three additional black students
between 1892 and 1895.
Pratt’s time at MICA could not have been easy. More than
100 students withdrew in protest, and by the time he graduated,
the school bent to the pressure and adopted a policy restricting
admission to “reputable white students.” That move put it squarely
in sync with U.S. government policy. About the same time the
Harry T. Pratt from an image of the Presidents of National Negro Business League. (Courtesy the New
York Public Library)
Supreme Court ruled in the Plessy v. Ferguson case that “separate
but equal” facilities for whites and blacks was an acceptable law of
the land.
It is clear, however, that his MICA education empowered Pratt
to assume leadership roles in education, culture, and public policy
throughout his life. Perhaps this was spurred when Pratt won an
Honorable Mention award upon graduating from the Maryland
Institute’s Free-hand Division of the Night School, which included
illustration and the first classes in anatomy and art history, in
1895.
Drawing was not his only talent, however. A noted violinist,
Pratt went on to become an influential music teacher at the city’s
Colored High and Training School. There he served as mentor for
legendary Baltimore music educator and orchestra leader William
Llewellyn Wilson, who in turn taught a young Cab Calloway.
Pratt served as principal of elementary and junior high schools in
Baltimore, eventually becoming one of Frederick Douglass High
School’s longest-serving principals, a tenure that lasted from 1934
to 1945.
As Fredrick Douglass was Baltimore’s only public high school
for African Americans until 1937, Pratt was at the epicenter of
education for blacks in the city. Under Pratt’s leadership, the
school’s graduates included Harry A. Cole, who would become
the first African American ever elected to Maryland’s State Senate
and to serve on the Maryland Court of Appeals (equivalent to
the state’s Supreme Court); and Parren Mitchell, who would
follow in Pratt’s footsteps by becoming the first African American
to graduate from the University of Maryland en route to being
elected as the state’s first African-American congressman and
subsequently founding the Congressional Black Caucus.
Pratt rounded out his influence through commerce. He owned
a dry cleaning business, real estate properties, and the early The
Baltimore Times newspaper. His passion for the empowerment of
African Americans gained him national recognition. A speaker
at venues across the country, Pratt’s writings are part of the
ALUMNI
Library of Congress’ collection. As fourth vice president of the
National Negro Business League, he was a lieutenant of Booker T.
Washington, an iconic advocate for African-American economic
empowerment. Like Washington, Pratt was a fierce believer that
African Americans should use whatever skills they had and start
their own businesses promoting those services.
It is worth noting that history reconciled some of Pratt’s
views. In an 1898 article published in The Baltimore Sun, he
strongly advocated that voters of all races should be educated
enough to form intelligent opinions on the issues that affected
them and suggested that the lack of educational opportunity
for African Americans would make them less-than-ideal voters
for a generation. Pratt was at once frustrated by the condition
of African-American communities and tireless in seeing them
uplifted; critical of educational attainment among blacks and the
leader in advancing it; skeptical of the ability of African Americans
to vote and the educator of those who would change the face of
politics. Cole and Mitchell’s achievements can be seen as validation
of Pratt’s early beliefs and vindication of his demonstrated lifelong
commitment to education for African Americans.
Of course, MICA again began admitting black students
immediately after 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education decision
reversed Plessy (the plaintiff’s lawyer, future Associate Justice of the
United States Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall, graduated from
Frederick Douglas High School while Pratt was a teacher there),
and Pratt remains a MICA history maker whose influence in
Baltimore and around the nation has echoed for decades.
The assistance of the MICA Archives was indispensable in the writing
of this article.
Interested in learning more about the storied
past of MICA and the College’s alumni?
MICA: Making History / Making Art, the College’s
history book, is available for purchase online at
mica.edu/historybook.
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25
26
GLOBAL
Artists Celebrate the Culture of the Caribbean
in Their Work
Whether their roots stretch back to the Caribbean or they’ve found inspiration in the aesthetics and history of
the islands, these MICA artists’ works are undeniably inspired by the culture of the Caribbean.
Rohan Marshall ’99 ’01 (photography, Digital Arts)
After a drastic knee injury sidelined his college basketball career at the University of South Florida,
Rohan Marshall ’99 ’01 (photography, Digital Arts) was urged by his high school career counselor
in the Cayman Islands to pursue his photography talents and apply to MICA.
“Leslie King-Hammond [graduate dean emerita and founding director of MICA’s Center for
Race and Culture] took me under her wing and dubbed me the ‘kid from the Cayman Islands,’”
laughed Rohan, who soon found himself romantically involved with a student co-worker at The
Commons front desk, future wife Erin Marshall ’99 (graphic design).
According to Erin, the first description she heard of Rohan was that he was “one of the good
troublemakers.” In her words, “all I could see was a great smile and a guy who likes to laugh
and enjoy life.”
Although Rohan is certainly someone who takes a lighthearted approach to life, his artwork
deals with serious issues, such as slavery, oppression, and stereotypes.
“Much of the artwork I make focuses on journeys not told from slavery in the Caribbean,”
Rohan explained. “While studying at MICA, I conducted research in the summers in Jamaica,
Barbados, and the Cayman Islands to ensure each photo collage gave a meaningful visual story.”
Fast forward more than a decade, and the Marshalls now find themselves living and working
in the Caribbean. Erin is a web administrator for the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, and
Rohan works as an occupational safety manager for the Cayman Islands government. Both alumni
still create personal works, with Erin carrying on her grandmother’s legacy through quiltmaking
and Rohan continuing to shoot digital photography.
