tv legend - Maryland Institute College of Art
Transcription
tv legend - Maryland Institute College of Art
NEWS, EVENTS, & EXHIBITIONS September–October ’14 Find up-to-date event details and expanded information at fyi.mica.edu. MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART TV LEGEND Special Focus: FILMMAKING DAVID JACOBS ’61 REFLECTS ON CREATING AWARD-WINNING TELEVISION SHOWS DALLAS AND KNOTS LANDING COMEDY CENTRAL CUTTING-EDGE GRADUATE FILMMAKING PROGRAM TO LAUNCH ABBI JACOBSON ’06 TURNS WEB SERIES INTO HIT TELEVISION SHOW, BROAD CITY AT A GLANCE: PRESIDENT HOI’S FIRST WEEKS On Campus LOCALLY SOURCED CONSTITUTION DAY 2014 The Guy Who Leaked Controversial Top-Secret Government Documents... 40 Years before Snowden. Daniel Ellsberg A Discussion on surveillance and civil liberties at Constitution Day at MICA September 17, 2014 visit mica.edu/constitutionday for details CONTENTS MICA Venues Special Feature: Flip magazine over for more news stories. 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. News SPECIAL FOCUS: FILMMAKING COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT MICA Alumna Could Be Maryland’s Next First Lady 7 INNOVATION Events & Exhibitions Spring Recap Lecture: Kelly Rand Lecture: Jutta Koether Constitution Day Foundation Exhibition 34 9/22 34 9/25 37 9/29 42 9/30 41 9/30 Through 9/21 9/2-21 LOCALLY SOURCED 9/8-10/31 Student Exhibitions 9/9 Lecture: Barry Schwabsky Type Nite Lecture: Box Brown Lecture: Henry Taylor Lecture: Haegue Yang Contributing Editors/Writers: Claire Cianos, Tamara Holmes, Corey Lacey, Aja Myles Designer: Becky Slogeris ’11 ’12 Additional MICA Communications Support: Justin Codd, Allyson Morehead, Michael Walley-Rund, Brenda McElveen, Bryan Sinagra, and Andrew Copeland ’13. 41 40 40 40 Fred Lazarus IV Center 131 W. North Ave. MICA PLACE 814 N. Collington Ave. MICA Gallery Hours Monday through Saturday, 10 am– 5 pm; Sunday, noon–5 pm Closed major holidays MICA PLACE Hours By appointment; contact the Department of Exhibitions at 410-225-2280 or [email protected] Download MICA’s fyi.mica. edu events and exhibitions mobile app for iOS in the Apple App Store. Twitter: @mica_news YouTube: MICAmultimedia David Jacobs ’61: Larger Than Life 20 Editors/Writers at Large: Jessica Weglein Goldstein ’13, Dionne McConkey, Lorri Angelloz 36 Mount Royal Station 1400 Cathedral St. facebook.com/ mica.edu ALUMNI Cedric Demond Mobley, Associate Vice President of Institutional Communications 41 Lecture: Wayne Koestenbaum 40 Return on Imagination: The Immeasurable Value of MICA Scholarships 10 Michael Franco, EdD, Vice President for Advancement 41 9/17 Sabbatical Exhibition Samuel Hoi, President 41 9/17 Lecture: Deana Haggag ’13 September Getting Down to Business 4 41 9/15 16, 25, 28, 34, 43 MFA in Filmmaking Program Launches Fall 2015 24 CONNECTIONS Lecture: Patty Chang Retrospective Through 9/21 NASA Partners with MICA Students on Short Films 17 9/9 9/16 Empowered by MICA’s Master of Arts in Teaching Program 8 GLOBAL Dolphin Building 100 Dolphin St. LinkedIn: mica.edu/linkedin To highlight special affiliations with the College, designations may follow a person’s name, including: Alumnus: year of graduation; Honorary Degree Recipient: H and year degree awarded; and Parent: P and year of child’s graduation. 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 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 [email protected]. For more information, to adjust your subscription options, or to submit story ideas or comments, email [email protected] or call 410-225-2300. © 2014 Maryland Institute College of Art (cover) David Jacobs ’61 (painting), legendary creator of Dallas and Knots Landing, at his home in Los Angeles, California (photo by Carlos Florez ’06). 03 04 CONNECTIONS Getting Down to Business President Samuel Hoi spent the first weeks of July 2014 settling into his new office and getting down to business, meeting with members of MICA’s extended community to help him set the College’s priorities for the future. Vice President for Advancement Michael Franco, EdD, pays a visit to Hoi in his still very sparsely appointed office. Very little furniture has arrived, but it won’t stop Hoi from getting to work. Sometimes, all you need is a table, a chair, and a laptop. Hoi discusses workflow and administrative details with Executive Assistant Marian Smith. Hoi gets to know the staff team, including Karol Martinez, director of Student Activities. CONNECTIONS The senior staff gathers to hear Hoi’s initial plans during his first senior staff meeting. Vice President for Operations Michael Molla meets with Hoi to talk infrastructure, facilities, and community engagement. Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Ray Allen (right) provides Hoi and Vice President for Fiscal Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Douglas Mann (center) with important insight on the academic workings of the College. At a staff welcome reception for Hoi, he shares a laugh with MICA staff. Hoi talks with staff members during his welcome reception. 05 06 CONNECTIONS This won’t be the last time you see Hoi in cowboy boots. MICA cordially invites you to... A Once-in-a Lifetime Online Live Streaming Event: The Inauguration of President Samuel Hoi Join the MICA family as Samuel Hoi is formally inaugurated as MICA’s new president. The event can be viewed live online: Friday, October 31, 2014 2:30 pm mica.edu/inauguration Please check mica.edu/inauguration prior to the event for additional details. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MICA alumna and adjunct faculty member Yumi Hogan ’08 (painting). MICA Alumna Could Be Maryland’s Next First Lady Chances are when Yumi Hogan ’08 (painting) graduated from college, she was much more focused on exhibiting than on politics. Fast forward to 2014, and she is ensconced in the art of campaigning, traveling all over the state of Maryland in support of her husband, Larry Hogan, Jr., the Republican nominee for Maryland governor who served as Maryland Cabinet Secretary under former Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Since the nomination of her husband, the MICA alumna and adjunct faculty member has taken center stage. Hogan has been heavily engaged in the gubernatorial race, with a special focus on the Asian community in Maryland. The campaign has organized several events for Asian-American communities across the state, specifically in Howard and Montgomery counties. “I am trying to involve more people in the process who normally have not been included,” she said. “I would be the first Asian First Lady in Maryland history and would obviously be someone who they feel will listen to their concerns and make sure that they have a seat at the table, just like the art and art education community will.” The Anne Arundel County resident, mother of three, and grandmother of one, seems to be managing all that life has thrown her way. Even while she advocates for the positions and platform of the campaign, art is never far from her heart. “Art is my life, it has always been, and will continue to be extremely important to me,” Hogan said. “It’s something that I am very passionate about and will be an advocate for.” Raised as the youngest of eight children on a small chicken farm in South Korea’s southern region, she has always felt a connection to nature and her surroundings. Through the use of oil and acrylic paints, and most recently, Asian Sumi ink on Hangi paper and mixed media, Hogan blends East and West cultures in her work. “Korea is a lot like Maryland with mountains, and the ocean and the Bay, the farmlands and wooded forests, and that’s really what has inspired my landscape abstract work,” she said. Hogan attended and now teaches at MICA. “I loved being a MICA student and feel I got an excellent education, and I am thrilled to be back on the faculty now. It gives me the opportunity to give back and share my knowledge and experience with my students, and I can understand exactly what they are going through from the perspective of a former student who went through the same programs,” she said. After graduating from MICA, Hogan went on to earn an MFA from American University in Washington, DC. At the same time, she has been an active exhibitor—featured in numerous exhibitions in Maryland, Washington, DC, and South Korea. If given the opportunity to be Maryland’s next First Lady, the arts would remain as one of her top priorities. “Of course art and art education are priorities, and I will stay involved in MICA and the art community, display artist exhibitions at the governor’s mansion and state house, and help make more Marylanders aware of the importance of the arts and of art education,” Hogan said. “My love for MICA will not diminish. In fact, I hope that I will be able to continue to teach at MICA, even after I become First Lady of Maryland!” 07 08 INNOVATION (left to right) Juan Carlos Castro, PhD, ’99 ’00 (photography, Teaching); and Karen Carroll, EdD, dean of the Center for Art Education and Florence Gaskins Harper Chair in Art Education at MICA. Empowered by MICA’s Master of Arts in Teaching Program When Juan Carlos Castro, PhD, ’99 ’00 (photography, Teaching) won the 2013 Manuel Barkan Award—one of the National Art Education Association’s (NAEA) most prestigious honors—he tied his time in MICA’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program to the research that resulted in the win. “My experience in the MAT program is reflected in my research,” Castro said. “One of the things the MAT program emphasizes is that you should connect your research to how it is manifested in actual practice in the classroom. That idea of practical application is a current that runs through the whole program, and that’s one of its great strengths. It enables me as a teacher and in the research I’m doing right now.” Currently assistant professor of art education at Concordia University in Montreal, Castro won the Barkan Award at the NAEA’s annual convention in August 2013. The award is presented annually to an individual who contributes a product of scholarly merit to the field of art education, specifically through articles published in the journals Art Education and Studies in Art Education. Castro was recognized for his research into the ways social media affects how teenagers learn and how teachers educate them, as outlined in his Studies in Art Education article, Learning and Teaching Art through Social Media, published in 2012. Castro continues to study the shifts that communicative technologies have caused, particularly social media and emerging mobile media, and is currently examining how students who dropped out of high school and are now pursuing a college degree can be better reached using these new tools. Karen Carroll, EdD, dean of the Center for Art Education and Florence Gaskins Harper Chair in Art Education at MICA, said that the pragmatic, real-world foundation of Castro’s research is no surprise, emphasizing, “We teach our MAT students to do research that matters in the classroom and in the field of art education.” Castro added that the program also prepares students to become successful art teachers, saying, “In terms of being a professional, what the faculty in the MAT program really did was make me well prepared to not only survive teaching, but thrive as a teacher.” As a testament to that assertion, the MAT program has a nearly 100 percent job placement record overall. According to a recent survey of MAT alumni, 45 percent of respondents remain in Maryland to teach in public schools; 24 percent teach in other states; 6 percent teach in private schools in Maryland or elsewhere; and 1 percent teach abroad. “Our graduates have a long record of retention in the schools and in the profession,” Carroll said. “MAT graduates claim that this is due to the depth of preparation they receive in both their studio practice and in teaching. It is not uncommon for a principal to say to one of our alumni: ‘You are teaching much better than a first-year teacher!’” After his graduation from MICA, Castro landed a job at Towson High School in Maryland, eventually becoming chair of the school’s visual arts department before leaving to pursue his doctorate at the University of British Columbia. He gained other honors before receiving the Barkan Award, such as being named a 2008 Coca-Cola Foundation Distinguished Teacher in the Arts. When summing up his experience both in the MAT program and as an art education professional, Castro said, “Any art educator will tell you that they see teaching as an art form where they can improve the lives of others. That was the heart of the MAT program when I was at MICA—passion for youth and visual arts, passion for making the lives of children better. But we also understood that we were entering a profession, and we were prepared to come out of the program and find a job and succeed. The best return I received from my experience at MICA is that I’ve always been engaged with the work I’ve done since becoming an educator, and I still am today.” ALUMNI Joseph Sheppard ’53 (general fine arts) inside the Leroy Merritt Center for the Art of Joseph Sheppard (photo by Katherine Lambert Photography). Joseph Sheppard’s Legacy Is Set in Stone Internationally renowned painter and sculptor Joseph Sheppard ’53 (general fine arts) began his career in 1951. Known as a master of the realism style, the award-winning alumnus has created Baltimore’s sculptures of Pope John Paul II, baseball legend Brooks Robinson, and the Holocaust Monument. Outside of Baltimore, his celebrated portraits include Pope Benedict XVI, located in Vatican City, and President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush, located at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. Now stands the Leroy Merritt Center for the Art of Joseph Sheppard. The center opened in spring 2010 at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) in honor of Sheppard and the late philanthropist and commercial real estate developer Leroy M. Merritt, both Maryland natives. “For UMUC, the Leroy Merritt Center for the Art of Joseph Sheppard is an educational resource for students and the general public to learn about the art, life, and legacy of one of Maryland’s most treasured artists, Joseph Sheppard,” said Eric Key, arts program director, UMUC. Unusual for its dedication to a living artist, the center houses a permanent collection of more than 20 of Sheppard’s bronze and marble sculptures and his paintings on loan, which are featured in rotating exhibitions, in addition to his personal collection of approximately 1,000 books on classical art and artists and an original drawing series. The artist personally selected all of the pieces in the art center to represent his very best work, as well as art from his cherished personal collection. For Sheppard, “The purpose of the center is to permanently display my work so that future young artists can know that there existed an artist who painted in a traditional way and was fairly successful.” Sheppard’s career first took shape at MICA. He received a prize for his participation in the Life in Baltimore show at the historic Peale Museum in Baltimore during his junior year at the College, followed by many more accolades. Sheppard explained, “My teacher at the Maryland Institute was Jacques Maroger; he was both my inspiration and mentor. His teaching of the Old Masters’ techniques changed my whole life.” 09 10 CONNECTIONS Kasey Jones ’14 (Community Arts), You Can’t Escape Her (detail), mixed media installation. Return on Imagination: The Immeasurable Value of MICA Scholarships An education at MICA is an investment that yields a lifetime of personal, intellectual, and professional growth and accomplishment. The College and its donors are committed to helping students find ways to make that investment affordable, with 95 percent of MICA students receiving some form of financial aid, including scholarships. For recent fellowship and scholarship winners Patricia Fuentes ’17 (architectural design), Thomas Dahlberg ’15 (LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting), and Kasey Jones ’14 (Community Arts), receiving financial support has opened up a world of opportunities for them to use their imagination to make a difference in the world. It is an investment that is already paying dividends by bringing attention to important social issues. Fuentes is the recipient of the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Scholarship, the Trustee Award, and the C.V. Starr Scholarship for International Students. The Bolivia native, who immigrated to the United States in 2000, is currently using her artwork to explore