NEWS, EVENTS, & EXHIBITIONS
Summer
’16
Find up-to-date event details and expanded information at mica.edu/news.
MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART
BUILD CLASS MICA ALUMNI APPLY THIER CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION ACROSS EMERGING MARKETS BUILD A BETTER 3D PRINTER JOHN WATERS: THE KING OF FILTH THE UPSTARTS
On Campus COMMENCEMENT 2016 ART MARKET 2016
CONSTITUTION DAY 2016
NE WS
FAREWELL LETTER
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IN NOVAT ION The Upstarts The Tinkers Building A Better 3D Printer Level Up App-titude
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C OM M U NI T Y & SOCI AL ENG AG EM ENT 16 A Matter Of Fate: Injuries or Inspiration?
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C ON N EC T IONS John Sutton Commencement Exhibition Master Class The King of Filth, John Waters Light City Commencement 2016 Awards & Recognition
Drew Shields, figures from Nekyia, 2016.
Samuel Hoi, President
Designations may follow a person’s name to highlight special affiliations with the College, including:
Debra Rubino ’92, Vice President for Strategic Communications
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Managing Editor: Michael Walley-Rund, Director of Publications and Creative Assets Contributing Editors/Writers: Lorri Angelloz, Kimberly Hallums, Tania Cordes Designer: Andrew Copeland ’13 Additional MICA Communications Support: Justin Codd, Tracy Newman, Brenda McElveen, Bryan Sinagra
Alumnus or student name is followed by year of graduation, program of study, and type of degree, i.e., John Doe ’16 (Painting BFA). Honorary degree recipient name is followed by an “H” and the year the degree was awarded, i.e., Jane Doe H’16. Parent name is followed by a “P” and year of child’s graduation, i.e., John Doe P’16.
Although every effort is made to ensure the completeness and accuracy of Juxtapositions, information does sometimes 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. © 2016 Maryland Institute College of Art
(front cover) Rea Martin ’16, Go Go Flow, 2016 ; (back cover) Jin Choi, Assholes, 2016.
NE WS
9/23 - 10/23
Student Exhibitions
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Foundation Exhibition 8/26-9/18
Sabbatical Exhibition
MICA Venues Main Building 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Neysa Grassi: Foreign Language 39 9/15
Constitution Day 2016 40 9/23-10/16 Faculty Exhibition 40
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Bunting Center 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave. The Gateway 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave. Dolphin Building 100 Dolphin St.
10/21-11/13
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Rusted Eyes
Brown Center 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Fox Building 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.
October
8/30-11/18
LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting Critic in Residence: Alexi Worth
September 9/9-10/2
August 8/19-9/18
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Mount Royal Station 1400 Cathedral St. Fred Lazarus IV Center 131 W. North Ave.
MICA Gallery Hours Monday through Saturday, 10 am–5 pm; Sunday, noon–5 pm Closed major holidays By appointment; contact the Department of Exhibitions at 410.225.2280 or exhibitionsdept@mica.edu
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instagram.com/ mica.made
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Jay Jackson ’16 (MPS in the Business of Art + Design)
UP THE STARTS
MICA ART AND DESIGN ENTREPRENEURS COMPETE FOR $100,000 IN VENTURE FUNDING THROUGH UP/START INITIATIVE
Artists and designers are some of the world’s most creative thinkers. What’s more, they are ambitious risk takers whose imaginations generate an abundance of ideas. It’s no surprise then that a large number of art school graduates—up to 75 percent—go on to become entrepreneurs who launch truly innovative businesses, and many members of the MICA community exemplify this entrepreneurial trend. To help maximize and support these efforts, MICA recently hosted a “Shark Tank”-style venture initiative called the Up/Start Venture Competition—the College’s
first pitch and startup contest for students, graduates, and alumni who are launching or growing businesses. Last spring, eight teams of MICA-related entrepreneurs competed in front of a live audience and a panel of judges made up of some of the city’s most successful business leaders and owners, with up to $100,000 in investment funding awarded to four teams. Audience members chose a $5,000 People’s Choice winner.
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UP/START SHOWCASED SOME OF MICA’S MOST CREATIVE MINDS, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING WINNERS
Julie Buisson ’15 (MBA/MA in Design Leadership)
(left to right) Brendan Choi ’16 (Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA), and Sam Acuff ’15 (General Fine Arts BFA).
TNP STUDIOS
MODERNATURE
TWO BOLTS STUDIOS
Founded by Jay Jackson ’16 (MPS in the Business of Art + Design), along with Micah Payne, Terrence Carpenter, and Jack Rous, TNP Studo received $30,000 in investment funding. TNP Studios, LLC is a media company focused on talk shows that focus primarily on film, gaming, and politics. It provides on-demand programming that aims to entertain as well as inform its audience through engaging and meaningful discussion.
Founded by Julie Buisson ’15 (MBA/MA in Design Leadership) and partner Mark Verdecia, MODERNature received $30,000 in investment funding. MODERNature is a company that specializes in the development of sustainable growing methods for use in cities. They use a mix of human-centered design and biomimicry to create technologically-driven agricultural solutions that are truly ecologically minded.
Founded by Sam Acuff ’15 (General Fine Arts BFA) and Brendan Choi ’16 (Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA), Two Bolts Studios received $25,000 in investment funding. Two Bolts Studios is a small fabricating shop focusing on handmade furniture that incorporates reclaimed materials and industrial design. They want to make handcrafted furniture more accessible and bring work back to artisans and aspiring craftsmen.