“Most of my creative strides can be seen on Facebook, where I’m consistently asked which
camera I use to take photos,” Rohan said. “I simply reply, ‘My iPhone!’ I guess the skill is in the user
not the equipment. Thanks, MICA.”
Artwork by Rohan Marshall ’99 ’01 (photography, Digital Arts).
Diane Hugé ’13 (Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in
Fine Arts)
Diane Hugé ’13 (Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Fine Arts), Nourriture +
Attachement Affectif / Food + Affective Attachment.
“You have to look deep into my work to see the Caribbean influence,” explained student
Diane Hugé ’13 (Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Fine Art). Born in Martinique and raised in
Guadeloupe, both overseas regions of France in the eastern Caribbean Sea, she became fascinated
with Haitian painting and began to create art.
“I come from a country that is very macho, so my work is very feminist,” she explained, adding
that much of her artwork has a feminine quality that gives off a feeling of nature, including using
elements of the sea and island shapes in her work.
Here in Baltimore, she’s begun incorporating urban found objects in her work, including wires
and other rusty objects. But no matter what materials she uses, her work often bridges several
cultures. For example, in the work pictured, Hugé explains she made a form out of the bottom of
a light bulb, or “da luz” in Spanish, which literally means both “give light” and also “give birth.”
The resulting forms can be seen as both teat- and shell-like sculptures, both objects with feminine
qualities.
Before coming to MICA, Hugé earned two degrees studying Chinese physical therapy and
business and development in France. She believes her studies at the College will help her bridge
those degrees, and she hopes to go on to complete her master’s in Europe.
GLOBAL
Hope Brooks ’83 (art education)
Hope Brooks ’83 (Art Education), Slavery Trilogy (detail), mixed media on
canvas, 44 panels, ea. 45.9 x 45.9 cm, 2012.
Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Hope Brooks ’83 (Art Education) discovered her love for art
at an early age. She even had a drawing in an exhibition hosted by the Royal Drawing Society in
London at the age of six.
“I decided that I wanted to be an artist and that I wanted to attend art school from an early
age, and my parents were very supportive,” explained Brooks, who attended the Edinburgh College
of Art in Scotland after graduating high school. After completing her studies, she returned to
Jamaica in 1968 to join the staff at what is now the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing
Arts, where she rose to the position of vice principal of the college.
But in 1980, Brooks won a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation for graduate study and
applied to MICA on the advice of David Boxer, PhD, the chief curator at the National Gallery of
Jamaica, who had worked closely with Graduate Dean Emerita and Founding Director of MICA’s
Center for Race and Culture Leslie King-Hammond, PhD.
“When I got to Baltimore, I had already spent 20 years as a practicing artist using the natural
landscape of Jamaica as my source for image making,” Brooks said. “Subject matter like the moon,
tree trunks, shells, the sea, and mountains inspired my work, so when I got to MICA—I have to
admit—I was a little dismayed to find myself in a city where tall buildings and concrete pavements
dominated the landscape.”
But as Brooks got to know Baltimore better, she became interested in the beautiful
art nouveau and stained-glass windows she saw in the houses and churches in the area around
the College. During her year in Baltimore, she created a series of 32 paintings and prints of
these windows.
Although she graduated 30 years ago and lives in Jamaica, Brooks has continued her
relationship with MICA. She not only served on the Alumni Council, but also invited several
MICA faculty and staff members to Jamaica for lectures and professional advising, among them
Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost Ray Allen, King-Hammond, the late MICA Chair
Emeritus in Art Education Al Hurwitz ’41, PhD, and former Director of the Mount Royal School of
Art Babe Shapiro. She also brought MICA students to Jamaica for an exchange program that ran
several years until her retirement in 2008.
Today, Brooks continues to paint and exhibit, and also works as a part-time lecturer at the
Edna Manley College and the Mico University College, both in Jamaica.
Raymond Saá ’95 (painting)
“I was brought up with a deep nostalgia for Cuba without me ever having set foot in the country,”
said Raymond Saá ’95 (painting), a Miami, Florida, native whose mother was a refugee from
Matanzas, Cuba. Saá now lives in northern New Jersey, close to New York, where he chairs the art
department at Drew University.
“Like most first-generation Americans, one tries to find a balance between home life and
school life,” he explained. “Home had a different language, food, and music compared with that of
my peers.”
As a young artist, Saá and his friend Michael Loveland ’95 (general fine arts) attended a
summer program at MICA, and both decided the College was the place they wanted to be.
“At MICA, I found a very supportive community of friends and faculty,” Saá said. “Looking
back, these teachers not only helped me to mature as an artist, but as a university teacher myself I
can still call upon their advice, critique, and inspiration when working with my own students.”
Exploring his Cuban heritage in his work seemed like a natural fit for Saá, whose paintings
often deal with cultural and social issues.
“I am very interested in the pattern and layering of tropical patterns,” he explained. “The
juxtaposition of two colors together is certainly influenced by Cuban Miami, which to me is a
rather chaotic mix of people, buildings, foods, colors, and noises that are very influential in my
work—albeit highly abstracted.”
Raymond Saá ’95 (painting), Untitled, oil on canvas, 2013.
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CONNECTIONS
(Photo by Keke Keukelaar)
Gwynne Keathley Joins MICA as
Vice Provost for Research and
Graduate Studies
Gwynne Keathley joined mica this summer
as the new vice
provost for research and graduate studies, replacing Gunalan Nadarajan for a
position that was a first for an art college. Keathley brings to this position 15 years of
experience with extensive knowledge and expertise in the creation of art and design
curricula, as well as the management of educational programs at colleges of art
and design.