something she calls “double consciousness.” She borrowed the term from historic civil rights activist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois, PhD, who described living as a minority in America as “the sense of looking at one’s self through the eyes of others.” “I believe this term can be put in a larger context in reference to all immigrants in America today,” Fuentes said. “This feeling of being caught between cultures, of belonging to neither rather than both.” Fuentes believes that the full-ride scholarship she obtained to attend MICA represents “the sole opportunity” for her to attend a four-year college. Not only has her scholarship allowed her to pursue a career path as an architect and an artist, as well as a newfound passion for community art, but the educational opportunity also has added special meaning for her. “It has also given me a chance to prove how being an immigrant is not a disadvantage,” she explained. “Rather it is a quality I have that empowers me to continue to look beyond all the immediate obstacles.” She credits MICA with helping her realize her potential as an artist/ activist through the College’s dedication to providing opportunities for students to use art to make a difference in communities. “Scholarships give people a chance to prove that despite financial disadvantages, we are all capable of achieving great things,” she said. “Without scholarships, a lot of people would be left in the dark, not knowing the potential they have to succeed.” Likewise, Thomas Dahlberg is making the most of his Hoffberger Foundation Fellowship Award, focusing on making large, corporal oil paintings designed to depict first person interactions with everyday objects and spaces. “The viewer or maybe the canvas itself plays the role of the first person,” he explained. “My aim is for the viewer to have a sort of experiential or haptic sensation when looking at the work.” Before coming to MICA, the Kentucky native studied visual art and Portuguese at Brown University in Rhode Island, and then used a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in Brazil. His work has been exhibited in Bostonbased galleries and Georgia Southern University. As he hopes to still be painting when he is 90, Dahlberg understands the importance of financial support in providing an artist the freedom to pursue growth opportunities. “Receiving scholarships has relieved some of the burden of student loan debt, which in turn has enabled me to pursue an artist residency this summer at the Vermont Studio Center,” he said. “Scholarships enable people to take risks they wouldn’t normally take to achieve goals that aren’t always aligned with economic gain. We study what we study because we’re CONNECTIONS passionate about culture and art, and we understand that what we do is as vital to humanity as any other profession or study.” At MICA, Dahlberg has learned just how important those risks are to ultimate success. “MICA, and the [LeRoy E.] Hoffberger program in particular, have taught me not to get too complacent,” he acknowledged. “Change and growth are necessary. When I started school, I was a little afraid to take big chances, but then I got acclimated to MICA and started making drastic changes in my work.” Kasey Jones was raised in the steel belt city of Youngstown, Ohio, graduated with a BFA from Ohio University, and spent a few years working in San Diego, California, but her work took on new intensity as she completed the MFA in Community Arts program at MICA. While in Baltimore, she managed the after-school mural club and set design club at an inner-city elementary school as an AmeriCorps member, conducted ceramic and painting workshops for elderly residents, and served as a MICA graduate teaching assistant. The Community Arts Scholarship and Keswick Multi-Care Center-funded Libby Bowerman ’82 Fellowship allowed her the time and space to engage in a studio practice investigating the struggle between men, women, and nature. “I am interested in creating public art that addresses global and local environmental issues, such as man-made toxins that leach into our soil, air, and drinking water,” she explained. “In addition, I develop projects for youth and adults that center on our reconnection to the earth. The ultimate goal of my work is to restore the sacred balance between humanity and nature.” For Jones, financial assistance has been critical to her entire higher education journey. “If it wasn’t for the scholarships I received as an undergraduate, as well as the combined scholarship/fellowship I received from MICA, I would not have been able to receive a bachelor’s or master’s degree,” she said. The financial support, though valuable, actually enabled her to acquire something invaluable: confidence. “MICA instills your talents with confidence,” she said. “The faculty provides ongoing support, and they encourage you to trust who you are in relation to the art you create. In addition, MICA cares. The institution as a whole wants you to succeed as an artist, and they provide you with an immeasurable amount of opportunities to attain success.” The Libby Bowerman ’82 Fellowship, in particular, provided an opportunity for Jones to make a positive impact on others’ lives. The yearlong fellowship is focused on supporting a MICA student as he or she works with residents of Keswick Multi-Care Center in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood, encouraging the elderly who live there to express their creativity. Jones developed both 2D and 3D weekly art classes for residents of the center. “Ninety percent of the people living at Keswick are immobile or in a wheelchair,” she explained. “All of my projects centered on cultivating a therapeutic creative arts experience that was unlike anything already offered at the center.” For students vying for a competitive scholarship or fellowship, Jones said, “Tell your story, and don’t be afraid to share your vision with the world.” For more on student and alumni award recipients, visit fyi.mica.edu. (top to bottom) Thomas Dahlberg ’15 (LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting); Patricia Fuentes ’17 (architectural design); and Kasey Jones ’14 (Community Arts). 11 12 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Reflections from survivors of sexual assault from the Monument Project by Force: Upsetting Rape Culture (photo by Theresa Keil Photography). Using Art to Force Action Against Rape Culture Art has the power to turn perceptions upside down. MICA alumnae Hannah Brancato ’07 ’11 (fiber, Community Arts) and Rebecca Nagle ’08 (fiber) are using it to challenge society’s view of sexual assault. Brancato and Nagle started their public awareness campaign in 2010. “We both agreed we wanted to have a more public conversation about sexual assault,” Brancato said. “We decided that instead of just showing the problem, we would do something to more actively change the situation,” she added. So the duo started Force: Upsetting Rape Culture, an organization that promotes consent and creates safe spaces for survivors of rape and sexual abuse. Since the organization started, it has successfully used art to start conversations across the country about what constitutes a healthy sexual environment. “There is a culture that surrounds sexual assault that perpetuates it, which is what we call rape culture,” Brancato said. “It includes cultural attitudes in which victims are blamed, and music and imagery that make sexual objectification commonplace,” Brancato added. Brancato and Nagle have used their creativity to get national media attention from outlets, such as Huffington Post and The New York Times, by spoofing major brands. After noting that some of Victoria’s Secret campaigns seemed to use the words “stop” and “no” as a way to flirt, they created a website that promoted a line of consent-themed underwear. After that, they created another site spoofing Playboy’s top party school list to create a list of schools that promote consent. “We got a lot of people talking by doing those projects, and we learned that people are ready to have the conversation about consent, supporting survivors, and ending rape,” Brancato said. One effort organized by Force has been the Monument Project, which is a series of temporary monuments to survivors of rape and abuse on the National Mall. “The National Mall is a very reflective space,” said Brancato, adding, “That’s the space for us to think about our nation’s history and how we can make our nation better, so it’s a perfect place to reflect on sexual assault because it’s a national epidemic.” These monuments also give survivors a public space where they can tell their stories and be heard, while also connecting with community. One such monument was Force’s projection of the words “Rape is Rape” onto the United States Capitol Building in 2012, along with stories of survivors; and another is the organization’s Monument Quilt, a collection of thousands of stories from survivors of rape and abuse that is stitched together in fabric. The Monument Quilt is still being built, with Force collecting quilt squares from survivors. Those who submit their stories for the quilt “undergo a healing process because they are actually building living monuments through their work,” Brancato said. The quilt is intended to benefit communities where it is shown because “people learn how to witness a survivor story instead of judging or giving advice,” Brancato added. “Everyone’s process of healing from sexual violence is very different. I cannot heal unless I feel empowered. I feel empowered the most when I feel like I am changing the circumstances and the culture that created my abuse,” Nagle said. CONNECTIONS Pieces of the Monument Quilt laid out on the lawn of the US Capitol Building—part of Force: Upsetting Rape Culture’s Monument Project. People have thanked Brancato and Nagle profusely for creating the space. “One survivor said this was the first time she felt like she truly was safe in public to be a survivor,” Brancato said. Force raised nearly $27,000 in May 2013 through a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project. Since then, they’ve received more than $300,000 in in-kind donations to move into a studio, hold two public displays of the quilt, and launch a new website. They are continuing to collect squares for the quilt from throughout the nation, and they have launched a second Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to take the Monument Quilt to cities across the country. There has also been a heavy MICA presence involved with the project with students and faculty members helping in different ways, including community engagement grant funding from the Office of Community Engagement and working with the Office of Development to write grants to raise money for the effort. The funds they raise will be put to good use, as the organization’s work continues to expand. Force is doing consent workshops, communications campaigns, and trainings for statewide sexual assault coalitions. They’ve also partnered with a company called Say It with a Condom to promote a line of consent condoms. Ten percent of the sales are donated to Force. Many of the skills Brancato and Nagle have used to fuel Force’s success were cultivated at MICA. Having both been fiber majors, “we think a lot about the meaning of objects and the cultural significance of materials,” Brancato said. “Our ability to think critically and deconstruct pieces of our culture really comes from conversations that happened in that department.” Brancato also received her MA and MFA in Community Arts from MICA and teaches at the College part time. “We think of ourselves as being part of a social justice movement as much as we think of ourselves as artists,” Brancato said. To learn more about Force: Upsetting Rape Culture’s Monument Quilt project, visit themonumentquilt.org. MICA alumna Lindsay Bottos ’14 (photography). Selfie Love As selfies have taken the Internet by storm, so has Lindsay Bottos’ ’14 (photography) Anonymous project, which imposed cruel messages she received online on top of self-portraits of herself. Bottos received national media nods from BuzzFeed, Good Morning America, MTV, Huffington Post, Baltimore Sun, and more, for her photography in what was actually an early draft for a larger project for her spring The Body in Photography class. Bottos has noted that though she’s honored by the national media coverage, for her, “it’s about the conversation, working toward the goal of making people aware that cyber bullying happens, why it happens, and realize it has consequences,” she said. With the working title Anonymous Web Piece, Bottos is now creating, with two web artists, an interactive online space where people can submit their own content in any medium to share their online bullying experiences with each other. She’s hoping this will be a safe haven for teens and young adults—a pivotal age Bottos believes can be most affected by such harsh comments—to welcome peer-driven discussions on these issues. Identity and reflections on figuring out how to navigate the world are themes that continue into Bottos’ thesis photographyand fiber-centric work, displayed in MICA’s Commencement Exhibition in May 2014. As a self-identified feminist and feminine woman, her work looks at sexism and how it’s affected her, as well as gender expression in relation to her being an opinionated person. Having taken only photography classes prior to MICA, Bottos credits the College with providing her with a strong foundation of skills and introducing her to a plethora of creatives with common interests. After graduation, she hopes to stay in Baltimore for the immediate future, and ultimately become a dedicated practicing artist, while perhaps working with publications, such as Bitch Magazine or BUST Magazine, on writing and photography projects. 13 14 INNOVATION New Faculty Faces The newest crop of faculty derives from a wide variety of professions including artists, designers, and educators. The 2014-2015 new faculty includes: Isaac Gertman GRAPHIC DESIGN Isaac Gertman ’03 (graphic design) is a designer, educator, and writer whose interests include the overlapping social, cultural, and infrastructural systems found in cities. He’s experienced in strategic planning, design, and production of editorial and brand identity systems, websites, publications, printed ephemera, motion graphics, and exhibitions. Gertman, a 2014 Wassaic Project Design Fellow, has had his writings appear in Print magazine and Design Bureau, among others. Kiel Mutschelknaus GRAPHIC DESIGN A Midwest native, Kiel Mutschelknaus pursued a bachelor of arts in studio art and a master of fine arts in 2D design from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, respectively. The designer/illustrator has worked in advertising and education in the United States. In his studio practice and classroom, he aims to push the boundaries of conventional working methodologies and embrace the potential energy of the unknown. Andrea Pippins GRAPHIC DESIGN Andrea Pippins is an educator, artist, and designer skilled in design and digital media. Pippins has worked for Hallmark Cards and TV Land/Nick at Nite networks, and has been published in How Magazine, Canadian House & Home and CMYK Magazine, among others. She’s received recognition in the design industry, including Dell’s #Inspire 100, a list of professionals who’ve used technology to empower and inspire others. Ryan Hoover Interdisciplinary sculpture Ryan Hoover ’06 (Mount Royal School of Art) is an artist who uses an array of digital, biological, and traditional media to explore technology and its history, focusing on how it structures and shapes society. He’s exhibited throughout the United States and abroad in contemporary art centers and museums. Prior to joining MICA’s Interdisciplinary Sculpture Department as a fulltime faculty member, Hoover served at the College as the director of Fabrication Studios and taught in the Interdisciplinary Sculpture and Environmental Design departments. Adriane Pereira TEACHING Adriane Pereira received a bachelor of arts in art history from Boston University, a master of science in art education from Florida International University, and a PhD from the University of Florida. With National Board Certification and many years of urban public school teaching experience, Pereira is an artist and an educator. She continues to maintain an active artistic practice and regularly presents her teaching and research investigating critical and creative cognitive processes at state and national conferences. (top to bottom) MICA faculty members Isaac Gertman, Kiel Mutschelknaus, Andrea