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Juansebastian Serrano ’16 (Painting BFA), Renz Balagtas ’14 (General Fine Arts BFA) and Sam Rietenbach ’16 (General Fine Arts BFA)
Jordan Bradley ’16 (Interactive Arts BFA)
JOINT YOUTH MOVEMENT (JYM)
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Founded by Juansebastian Serrano ’16 (Painting BFA), Renz Balagtas ’14 (General Fine Arts BFA), and Sam Rietenbach ’16 (General Fine Arts BFA), Joint Youth Movement received $15,000 in investment funding. JYM’s mission is to positively impact cultural and creative exchange in Baltimore City by uniting and promoting emerging artists and creatives in a professional and fair (equal access) manner, and in a socially conscious way. Their vision is to establish themselves as the curator and retail location of choice for emerging artists and clients in Baltimore and the Mid-Atlantic region.
Founded by Jordan Bradley ’16 (Interactive Arts BFA), Pi received $5,000 in investment funding as the People’s Choice Award winner. Pi is an entirely new kind of visual day planning app for creative people. It helps users set manageable plans for the day, without sacrificing health and wellness.
The Up/Start competition is part of an ongoing College-wide entrepreneurial initiative, which was launched earlier this year after MICA was awarded a threeyear, $600,000 grant from the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation to capitalize on the unique talents of its students and recent graduates.
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THE TINKERERS Max Moore ’13 (Environmental Design).
Alumni from programs across MICA are using their skills to create thriving careers in the expanding field of object and product design. While some are designing traditional threedimensional objects, others are delving into the expanding arena of digital product design. As society continues to merge technology with day-to-day living, their work can increasingly be seen everywhere—in hospitals, museums, gift stores, and online. (right) Intern, Conrad Andrawos ’16 (Architectural Design), being instructed by fellow coworkers
MAX MOORE ’13 (Environmental Design)
EMILY R AGLE ’12 (Graphic Design)
MARK PANCHAM ’13 (Illustration)
POSITION
POSITION
POSITION
PRINCIPAL PRODUCT DESIGNER
DESIGNER
COMPANY
COMPANY
PLATED
THE PETTING ZOO
At Plated—a company that delivers chefdesigned recipes and measured ingredients to subscribers nationwide—the term “product” can be applied to anything their users interact with, from a feature in a mobile app to a physical product such as a recipe card. Emily Ragle, principal product designer at Plated, conducts research and creates digital assets for the company. Recently, when Plated’s business model changed to a subscription service, Ragle was tasked with ensuring that customers who went to plated.com to choose which recipes would be delivered to them found the process as simple as possible. “It was a fun and interesting UX challenge, and I’m very proud of the outcome, as it made a major impact on our users and the business,” Ragle stated.
Mark Pancham, toy designer at the Baltimorebased company The Petting Zoo, says that the fundamental skills he learned in concept illustration—including anatomy and perspective—are necessary for accurate results in his work. “You need a good understanding of drawing and design,” he noted. “For the most part, everything I design will be threedimensional, similar to character designing for certain video games and movies.” Pancham works closely with The Petting Zoo’s leadership and sales team to provide new designs as well as custom products. One of his favorite projects was a new product line he developed independently that features playful, box-shaped sea life and wildlife plush animals; the new products recently launched in gift stores at Sea World and Busch Gardens.
DESIGNER COMPANY
DAVID EDWARD FURNITURE
Behind the unassuming red brick walls of David Edward Furniture’s headquarters, located on a sleepy street near West Baltimore, is a hive of activity. Inside, a number of skilled craftspeople use old-world methods to handcraft high-end, high-quality furniture for clients around the world. Among those in the bustling facility is MICA alumnus Max Moore, one of the designers working in the company’s in-house design studio. “At any given moment, we’re working on a ton of projects,” Moore said. Current projects include work on custom reclining sleep chairs for a Cleveland, Ohio hospital, a slew of sofas for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and an original design that incorporates a system of repeating units to form a table.
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BUILDING A BETTER 3D PRINTER Photos by Nancy Daly ’11 and Christopher Myers ’94
The artist as entrepreneur? It may not be intuitive for many connections but once you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Two MICA graduates, both of whom earned their BFAs in interdisciplinary sculpture, have built a business around developing a better 3D printer. Harrison Tyler ’14 (Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA) and Evan Roche ’14 (Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA) became interested in digital fabrication while students at MICA and created the first prototype as part of their thesis project. Today, Tyler and Roche are serving as MICA’s first Entrepreneurs-In-Residence. As part of their residency, they have created a two-day Buildclass and are teaching MICA community members how to build, program, and repair their own 3D printers. Participants tell Tyler and Roche what they want to print, and the sculptors-turned-engineering experts
INNOVAT ION
help customize the printers to create the desired end result. The duo plans to offer workshops around Baltimore, eventually creating a core group of 3D makers. Tyler and Roche’s company, Jimmi Research, also works with early stage researchers at institutions such as the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to produce customized 3D printers capable of printing objects using biomaterials. “These are game-changing technologies,” says Tyler, “with the potential to change medicine, agriculture, and other critical industries. One goal, for example, is to 3D print an organ one day—using your own cells.” Tyler, who spent his childhood years playing with Legos, Tinker Toys, and K’NEX, channeled his spatial abilities not into science but into sculpting. Making the leap from sculptor to 3D printing expert was simple.