“I am looking forward to working with the vibrant community at MICA to
strengthen graduate studies and research and advance the College’s position on the
forefront of art and design education,” Keathley said. “Through transdisciplinary
collaboration and partnerships, we have the opportunity to develop innovative
programs and projects that further explore challenges facing Baltimore and society at
large, and model new forms of creative practice.”
Keathley most recently served as vice provost at Philadelphia University, leading
efforts in university-wide academic and curricular initiatives, support services
supervision, and assessment. From 2008 to 2010, Keathley held the positions of
associate provost and interim provost at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
Prior to Otis, Keathley was associate professor at Parsons The New School for
Design in New York, where she taught project-based courses and served in a number
of capacities, including chair of the Department of Core Studies, which contained
the Foundation and Integrated Design programs. Keathley also has several years of
experience as a professional design practitioner and has worked with a number of
firms and museums.
“I am really pleased to welcome Gwynne Keathley as MICA’s new vice provost
for research and graduate studies,” said Ray Allen, vice president for academic
affairs and provost. “She is a seasoned educator who brings years of experience
developing educational programs in some of our best sister schools. She is a visionary
who believes passionately in the power of art and design to meaningfully address
many of the issues confronting culture today. She is also an imaginative leader who
understands how to enlist the creativity of her colleagues in joint efforts to respond
fully and constructively to the many challenges and opportunities confronting art
and design education today. We all look forward to working with her to continue
enhancing MICA’s long history of excellence in graduate education and deep social
commitment to Baltimore and beyond.”
Keathley holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree in
architecture from Harvard University.
Luca Buvoli Directs Mount
Royal School of Art
Internationally acclaimed
multimedia artist and longtime educator
Luca Buvoli took the reins as the new director
of Mount Royal School of Art this summer.
Buvoli replaced Frances Barth, who retired after
leading the multidisciplinary MFA program for
the past 10 years.
“I am excited that I will be directing such
a dynamic multidisciplinary program at MICA,”
Buvoli said. “I feel that my multifaceted approach
to art production and exhibition, as well as to
teaching and mentoring, is very much in tune
with what has been shaped at the Mount Royal
School of Art. The unique vision of this program
offers an incredible opportunity to foster the
students’ practice and development.”
As an artist, Buvoli exhibited throughout
the United States and internationally in 36
museum and gallery solo exhibitions and
numerous group exhibitions. Additionally, he has
successfully completed nine large public and
museum commissions in Europe and the United
States. Recognition for his artistic achievements
includes the Barnett and Annalee Newman
Foundation award in 2011 and a John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship in
2010.
Buvoli has taught on both the
undergraduate and graduate levels for the past
14 years at a variety of institutions, including
School of Visual Arts in New York, Cleveland
Institute of Art, Rhode Island School of Design,
and Bard College in New York.
“I can think of no one more perfect to
lead MICA’s multidisciplinary master of fine
arts program than Luca Buvoli,” said Ray Allen,
MICA’s vice president for academic affairs and
provost.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Special Section: Spring Recap
spring is an especially exciting time at mica. Each year, students
come back from winter break and gear up for graduation. At the same time,
there is a wide range of exhibitions and programming presented at the College
and throughout Baltimore. In April, the College pushed boundaries of fashion
and design with two distinct events: Ex Tempore, the 20th Annual Benefit
Fashion Show, and R.I.P. V.I.P., an Experimental Fashion Event—both sold out
events. Graduate and undergraduate students presented their thesis work in
the MFA Thesis Exhibitions and Commencement Exhibition, respectively. In
between, there were plenty of student activities, performances, artist lectures,
and art sales.
The following pages offer a snapshot of spring at MICA through work
created by students. To view more images, visit fyi.mica.edu.
Students pose for a picture on the steps in front of the Main Building before Graduate Commencement.
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Week of Fashion
(clockwise from top left) Christy Chong ’14 (general fine arts), My Seoul Inspiration; Mary Raivel,
Balance; Sophia Park ’10 (illustration), Posthuman Body Design: The Future of the Female Form; Jasmine
Cindy ’13 (fiber), GRIP.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
(clockwise from top left) Emily Schubert ’13 (fiber), Kisah Baru Lama: An Old New Story; Meagan Jenigen ’13 (fiber) and Kali Puder ’13 (fiber), Paracosm; Naomi Davidoff ’13 (fiber), Cirque Squelettique; Jordan
Matthews ’13 (fiber), The Uncertainty Principle.
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Commencement Exhibition
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
(clockwise from top left) Artwork by Andrew Power ’13 (graphic design); artwork by Eve Mobley ’13
(illustration); artwork by Amanda Madrigal ’13 (fiber); artwork by Amanda Behrens ’13 (illustration);
artwork by Donna Gabriel ’13 (general fine arts).
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
(clockwise from top left) Artwork by Peter Dear ’13 (printmaking); artwork by Jackie Cadiente ’13 (interdisciplinary sculpture); artwork by Lily Stampfel ’13 (photography); artwork by Morel Doucet ’13 (ceramics).
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MFA Thesis Exhibitions
(clockwise from top left) Artwork by Lisa Perrin ’13 (Illustration Practice); artwork by Kyle Hackett ’13
(LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting); artwork by Seung Beom Cho ’13 (Mount Royal School of Art);
installation by Kelcey Towell ’13 (Graphic Design).