Pippins, Ryan Hoover, and Adriane Pereira. INNOVATION (clockwise from left) Shadra Strickland; and illustrations (detail) from Please, Louise, written by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, and illustrated by MICA faculty member Shadra Strickland (all photos © Shadra Strickland). Faculty Member Shadra Strickland Illustrates for Renowned Author Toni Morrison “Baltimore chose me,” said MICA Illustration Department faculty member and Trustee Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching recipient Shadra Strickland. Many people would say that illustration chose her as well. Strickland is an award-winning artist who studied illustration and children’s illustration during her undergraduate and graduate studies, respectively. “Book illustration was the thing that resonated with me the most,” Strickland said. Strickland came to MICA in 2010 and had previously worked as an elementary school teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools system, where she was profoundly impacted by her pint-size inspirations. “I had been reading so many books to my students in the classroom, and I would see myself among the pages in works by Kadir Nelson, Pat Cummings, and other African-American illustrators,” she said. One of her first significant book offers was Bird, written by Zetta Elliott and illustrated by Strickland. Her illustrations brought to life the story of a young boy who escapes reality into his art. Published in 2009, the book received the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent and the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award, and was recognized on the Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) Notable Children’s Books list. Other opportunities began to blossom. She was offered several picture book manuscripts. In the queue was Please, Louise by Pulitzer Prize- and Nobel Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison and the late Slade Morrison, who died in 2010. Strickland’s illustrations in the children’s book tell the story of a young girl and her fears, traveling through what she perceives as a scary world and seeking refuge in the library in the discovery of books. Strickland began her yearlong process of creating and completing the visual narrative for the book—sketchbooks, thumbnails, discussions with the editor and art director, and sample illustrations. Her team looked at the character, Louise, in relation to diversity and being inclusive, and played around with portraying different types of children, including racially ambiguous children. Being inclusive is something Strickland has talked about with her MICA students. “If you are living inclusively, you don’t have to think as much about being diverse as an artist and reflecting diversity in your work,” she said. “So open yourself up to different types of people and experiences because you’ll get to use all of that in your work, and it just makes it richer and more valuable for many different types of people.” Strickland continues to teach and create—with a new illustration project, Sunday Shopping, a children’s book, and her very own book in the works. 15 16 SPECIAL SECTION (clockwise from top left) Michael Chiarella ’14 (environmental design), Caroline Kable ’14 (environmental design), Cindy Jian ’13 ’14 (environmental design, Social Design), and Austin Peppel ’15 (environmental design), Peg Board Shelter, plywood, PVC, canvas, rope, and hardware; Vanessa Wallace ’14 (general fine arts), Lost in Another, tracing paper, acrylic paint, and gloss medium (photo by Phylicia Ghee ’10); Evan W.H. Price ’14 (interdisciplinary sculpture), Display, various; and Valerie Vernon ’14 (ceramics), I reached out to you, raku-fired cone four earthenware, cone six porcelain, and fur. Spring Recap: Commencement Exhibition 2014 The Commencement Exhibition highlighted works by nearly 400 emerging artists in the undergraduate class of 2014 this past May. By transforming the College’s permanent galleries, hallways, classrooms, and open spaces into one expansive gallery space, each student showed a substantial body of work. To view more images visit, fyi.mica.edu. GLOBAL (left to right) Tour guide with MICA students at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and MICA students view the assembly of the James Webb space telescope. NASA Partners with MICA Students on Short Films Students at MICA often collaborate with working professionals on real-world projects, with outcomes that can have local, national, and even global influence. This past spring, thanks to a collaborative effort among Animation Department Chair Laurence Arcadias, MICA’s Office of Community Engagement, and scientists from NASA, students in the Advanced 2D Animation course translated astrophysics concepts into animation—a film project with outcomes that have a universal impact. During the five-week project, students from MICA worked closely with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland to animate the cosmic phenomena and theories the team of scientists is exploring. The result—five short films that visually explore dark matter, binary stars, Fermi bubbles, cosmic rays, and space debris—has tremendous potential in helping NASA educate the public about the Fermi telescope mission and the science behind it. The animations have already been presented at the SIGGRAPH 2014’s 3rd Annual Faculty Submitted Student Work Exhibit and at a conference at Columbia University in New York. “The collaboration started from a discussion I had with Robin Corbet, a scientist who is part of the Fermi Gammaray Space Telescope team,” Arcadias explained. “We discussed merging disciplines, and, eventually, we started to plan a class project where students at MICA had to react to real scientific challenges that the Fermi team tries to solve.” To kick off the project, Corbet visited with students at MICA to discuss the research being conducted by the Fermi scientists. The students began to create storyboards and animatics based on that information, and with organizational support from the Office of Community Engagement, were able to show their ideas on location at Goddard Space Flight Center. “For the students, going on site and standing in front of the scientists and explaining their concepts was an incredible experience. They got good feedback and support, and several scientists offered to mentor student teams all along the production phase,” Arcadias said. The students then began to further develop their ideas, translating astrophysics concepts into animation. Use of the website Tumblr to post their work allowed their mentors at NASA to leave feedback. Another outcome of the project was the creation of an internship that will allow an animation student from MICA to create art and develop research projects under the guidance of scientists at NASA. This past summer, Turner Gillespie ’14 (animation) became the first student selected for the initiative. He co-presented his project at the DC/MD/VA Astrophysics Summer 2014 Meeting. “Having scientists review their work was a real eye opener for the students. They were surprised to see how easy and meaningful the communication was, and how receptive and impressed the scientists were by their work,” Arcadias concluded. “It was important for everyone involved to learn to communicate—not just for the students to learn more science, but for scientists to understand what animation is about, and what it can do to serve a purpose. Hopefully this is the start of something bigger.” For more on the MICA and NASA collaboration, visit nasamicacollab.tumblr.com. 17 18 INNOVATION MICA faculty member Susan Waters-Eller ’72 ’78 ’98 (painting, Art Education, Digital Arts). Brain Science Research Sheds a Light on Critique While one might not immediately see a connection between art and brain science, the two are very much intertwined. “They both start with observation,” said MICA faculty member Susan Waters-Eller ’72 ’78 ’98 (painting, Art Education, Digital Arts). “One is observing the feeling tone of things and the sense of the whole and the implications of all the relationships in it, whereas the other is breaking things down into little parts,” Waters-Eller said. She first developed an interest in brain science when she was a graduate student at MICA and did a thesis on perception. “The more I read, the more I found that brain science was absolutely pertinent to art and to understanding what it is that art does,” she said. Her fascination has inspired her work. She uses illusionistic techniques to challenge views of reality. “If you see something you think is an oasis, once you see that it’s a mirage, you’ll never see it as an oasis again,” she explained. Her ability to change perceptions through art was noted by Baltimore’s City Paper, when it wrote that “much of the subtlety that Waters-Eller brings to the canvas comes through not in her storytelling but in her technique.” Her work has been included in many solo and group shows, as well as highlighted in Contemporary American Oil Painting, published in China. Her blog, Seeing Meaning, has readers from more than 60 countries, and she is working on a book about illusionism for the general reader. She has always been fascinated with the concept of how the brain uses the way we move through the world as a foundation for how we see all things. “The way that we perceive the external world—those are the same mechanisms by which we perceive art,” Waters-Eller said. A person’s critique or interpretation of art reflects his or her own feelings. According to Waters-Eller, research has shown that feeling precedes thinking, so during critiques, the brain works to translate visual feelings into words; every time that happens, people strengthen their corpus callosum, the bundle of fibers that connects the different hemispheres in the brain. “When people look at a piece that resonates with them, that piece of art expresses for them something that they can’t articulate for themselves,” she said. That means one might have one view of a piece of art today and a different view five years from now, depending upon what’s going on in that person’s life at those two different times. A person can also use art to better understand him or herself. “The things that we are drawn to are a mirror of our inner life,” Waters-Eller said. “I think it would be wonderful if people made a practice of either going to a gallery or leafing through an art book because the things they’re drawn to will vary from time to time, and noticing that will be helpful in understanding their own moods,” she said. Art also provides a glimpse inside the mind of the artist. “When I start a drawing, I don’t really go in with a preconceived idea,” Waters-Eller said. Instead, she watches images evolve that eventually match her state of mind. Sometimes the end result surprises her. “I might realize, ‘gosh, I must be feeling bad,’” she said. “It often shows me something about myself that I didn’t know.” CONNECTIONS Susan Waters-Eller ’72 ’78 ’98 (painting, Art Education, Digital Arts), Hidden Forces (detail), 3D. Art can also challenge one’s perceptions about life. “If you create a different way of seeing a subject, you can never see it the old way again. Emphasis on the way one used to see,” Waters-Eller said. Because perception is so subjective, “when I have a critique with a class, I try to get the whole range of ways that students will connect to that structure because sometimes they’re contradictory, and one of the beauties of art is that it can hold those contradictions,” Waters-Eller said. From Waters-Eller’s perspective, there can be no negative critique of art since it always reflects somebody’s truth. “What that does is it creates a safe space for my students where I see them flower and try things that they might never get into if they were afraid of being put down,” she said. “You have to trust it’s taking them somewhere.” Her work with her students has not gone unnoticed. Three times she has won the Trustees Award for Excellence in Teaching from MICA. As a MICA graduate and faculty member, Waters-Eller has been in a position to see the College grow and change. “The students have been getting better and better,” she said. “The better the student, the more inspired I become, and so MICA has been the perfect petri dish for the development of these ideas.” MICA has also given her the opportunity to develop her own courses, Illusionism and Advanced Illusionism. “Visual thinking is a movement for the future,” she said. “We need the ability to assess visual information quickly and move on to what’s significant.” MICA faculty members took on the topic of critique and how there is no one right way to do it. “I knew that I did a very different thing using brain science, and I assumed that there were very different approaches to critique,” she said. “We thought it might be interesting if we had personal essays from a number of teachers talking about how they did it so that rather than say ‘this is the way to do critique,’ someone can look at a lot of different ways and build their own way.” The result of those efforts was Beyond Critique: Different Ways of Talking About Art, a collection of faculty essays edited by Waters-Eller and MICA Associate Dean for Liberal Arts Joseph J. Basile. Published in December 2013, “the book is part of a movement to break loose from the restrictions of a particular mindset of what art should be,” she said. Carolyn Case ’97 (Mount Royal School of Art). MICA Faculty Member Awarded Prestigious Residency For three weeks this winter, Foundation Department faculty member Carolyn Case ’97 (Mount Royal School of Art) can focus solely on her art thanks to a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) residency funded through a program by the L.E.A.W. Family Foundation. Case will be joined by 25 artists from around the United States and other countries in a scenic, community setting in Amherst, Virginia. Linda Wachtmeister ’73 (ceramics), who is a member of the VCCA board of directors, established the collaboration between MICA and VCCA. The three-year commitment with MICA is VCCA’s first time partnering with a college. “Both of these organizations are important in my life,” Wachtmeister said. “I have experienced wonderful things because of being a MICA artist and a VCCA fellow. I wanted to share that with other people,” she continued. Case expressed enthusiasm for her residency with, “I am very grateful for this fellowship. Especially at this time in my life, an uninterrupted block of time to be able to work alongside fellow artists is such a treasure.” Case has received awards and residences nationally and internationally. She has shown in the mid-Atlantic region with solo exhibitions at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore; McLean Projects for the Arts in McLean, Virginia; and The Art Registry in Washington, DC; in addition to group exhibitions at Joyce Goldstein Gallery in Chatham, New York; John Fonda Gallery in Baltimore; and Delaware Art Museum. She is currently represented by Asya Geisberg Gallery in New York, with a solo exhibition in 2015, and Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, Virginia. Case was chosen out of a pool of seven MICA faculty member candidates representing the College’s wide range of academic departments through a two-part review process, one conducted by three outside panelists selected by MICA, and then by a second panel at VCCA. More information on the VCCA residency can be found at fyi.mica.edu. 19 20 ALUMNI (left to right) Donna Mills, David Jacobs ’61 (panting), Michelle Phillips, and Michele Lee accept the 30th Anniversary Award for Knots Landing onstage at the 7th Annual TV Land Awards in 2009 (photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images). David Jacobs ’61: Larger Than Life A MICA Alumnus Makes Television History Before he became a television legend, David Jacobs ’61 (painting) was just a kid in Baltimore trying to find his place. After attending MICA, the alumnus worked his way to Hollywood, where he struck gold on the small screen, creating the legendary television shows Knots Landing and Dallas, the Emmy-winning iconic drama featuring the Ewing clan that ran for 14 seasons, was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Best TV Shows of All Time,” and remains one of the longest-lasting, full-hour primetime television series. Jacobs, who served as writer, producer, and/or director for 20 television shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC from 1977 to 2005, recently spent time with Juxtapositions in his home in the shadow of the famous Hollywood sign. Juxtapositions: Thank you so