“These are game-changing technologies…with the potential to change medicine, agriculture, and other critical industries. One goal, for example, is to 3D print an organ one day—using your own cells.”
“I don’t come from an engineering or science background,” says Tyler. “But there are so many crossovers between art and design and 3D printing, it felt like a natural transition. As an artist, you have to be thinking entrepreneurially if you want to sustain yourself and continue your practice.”
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LEVEL UP
MICA EXPANDS BFA OFFERINGS WITH PROGRAMS IN PRODUCT DESIGN AND GAME DESIGN
Andrew Shim ‘13 (Animation), The Keyboard.
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altimore’s growing technology startup-driven and entrepreneurship-driven economy, largely comprised of health services, IT, business, and finance sectors, presents an environment ideal for cross-sector partnerships in emerging design fields. In response to these opportunities and to new trends and technologies that have expanded opportunities worldwide, MICA is launching new BFA programs in Product Design and Game Design. Graduates of these programs are expected to be in high demand across a wide variety of industries. The BFA in Product Design is being developed at a time when the power of object design is especially evident. Digital fabrication has revolutionized the possibilities to create and market products that weren’t
even conceivable a few years ago. These same technologies are making designers integral decision leaders in large-scale manufacturing companies. “If you have a smart phone or Fitbit, you understand that these new connections between things and systems are changing the way we live,” noted Alexander Heilner, associate dean of design and media at MICA. “Welltrained designers who are able to work in 3D environments are highly sought after nationally and around the world, and it’s vital that MICA trains students to be at the forefront of shifts in how and why things are made.” The new program in product design will prepare graduates for this evolving future, with students gaining deep knowledge of materials, processes, and thinking essential to user-centered design. All students will learn
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“Game design today means much more than the simple concept behind a game…they can be used in a variety of educational settings, as tools in physical therapy and medicine, and even as instruments of social change.” the fundamentals of small-scale prototyping and production, commercial applications and business strategies, and the social and ethical imperatives that drive many of today’s design challenges. The program will encourage students to tailor their advanced work to specific career goals, while interdisciplinary courses and projects will allow them to collaborate directly with students in other disciplines like graphic design, interactive arts, business, engineering, or experimental fashion, as appropriate. The BFA in Game Design, which expands on the College’s successful concentration in game arts and is housed under the umbrella of the Department of Interactive Arts, will allow students to create and explore the use of games in new and expanding areas. As Jason Corace, director of the new program and creator of the concentration, said, “Game design today means much more than the simple concept behind a game. Games have moved from a means of entertainment into much wider applications—they can be used in a variety of educational settings, as tools in physical therapy and medicine, and even as instruments of social change.” Students in the program will work in a teambased, open lab environment where they will make games from prototype to finished form. As they move through the program, students will be able to concentrate on areas of personal interest, such as art production, programming, narrative, animation, or sound, among other specializations. Because the fundamental nature of game development is multidisciplinary, students will also work closely with other disciplines at MICA,
(top to bottom) Austin Peppel ‘15 (Environmental Design), Beach Canopy; Kevin Pagdon ‘15 (Environmental Design), Shoe.
with faculty drawn from the College’s programs in interactive arts, illustration, and animation. What’s more, Baltimore’s wealth of gaming studios, technology startups, medical centers, educational institutions, and nonprofits gives the program access to a number of external partners for collaborative curricular projects.
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Photos courtesy Anthony Cheng ’14 (Graphic Design).
MICA’s alumni aren’t just excelling in traditional art careers. As new opportunities arise from advances in technology, they are finding that the expertise they gained at the College allows them to take advantage of a shifting career landscape. A number of them are working in the growing field of mobile app development, striking out on their own or working for major industry players as they design and implement digital applications that entertain, educate, provide peace of mind, and more.
Shawn Cook ’14 (Interactive Arts BFA) “My artistic background is actually what separates me from many other programmers that work within the game industry,” said Shawn Cook ’14 (Interactive Arts BFA). “With an arts degree in a technology field, I become multidisciplinary.” Cook, a UX/UI designer at Kung Fu Factory in Los Angeles, is far from a novice. He’s worked on multiple teams at several different studios to develop games for both Android and iOS mobile devices. Two of those projects, DomiNations and Card King: Dragon Wars, were released in 2015 and featured on the App Store’s Editors’ Choice list. His role in both of those projects was that of a UX/UI designer and programmer—in other words, “a tech artist,” he said. Cook also created a mobile game of his own when he was invited to the White House Education Game Jam, where game developers, teachers, researchers, and students gathered to brainstorm ideas for educational software. Cook’s creation, Match Maker, has players look for matches (think Candy Crush and Bejeweled) as a means to help with memorization. The game is still in development and will be released as a fully
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“My professors at MICA enabled me to have constantly changing perspectives on technology and its most effective uses, while digging to the core of engagement—and what makes games truly fun.” Willem Rosenthal ’10 (Illustration BFA) Shawn Cook ’14
fledged tool for teachers, though the release date has not yet been set. “My professors at MICA enabled me to have constantly changing perspectives on technology and its most effective uses, while digging to the core of engagement -- and what makes games truly fun,” he said.