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
(clockwise from top left) Artwork by Steven Dembo ’13 (Photographic & Electronic Media); artwork by
Mira Azarm ’13 (Social Design); artwork by Hye Jin Kim ’13 (Rinehart School of Sculpture).
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EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
William H. Johnson, Jesus and the Three Marys, c. 1939-40, oil on board,
Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Before it closes…
Ashe to Amen: African Americans
and Biblical Imagery
Through Sunday, September 29, Wednesdays-Saturdays, 10 am to
5 pm; Sundays, noon to 5 pm
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History &
Culture: 830 E. Pratt St., Baltimore
Admission: Reginald F. Lewis Museum members, children 6 and
under, and Maryland public school teachers (with ID): free; senior
citizens (65+), youth (age 7 to 17), and students (with ID): $6; general
admission: $8.
The remarkable wealth and breadth of AfricanAmerican artists’ interpretations of Biblical stories and
traditions in historic and contemporary art are the subject
of this traveling exhibition, curated by Leslie KingHammond, PhD, graduate dean emerita and founding
director of MICA’s Center for Race and Culture.
Ashe to Amen is among the first scholarly explorations into
how the Bible has informed the multicultural
African-American community’s evolving artistic
expression. Ashe to Amen features approximately 60
works of art and design by nearly 50 artists from the
19th century through today, including several MICA
artists. For more information on the exhibition, see
the January–March 2013 issue of Juxtapositions or visit
RFLewisMuseum.org.
(top to bottom) Laure Drogoul ’81 (Rinehart School of Sculpture), Eastern Lights, SALVAGE
exhibition, Baltimore Public Works Museum, Baltimore, 2013; Leigh Davis, everything that
ought to have remained, based on the project The Brothers, installation of assemblage of framed
photographs on vacant altar, Church of St. Paul the Apostle, NYC, 2011.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Tiffany Jones, Unidentified photographer 1956, Black series, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 2012.
CONGREGATE Art + Faith + Community
Friday, September 6–Wednesday, September 25
Graduate Studio Center: Sheila & Richard Riggs and Leidy galleries, 131 W. North Ave.
Reception: Friday, September 6, 5–7 pm
ThE MFA in Curatorial Practice Program presents commissioned sculptures, installations, and participatory works created
with five church congregations throughout the Station North Arts & Entertainment District in this exhibition, which explores
creative expressions developed at the intersection of art and spirituality.
CONGREGATE is the outcome of a yearlong dialogue among the curators, artists, and congregations to develop welcoming
spaces that contribute to a more inclusive arts district. The exhibition will showcase a dynamic range of artistic practices, such as
performance, photography, and sculpture, to represent the diverse voices in Station North. Participating artists and congregations
were paired together during residencies from June to August based on shared creative interest and each church’s desire to engage its
congregation through creative expression.
Baltimore artist Laure Drogoul ’81 (Rinehart School of Sculpture) partners with Spiritual Empowerment Center (2129 N.
Charles St.) to explore how spiritual perspectives influence daily life; Leo Hussey, known for his light-based sculpture artworks,
works from the historic architectural space of St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (1900 St. Paul St.); photographer Tiffany
Jones ’12 (photography) tells the stories of the congregants at New Second Missionary Baptist Church (214 E. Lanvale St.); faculty
member Katherine Kavanaugh develops a project detailing the relationships between Station North and the Church of St. Michael
& All Angels (2013 St. Paul St.); and performing artist Bashi Rose engages with youth members of Seventh Metro Church (30 E.
North Ave.). New York artist Leigh Davis, who has a history of working with urban communities, was selected as a roving artist to
create connections between the five partnering congregations.
CONGREGATE is made possible partially through generous support from Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Robinson and the Friends of
the MFA in Curatorial Practice. For public programming details, visit congregatebaltimore.com.
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EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Stephanie Garmey:
Wetlands
Friday, October 18–Sunday, November 17
Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Reception: Friday, November 1, 5–7 pm
In this exhibition, drawing and
general fine arts faculty member
Stephanie Garmey ’83 ’95 (general fine arts,
LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting) will
explore the solitude of travel and place through
nature. The artist will translate the movement,
rhythm, perspective, and time of place by
looking at water, trees, plants, animals, and color.
Several vignettes made using cut paper, drawing,
encaustics, wood, and glass will be exhibited
throughout the gallery. The viewer will walk
through these environments, designed to evoke
subtle and sometimes surprising shifts of moods
and space.
Garmey creates imagery inspired by her
collection of natural objects and materials, as well
as taxidermy animals. Her meditations on nature
use a variety of approaches, including painting,
cut paper, book arts, drawing, installation, and
light. She has received individual artist grants
from the Maryland State Arts Council (2002,
2012) and the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on
Arts & Culture (1990) for her work.
Stephanie Garmey ’83 ’95 (general fine arts, LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting), Tree of Knowledge (detail), paper,
wood, wax.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Installation shot from last year’s Foundation Exhibition.
Foundation Exhibition
Faculty Exhibition
Through Sunday, September 22
Fox Building: Meyerhoff and Fox 2 galleries, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.;
Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Reception: Thursday, September 12, 5–7 pm
Friday, September 27–Sunday, October 13
Fox Building: Decker and Meyerhoff galleries, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.;
Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Reception: Friday, October 4, 5–7 pm
Timed to coincide with the arrival of this year’s
freshmEn, this highly regarded student exhibition features
work produced by current sophomore students during their
foundation year at MICA. This annual exhibition provides a
first glimpse at the work of artists who will be developing their
skills and vision over the next few years in a variety of media.