much for meeting with us. David Jacobs: Glad to have you. Juxtapositions: What attracted you to art school? Jacobs: I’ll be very honest. I was a horrible student in high school. I just despised school. Once I got to the Maryland Institute, as it was called then, I really did find myself. It was an epiphany. I finally understood what had been wrong all along. At MICA, I was surrounded by artists. It was and still is a very stimulating place—very warm and comfortable. [Former President] Bud Leake had just ransacked the faculty at the Yale and Ohio art schools and convinced many of the best to come to MICA, so I had the advantage of learning from guys like Richard Ireland, Robert Forth, and Josh Fendel. I just loved it. That was step one of my salvation. Step two was moving to New York four years later. Juxtapositions: So you found that the creative atmosphere at MICA was something that really invigorated you? Jacobs: It was both an appreciation for the creative and an appreciation for differences, and for not being rigid—what we now call “out of the box” thinking. That was important because, as I mentioned before, I was a terrible student. I didn’t want to read the assigned books, but I would read plenty of books that I wanted to read. I would get Cs in English, even though I was a good writer, because I refused to memorize the grammar rules. I eventually made a deal with my ninth grade teacher, who agreed that I wouldn’t have to write down the grammar rules as long as I never made an error. If I did, he would retroactively cut all of my scores in half. I agreed. And I never made an error. I tried that with my 10th grade teacher, though, and he told me to “Sit down.” But that’s a good example of what I’m talking about. That ninth grade teacher had what I think of as the Maryland Institute attitude. “Ok, you think you can do it? Solve the problem. Solve the problem creatively and you don’t need to learn the rules, but you’d better not make the mistake.” You better have confidence in yourself. And I’d never been asked to have confidence in myself before that. So when I went to the Institute, it was great. I can’t even describe how alive I felt. By the end of my first ALUMNI (left to right) Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, Charlene Tilton, Ken Kercheval, and David Jacobs ’61 (panting) at the Dallas DVD Launch Party for seasons one and two (photo by Layne Murdoch/ WireImage for Warner Home Video). year at MICA, even with taking all of my academic courses at Johns Hopkins University, I was on the Dean’s List all of the time. I didn’t even think about it in terms of grades, though. It was just a great place to be. After four years as a painting major, I realized that I was a better writer than a painter. But MICA had taught me that I wanted to be part of that world, and so the obvious solution was to write about the arts. I was lucky enough to get a job in New York, writing little biographies of artists for a children’s encyclopedia called The Book of Knowledge. I was first supposed to be a picture editor, but ended up writing the articles. I was able to publish very young, at age 23. My first book was called Master Painters of the Renaissance, which was a kid’s book of artists’ biographies. And I started writing about social history and art together. I wrote a lot of other material too—more kid’s books, supplementary texts about the arts, architecture critiques, and a book about Charlie Chaplin. Juxtapositions: So how did you make the turn from that type of writing to screenplays and scripts? Jacobs: Around 1970, I started writing short stories. Fiction. I started this novel and, even though I never finished, four chapters were published as short stories in Cosmopolitan and a couple of other places. But things got rough financially for writers in New York in the 1970s, kind of like now. A lot of magazines were folding, there were fewer markets than before, and more writers were competing with each other for fewer jobs. Meanwhile my ex-wife married an actor and decided to move to Los Angeles, taking my 11-year-old daughter Albyn with them. As I had been as active as my ex-wife was raising my daughter, I decided to give the West Coast a try. My girlfriend, Diana, volunteered to make the move with me—good move because I had exactly $212…and a lot of debt. And Diana was a bookkeeper as well as an artist so she brought home whatever little bacon we had. For the first nine months, I didn’t even know if I could do screenwriting. But I did finally get a rewriting job over Labor Day weekend in 1972 for a show called The Blue Knight about gang wars in Chinatown. I dropped it off at Warner Brothers on Tuesday morning, and by Tuesday afternoon my agent called and said that they wanted to see me first thing the next morning. I said, “Well at least they didn’t say they tossed out my rewrite,” which does happen. I didn’t really know anything about television or screenwriting, so I didn’t immediately realize then how extraordinary this was, but as I sat waiting to see the producers, I realized the show that all of the production people were preparing to do next was the show I’d just rewritten over the weekend. In fact, they’d thrown out the script they had been using because the one I wrote was more camera ready. So they hired me as a staff writer. And then four weeks later, The Blue Knight was shut down by CBS. But my agent told me that a studio representative wanted to talk with me about doing my own show. I accepted a story editor job on a show called Family, but the studio representative kept calling and asking me when I was going to come up with my own idea. I wanted to do a show featuring scenes from a marriage times four—four married couples living in a cul-de-sac in California. CBS felt that there were too many shows with too much violence, and wanted to do a domestic show. But they wanted to start with something a little more glitzy, more like a saga. Well, to me, a saga sounded like something that would happen in Texas, which I’d driven through pretty fast one time. And for some reason, I remembered seeing a billboard outside of Dallas called Ewing Buick. And the rest was history. The foundation of the show was a working class girl, marrying into a wealthy family, to be the eyes and ears of the audience. I sent it over to the studio representative, who read it, but tore off the title page, which said “Untitled.” When I asked what he called it, he said Dallas. I had it all wrong because I hadn’t done a lot of research. Dallas was a banking town. Houston was the oil town. The first time I went to Dallas, 21 22 ALUMNI A promotional still from the American television series Dallas shows members of the Ewing family as they pose in front of their television home, the Southfork Ranch, Dallas, Texas, 1979. (Back row, from left) Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing, Victoria Principal as Pamela Barnes Ewing, Barbara Bel Geddes as Eleanor Southworth “Miss Ellie” Ewing, and Larry Hagman as John Ross “J.R.” Ewing, Jr. (Front row, from left) Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing, Jim Davis as John Ross “Jock” Ewing, and Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing (photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images). I didn’t see guys in business suits wearing boots and Stetsons. I tried to make it more conservative, but nobody wanted that. They didn’t care. So we left it the way it was. I had a hurricane in one of the episodes and there had never been a hurricane in Dallas! [Laughs.] But after Dallas became a hit show, all of a sudden, guys started wearing Stetsons and boots and they even actually had a hurricane! After Dallas came on the air, the studio executives pulled out the pages I’d done for the show set in a cul-de-sac in California and asked if there was any way to make it a Dallas spinoff. So I created Knots Landing. After Dallas’ success, I was able to demand that I produce the next thing I wrote. Juxtapositions: And so all of the characters were yours? All the main characters—J.R., Bobby, Pam, Sue Ellen, Gary Ewing… Jacobs: Everybody. Juxtapositions: And how’d you get the idea for J.R.? Jacobs: I had the idea of J.R. being the son that’s running the family business. He’s made 10 times more money than his father ever did, but his father still likes his little brother best. I was sitting in the office of the president of Lorimar, and we made a phone call to this actor to whom we were thinking about offering the part. The actor asked why J.R. was so miserable, and how we were going to make him more sympathetic. I said, “We’re not.” When the actor asked why, I said, “Because he likes it. He believes the way of business is that you screw them before they screw you.” The actor passed on the part. And that’s when the casting director suggested Larry Hagman. I was already in the office when Larry arrived for our meeting. I turned around and there, standing in the doorway with the Stetson and cowboy boots, was Larry Hagman. He was completely in character as J.R. Ewing. In the original pilot script, J.R. tries to entrap Pam in a compromising situation, but is foiled by her. He realizes he has a worthy adversary, saying, “I won’t make that mistake again.” But when Larry did the line, he said the line as written and then added this little laugh, as if J.R. actually enjoyed the competition. And that’s really how things work in television; it becomes a collaboration between artists, writers, and actors. Now that Larry’s gone, I’m the only person whose name appears on every episode of Dallas. But the one thing that upset me about Dallas is that there weren’t any black people and hardly any brown people. I kept asking when they were going to cast some black people, and they said, “yeah, one of these days.” So when I later wrote the miniseries Dallas: The Early Years, I wrote that the entire Ewing fortune was built on a deal they’d made with a sharecropper. Bill Duke played the part of the sharecropper, who had signed a lease saying the sharecroppers shared equally in what was under the ground with the Ewings—except the Ewings put in a clause exempting mineral rights. We had Bill make a great speech about not being able to look his son in the eye after falling for that deal. And the Ku Klux Klan was involved—we had great stuff. So I just had satisfaction that in some way, we at least showed that there were black people in Dallas. So my first two shows were my two biggest hits. ALUMNI Jacobs: My wife Diana and I had always set up scholarships, mostly Dallas and Knots Landing creator, David Jacobs ’61 (painting), in his home office, Los Angeles, California (photo by Carlos Florez ’06). Juxtapositions: So what did you like better, the writing or the producing? Jacobs: Producing in television is writing without typing. Producing television or film is problem solving, and the problems are never the same; they always seem to be different in every show. You try and make the show work and make it on budget, and it really all comes back to the script. Juxtapositions: And do you think that’s why you were so successful in producing—back to the same thing you said about high school and college—that you didn’t necessarily like to follow strict rules and in producing you said you never did the same thing twice? No day was the same? Jacobs: That’s an interesting question. In the sense that the creative thinking, creative problem solving is the job of the screenwriter and television writer, it is the same thing. It’s thinking of a way to do it, but not necessarily the way it’s been done before. And I’ll tell you a story about MICA and me. In 1960, I came up with a style that was very slick: big horizontal paintings with nudes usually or some other figure and very thick, very slick whites and grays. And they were cool paintings, except that I was really onto something and I kept doing them over and over. Dick Ireland, one of the greatest influences in my life, once looked over my shoulder as I was painting. I didn’t even ask, “What do you think?” but he said, “Why don’t you try some pink?” And he just laughed. And I knew immediately what he meant. He meant that I should do something nuts. He didn’t even know about the rest of the paintings. He just looked and knew that I was doing something very safe. I did put some pink in it, and I ruined it, but I worked my way out of it. I’ve always liked to work that way, even in writing—to get myself in a mess and work my way out. But you’re allowed to do that in an art school. And to this day, if I’m reading something I wrote, and I’m looking it over, and I say that it needs pink, I mean that it needs something to shock it. You know, it needs something to give it a little more snap. “Why don’t you try some pink” is the greatest thing that was said to me in my professional life. If it needs pink, you have to be bold, and you have to take a chance. Juxtapositions: Tell us about the fulfillment you get out of your support for MICA. for kids. And we knew whatever money we had, we wanted to put into something charitable, for education. I asked [recently retired President] Fred Lazarus IV what MICA needed most, and he said it was help recruiting international students. And that really worked well with our plan. The first one was a young woman from India. I never met her, but we paid for four full years of tuition and living expenses. Later, we provided a scholarship to a young man from Trinidad and Tobago, and we became very close. He said that he didn’t understand what it was like to be a black man in America until he came to Bolton Hill. And he actually organized meetings between the cops and the students, and he was just a great influence. He was very successful. We also funded a young Chinese filmmaker. When I first saw her, she was modest and mousey. We went to breakfast later, after she got acclimated to MICA, and she couldn’t eat because she was talking so much. What a difference! It’s all about confidence, and that’s what MICA gives in a way that no other place does. I could never get in now, because all of the kids are extraordinary. It’s so alive to me. I’m so connected that I don’t see how that connection could ever come apart. When I was a kid, I grew up in Baltimore and was a loner. I didn’t have any friends. My grandfather had a shoe repair store on East Monument Street. I loved to be there. Several years ago, with time to kill before a MICA committee meeting for trustees, I took a drive to check out the shop. After Hopkins Hospital, East Monument Street turned into a slum, then a ghost town. Buildings boarded up. Newspaper rolling down the pavement like tumbleweed. Depressing. I got on Interstate 83 and came back down toward MICA. I hadn’t seen the Brown Center yet. When I parked and walked around the corner and saw it for the first time—what a mood swing! From a miserable, boarded-up ruin of an old shoemaker’s shop to the best building in Baltimore, its glass reflecting 1300 Mount Royal Avenue in the afternoon sun—the triumphant symbols of a world-class college educating the next generation of world-class artists and designers. In a half-hour’s time I’d seen the two most important places of my youth in Baltimore, the two places where I was happiest. One past, gone—a memory—the other the present and future—all promise and hope. I’m getting old now but I’d still rather be looking ahead than back. I can never leave MICA. MICA alumnus and legendary writer and creator David Jacobs ’61 (painting) takes in the view from his Los Angeles, California, home (photo by Carlos Florez ’06). 