Jackie Littman ’14 (Graphic Design MFA) When Jackie Littman ’14 (Graphic Design MFA) created a storybook app for children as her graduate thesis project at MICA, she had no idea it would make an impact beyond campus. But, The Little Bug was named a top kids’ app of 2014 by USA Today and recognized as a finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards. “I spent a year of my life carefully crafting this experience, but it took on new life when I released it into the wild,” she said. The app uses narrative and digital interactivity to tell the story of a bug who makes friends with other insects in a garden. Teachers can download supplemental activity sheets, while users can dress up their smartphones with wallpaper that features artwork from the app. “The most rewarding thing about creating the app is watching kids read it and play with it,” Littman said. Littman became interested in using digital technologies to tell stories while taking the course Interactive Media and Publishing in her first year of the Graphic Design MFA program. “I wanted to explore unexpected and delightful ways to actively engage readers and encourage curiosity,” she said. Today, Littman works as an interactive designer at the design firm Sosolimited in Boston. “Though my primary role at Sosolimited is design, I regularly work alongside developers,” she said. “Making this app taught me about the entire process of developing a digital product—from concept to code to completion.”
Willem Rosenthal ’10 (Illustration BFA) wasn’t afraid when he decided to leave his fulltime job at the game studio Kabam to strike out on his own as an independent game developer, though he admits that, in hindsight, the bold move should have been more daunting. “It probably should have been scary,” Rosenthal explained. “But things had been going pretty smoothly since I was at MICA. I went from an internship to a job at a small studio, and when that studio was bought by Kabam, I stayed on as a lead designer. I’d had a lot of really good luck until that point.” Rosenthal also had a slew of ideas, one of which eventually became Pakka Pets, a game app inspired by Tamagotchi—a handheld digital pet-on-a-keychain that was popular in the 1990s. “The game I’d been working on at Kabam had been out for a while, and the company was putting funding into newer games,” Rosenthal explained. “I was ready for something new, and I had all these ideas for different games. When I was talking to a friend at work about my idea for Pakka Pets, he said, ‘We should make that.’ I thought we should make the game on the side, but after a few months, we’d both left Kabam to work on this new idea.” The pair worked for two years creating Pakka Pets, a mobile appbased game that launched in the U.S. earlier this year and currently has 150,000 downloads. The game allows users to go on a digital pet adventure where they can “raise, evolve, and discover” different kinds of Pakka Pets. Each Pakka Pet has its own quests and adventures, and users unlock new corners of Pakka Town as they complete each level. Rosenthal and his partner recently signed a publishing deal, which will allow them to put more money into marketing the app. “I’ll probably continue to work on Pakka Pets for the next four to six months and assess how the game is doing. I’ve been working on this for almost three years, so I admit, I want to start something new,” Rosenthal said. “I have a big book with even more ideas. I’m looking forward to what comes next.”
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COMMUNI T Y ENG AGEMENT
Photos courtesy Nick Richardson ’12 (Environmental Design)
A MATTER OF FATE INJURIES OR INSPIRATION? NICK ROBINSON’S ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE PROSTHETIC DESIGNS
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hen Nick Richardson ’12 (Environmental Design) was 10 years old, he broke the thumb on his right hand, making the simple act of writing legibly impossible. That incident, and the solution he crafted with the help of his father, would eventually guide his thesis work at MICA, and today it has the potential to impact people struggling with limb loss around the world. “I couldn’t use my dominant hand, and I had to figure out a way to write so that I could do my homework,” Richardson explained. “I thought that if I could put a pencil on my index finger, I could try to write that way. My dad, who is an architect, helped me make a device with plastic battery packaging, a glue gun, and a pen. That was my first introduction to prosthetics and orthotics.” Years later, Richardson attended a pre-thesis course in environmental design, where department chair and faculty member Timothy Aziz suggested that students in the class reflect on their childhood or longtime
COMMUNI T Y ENG AGEMENT
interests when working on thesis ideas. He said don’t try to solve a problem you’ve only recently thought of. “His words brought me back to that broken thumb and how much fun I had making that orthotic,” Richardson said. “Then, later that summer, I heard an interview with Hugh Herr, head of Biomechatronics at MIT. He lost both legs in an ice climbing accident when he was 19 and went from being a professional athlete to going to community college, then to a state school, then Yale, and then MIT. I thought, ‘This is a sign. I’ve got to do something about this for my thesis.’” In the months that followed, Richardson began a period of intense research into prosthetics—devices that replace a missing limb or body part—and orthotics—devices that assist existing limbs, such as a knee brace. He talked to professionals in the prosthetic/orthotic and medical industries and read studies done by researchers at MIT and independent research done by Prosthetists, doctors and engineers such as: Illini Prosthetic team, Ervin Strait, LN-4 Prosthetics and more. What Richardson discovered was harsh reality—80 percent of the people who need either prosthetics or orthotics live in developing countries with little access to healthcare. And those that do have access often cannot afford the help they need, because prosthetic and orthotic devices are prohibitively expensive. “People who can get a prosthetic get a passive: non-moving, or active: body powered—such as, Hosmer-Dorrance hook— limb, because it’s the cheapest thing they can do, and it’s still $5,000 to $100,000 and above. It becomes more expensive because the fit of the socket, that part that attaches the prosthetic to the person, has to be adjusted every one to two years,” Richardson noted. “And the people that are losing limbs are doing so in Uganda because of war crimes. In Ethiopia, kids lose limbs because of landmines from the civil war. Many developing countries have coffee farms where workers are injured because they work with dangerous heavy machinery, as well as, disease and birth defects. I wanted to make it easier for people in these areas to get the help they need.” Richardson came away from his research determined to create a prosthetic and orthotic system that was not only below market value, but also included an adjustable socket so that users didn’t have to pay additional money as their bodies changed over