The faculty exhibition features the work of MICA’s
world-renowned full-time faculty, highlighting their diversity
in content, medium, and style.
Sabbatical Exhibition
Through Sunday, September 22
Fox Building: Decker Gallery, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Reception: Thursday, September 12, 5–7 pm
This annual exhibition features works produced by
a small group of faculty members on sabbaticals during
the previous year. Participating artists include Catherine
Behrent, Sharon Johnson, Benjamin Luzzatto, Fletcher
Mackey, John Penny, Hugh Pocock, and Jamy Sheridan.
Juried Undergraduate Exhibition
Wednesday, October 23–Sunday, November 24
Fox Building: Decker and Meyerhoff galleries, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Reception: Friday, November 1, 5–7 pm
the work in this annual exhibition is a selection of
the best submissions from all four years of undergraduate
students. From hundreds of entries, approximately 100 will
be chosen in a variety of disciplines based on artistic merit,
creativity, and vision.
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EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Matt Bollinger, First Blush, lashe, acrylic, spray paint, and
watercolor on cut and pasted paper, 2012, Nerman Museum of
Contemporary Art.
Matt Bollinger
Monday, September 16, 10 am
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
David Simon. (Photo by Paul Schiraldi)
Constitution Day:
Bars and Stripes Forever:
Inequalities and
Incarceration in America
Tuesday, September 17, 7–9 pm
Brown Center: Falvey Hall, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Tickets: In addition to free tickets distributed in advance to the MICA
community, a limited number of tickets will be available to the general public on
the day of the event.
Baltimore-based author, journalist, and television
writer/producer David Simon will headline Constitution
Day, a free annual symposium recognizing the ratification of the
United States Constitution and the importance of free speech to the
American experience.
This year’s symposium centers on the widely debated topic of
inequalities and incarceration in America. In addition to Simon, a
panel, moderated by WYPR’s The Signal producer Aaron Henkin,
will also include social innovator Susan Burton, who has dedicated
her life to helping formerly incarcerated women re-enter society,
and artist and activist Ashley Hunt, who uses video, photography,
mapping, and writing to engage social movements and investigate
the prison system.
“We are tackling a topic largely ignored that is a real crisis
for many communities in this country,” said Constitution Day
organizer and MICA Chair of Humanistic Studies Firmin
DeBrabander.
Constitution Day is co-sponsored by MICA and the American
Civil Liberties Union of Maryland (ACLU-MD).
Matt Bollinger’s collaged
paintings suggest the self is an
assemblage of feelings, thoughts, and
experiences. Film and literary genres
that inform the visual language of his
work include science fiction, romance,
and horror, as well as online sharing
platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr.
Sponsored by:
LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of
Painting.
Image from a previous Ignite Baltimore.
Ignite Baltimore
Thursday, September 26, 6 pm
Brown Center: Falvey Hall,
1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Sixteen selected artists, technologists,
and personalities take the stage with
the goal of sparking new conversations
and collaborations across cultures and
disciplines. Ignite Baltimore will celebrate
its 12th show this year. To be notified of
event updates or for more information,
visit ignitebaltimore.com.
Sponsored by: School for Professional and
Continuing Studies.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Dona Nelson, The Plain Plane (front detail), cloth and acrylic
mediums and paint on canvas, 2011.
Kerr Houston.
Julia Denos.
Art@Lunch: Kerr Houston, Dona Nelson,
Siting Islamic Art
All About Painting
Lunchtime Lecture:
Julia Denos
Wednesday, September 18, noon
Brown Center: Room 320,
1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Tuesday, September 24, 10 am
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
Thursday, September 26, 12:15 pm
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
Faculty member kerr houston
offers an analysis of major art
museums that have recently reinstalled
their collections of Islamic art. He will
point out the ways in which the physical
juxtapositions of collections suggest and
deny certain possibilities of meaning.
dona nelson employs a physical
approach to large-scale paintings
that can be compared to abstract
expressionism, but her work suggests
landscapes, figures, and architecture. In
addition to being a practicing artist, she
is a professor at Tyler School of Art at
Temple University in Philadelphia.
artisT JULIA DENOS creates a wide
range of work, spanning children’s
books, advertising, and magazine
covers. Clients include Abrams Books,
American Girl, HarperCollins, Random
House, Scholastic, and many more. She
lives and works in Quincy, near Boston.
Sponsored by: Department of Art History,
Theory, and Criticism and the Office of Academic
Services.
Sponsored by:
LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of
Sherill Anne Gross.
Katherine Bradford,
The Golden Age of
Exploration
Lunchtime Lecture:
Sherill Anne Gross
Brooklyn-based abstract painter
Katherine Bradford is on the graduate
faculty at the Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Her work
is in the collections of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and the Brooklyn
Museum in New York, among others.
Sponsored by:
of Painting.
LeRoy E. Hoffberger School
MFA in Illustration Practice.
Painting.
Katherine Bradford, Sargasso (detail), oil on canvas, 2012.
Tuesday, October 1, 10 am
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
Sponsored by:
Monday, October 7, 12:15 pm
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
maryland-based artist Sherill
Anne Gross uses cut paper and layering
to create her illustrations. Her work,
which includes collages, advertisements,
calendars, marketing materials, magazines,
and more, is all done by hand—no
stencils are used.
Sponsored by:
MFA in Illustration Practice.
Tim Portlock, Sundown (detail), special effects software and
archival pigment print, 2011.