23 24 INNOVATION Filmmaker Tarek Turkey shooting the Wall Hunters project for documentary Vacant View (photography by Julia Pitch). MFA in Filmmaking Program Launches Fall 2015 Throughout its history, MICA has successfully launched first-of-their-kind educational programs to fill needs that no other college was addressing. With the launch of the new MFA in Filmmaking in fall 2015, the College expands on that legacy, this time creating a program tailored to respond to a sweeping, technology-driven realignment of the film and media industry. “Technology has changed how films are made and transformed how media is delivered,” explained Patrick Wright, director of the MFA in Filmmaking and chair of the undergraduate Film and Video Department. While most film programs have not kept pace with these changes, MICA’s MFA in Filmmaking has been designed to take advantage of this revolutionary shift in the industry. In addition to teaching practical filmmaking skills, the curriculum will train and position students to play a vital role in developing new cinematic communities and provide students the knowledge and flexibility to build a sustained career in filmmaking anywhere in the world, including Baltimore—itself a burgeoning location for films, such as Lotfy Nathan’s ’09 (painting) documentary 12 O’Clock Boys, and shows, such as HBO’s Veep and the Netflix drama House of Cards. The program also builds on long-term partnerships with both The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Film and Media Studies program and the Maryland Film Festival (MFF), and will further expand MICA’s presence in Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District. “MICA is committed to helping define Baltimore as an international center for filmmaking,” said Samuel Hoi, MICA president. “We aren’t thinking small. Our aim is to create a nexus that enables all of the region’s film, cinema, and animation resources to achieve synergy and grow dramatically.” Students from MICA and JHU will share a state-of-the-art facility located just steps away from the MFF Parkway Film Center in Station North, forming a collective network that gives students access to faculty and resources from two world-class educational institutions, as well as international films and filmmakers. Linda DeLibero, director of the Film and Media Studies program at JHU, discussed the shared academic facility, saying, “Working together under one roof means that we’ll finally have what we’ve dreamed of for a decade: a hub of collective filmmaking and film education that draws on the best of what each school has to offer.” “The MFF Parkway Film Center’s main function is to bring films and filmmakers that do not now come to Baltimore,” said Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival. “This involves not just screenings, but also student access to the film community. I don’t know of another academic program in the country that has this kind of partnership. It’s going to help identify MICA as a unique graduate program,” Dietz said. Wright added, “MFA students are looking for connections into the professional world, and over the years, this partnership with the Maryland Film Festival has given students access to blue chip filmmakers, a long list that includes Barry Levinson, Alex Gibney, Ellen Kuras, and D.A. Pennebaker. At the Parkway, the festival will program eight screenings and filmmaker visits a semester for our students, and the filmmakers themselves will host a seminar or review student work. This will connect students to an international body of work and add to the building culture of cinema in Baltimore.” “Film is the most democratic art form,” Dietz said. “People attend movies more than all professional sports combined by a factor of four or five, and technology is helping the art form expand even more. The three institutions—MICA, JHU, the Maryland Film Festival—get it. It’s going to change everyone involved, and it’s going to change Baltimore,” he added. MFA in Filmmaking grew from a joint narrative filmmaking course and concentration offered by MICA and JHU, into a program where students have the opportunity to learn all aspects of filmmaking and to be at the forefront of emerging practices in film through new distribution, production, funding, and consumption models. The program is ideal for students interested in visual storytelling in either nonfiction or fiction. Recent MICA alumni mentored by the film and video program include: Nathan; Errol Webber ’08 (video), who became the youngest cinematographer ever to shoot an Oscar-winning film when the documentary short, Music by Prudence, won in that category; and Abbi Jacobson ’06 (general fine arts), co-creator of the Comedy Central show Broad City, which premiered in 2014 and has been renewed. SPECIAL SECTION (clockwise from top) The Empathy Project exhibition; writings from participants of The Empathy Project; and artwork by Hannah Jeremiah ’16 (interdisciplinary sculpture), Adhesive Sketchbook, scraps and various fasteners, for The Empathy Project (all photos by Xiaotian Yang ’14). Spring Recap: The Empathy Project Robert W. Deutsch Foundation Artist-in-Residence and Research Fellow Paul Rucker created The Empathy Project. Aimed to continue intercultural conversations in the community about diversity, difference, and global perspectives, the interactive exhibition included performances, exhibitions, workshops, luncheons, and a forum. MFA in Curatorial Practice program faculty member Marcus Civin curated the exhibition this past February and March. 25 26 ALUMNI Abbi Jacobson ’06 (general fine arts) and Ilana Glazer are creators of the Comedy Central television series Broad City and also star as the series leads (photo by Lane Savage). Alumna Chronicles Life in the Big City with Hit Show Who knew Broad City, a Comedy Central television series, would be such a hit? The fans did, and they were right. The show, nominated for the Critics’ Choice Television Awards “Best Comedy Series,” is the vision of newcomers Abbi Jacobson ’06 (general fine arts) and Ilana Glazer, series creators and stars. The no-holds-barred comedy is derived from Jacobson and Glazer’s web series of the same name, airing from 2009 to 2011. It gained a cult following, with the finale featuring famed actress, writer, and producer Amy Poehler, an executive producer of the current television version. Premiering in January 2014, the half-hour television series takes viewers along as actresses Jacobson and Glazer—as outsized versions of themselves—grapple with adulthood in New York City, with all of their hiccups, mishaps, and selfdiscovery in tow. To the excitement of not only fans, but also Jacobson and Glazer, the hit show has been renewed for a second season, with new episodes airing in 2015. “I was walking home from the subway one night after work and got the call,” Jacobson said. “Those calls are so rare and so sort of, stop-you-in-your-tracks kind of calls. It was such a sense of relief to know we’d get to make more—to know the network believed in the show and that people were watching and digging what we made,” she added. But before the life-changing calls, the doting fans, and the favorable reviews, Jacobson called MICA home. It was there where she got her foundation and fed her interests in video and television. “I was always pretty obsessed with SNL as a kid, and in middle school and high school, I was very interested in performing,” she said. When Jacobson came to MICA, she was more focused on non-time-based visual art, eventually changing course, saying, “but once I started [taking] video, it sparked my interests again, and I tried to find more outlets for performance.” Jacobson seized the opportunity her program provided—to delve into her many different interests. ALUMNI Still of Abbi Jacobson ’06 (general fine arts) in her MICA hoodie from an episode of the new Comedy Central show Broad City (photo courtesy of Comedy Central). “General fine arts was great for me because I had so many interests and, initially, couldn’t really figure out exactly what I wanted to do,” she said. “I was interested in maps and writing, and performing and exploring nostalgia, and the program allowed me to take all sorts of classes and form a body of work. The video major introduced me to a lot of different ways of telling stories. The combo was really invaluable to me.” Being a multifaceted artist—a writer and actress—has proven beneficial still. In Jacobson’s work for the show, her creativity flows between disciplines. “It’s interesting, because lately I’m finding myself in stages of the production where I’m really focused on one of those things,” she said. “Like right now, we’re writing the second season, so I’m in writer mode full force. Soon, we’ll move into the actual production, and then I’ll be much more in actor mode. It’s very fluid, though, as [both roles] are essential throughout the whole process.” Though it may be hard to believe, a lot of what happens in the show is based on Jacobson’s and Glazer’s real lives. And to keep that creativity continuous, they are always searching for and creating new material. “The satisfaction of seeing it come to life is motivation to make more, and make them grow. Also, we work with people we love and admire…so it makes every day fun,” Jacobson said. Jacobson and Glazer, alumnae of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, a prestigious theater and training center in New York, bring with them an amazing amount of talent. Along with show writers and producers, for season one, they worked with actors Hannibal Buress, John Gemberling, and Arturo Castro, among others. Jacobson credits MICA’s courses and instructors for teaching her how to “come up with a concept I believe in, create it, edit it, and find the words to describe it and defend it while being able to take criticism.” “Those studio courses got me used to spending a lot of time looking at one thing and paying attention to detail. I think overall, MICA and the classes I took taught me how many different ways there are to look at the world and that your specific [point of view] is worth exploring and sharing,” she added. To do what you love sometimes doesn’t come easy, or to everyone. But Broad City forges ahead with the support of millions of viewers, including Jacobson’s family and close friends. “It’s been nothing but positive and supportive. I think it’s still unbelievable for a lot of people in my life that the show is actually on TV. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind.” Her advice to young creatives: to take advantage of the opportunities colleges affords them. “MICA has such an amazing array of interesting classes that can help you find your voice, which is the goal. Your voice, in whatever your medium, will change over time, but the more you put out into the world, the more you’ll filter what works and where to go next.” Jacobson has clearly found her voice. 27 28 EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS (clockwise from top left) The Sun Magazine article about Tyson Street with photographs by A. Aubrey Bodine; selection of objects and artworks from Betty Cooke ’46 (art education) and William O. Steinmetz’s ’50 (general design) personal collection; Dedicated exhibition graphic logo inspired by motifs found in both Betty Cooke’s ’46 (art education) jewelry and William O. Steinmetz’s ’50 (general design) artwork; and jewelry by Betty Cooke ’46 (art education) from the late and early 1950s. Spring Recap: Dedicated In June, Dedicated celebrated decades-long active alumni Betty Cooke ’46 (art education), an award-winning jewelry designer and former MICA faculty member, and William O. Steinmetz ’50 (general design), an accomplished artist and designer, former MICA faculty member, and current board member. The exhibition told the tale of the two Baltimore natives who met at MICA in the post-WWII era and successfully built their lives around their creative practices. ALUMNI (left to right) Ronald E. Fidler ’64 (graphic design); and workers drape an American flag along the wall struck by hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon, September 11, 2011, in Arlington, Virginia (photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images). A Monumental Mission: Alumnus Helps a Nation Rebuild Many Americans felt a surge of patriotism in the days following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which killed nearly 3,000 people in the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and on Flight 93 in western Pennsylvania. But Ronald E. Fidler ’64 (graphic design) got to put that sense of patriotism to action, helping the Pentagon literally rise up from its ashes. Three days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Baltimore-based RTKL Associates, an architectural firm where Fidler was a vice president and project director, received a call from the Pentagon asking them to help to rebuild the building, which serves as headquarters to the US Department of Defense. With all of the company’s employees—like the rest of America—mesmerized by the 24-hour coverage of the horrific events that had unfolded, there was only one answer they could give. The firm issued an immediate “yes.” Fidler’s responsibilities included overseeing project coordination, as well as ensuring quality and schedule assurances. Once the team was able to assess the damage, they realized they had a major challenge before them. Fire, water damage, and even mold had wreaked havoc on the building. Normally a project of that scope would take two or three years to complete, but then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wanted the outer ring of the Pentagon to be completed by September 11, 2002. “We realized we were facing a challenge,” Fidler said, but staff from every one of the company’s offices around the world volunteered to become involved with the project. Another difficulty, however, was coordinating with partner architectural firms, contractors, and engineers to get the job done on a rushed schedule. “Everyone was putting in at least 12-hour days,” Fidler recalled. “We would have project meetings at the Pentagon at five o’clock in the morning because the contractors were working three eight-hour shifts, virtually around the clock; so you were designing, you were detailing, you were trying to resolve construction issues—it was what we call an architectural fast-track project.” Then there was the historic preservation aspect of the project. “It was a historic building, so we had to reconstruct it to look just like it did before,” Fidler said. That required a lot of investigation into new materials and different ways of doing things since the building was built in the 1940s. For Fidler, the project, nicknamed The Phoenix Project after the symbolic bird that rises from the ashes, evoked a range of emotions “from sadness and despair after the building had been hit, to being overwhelmed by the loss of life and the amount of destruction, to the ultimate pride in finishing the project and realizing that you were doing something for your country.” The most gut-wrenching part of the experience for Fidler was the first time the team walked through the ruins and realized firsthand how extensive the destruction was and how many lives were lost. While Fidler was well-suited for the task, he didn’t always plan for a career in architecture. After studying graphic design as an undergraduate at MICA, Fidler was hired by RTKL to do graphic design work on the company’s promotional brochure, in addition to other projects. “While working at RTKL, I fell in love with architecture and wound up staying there and becoming a registered architect,” he said. Fidler is an emeritus member of the American Institute of Architects. MICA prepared him well for the career change. “The creative problem solving that you learn at MICA translates over into many different art forms, including architecture,” he said. After retiring from RTKL, Fidler founded Fidler Consulting Group, an architectural and interior design consulting service. He has also maintained his MICA connections, serving on the Board of Trustees since 2004, heading up the Buildings and Grounds Committee, and chairing the Lazarus Legacy Committee. While he has warm memories of many of his design projects, when Fidler drives past the Pentagon, he still gets a lump in his throat. “It was no doubt the culmination of my career,” he said. “It’s the project I will never forget.” 