Photos courtesy of Nick Richardson ’12 (Environmental Design)
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“My dad, who is an architect, helped me make a device with plastic battery packaging, a glue gun, and a pen. That was my first introduction to prosthetics and orthotics.” time. He realized that the use of localized materials would be most cost-efficient, and studied the feasibility of using wood, metal, or recycled materials to make prosthetics. He eventually decided to base the terminal—or unmoving limb—portion of his system on bamboo due to the plant’s strength; bamboo has more tensile strength per square inch vertically than steel, and, even better, it is abundant in most parts of the world. Richardson also began work on a socket system made of soft fabric, which is easily adjustable through the use of straps or laces. And then, as he was preparing for his end-of-year thesis presentation, something happened that crystalized the significance of his work. “About a month before I graduated, I was gathering bamboo when I slipped and fell as I was climbing over a fence. I broke my left arm—a compound fracture—and when I got to the hospital, I asked the doctors, ‘How bad is it?’ They answered, ‘We’re not sure if you will keep your arm,’” he explained. “I had to wait 24 hours for surgery to see if they had to amputate or not, and the wait was so intense. All I could think of was, ‘This project really has to work now, because I’m going to be the one to need it.’” In the end, his arm was saved, but because of the break, Richardson had to finish his thesis without the use of one arm. He continued to refine the design over the next few months, gaining a project extension due to his injury. When he finally presented the thesis to faculty members, their response was enthusiastic. “They told me to keep pushing the idea. They said it needed to be put out into the world,” Richardson said. Today, Richardson’s system, called Bam Bam Prosthetics, sells for $50 to $100, more than $1000 less than the next lowest prosthetic device, and the design’s cloth socket ensures that long-term costs are kept low.
Nick Richardson ’12 (Environmental Design)
The system is currently patent pending, and Richardson is facing what he calls a “fork in the road” as he works to grow Bam Bam Prosthetics into a company or nonprofit organization. He is also working with a small number of amputees to continue refining his prosthetic and orthotic devices. One such partner is a ceramic artist and educator who lost an arm due to diabetes complications. “I made a prosthetic for her to use in the art department, which can be pretty rough work in ceramics,” Richardson said. “She can beat up the prosthetic, and if it breaks or gets damaged, it only costs about $25 to replace.” While Richardson hopes to see his prosthetic and orthotic devices spread across the globe as usable objects, his work will be seen worldwide as part of a design exhibition. Eight of his prosthetic devices, which were displayed in Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum from 2014 until late last year, are currently showing at the Museum of Design in Atlanta and will travel the world for the next three years.
CONNEC T IONS
JOHN SUTTON John Sutton ’63 (General Fine Arts BFA), self portriat.
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ver the course of more than 25 years at MICA, John Sutton ’63, who died in April 2016 at age 90, became a dear friend to colleagues and to the thousands of students he came to know during his time as the College’s dean of students and vice president for student affairs. A highly respected administrator, Sutton’s low-key, thoughtful personality made him a magnet for students— and others—who wanted to talk about issues that related to matters both in and outside of the classroom. One of the reasons he was such a good fit in the MICA community was the fact that he himself had been a student here. Sutton earned his BFA in Painting at MICA while in his 30s, and soon after graduating made the transition to dean of students. He was also a classroom instructor, and that combination of experiences gave him special insight into the day-to-day
reality of life as an art student. Prior to coming to MICA, Sutton attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Rutgers. He retired from the College in 1987 and was the 2002 recipient of MICA’s Alumni Award. An avid painter, his work is represented in public and private collections, and he maintained a studio at his home in Annapolis after his retirement, where he continued to devote his time to painting landscapes in and around the Annapolis Chesapeake Bay area.
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COMMENCEMENT
EXHIBITION
Gloria Otley, Cuticle, 2016.
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(clockwise from right) Anthony Tin Trung Bui, Cut Paper, 2016; Kevin Cook, Ripple, 2016; Lucas Teles Novaes, Seculi Status, 2016.
CONNEC T IONS
Cassia Mullin, Pieced Examples of Pattern Design, 2016.
(left to right) Tatiana Ordonez, Susurros, 2016; Drew Shields, figures from Nekyia, 2016.
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MASTER CLASS 2016 GRAD SHOW FEATURES THE MAKERS — AND CHANGEMAKERS — OF TOMORROW
This past spring, MICA GRAD SHOW 2016 featured the inventive creations of the College’s skilled artists, designers, educators, researchers, thinkers, and changemakers of the MFA, MA, and post-baccalaureate programs. The annual series launched with an impressive array of exhibitions, critiques, gallery talks, presentations, public programs, student-curated installations, and symposiums throughout the City of Baltimore by more than 150 MICA graduate students. Graduate Studies enlisted the curatorial vision of Doreen Bolger, arts veteran and former director of the Baltimore Museum of Art for the show featuring Community Arts, LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting, Mount Royal School of Art, Photographic and Electronic Media, and Rinehart School of Sculpture MFA programs. The exhibition was located in eight different galleries on and off campus, combining the MFA thesis work of 42 students. Overall, each leg of the exhibition series showcased outstanding efforts of MICA community members as well as collaborations with the greater arts community. The following pages include highlights from the various shows.