Tim Portlock
Wednesday, October 9, 7 pm
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
tim portlock began
experimenting with digital media
platforms in the late 90s. He has since
mastered a variety of tools, including
gaming software to 3-D animation, which
he uses to make art that investigates the
social and economic impact of America’s
rapid de-industrialization.
Sponsored by: Department of Art History,
Theory, and Criticism as part of the fall 2013
colloquium on “Realism.”
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EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Image from a previous Creative Time Summit.
Creative Time Summit
Friday, October 25 and
Saturday, October 26, 10 am–6 pm
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
watch a live stream of this
event, in which artists, architects,
planners, politicians, activists, and
theorists from around the world
will discuss how artistic practices
influence cities.
This year, keynote speakers
include art critic and activist Lucy
Lippard and Rebecca Solnit, a
writer focusing on the environment,
politics, place, and art.
Called “visionary” by The New
York Times, this summit is the only
conference devoted to exploring
the intersection of artmaking
and social justice. Learn more at
micacuratorial.org.
Sponsored by:
MFA in Curatorial
Practice, MFA in Community Arts, MA
in Social Design, Sustainability & Social
Practice Concentration, and Office of
Community Engagement.
Joann Hill.
Stephen Rosenthal, Particulate 101 (detail), oil on canvas, 2012.
Lunchtime Lecture:
Joann Hill
Stephen Rosenthal
Thursday, October 10, 12:15 pm
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
New york-based Joann Hill is
the art director at Disney’s Hyperion
Books. She is always searching for talent,
and during her career she has worked
with top illustrators, including David
Wiesner, John Rocco, Betsy Lewin,
Brandon Dorman, Mary GrandPré, Bob
Shea, and Andrew Glass.
Sponsored by:
MFA in Illustration Practice.
Tuesday, October 15, 10 am
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
Stephen Rosenthal has exhibited
internationally since 1961. He was
mentored by abstract artist Josef Albers,
whose color studies had a huge impact on
art education programs. Rosenthal’s works
are in the collections of the Museum of
Modern Art in New York, the Museum
of Contemporary Art San Diego, and the
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Sponsored by:
LeRoy E. Hoffberger School
of Painting.
Michelle Hagewood ’02 (general fine arts). (Photo by Brian Krista)
Artwork by Jered Sprecher (detail).
Art@Lunch: Michelle
Hagewood ’02
Jered Sprecher
Thursday, October 17, noon
Main Building: Room 110,
1300 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Michelle Hagewood ’02 (general
fine arts) will speak about the
relationship between her artistic practice
and her work as assistant educator for
studio programs at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York.
Sponsored by: Department of Art History,
Theory, and Criticism and the Office of Academic
Services.
Tuesday, October 29, 10 am
Graduate Studio Center: Auditorium,
131 W. North Ave.
Jered Sprecher calls himself “a
hunter and a gatherer” who
constantly incorporates images produced
by the people and cultures around him
into his work. His paintings extract
elements from both the high and low of
visual culture. Sprecher is an associate
professor at the University of Tennessee.
Sponsored by:
Painting.
LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Your support empowers
artists and designers who
will change the world.
Chip Kidd. (Photo by John Madere)
Chip Kidd, man of letters:
Wm. O Steinmetz ’50
Designer-in-Residence Lecture
Monday, October 28, 7 pm
Brown Center: Falvey Hall, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
“To have the opportunity to study at MICA is one of the
biggest blessings in my life. I came from a family with a
single mother and never imagined I would be studying at
such a prestigious art college pursuing what I love. I cannot
thank you enough for helping my family and me pay for
this outstanding education” — Timothy Mahoney ‘15
Bill Woody/Tom Miller ’67, ’87 Scholarship
Join the growing family of MICA donors by
supporting students such as Timothy with
a tax deductible donation. Please return the
enclosed envelope or donate online at:
mica.edu/give
New York-based designer and writer Chip Kidd
has revolutionized the art of American book packaging.
He has worked with Alfred A. Knopf since 1986, and
over the years he has received a National Design Award
from Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New
York. Kidd has authored two novels, The Cheese Monkeys
and The Learners, as well as Batman: Death By Design,
an original graphic novel published by DC Comics and
illustrated by Dave Taylor. He has also authored several
books about comics. Kidd’s newest book, Go: A Kidd’s
Guide to Graphic Design, will be released by Workman
Publishing in October.
The Wm. O. Steinmetz ’50 Designer-in-Residence
program was established to enhance MICA’s design
culture by bringing outstanding practitioners to campus
to share their valuable experiences and perspectives with
students, faculty, and the public. The residency was
created thanks to an endowment fund established by
Steinmetz’s spouse, Betty Cooke ’46 (art education), as
well as gifts from others in honor of him. Steinmetz and
Cooke are active volunteers, donors, and former faculty
members; Steinmetz also serves as a trustee.
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EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
Student Exhibitions
Jiyoon Ahn ’15 (painting)
Beneath a Memory
Monday, September 9–Friday, October 4
Reception: Friday, September 20, 5–7 pm
Gateway: Gallery One
Patrick Schlotterback ’14
(ceramics, fiber)
In Place.