29 30 CONNECTIONS Dishon Hall ’16 (illustration) receives the Emerging Leader Award from Sarah Brousseau ’15 (painting) at the MICA Leadership Reception in May 2014. Leadership Reception Awards Outstanding Student Commitment Students and student-led organizations that actively engage in strengthening MICA and the community of Baltimore were recognized at the MICA Leadership Reception held last May. Started in 2004 by the Office of Student Activities, the Leadership Reception honors outstanding students and event programming for the academic year, and emphasizes the importance of leadership for the student body. The awards for students, organizations, and programs support students in their efforts to make a positive impact at the College. Sarah Brousseau ’15 (painting), who won the Emerging Leader Award at the 2013 reception, relates her work in student activities directly to her artistic career. Brousseau has served in numerous leadership roles at MICA and continues to be involved as an orientation coordinator, Undergraduate Admission special event assistant, and co-president and founder of MICAfit, a student organization devoted to creating community through the love for fitness. “We’re not just leading other students, we’re also leading ourselves as artists,” Brousseau said. “We have to have these important roles of leadership and learning how to work with other people that help us gain all the elements that come into leadership as professionals and as artists.” Dishon Hall ’16 (illustration), a winner of this year’s Emerging Leader Award, describes a leader as someone who is patient, understanding, and can adapt to the needs of other people. “I try to make everyone comfortable and at home,” Hall said. “The MICA community is warm, expressive, welcoming, and encouraging, and helps you not only as an artist but as a person. I became an orientation leader to help students understand that,” he added. Along with being an orientation leader, Hall is a member of The Crew, a student-led group that helps plan and work events around campus, and the video game club, among others. Bailey Sheehan ’16 (interdisciplinary sculpture), who won the Outstanding Achievement Award, explains that being a leader involves networking and involving oneself in various activities. “Just totally dunk yourself into the MICA community; get your name out there and meet other people,” Sheehan said. “I encourage working with different clubs and companies because you create a diverse group inside and outside of your event.” Sheehan has become an advocate for the reception and commends MICA for recognizing students for their outstanding achievements. “It was more of a celebration having all of the students and leaders come into one place. It developed a good sense of community,” Sheehan explained. Students and organizations are selected by a committee coordinated by Assistant Director for the Office of Student Activities Kirsten Fricke ’03 (general fine arts). The committee evaluates the nomination letters submitted by fellow students, faculty, and staff members. In addition, each category has specific criteria that each student, organization, or program must meet to receive the award, including good academic standing, making extensive and effective leadership contributions to the MICA community, and exuding professionalism. This year, the Fred Lazarus Leadership for Social Change Award was established in honor of then-President Fred Lazarus IV’s retirement. Recipients of awards include the Fred Lazarus Leadership for Social Change Award: Amelia Hutchison ’15 (general fine arts) and Vincent Purcell ’14 (Social Design); Sidney Lake Award: Valerie Vernon ’14 (ceramics), Vivien Wise ’14 (fiber), and Pat Galluzzo ’14 (Photographic and Electronic Media); Outstanding Achievement Award: Bailey Sheehan ’16 (interdisciplinary sculpture), Tori Munoz ’15 (art history, theory, and criticism), and Arthur Morrill ’15 (Mount Royal School of Art); Emerging Leader Award: Dishon Hall ’16 (illustration) and Joshua Fetzer ’16 (painting); Alumni Award: Lindsay Aura Miller ’14 ’15 (ceramics, Teaching) and Katie Duffy ’14 (Mount Royal); Student Organization of the Year Award: MICA Burlesque and Salon; Social Event Award: Junk Foodie/ Meyerhoff Master Chef; Cultural Event Award: Chinese New Year; Educational Event Award: LGBTQ (non-Hetero) Sex-Ed; Wellness Event Award: MICAfit Games; Community Service Award: CONGREGATE Art + Faith + Community; and LeaderShape Award: Alexandria Hall ’17 (fiber), Alyse Ruriani ’17 (graphic design), Emma Jo Shatto ’17 (painting), and Ryan Gugenheim ’17 (interdisciplinary sculpture). 32 GLOBAL (clockwise from top left) Nada Alaradi ’16 (Curatorial Practice), partial space of the introduction room in The world turns still exhibition; Dinah Kubeck ’16 (LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting), Wanderlust, acrylic on canvas, 2013; Sara Al Haddad ’16 (Rinehart School of Sculpture), everything and nothing (detail), mattress steel springs, sponge, sequins, beads, ribbons, and embroidery thread, 2013; and Emily Zuch ’08 (painting), Ghost of a Tree (detail), oil on canvas, 2013. Global Appeal MICA has not only been a top producer of Fulbright Scholars among specialty schools, but also attracts students from across the world who receive Fulbright scholarships and choose to continue their study and research at the College. Here is a selection of this year’s Fulbright Program recipients both from MICA and coming here from abroad: Emily Zuch, United States to Germany From the United States to Germany, MICA alumna Emily Zuch ’08 (painting) will embark on an almost year journey, revealing as much about her as about the country. The New York-born and based artist received a Fulbright Study/Research grant for 2014-2015, which will support her travel to Leipzig, Saxony, and Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, in Germany. For her project, Zuch will observe and make drawings of rehearsals and productions by contemporary puppeteers and students of puppetry. The drawings will then be used to create a body of paintings that will examine the ways puppets move through and interact with the space around them. “Germany possesses a rich history of this art form, which has made it home to an extensive puppetry scene today,” Zuch said. She proposed this project because of her interest in folklore and fairy tale imagery. “I create set-ups from a variety of materials, often including figures and forms, which fly, hang, and sweep through space, leading to a natural interest in puppetry and theater in general,” she said. For the Fulbright, Zuch has partnered with the Leipzig-based Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel and the puppetry department at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart). Her schooling at MICA helped her development as an artist, “by allowing me space and guidance to find my own voice, experiment with a variety of media, and fail as much as is necessary to grow.” GLOBAL Silvia Mata-Marin, Costa Rica Dinah Kubeck, Germany Costa Rica-born Silvia Mata-Marin ’15 (Social Design) comes from a family of Fulbright recipients—both her parents were awarded grants to pursue their doctoral degrees. While studying graphic design and sculptural design at the Universidad de Costa Rica, she became involved with social outreach projects. “I have always had a great interest in social documentary photography, which is why I decided to document migrant populations in Costa Rica and neighboring country Panama, especially indigenous migrant groups,” Mata-Marin said. After graduation, she began working as a graphic designer, but continued to be drawn to projects that dealt with social issues, and later decided to return to this interest. Mata-Marin then began looking for a social design master’s degree program, saying, “I quickly found out that this is a relatively new field in the world, and it’s almost unheard of in Costa Rica.” “So, I began exploring my options outside of what my country could offer and discovered the MA in Social Design program at MICA,” she added. Mata-Marin’s Fulbright Study/Research grant proposal centered on the emerging and growing social design field in the Americas. “[Costa Rica] being a developing country, there is a great need for interdisciplinary approaches to solve and deal with pressing social issues.” She plans to apply what she will learn at MICA, and from local partnering organizations, in her home country. “My main goal is to understand how to work along with organizations and groups to address complex social problems and use design as an enabling tool in dealing with these issues” Mata-Marin said. For Fulbright fellow Dinah Kubeck ’16 (LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting), art is about exploring, experimenting, studying, learning, and reflecting. “The same goes for new cultural encounters: opening up to new cultures helps to understand the world a little bit better,” she said. The German- and Sweden-educated artist embarks on her studies at MICA this semester. Kubeck has a background in both illustration and painting. Over the past year, she has been working with and examining concepts of chance and planning in art. “I begin my paintings with a notion or an impulse, rather than an elaborate idea or mental image of what the painting should look like,” she said, adding, “I then try to evolve the idea, constantly talking to my paintings, seeing where they take me.” She came to MICA because of its reputation as a leading art and design school and the structure of the Hoffberger program—frequent critiques, discussions, and dialogues with the director, the artist in residence, and visiting artists, as well as trips to major art centers. “I also talked to several people who studied at MICA, who told me what an amazing time they had there, and how much they and their work evolved during and through their studies there,” she said. Sara Al Haddad, United Arab Emirates Sara Al Haddad ’16 (Rinehart School of Sculpture) uses fiber to confront insecurities, doubts, and fears through her works, which also aim to create paths of self-empowerment. A 2011 graduate of American University in Dubai, she has exhibited internationally, including a solo exhibition, i know, i knew, at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre and group shows in New York, Germany, and Switzerland. Al Haddad delves into her feelings to gain knowledge of the emotional human nature and how persons’ psyches impact their emotional reactions relative to time and space. “I want to give an embodiment to those feelings to extend their longevity. The possibility of a feeling being reduced to becoming just a thought scares me, because thoughts tend to get lost with time and change with place,” she said. The artist has not explored “the possibility of a feeling, any feeling, being of any value past its initial form,” she added. But Al Haddad plans to further study this concept while at MICA. Seeking a top art school, she began to research graduate programs in the United States and chose to attend MICA through her Fulbright Study/Research funding. “I was looking for a great sculpture program in a close-knit community, which offers the institutional support and community I need to grow, and that could embrace my fiber background and interest,” Al Haddad said. Through interactions with MICA faculty, visiting artists, and peers, she hopes to expand her knowledge, as well as use of materials, and not limit herself to the familiar, but be open to new possibilities in art. Nada Alaradi, Bahrain Bahraini artist Nada Alaradi ’16 (Curatorial Practice) has shown in various exhibitions, including the Bahrain Female Artists Annual Exhibition and Al Riwaq Art Space, Manama, Bahrain. In 2012, Alaradi co-founded Ulafa’a, an art organization that aims to promote peaceful communities through public and interactive art, where she also co-curates. The interactions between humans interest her. “The way we become ‘the way we are’ is largely based on how we are imprinted on by others,” Alaradi said. She works on conceptually-based art and design that possess both human and spiritual aspects. Many of her works also deal with the connections or lack thereof among people and their impact. She has been recently influenced by the 2011 Bahrain protests and rallies that called for political reform and equality, and according to Alaradi, “created a social divide that was non-existent before [then].” Her response was to aid in resolving the rift in the country. “Humans create invisible lines between each other and categorize people to ‘us’ and the ‘other.’ This occurs all around the world, so the concept that I’m working with is universal.” Alaradi will attend MICA’s MFA in Curatorial Practice program, which she describes as having “a wonderful balance between theoretical and practical approaches to curatorial practice that not all colleges provide.” “I was also looking for a college that is situated in a city that is culturally permeated, and has a very active and lively museum and arts scene,” she added. While at MICA, Alaradi intends to create well-timed exhibitions that can cause change and impact individuals, and discover alternative approaches to present art. “I feel that curatorial is fascinating and relevant in reaching individuals’ thoughts and reflections on important matters and should be used as a tool to create a movement in society.” In addition to Alaradi, Kubeck, Al Haddad, and Mata-Marin, Meltem Sahin ’16 (Illustration Practice) of Turkey, and Francisca Carvalho ’16 (Mount Royal School of Art) of Portugal, have received Fulbright Study/ Research grants to attend MICA this academic year. 33 34 SPECIAL SECTION (clockwise from top left) Nick Primo ’14 (Rinehart School of Sculpture), When It Recognizes Two Opposing Objects, It Grows Stronger Ash, plaster; Katherine Gagnon ’14 (LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting), Running Through the Woods (detail), oil on panel; Andy Dahl ’14 (Community Arts), Pedaled Revelation, kinetic bike; and Qianliu Chen ’14 (Illustration Practice), Woolly & Shaggy _ Let’s Swap! (detail), illustration. Spring Recap: MICA Grad Show 2014 The graduate spring and summer exhibition season showcased the creative achievements of MICA’s graduate programs—a diverse group of artists, designers, scholars, and curators—from January to July 2014. The season included MFA, MA, and post-baccalaureate exhibitions, critiques, student-curated installations, interactive gallery talks, presentations, public programs, workshops, and a symposium at the College and throughout Baltimore City. EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS Foundation Exhibition Friday, August 29-Sunday, September 21 Fox Building: Meyerhoff Gallery, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.; and Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave. Reception: Thursday, September 11, 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 works of artists who are developing their skills and vision over the next few years in a variety of media. RENAISSANZ RZEN: ARTIST IN EXILE Wednesday, October 1-Tuesday, October 14 Brown Center: Rosenberg Gallery, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Reception: Friday, October 3, 7 pm Sabbatical Exhibition This show will feature the work of artist Warren Hynson, who works under the name Renaissanz Rzen. Hynson has spent more than 20 years in prison and is currently incarcerated in the Jessup Correctional Institution. He began painting after being inspired by the work of his fellow prison artists. His vibrant acrylic portraits of inmates help tell the story of his own struggle and the struggles of his comrades in exile. Friday, August 29-Sunday, September 21 Fox Building: Decker Gallery, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave. Reception: Thursday, September 11, 5-7 pm Faculty Exhibition Renaissanz Rzen, The Struggle, acrylic, brush, and canvas. This annual exhibition features works produced by a small group of faculty members on sabbaticals during the previous year. Thursday, October 2-Sunday, November 2 Fox Building: Meyerhoff and Decker galleries, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.; and Bunting Center: Pinkard Gallery, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave. The faculty exhibition features the work of MICA’s world-renowned full-time faculty, highlighting their diversity in content, medium, and style. STI Around the World Friday, October 10, noon Brown Center: Room 100, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Learn about the Summer Travel Intensive (STI) trips for summer 2015 at STI Around the World, a fair featuring the art, culture, and cuisine from representative destinations. Guests can travel from station to station learning about locale, people, food, and where they can create art and even earn credit. They can also find out about individual information sessions scheduled throughout the fall. Summer 2014 STI trips included Paris, South Africa, South Korea, London, Peru, Nicaragua, and New York City. 35 36 EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS (left to right) Aaron Henkin and Wendel Patrick, Out of the Blocks; and work (detail) by Paula Whaley (photo by Emily Russell). LOCALLY SOURCED Tuesday, September 2–Sunday, September 21 Fred Lazarus IV Center: Sheila & Richard Riggs and Leidy galleries, 131 W. North Ave. Reception: Friday, September 5, 5–7 pm MICA’s MFA in Curatorial Practice class of 2015 explores how exchanges between local artists and their neighbors help a community thrive. For LOCALLY SOURCED, five artists based in central Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District—MICA faculty member Aaron Henkin, Jason Hoylman ’07 (general sculptural studies), Nether, Wendel Patrick, and Paula Whaley—will showcase newly commissioned works in a variety of media. Through sculpture, sound, photography, and painting, these artists will offer different perspectives on