Alice Gadzinski, Sponsored by...(Geritol), 2016.
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(clockwish from right) Linxuan Liu, Paper Funeral, 2016; Jiachen Liu, Tao Tie, oil on linen, 2016; Aschely Vaughan Cone, Arch Shield Series, 2016.
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(top to bottom)Abby Bennet, Seed to Table, 2016; Ambika Babu Thiagarajan, Crawl into a Fresh Capacity of Crime, acrylic on paper, 2016.
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JOHN WATERS
THE KING OF FILTH Photos by Jim Burger ’82.
Baltimore legend John Waters—film director, screenwriter, author, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist, and visual artist—recently visited MICA to present his one-man show, “This Filthy World.” Touching on issues relating to diversity, inclusion, and current events, the show featured Waters’ life story and love for his hometown. “Baltimore is the best place to live because it is cheap enough that you can be bohemian. Stay here, don’t leave,” he told the sold out crowd at the Brown Center’s Falvey Hall. Afterwards, MICA President Samuel Hoi, who said it was Waters’ films that introduced him to American culture after his emigration from Hong Kong, led a lively question-and-answer session that included questions from the audience. The event was sponsored by the President’s Task Force on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Globalization.
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LIGHTS, MUSIC, INNOVATION, MICA Photos courtesy of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts
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he Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) hosted its inaugural Light City Baltimore festival March 28 through April 4, 2016. According to BOPA, Light City is the first large-scale light festival in the United States. The seven-day festival featured more than 50 light installations and artistic performances along the 1.5-mile BGE Light Walk, spanning the Inner Harbor and into Canton. Expanding beyond central Baltimore, Neighborhood Lights is a public artist-in-residency program that brings the magic of Light City to life on a community level. Artists-inresidence worked with residents in selected neighborhoods
to create public installations, with the help of community groups, over a three-month period. Installations illuminated the night in five neighborhoods: Station North, Little Italy, Hampden, Greater Mondawmin, and Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello. In addition to illuminating Charm City, BOPA also hosted Light City U, a series of innovation conferences, focused on topics such as social change, health, and sustainability. Guest speakers from many industries and organizations around the city, including MICA President Samuel Hoi, spoke during the four-day series.
CONNEC T IONS
Work from the MICA community appearing in Light City Baltimore 2016 included:
MICA’s presence in the festival did not go unnoticed. In addition to being one of the major sponsors, MICA students, faculty, and alumni contributed heavily to the planning and curation of Light City. Approximately one-third of the artists, collaborators, and performers were members of the MICA community.
Aerial view of the Baltimore Harbor
Into the Zone (Anthology of Accounts and Findings): Rachel Guardiola ’15 (Mount Royal School of Art MFA) Pyrrha: Robby Rackleff ’09 (Mount Royal School of Art MFA) Diamonds Light Baltimore: Faculty member Mina Cheon ’99 (Hoffberger School of Painting MFA) 901 Arts Drumline: Sarah Tooley ’09 (Community Arts MA) Light City Festival Coordinator (BOPA Staff Member): Ashley Molese ’14 (Curatorial Practice MFA) The Dark Lab: Ada Pinkston ’13 (Community Arts MFA) participated in Neighborhood Lights in Station North Gateway Baltimore: Tic, Pratt, Go: Faculty member Quentin Moseley ’72 (Hoffberger School of Painting MFA)
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2016 COMMENCEMENT
LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD Photos by Nancy Daly ’11.
CRE AT I VE LE ADERSHIP
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CONNEC T IONS
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his past May, MICA’s 167th Commencement ceremonies were filled with charges to the artists, designers, educators, researchers, thinkers, and changemakers in the class of 2016. In keynote, administration, and student remarks, speakers addressed matters not just pertinent to the arts, but to society at large. With this gifted, accomplished graduating class, expectations were set high for MICA’s latest alumni. The College’s ceremonies happened on the heels of an extraordinary display of graduating undergraduate and graduate student work in the Commencement Exhibition and MICA GRAD SHOW. The Commencement ceremonies continued this recognition of student achievement at the College and in the Greater Baltimore community.
CONNEC T IONS
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CONNEC T IONS
AWARDS & RECOGNITION JANET & WALTER SONDHEIM ARTSCAPE PRIZE FINALISTS AND WINNERS: Darcie Book ’04 (Painting BFA), Finalist; FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture - Hannah Brancato ’08 ’12(Fiber BFA, Community Arts MFA) & Rebecca Nagle ’08 (Fiber BFA), winner. The competition awards a $25,000 fellowship to assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Greater Baltimore region. The prize gives artists an opportunity to exhibit their work at The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA). The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is held in conjunction with the annual Artscape juried exhibition and produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts in partnership with the BMA and MICA. during an award ceremony and reception in July at the BMA.
BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACHER OF THE YEAR: Sia Kyriakakos ’91 (Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA) Sia Kyriakakos was named the 2016-17 Baltimore City Public Schools Teacher of the Year, during a surprise visit to her classroom in early April. Kyriakakos, an art teacher at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in northeast Baltimore, began her BCPS teaching career in 2011, and has taught art at all levels from kindergarten to college. Kyriakakos received a cash prize, classroom supplies, and threw the first pitch at the City Schools Orioles Night. She is now entered into the Maryland State Teacher of the Year competition.