Monday, September 9–Friday, October 4
Reception: Friday, September 20, 6–8 pm
Bunting Center: Student Space Gallery-Pinkard
Scarlett McCalman ’14 (painting)
Afterword
Monday, September 9–Friday, October 4
Reception: Friday, September 20, 6–8 pm
Meyerhoff House: Piano Gallery
Shane Smith ’15 (photography)
Verses
Monday, September 9–Friday, October 4
Reception: Friday, September 20, 5–7 pm
Gateway: Gallery Two
Sara Dittrich ’14
(interdisciplinary sculpture)
Your World is Bigger Than You
Monday, October 7–Friday, November 1
Reception: Friday, October 11, 6–8 pm
Bunting Center: Student Space Gallery-Pinkard
Soumya Dhulekar ’14
(art history)
Cities
Monday, October 7–Friday, November 1
Reception: Friday, October 11, 5–7 pm
Gateway: Gallery One
A. Gray Lamb ’14 (general
fine arts)
Into the Heavens
Monday, October 7–Friday, November 1
Reception: Friday, October 11, 6–8 pm
Meyerhoff House: Piano Gallery
Carolyn Shayte ’14
(interdisciplinary sculpture)
Please Take My Photos
Monday, October 7–Friday, November 1
Reception: Friday, October 11, 5–7 pm
Gateway: Gallery Two
(clockwise from top left) Artwork by Jiyoon Ahn ’15 (painting); artwork by A. Gray Lamb ’14 (general fine arts); artwork by Sara Dittrich ’14
(interdisciplinary sculpture); artwork by Soumya Dhulekar ’14 (art history) (detail); artwork by Shane Smith ’15 (photography); and artwork
by Carolyn Shayte ’14 (interdisciplinary sculpture).
CONNECTIONS
Trustee Reggie Wells ’71 (art education).
Alumni Applauded for Film and
Entertainment Work
Several MICA alumni working in the film and
entertainment industries have recently been
recognized globally for outstanding work, including:
•
Makeup artist and trustee Reggie Wells ’71 (art
education) was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Bronner Bros. ICON Awards for his work in
the beauty, fashion, and entertainment industries.
•
Kit Ho ’10 (animation) worked as production assistant
on Disney’s Paperman, which won an Oscar for Best
Animated Short Film. Paperman was praised for its
integration of traditional and computer animation.
•
Author Mary Gabriel ’84 (general fine arts) won a
Pulitzer Prize in the Biography or Autobiography
category for her book, Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny
Marx and the Birth of a Revolution.
•
Errol Webber Jr. ’08 (video & film arts) was a
cinematographer for the documentary American
Promise, which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury
award for Achievement in Filmmaking at the Sundance
Film Festival.
•
Ean McNamara ’05 ’06 (illustration, Art Education)
assisted in the creation of Oscar-nominated 3-D
stop-motion animation ParaNorman as a production
illustrator.
•
12 O’Clock Boys, a documentary by Lotfy Nathan ’09
(painting), along with many MICA connections, was
screened earlier this year at South by Southwest and the
Maryland Film Festival. Due to its well-regarded debut,
distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories picked
up the film.
Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Norman Rockwell Museum and MFA in Illustration Practice
faculty Stephanie Plunkett takes graduate students to collections and exhibitions as a part of the
program’s course Critical Seminar. Here she and the students visit the Walters Art Museum to get a
private tour and talk on work by Lonnie Sue Johnson from former museum director Gary Vikan. (Photo
by Director of MFA in Illustration Practice Whitney Sherman)
Norman Rockwell Scholars Lead
Illustration Class
“There is an illustration in everyone’s life that has
made a deep impression on them or defined their time,” Director
of MFA in Illustration Practice Whitney Sherman said. It is with
this thought that the program developed the required Critical
Seminar course, in which students weave history and theory into
social, political, and cultural contexts.
And who better to lead a course on the cultural influence of
illustration than two scholars studying one of American culture’s
most celebrated illustrators, Norman Rockwell?
Stephanie Plunkett, deputy director of the Norman Rockwell
Museum, and Joyce K. Schiller, curator at the Rockwell Center
for American Visual Studies, were a perfect fit for the job. This
past school year they taught the class, which led their respective
institutions to publish their students’ essays and exhibitions.
“We are honored to be partnering with MICA to engage
students in thinking critically about the presence and immense
influence of published art in our world,” Plunkett said. “The
base of scholarship relating to the art of illustration that they
are helping to create is exciting and much needed, and we look
forward to our continued conversations.”
Read students’ work on the Rockwell Center for
American Visual Studies’ website at
rockwell-center.org/mica.
45
Agriculture
CURATORIAL
PRACTICE
Art &
Design
AGROECOLOGY
BIOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS
ANIMATION
VIDEO
CERAMICS
SCULPTURE
Fine Arts
The Online Master’s Degree
in Information Visualization
Gain the technical, conceptual, and design skills necessary
to manage complex data through visualization—in a
one-of-a-kind program created for artists and designers
as well as professionals in architecture, health, homeland
security, social networking, and more.
PHOTOGRAPHY
DRAWING
URBAN
PLANNING
FASHION
Architecture
METEOROLOGY
COMMUNITY
ARTS
ILLUSTRATION
ERGONOMICS
GREEN BUILDING
GAME DESIGN
MARITIME
ARCHAEOLOGY
PREHISTORIC
ARCHAEOLOGY
GEOPHYSICS
BOOK MAKING
PRINTMAKING
PRODUCT
DESIGN
INTERACTION
DESIGN
BIOINFOMATICS
GENETICS
Life
Sciences
MACROECONOMICS
Archaeology
BEHAVIORAL
ECONOMICS
Anthropology
EXPERIMENTAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
NEUROSCIENCE
Economics
BIOCHEMISTRY
ETHNOGRAPHY
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
GRAPHIC
DESIGN
Applied Arts
POPULATION
GENETICS
To discover more, visit
mica.edu/visualize.