the vibrant and interconnected cultural landscape of Station North. “LOCALLY SOURCED goes beyond looking at the artwork itself by examining artists’ social roles and the contributions they provide to the neighborhoods they work within,” said Kelly Johnson ’15, co-curator and MFA in Curatorial Practice candidate. “In the process of making their work, all of these artists grow networks of people around them which in turn contribute to the success of their art.” The curators assert: the selected artists are not all activists, nor do they all create specifically community-based projects. But their awareness of and engagement with their communities are essential to their working methods. “The artists will highlight their exchanges with the neighborhood,” said Melani Douglass ’15, co-curator and MFA in Curatorial Practice candidate. “These five artists have been introduced to each other for the first time through this project, and we [the curators] examine how the artists’ networks overlap—informing, contributing to, and impacting both arts and non-arts communities.” Henkin and musician Patrick collect and collage personal narratives through sound and image. Through Patrick’s work at performing arts venue the Windup Space with the Baltimore Boom Bap Society, an experimental hip-hop collective, and Henkin’s work at MICA and WYPR Radio, they have both embedded themselves in the creative community of Station North. For LOCALLY SOURCED, the duo will work in the neighborhoods of Station North to create a rendition of their previous collaboration Out of the Blocks, a series that combined experimental sounds, music, and photographs with the oral histories of residents in Baltimore’s Waverly neighborhood. Hoylman’s practice relies on his astute observations of space and community in Station North. As he walks his daily routes, he records his observations and interactions with different populations, from long-time residents and families, to commuters, students, and business owners. Hoylman has given Station North community members Walking Journals to record their paths through the neighborhood. For the exhibition, he will carve these paths into a large-scale plywood map, creating a visualization of a community’s overlapping uses of space. Nether is a street artist and muralist. His large-scale wheat paste portraits on abandoned buildings and neglected storefronts call attention to local activist voices and tackle social issues, such EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS as vacant housing. Nether sees his environment as a canvas, which visually realizes his street-level connection with people, thus initiating discussion and action. The exhibition will feature a newly commissioned mural, highlighting the different types of wisdom that can be found within a community. The mural will be accompanied by painted portraits of Station North community members. Whaley is a figurative sculptor who uses paper, fabric, and other organic materials to create stylized sculptural portraits. Active in the Station North community, Whaley operates a storefront gallery in her home, exhibiting local artists and providing an intimate learning space for workshops she holds for groups, such as Baltimore’s Youth Resiliency Institute. Her studio and the artworks within it can provide a spiritually uplifting environment for her community. For LOCALLY SOURCED, Whaley will create a large-scale sculptural installation. LOCALLY SOURCED is presented by the MFA in Curatorial Practice class of 2015, with faculty members Jeffry Cudlin and Gerald Ross. Curatorial Practice is directed by George Ciscle, MICA’s curator-in-residence and creator of MICA’s innovative Exhibition Development Seminar. The exhibition is made possible in part by support from the Friends of Curatorial Practice and an Office of Community Engagement grant. For the most up-to-date visitor information, visit the exhibition website at locallysourced.weebly.com. (top to bottom) Nether, Monroe Street, photo by artist; and Jason Hoylman created Walking Journals for LOCALLY SOURCED participants (photo by Yeim Bae). Daniel Ellsberg. Constitution Day One Nation Under Watch: Surveillance, Privacy, and National Security in America Wednesday, 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. Daniel Ellsberg, author, former United States military analyst, and one of the most prominent political whistleblowers in United States history, will headline Constitution Day. The panel, moderated by WYPR’s The Signal producer and MICA faculty member Aaron Henkin, will also include Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty project at the ACLU of Massachusetts, and interdisciplinary artist Hasan Elahi, whose work has explored the implications and consequences of surveillance for more than a decade. The 2014 symposium centers on the trade-off between government surveillance and civil liberties, considered one of the most complex and controversial issues facing society today. “Increasingly, to live in 21st-century America is to live your life in public,” said Constitution Day organizer and MICA Humanistic Studies faculty member Firmin DeBrabander, PhD. “The private sphere is greatly diminished. Revelations about the NSA suggest it might be seriously endangered—if not extinguished soon.” Constitution Day is co-sponsored by MICA and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland (ACLU–MD). 37 38 EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS Barry Schwabsky (photo by Ryan Gander). Patty Chang, Invocation for a Wandering Lake (detail), video still. Barry Schwabsky, Patty Chang, Between Dawn and Dusk: Flashburn in The Mysterious Middle Uzbekistan, etc. Tuesday, September 9, 10 am Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Tuesday, September 9, 1:30 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. The Middle Years artist talks series features art critic of The Nation, Barry Schwabsky. The series will examine the “mid-career” as a perennial problem for artists and the works by notable artists. Patty Chang’s video and installation work has been exhibited internationally at institutions, such as the Guggenheim Museum, MoMA, and New Museum, all in New York, and Kunstverein in Hamburg, Germany, among others. Sponsored by: LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting, part of The Middle Years artist talks series. Sponsored by: Mount Royal School of Art, with additional support from the MA in Critical Studies. Writer and crafter Kelly Rand. Lunchtime Lecture: Kelly Rand Monday, September 15, 12:15 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Kelly Rand is a writer, crafter, and speaker. Her recent book, Handmade to Sell, helps creatives work through questions and misconceptions regarding entrepreneurship and helps them to start thinking like a business. She’s a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design and has exhibited at art galleries and craft fairs alike. Sponsored by: MFA in Illustration Practice. Jutta Koether, Berliner Schlüssel #14 (detail), acrylic on canvas, 2010 (courtesy of the artist and Bortolami Gallery, New York). Deana Haggag (photo by Patrick Fava). Abbott Miller: Design and Content by MICA faculty member Abbott Miller, published August 2014. Jutta Koether Art@Lunch: Deana Haggag Type Nite Tuesday, September 16, 10:30 am Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Wednesday, September 17, noon Bunting Center: Room 320, 1401 W. Mount Royal Ave. Monday, September 22, 6:30 pm Brown Center: Falvey Hall, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Jutta Koether is a multidisciplinary artist known for her paintings, performance, music, and writing. She’s a professor at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, Germany. Koether has been a strong creative presence on many cultural fronts for more than two decades. Deana Haggag ’13 (Curatorial Practice), director of The Contemporary, will present an overview of the museum today, highlighting its many evolutions and most recent relaunch. Prior to her work with The Contemporary, Haggag was the curator-in-residence at Gallery CA, located in Baltimore. MFA in Graphic Design faculty members Abbott Miller, Ellen Lupton, program director, and Tal Leming, along with special guests, will showcase new typefaces under development, explore type at work on page, screen, and the built environment, and celebrate new publications. Sponsored by: LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting with additional support from Mount Royal School of Art. Sponsored by: Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism. Sponsored by: MFA in Graphic Design. EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS Wayne Koestenbaum (courtesy of CUNY Graduate Center). Wayne Koestenbaum Thursday, September 25, 7 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Cartoonist, illustrator, and comics publisher Box Brown. Lunchtime Lecture: Box Brown Monday, September 29, 12:15 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Henry Taylor (photo by Dennis Hollingsworth). Henry Taylor Tuesday, September 30, 10:30 am Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. MA in Critical Studies, Mount Royal School of Art, and the Humanistic Studies Department. Henry Taylor’s paintings represent a heterogeneous domesticity that is Box Brown is a New York Times as much a part of his Los Angeles bestselling cartoonist, illustrator, and surroundings as it is a part of comic publisher. His web and print community in general. A graduate of comic, Everything Dies, was named the California Institute of the Arts, he’s a notable comic of 2011 in the Best exhibited nationally, including MoMA American Comics and honored with two PS1, Studio Museum in Harlem, and Ignatz Awards. His comics publishing Carnegie Museum of Art. outfit, Retrofit, launched in 2011. Sponsored by: LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Sponsored by: MFA in Illustration Practice. Painting. Haegue Yang, Accommodating the Epic Dispersion (detail), aluminum Venetian blinds, aluminum hanging structure, powder coating, and steel wire (courtesy of Kukje Gallery, Seoul). Barnaby Furnas, Antietam I 2007 (detail), urethane and guerra water dispersed pigments on linen (courtesy Marianne Boesky Gallery). Haegue Yang, Movement Studies Barnaby Furnas Wayne Koestenbaum is a poet, author, artist, and cultural critic. He received degrees from Harvard University, The Johns Hopkins University, and Princeton University. A Distinguished Professor of English at City University of New York, his work explores the lives of “American queer intellectuals.” Sponsored by: Tuesday, September 30, 1:30 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Haegue Yang primarily makes complex sensorial installations, sculptures, and video. She represented South Korea at the 2009 Venice Biennale and exhibited at dOCUMENTA (13), Germany, and Tate Modern, London, among others. Sponsored by: Mount Royal School of Art with additional support from Rinehart School of Sculpture. Tuesday, October 7, 10:30 am Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Barnaby Furnas’ large explosive paintings recast the genre of history painting in the vernacular of the video game era. His exhibitions include the Whitney Biennial and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing. He’s represented by Marianne Boesky, Anthony Meier Fine Arts, and Victoria Miro. Sponsored by: Painting. LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Joanne Greenbaum, Untitled (detail), oil, acrylic, flashe, and graphite on canvas. Joanne Greenbaum Tuesday, October 7, 1:30 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Joanne Greenbaum’s paintings and sculptures move freely between transparent layers and opaque textures. She’s shown internationally in venues, including MoMA PS1, New York; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland; and Whitechapel Gallery, London. Sponsored by: Mount Royal School of Art. 39 40 EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS Joyce Hesselberth. Illustrator Marcos Chin. Lunchtime Lecture: Joyce Hesselberth Lunchtime Lecture: Marcos Chin Thursday, October 9, 12:15 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Monday, October 13, 12:15 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Joyce Hesselberth has received prestige for her illustrations. She also develops educational apps for children and children’s books, with a picture book set for 2015. She and her spouse, MICA Illustration Department faculty member David Plunkert, co-founded Spur Design in 1995. Marcos Chin is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared as surface and wall designs, on book and CD covers, and in advertisements, fashion catalogues, and magazines. He has also created a custom design T-shirt label called Yee Yee. Chin teaches illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Sponsored by: Sponsored by: MFA in Illustration Practice. Dawn Clements, Movie, Sumi ink on paper, 2007 (collection of Saatchi Gallery, London). Dawn Clements, Framing the Immediate Present and Other Impossibilities Tuesday, October 14, 1:30 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Dawn Clements’ complex spatial drawings have been shown in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, New York; Venice Biennale; Kunsthalle Wien, Austria; Mass MoCA, Massachusetts; and Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut. Sponsored by: Mount Royal School of Art. MFA in Illustration Practice. Barry Schwabsky photographed by Mathias Augustyniak Poetry Marathon, Serpentine Gallery, London, 2009 © M/M (Paris). Barry Schwabsky, Perils of Success Tuesday, October 14, 10 am Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Barry Schwabsky is the art critic of The Nation, where he has been writing regularly since 2005. His books include The Widening Circle: Consequences of Modernism in Contemporary Art. Sponsored by: LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting, part of The Middle Years artist talks series. Neil Swaab. Comics creator Benjamin Marra. Lunchtime Lecture: Neil Swaab Lunchtime Lecture: Benjamin Marra Thursday, October 23, 12:15 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Monday, October 27, 12:15 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Neil Swaab is a Brooklyn-based illustrator, art director, cartoonist, and writer. He’s received much recognition for his work, including from the Society of Illustrators and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Swaab has a plethora of top clients, including The New York Times and Comedy Central. Benjamin Marra is the founder and publisher of Traditional Comics and co-founder of illustration and design journal Mammal. The creator of comic books, such as Night Business, has had his work recognized by the Society of Illustrators and 3x3, among others. He’s a recipient of the Young Guns 5 Award by the New York Art Directors Club. Sponsored by: Sponsored by: MFA in Illustration Practice. MFA in Illustration Practice. EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS Art@Lunch: Nate Harrison and Ian Bourland, Art, Theft, and Appropriation in Contemporary Art: A Conversation Wednesday, October 15, noon Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Nate Harrison is an artist and writer working at the intersection of intellectual property, cultural production, and the formation of creative processes in modern media. He teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Ian Bourland is assistant professor in the Art History, Theory, and Criticism Department at MICA. He works on issues of race, globalization, and recent art, and writes criticism for a range of publications, including Nka and Artforum. Sponsored by: Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism. Nate Harrison; and an image of ”Can I Get An Amen?” by Nate Harrison. Sheila Heti. Laura Newman, Match Set (detail), oil and acrylic on canvas. Brent Green, Strange Fates (detail), poster. Sheila Heti, How Should a Person Be? Laura Newman Brent Green Tuesday, October 28, 10:30 am Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Tuesday, October 28, 1:30 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Laura Newman is an abstract painter whose modest paintings engage in a complex visual dialogue. She’s received fellowships and awards, including from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and has exhibited at Lesley Heller Workspace in New York, among others. Newman teaches at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Brent Green is a visual artist and filmmaker. Often, his sculptural work and installations are displayed alongside his animated films. His work is in the permanent collections of the Hammer Museum and Museum of Modern Art. Green is a 2005 Creative Capital grantee. Monday, October 27, 7 pm Fred Lazarus IV Center: Auditorium, 131 W. North Ave. Sheila Heti is a Canadian writer, playwright, and author of How Should a Person Be?, which she describes as constructed reality based on recorded interviews with her friends—particularly painter Margaux Williamson. It was chosen by The New York Times and The New Yorker’s James Wood as one of the “best books” of 2012. Sponsored by: MA in Critical Studies. Sponsored by: Painting. LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Sponsored by: Mount Royal School of Art with additional support from the Animation Department. 