WINDGATE FELLOWSHIPS: Jenna Macy ’16 (Ceramics BFA) and Kira Keck ’16 (Fiber BFA)
Ni Christy ’18 (Illustration BFA), Water on Mars.
Jenna Macy and Kira Keck were each awarded $15,000 Windgate Fellowships from the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design. The Windgate Fellowship continues to be one of the most prestigious and sought-after awards for emerging craft artists in America. Each year, more than 100 universities from across the United States are invited to nominate two graduating seniors with exemplary skill to apply for a fellowship award to support a project that will further their careers and contribute to the advancement of the field. Ten fellowships are awarded each year. Macy will investigate the power of the feminine voice in a number of different settings including the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art in Brooklyn, New York, and in Aboriginal weaving circles and personal studios of female artists in Australia. Learning from different mentors and communities, she
CONNEC T IONS
Aster (Daphne) Hung’16 (Illustration BFA), BlurryEyes.
will be challenged to develop a more enriched artistic identity that is informed by diverse understandings of gender and
cultural background. Keck will use the fellowship to study the interactions of fiber artists with non-Western traditions through rug making. Tracing contemporary weaving practices to traditional ideals, she will explore weaving in cross-generational and crosscultural contexts at the Haystack Mountain School of Craft, the Weavers Guild of Greater Baltimore, Harrisville Designs in New Hampshire, and through an apprenticeship at Desen Halicilik, a weaving cooperative in Bergama, Turkey.
2016 SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION: Nan Coa ’16 (Illustration BFA), Joshua Fetzer ’16 (Illustration BFA), Aster (Daphne) Hung ’16 (Illustration BFA), Christy Ni ’18 (Illustration BFA), Drew Shields ’16 (Animation BFA), Krystal Smith ’16 (Illustration BFA), and Wenjia Tang ’17 (Illustration BFA) The Society of Illustrators has selected seven MICA students for its 2016 Student Scholarship Competition. Students from several colleges and universities across the United States competed to exhibit their work in the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in New York. The Society, as well as various other generous private and corporate donors, grant scholarships to the best students featured in the competition. The museum displayed the students’ work as well as a full-color catalog. Awards and certificates were given to the students during the opening reception in May.
Joshua Fetzer ’16 (Illustration BFA), Lifestyle.
USC FIRST LOOK FILM FESTIVAL GRAND JURY AWARD Di Luo ’15 (Film and Video BFA) Di Luo’s film, Swim in the Cold, won the 2016 Grand Jury Award at the University of Southern California’s First Look Film Festival.
WEBBY AWARDS Tarek Turkey ’15 (Film and Video BFA) Tarek Turkey was nominated for a Webby Award for directing and filming a documentary series called Daughters of Paradise about Iraqi and Syrian women refugees for Refinery29.
AICAD PRESENTER TO US CONGRESS Harrison Tyler ’12 (Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA), along with President Samuel Hoi, presented to the Congressional Maker Caucus in a briefing on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) at the United States Capitol on June 15. There were a number of select grads from the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) member schools who shared their success stories. Harrison told his story of studying sculpture and founding a 3D printer design firm.
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E VENT S & E XHIBI T IONS
E.J. Dionne.
CONSTITUTION DAY 2016 Thursday, September 15, 7–9 pm Brown Center: Falvey Hall, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.
MICA and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland (ACLU-MD) presents “Immigration, Racism, and the Changing Face of the Nation,” with Washington Post columnist and NPR commentator E.J. Dionne, sculptor Margarita Cabrera, and National Immigration Law Center Director Marielena Hincapie. The free symposium will be moderated by WYPR’s “Maryland Morning” host Tom Hall. “This is clearly a crucial topic, which dominates the current political discourse and is giving rise to some really ugly comments from the public and those who want to serve the highest office,” said Constitution Day organizer and MICA Humanistic Studies Department faculty
member Firmin DeBrabander. “We need to be clear about what’s going on here, why the ugliness, what fears people have, and what are the larger and contextual motivators of this divisive debate.” In addition to free tickets distributed in advance to the MICA and ACLU communities, a limited number of free tickets will be available to the general public starting at 4 pm on the day of the event. For more information, visit mica.edu/ConstitutionDay.
E VENT S & E XHIBI T IONS
(left to right) Neysa Grassi, Untitled, gouache on paper, 2003; Untitled, Spain 008, gouache and gum arabic on paper, 2007.
NEYSA GRASSI: FOREIGN LANGUAGE Friday, September 9-Sunday, October 2 Brown Center: Rosenberg Gallery, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Gallery talk and reception: Thursday, September 8, 5-7 pm
Locks Gallery Director Doug Schaller, MICA Exhibitions Director Gerald Ross, and acclaimed painter Neysa Grassi collaborate to feature a select number of paintings and drawings of Grassi from the Locks Gallery in Philadelphia. A full color publication with an essay by MICA art history faculty member Jennie Hirsh, PhD, accompanies the exhibition. Born in Philadelphia, Grassi is well known for the luminous, layered surfaces of her oil paintings and gouaches. Painted, burnished, sanded, and then reworked again and again, the results are both meditative and archeological-like: a lustrous and earnest record of time and action.