PAINTING
NEUROECONOMICS
For the most up-to-date information and additional news, events, and exhibitions as well as videos,
photos, artwork, and interactive features, visit Juxtapositions online at fyi.mica.edu.
Johnny Eck. (Courtesy the Johnny Eck Museum in Baltimore)
William Oktavec, originator of Baltimore screen painting, ca. 1950.
Image from a previous MICA Art Market.
The Amazing Johnny Eck
Picture Windows The
Painted Screens of
Baltimore...
MICA Art Market
Friday, December 13–Sunday, March 16
Fox Building: Decker Gallery,
1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Known to most as the “half-boy” from Tod Browning’s
1931 film Freaks, Baltimorean Johnny Eck was much
more than a world-famous sideshow performer
and film star. Born with only a torso, Eck lived a
wonderfully creative life and was a versatile painter,
draftsman, puppeteer, sculptor, and inventor. In
collaboration with the Johnny Eck Museum in
Baltimore, MICA will present the largest ever showing
of the work, collections, and life of this amazing man.
Friday, December 13–Sunday, March 16
Fox Building: Meyerhoff Gallery,
1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.
This year marks the centennial of the tradition of
painting window screens in Baltimore. Maryland
folklorist Elaine Eff, co-founder of the Painted
Screen Society of Baltimore, brings together painted
screens from Victorian America and Europe in this
groundbreaking exhibition.
Wednesday, December 11–Saturday, December 14,
10 am–6 pm
Brown Center: Leidy Atrium and Falvey Hall lobby,
1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
At this festive sale, holiday shoppers and collectors
can discover work by emerging and established artists
just in time for the gift-giving season. Fine art and
handmade objects by 300 students, alumni, faculty,
and staff will be on sale. The event is sponsored by
the MICA Alumni Association, and a portion of the
proceeds goes to scholarships.
Sign up to receive weekly event or monthly news updates at mica.edu/signup.
ESSAY
A Position of Strength
By Fredye Gross, Chair of the MICA Board of Trustees
The word bittersweet perfectly
describes the reaction of MICA’s Board
“Thankfully, Fred
has invested
decades in building
a firm foundation
on which we can
grow.”
of Trustees when President Fred Lazarus IV
announced his retirement. Though one of any
board’s primary responsibilities relates to the
hiring and tenure of a president, I think it is safe
to say that we have been comfortable following
Fred’s lead, both in supercharging MICA’s
international reputation and the College’s
impact on Baltimore itself. Inspired by Fred’s
passion and insistence, we have been far from
a hands-off board and have been engaged and
active supporters of initiatives conceived by the
president, faculty, staff, and students. These
initiatives have not only changed MICA, they
have also reshaped the way the academic world
approaches art and design. We look forward to
continuing that engagement even as we enter
into this evolutionary period.
Fred’s legacy is nothing short of amazing. He
convinced us all—the board, students, faculty,
state elected officials, community leaders, and
the education community—to buy into his
forward-looking vision. He has shown that
building a world-class college cannot simply
be based on progress in one area at one time,
but instead on a series of interconnected steps
implemented over the long term. He has helped
us see how recruiting top students relates
both to retaining a world-class faculty and the
development of studio space, labs, and lecture
and learning facilities. He foresaw the need to
enhance student life in order to be competitive,
which involves creating residential housing
and robust co-curricular programming. He
knew that to attract the most talented students
and instructors, Baltimore itself has to have a
welcoming and progressive environment not
only for the arts and culture, but also with regard
to safety, infrastructure, and quality of life. He
committed himself to growing the College’s
endowment so that students from different
socio-economic backgrounds can more readily
afford to enroll, and to developing relationships
with the people and organizations that have
made the implementation of our ideas possible.
And perhaps most presciently, he demonstrated
how all those things can be accomplished in a
way that uplifts the communities in which the
College operates.
History will show that Fred’s tenure has been
perhaps the most transformative in MICA’s
history—at least since the Great Baltimore Fire
destroyed the College’s original facilities and
precipitated its move to Mount Royal Avenue.
Replacing him is an enormous job, and the board
is committed to ensuring that we conduct an
exhaustive search to find the leader capable of
fulfilling the leadership role and engendering
the trust we have come to expect from our
president. Our process is designed to be inclusive
and transparent. A search committee has been
appointed consisting of seven trustees, three
faculty members, two staff members, and a
student. Alumni are represented among those
individuals. A well-respected international search
firm, Spencer Stuart, has been engaged to help
facilitate the process. In addition, a committee
of trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, students, and
community members is planning a series of
events and initiatives to honor Fred during his
final year as president. As chair of the search
committee, I am looking forward to working
with you as we together launch the next chapter
at MICA.
Thankfully, Fred has invested decades in
building a firm foundation on which we can
grow. We are all indebted to his legacy.
47
Constitution
Day:
Maryland Institute College of Art
1300 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Baltimore, Maryland 21217
Bars and Stripes
Forever:
Inequalities and
Incarceration in
America
Tuesday, September 17, 7–9 pm
Brown Center: Falvey Hall
1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
MICA and the American Civil Liberties Union of
Maryland (ACLU-MD) present a discussion exploring
inequalities in the criminal justice system. Headlined
by author, journalist and television writer David Simon,
the free symposium recognizes the 40th anniversary of
the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright, the ruling
that led to the requirement of legal counsel for individuals
who cannot afford representation.
For more information,
visit fyi.mica.edu
David Simon, the creator of the HBO
television series The Wire, Simon will be one
of this year’s Constitution Day panelists.
(Photo by Paul Schiraldi)