41 42 EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS Student Exhibitions Alexander Reynolds ’15 (painting) Take Me To The River Monday, September 8-Friday, October 3 Reception: Friday, September 12, 5-7 pm Gateway: Gallery One Shane Smith ’15 (photography) Fairy Floss: Pink Confection Monday, September 8-Friday, October 3 Reception: Friday, September 12, 5-7 pm Gateway: Gallery Two Ji Won Song ’15 (painting, MAT) September Monday, September 8-Friday, October 3 Reception: Friday, September 12, 6-8 pm Meyerhoff House: Piano Gallery Estelle Kline ’15 (photography, graphic design) Screen Name Monday, September 8-Friday, October 3 Reception: Friday, September 12, 6-8 pm Bunting Center: Student Space Gallery-Pinkard Nick Metzler ’15 (interdisciplinary sculpture) What Happens When Nothing Else Does Monday, October 6-Friday, October 31 Reception: Friday, October 10, 5-7 pm Gateway: Gallery One Kara Mask ’14 (painting) OFF/GRID Monday, October 6-Friday, October 31 Reception: Friday, October 10, 5-7 pm Gateway: Gallery Two McKinley Wallace III ’15 (painting) Projections Monday, October 6-Friday, October 31 Reception: Friday, October 10, 6-8 pm Meyerhoff House: Piano Gallery Jane Yoon ’14 (general fine arts) Law of Reflection Monday, October 6-Friday, October 31 Reception: Friday, October 10, 6-8 pm Bunting Center: Student Space Gallery-Pinkard (clockwise from top) Artwork by Alexander Reynolds ’15 (painting), Voyage, oil on canvas, 2013; Ji Won Song ’15 (painting, Teaching), Black Seed #1 (25 drawings), charcoal on paper, 2014; Nick Metzler ’15 (interdisciplinary sculpture), J Curve, stone, bentwood, steel, and synthetic materials, 2013; and Shane Smith ’15 (photography), Fairy Floss; Excerpt 7 (detail). EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS (clockwise from top left) Lola Borovyk ’14 (fiber), 163-22; Joshua Fetzer ’16 (illustration), The Hunt (photo by Christopher Myers ’94); Rachel Wheeler ’14 (fiber), Glare; Lo Ashford ’16 (fiber), WOLF PACK (photo by Christopher Myers ’94); and Christy Chong ’14 (general fine arts), More than Mundane (photo by Christopher Myers ’94). Spring Recap: Week of Fashion 2014 MICA students’ inventive and thought-provoking designs took center stage at the XIX, An Experimental Fashion Event and UNMARKED, the 21st Annual Benefit Fashion Show in April. The events pushed the boundaries of fashion, showcasing a distinctive use of fiber and textiles, along with additional media, through imaginative and original creations. For additional highlights, visit fyi.mica.edu. 43 44 CONNECTIONS Growing a Strong Alumni Community “There is a real role for the alumni at MICA,” said Laura LeBrun Hatcher ’98 (visual communications), president of the MICA Alumni Council. She became re-engaged with the College after accepting an invitation extended to alumni seeking their perspectives and opinions on diversity at MICA. Since then, Hatcher has become an active alumna. “It’s rewarding to maintain a connection to an institution that you care deeply about, which has grown so much and has made such an amazing impact—both in Baltimore and beyond.” MICA has more than 16,000 alumni artists, community leaders, critics, designers, editors, educators, and entrepreneurs. Founded nearly 125 years ago, the Alumni Council serves the alumni community. It acts as a bridge and a sounding board to the administration of the College. The council builds a valuable community and strong network for alumni; enhances the student experience and strengthens programs that facilitate the student-to-alumni transition; increases parent understanding on the education of the artist; and raises the visibility of the MICA Alumni Association and community of artists and designers locally and regionally. As both advisors and ambassadors, members of the council help to inform the College by raising questions and concerns and making recommendations and suggestions. Members also participate in a variety of local and regional events, receptions, and exhibitions for prospective and current students and their families, MICA alumni, faculty, and staff. The council envisions a deeper connection through re-engagement, networking, and providing resources, “so that alumni can continue to be connected to something that was once such a vital part of their lives,” said Hatcher. Laura LeBrun Hatcher ’98 (visual communications). MARK YOUR CALENDAR 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. Image from previous MICA Art Market. DJ Spooky/Milan, Italy (photo by Roberto Masotti). MICA Art Market ≠ Wednesday, December 10–Friday, December 12, 11 am–7 pm, and Saturday, December 13, 10 am–6 pm Brown Center: Leidy Atrium and Falvey Hall lobby, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Friday, November 7–Sunday, November 16 Fred Lazarus IV Center: Sheila & Richard Riggs and Leidy galleries, 131 W. North Ave. Reception: Friday, November 7 At this festive sale, holiday shoppers and collectors can discover work by emerging and established artists. Fine art and handmade objects by more than 300 MICA students, alumni, faculty, and staff will be on sale. The event is sponsored by the MICA Alumni Association. A portion of the proceeds goes to scholarships for MICA students. Admission is free. MICA artist-in-residence Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, visited the National Security Agency’s (NSA) National Cryptologic Museum and was inspired by the history of modern computing that the museum represents. The exhibition incorporates material generated from the history of computing and his upcoming book, The Imaginary App, for MIT Press. His residency concluded spring 2014. Image from previous Juried Undergraduate Exhibition. Juried Undergraduate Exhibition Friday, November 21–Sunday, December 14 Fox Building: Meyerhoff and Decker galleries, 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave. 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. Sign up to receive weekly event or monthly news updates at www.mica.edu/signup. ESSAY Seizing the Moment By MICA President Samuel Hoi “As we write the next chapter in our great history, your input will be invaluable. I am honored to embark on this journey with you.” On July 7, 2014 , I walked up the steps of MICA’s Main Building for my first full day as the new president, with much of the same sense of anticipation and eagerness as a new freshman on the first day of the academic year. I was awed by the College’s accomplishments and traditions established over its 188-year history; yet I couldn’t help but be excited by the thought of contributions to that legacy for an even brighter future that we will all make together. I came to MICA because I sincerely believe that this will be the place from which the most transformative ideas in art and design education will emerge over the next decade and that we all will have a role to play. I am equally excited about becoming a Baltimorean—specifically a new Bolton Hill resident. I will take a lot of time over the next year to listen to and learn from members of the MICA family, including students, parents, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and our supporters in academia, the arts, and the community. From talking to my neighbors, I have gotten an even greater sense of just how impactful MICA has been in adding to the quality of life, as well as opportunities, in this part of the city for residents, business owners, and service providers in the greater Station North area. In fact, numerous people I have met in Baltimore—from government and community leaders to arts enthusiasts—have told me just how important the College is to the city, and the unique way MICA has used its leadership in the arts and education to reinvigorate neighborhoods, promote social wellness, and foster cultural vibrancy. I look forward to using my passion for community engagement to support and help expand MICA’s role at the center of creative civic leadership. As we envision the “MICA of Tomorrow,” we can seize this moment to enlarge MICA’s achievements by enhancing our diversity, broadening our global reach, and further developing our educational programs and services to meet 21st-century needs. It is also clear that MICA can be, and should be, at the forefront of the international discussion on the expanding platform for artists and designers to participate in the economy, social change and, of course, cultural innovation. Understanding deeply both the tangible and intangible outcomes of our work, we have a phenomenal opportunity to articulate the value of a MICA education to the world and authentically convey our message regarding return on investment for families. Of course, service to our students will always be my principal concern. MICA is a special place for gifted art and design students to come into their own artistically, intellectually, civically, and professionally. It takes a whole-team approach among faculty, staff, and an ever-expanding network of partners to engage our students in a holistic and forward thinking education. MICA’s reputation for exploring and establishing novel and excellent approaches to teaching and learning is well known, and we are uniquely positioned to move boldly into new frontiers in art and design education. The MICA family has already made me feel incredibly welcome, and I look forward to meeting as many members of our extended community as possible in the weeks and months to come. As we write the next chapter in our great history, your input will be invaluable. I am honored to embark on this journey with you. 45 46 CONTENTS MICA Venues Main Building 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave. Special Feature: Flip magazine over for more news stories. 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. Mount Royal Station 1400 Cathedral St. Fred Lazarus IV Center 131 W. North Ave. MICA PLACE 814 N. Collington Ave. News SPECIAL FOCUS: FILMMAKING COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT Using Art to Force Action Against Rape Culture 12 Events & Exhibitions Lecture: Barry Schwabsky 39 Lecture: Dawn Clements Lecture: Nate Harrison 16, 25, 28, 35, 43 and Ian Bourland 38 10/23 39 Lecture: Neil Swaab Brain Science Research Sheds a Light on Critique 18 10/1-14 Lecture: Benjamin Marra GLOBAL Faculty Exhibition Global Appeal 33 CONNECTIONS 10/2-11/2 Lecture: Barnaby Furnas Selfie Love 13 ALUMNI 10/9 A Monumental Mission: Alumnus Helps a Nation Rebuild 29 34 10/7 10/7 Alumna Chronicles Life in the Big City with Hit Show 27 10/27 Renaissanz Rzen: Artist in Exile 34 Lecture: Joanne Greenbaum Lecture: Joyce Hesselberth 40 40 38 Lecture: Sheila Heti 10/28 38 10/28 Lecture: Brent Green 39 10/10 STI Around the World 39 10/27 Lecture: Laura Newman 34 Monday through Saturday, 10 am– 5 pm; Sunday, noon–5 pm Closed major holidays MICA PLACE Hours 10/15 October INNOVATION 39 10/14 Retrospective Spring Recap MICA Gallery Hours 10/14 38 By appointment; contact the Department of Exhibitions at 410-225-2280 or [email protected] Download MICA’s fyi.mica. edu events and exhibitions mobile app for iOS in the Apple App Store. Twitter: @mica_news facebook.com/ mica.edu YouTube: MICAmultimedia LinkedIn: mica.edu/linkedin 10/13 Lecture: Marcos Chin Samuel Hoi, President Michael Franco, EdD, Vice President for Advancement Cedric Demond Mobley, Associate Vice President of Institutional Communications Editors/Writers at Large: Jessica Weglein Goldstein ’13, Dionne McConkey, Lorri Angelloz Contributing Editors/Writers: Claire Cianos, Tamara Holmes, Corey Lacey, Aja Myles Designer: Becky Slogeris ’11 ’12 Additional MICA Communications Support: Justin Codd, Allyson Morehead, Michael Walley-Rund, Brenda McElveen, Bryan Sinagra, and Andrew Copeland ’13. 39 To highlight special affiliations with the College, designations may follow a person’s name, including: Alumnus: year of graduation; Honorary Degree Recipient: H and year degree awarded; and Parent: P and year of child’s graduation. 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 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 [email protected]. For more information, to adjust your subscription options, or to submit story ideas or comments, email [email protected] or call 410-225-2300. © 2014 Maryland Institute College of Art (back cover) Abbi Jacobson ’06 (general fine arts) and Ilana Glazer (left), creators and stars of Broad City (photo by Lane Savage). Maryland Institute College of Art will be represented at each of the following portfolio day events. Here is your chance for any interested high school student you know to meet with us, receive counseling about their portfolio, and discuss admission procedures and scholarship opportunities. For a complete list of dates and more information about attending a National Portfolio Day, visit the National Portfolio Day Association’s website at www.portfolioday.net. WE’LL BE THERE SAVE THE DATE 2014–2015 MIDDLE STATES 25 09 15 16 22 23 Oct Nov Nov Nov Nov Nov National Portfolio Days CONTACT #: Syracuse, NY Philadelphia, PA Purchase, NY New York, NY Washington, DC Baltimore, MD Syracuse University, College of Visual & Performing Arts Pennsylvania Convention Center, hosted by Tyler School of Art, Temple University Purchase College, SUNY Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, hosted by Fashion Institute of Technology Corcoran College of Art & Design Maryland Institute College of Art 315-443-2769 215-777-9000 914-251-6000 212-217-3762 202-639-1814 410-225-2222 Milwaukee, WI Chicago, IL Kansas City, MO St. Louis, MO Grand Rapids, MI Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design School of the Art Institute of Chicago Kansas City Art Institute Washington University Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University 414-847-3255 800-232-7242 800-522-5224 314-935-6500 616-451-2787 Hartford, CT Boston, MA Hartford Art School, University of Hartford Hynes Convention Center, hosted by Massachusetts College of Art & Design 860-768-4393 800-643-6078 Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North, hosted by Washington University 314-935-6500 Richmond, VA Atlanta, GA Charlotte, NC New Orleans, LA Miami, FL Sarasota, FL Virginia Commonwealth University Cobb Galleria Centre, hosted by Maryland Institute College of Art Hilton, Charlotte Executive Park, hosted by Memphis College of Art Four Points New Orleans Airport Hotel, hosted by Memphis College of Art Location TBA, hosted by New World School of the Arts Ringling College of Art & Design 804-828-2787 410-225-2222 901-272-5151 901-272-5151 305-237-3135 800-255-7695 Phoenix, AZ Seattle, WA Portland, OR San Francisco, CA San Diego, CA Mesa Community College, hosted by Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts Pacific Northwest College of Art San Francisco Art Instuite The Westin San Diego, hosted by Laguna College of Art + Design 206-726-5151 206-726-5151 503-821-8926 415-703-9532 949-376-6000 Ontario College of Art & Design University Emily Carr University of Art & Design 416-977-6000 800-832-7788 MIDWEST 18 19 25 26 26 Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct NEW ENGLAND 18 Oct 19 Oct SOUTHWEST 07 Dec SOUTH 01 08 23 17 24 25 Nov Nov Nov Jan Jan Jan WEST 06 10 11 17 18 Dec Jan Jan Jan Jan INTERNATIONAL 08 Nov 06 Dec Toronto, ON Vancouver, BC September–October NEWS, EVENTS, & EXHIBITIONS ’14 Find up-to-date event details and expanded information at fyi.mica.edu. MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART COMEDY CENTRAL ABBI JACOBSON ’06 TURNS WEB SERIES INTO HIT TELEVISION SHOW, BROAD CITY Special Focus: FILMMAKING TV LEGEND DAVID JACOBS ’61 REFLECTS ON CREATING AWARD-WINNING TELEVISION SHOWS DALLAS AND KNOTS LANDING CUTTING-EDGE GRADUATE FILMMAKING PROGRAM TO LAUNCH AT A GLANCE: PRESIDENT HOI’S FIRST WEEKS On Campus LOCALLY SOURCED CONSTITUTION DAY 2014 Maryland Institute College of Art 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave. Baltimore, Maryland 21217