LEROY E. HOFFBERGER SCHOOL OF PAINTING CRITIC-IN-RESIDENCE: ALEXI WORTH Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday,
August 30, 10 am September 27, 10 am October 25, 10 am November 29, 10 am
Alexi Worth is a representational painter who is also known for writing about art. His approach to painting is based entirely on freehand drawing, though it sometimes resembles cartooning or photography. In the early 2000s, Worth wrote widely for magazines such as the New Yorker, Artforum, and Art in America on subjects ranging from El Anatsui and Yayoi Kusama to Carroll Dunham and Jackie Saccoccio. Worth has taught at various MFA programs, including Yale University in Connecticut, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and the Pratt Institute in New York.
Alexi Worth
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RUSTED EYES Friday, October 21-Sunday, November 13 Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 West Mount Royal Ave The exhibition of photographs by MICA parttime faculty member Dan Meyers is a group of images reflecting personal encounters with the unremarkable. Grounded in a film-based mentality, these photographs linger in their unmanipulated renderings of examination while searching for the omitted.
Dan Myers, #0467.
FOUNDATION EXHIBITION
FACULTY EXHIBITION
SABBATICAL EXHIBITION
Friday, August 19-Sunday, September 18 Fox Building: Meyerhoff Gallery, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.; Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.; and The Gateway galleries, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave. Reception: Thursday, September 8, 5-7 pm
Friday, September 23-Sunday, October 16 Fox Building: Decker and Meyerhoff galleries, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.; Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.; and The Gateway galleries, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Friday, August 26-Sunday, September 18 Fox Building: Decker Gallery, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave..
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 works of artists who are 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.
The annual exhibition features works produced by a small group of faculty members on sabbaticals during the previous year. This year’s show includes painting faculty member Lauren Adams, general fine arts faculty member Pat Alexander, drawing and painting faculty member Dan Dudrow, humanistic studies faculty members Paul Jaskunas and Saul Myers, photography faculty member Nate Larson, and illustration faculty member Shadra Strickland.
E VENT S & E XHIBI T IONS
(clockwise from right) Monique Johnson ’17 (Painting BFA), The Painter, digital photography, 2015; Jean Oh ’16 (Painting BFA), People in Line, acrylic on canvas, 2014; Jarek Sparaco ’17 (General Fine Arts BFA), Litspoon, acrylic paint on cut paper, 2015.
STUDENT EXHIBITIONS
September Jean Oh ’16 (Painting BFA) People Friday, September 23-Monday, October 14
Reception: Friday, September 23, 5-7 pm The Gateway: Gallery 1, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Monique Johnson ’17 (Painting BFA) Capturing the Renaissance Friday, September 23-Monday, October 14
Reception: Friday, April 8, 5–7 pm The Gateway: Gallery 2, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Richard McDonough ’17 (Painting BFA) Spotlight Friday, September 23-Monday, October 14
Reception: Friday, September 23, 5-7 pm Bunting Center: Pinkard Student Space Gallery, 140 W. Lafayette Ave.
Jarek Sparaco ’17 (General Fine Arts BFA) A Gathering Friday, September 23-Monday, October 14
Reception: Friday, September 23, 5-7 pm Meyerhoff House: Piano Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.
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October Christopher Shenton ’17 (Drawing BFA) Interworld Monday, October 17-Friday, November 11
Reception: Friday, October 21, 5-7 pm The Gateway: Gallery 1, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Charlotte Duncan ’17 (Photography BFA) Permanence Wednesday, October 12-Sunday, November 6
Reception: Friday, October 23, 5-7 pm Meyerhoff House: Piano Gallery, 140 W. Lafayette Ave.
Courtney Cooper ’17 (General Fine Arts BFA) The Space Between Monday, October 17-Friday, November 11
Reception: Friday, October 21, 5-7 pm Bunting Center: Pinkard Student Space Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.
(top to bottom) Christopher Shenton ’17(Drawing BFA), Amigos, spray paint, acrylic, permanent marker, and oil paint, 2016; Courtney Cooper ’17 (General Fine Arts BFA), Between, acrylic on canvas.
E VENT S & E XHIBI T IONS
November Eric Rivera ’17 (General Fine Arts BFA) Islands and Objects Monday, November 14-Saturday, December 10
Reception: Friday, November 18, 5-7 pm The Gateway: Gallery 1, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Louis Block ’17 (Painting BFA) Slow Arcade Monday, October 17-Friday, November 11
Reception: Friday, November 18, 5-7 pm The Gateway: Gallery 2, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.
Nilam Sari ’18 (Graphic Design BFA, Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA) Wooden Kaleidoscope Monday, November 14-Saturday, December 10
Reception: Friday, November 18, 5-7 pm Meyerhoff House: Piano Gallery, 140 W. Lafayette Ave.
Illustration Collective Dreaming in Narrative Monday, November 14-Saturday, December 10
Reception: Friday, November 18, 5-7 pm Bunting Center: Pinkard Student Space Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.
(from top to bottom) Eric Rivera ’17 (General Fine Arts BFA), E.L.A. (y lo que se queda después), acrylic on canvas, 2016; Nilam Sari ’18 (Graphic Design BFA, Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA), Kabutomushi (Japanese Rhino Beetle), carved bass wood, 2015.
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Maryland Institute College of Art 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave. Baltimore, Maryland 21217