An article about how black artists capture the complex issue of race in their work, which appeared in the Sunday, Jan. 24, issue of The Washington Post, featured Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, founding director of the new Center for Race and Culture at MICA and graduate dean emeritus, as an expert in the field.

Race issue a two-edged sword for black contemporary artists, written by staff writer Blake Gopnik, quoted King-Hammond as saying that "race is a political construct, a total mythology" that "tries to lock you into an inauthentic identity." Black artists can use their awareness of this as "fodder" to make art that liberates them, and us, from the limiting identities of race. "Instead of race being used as the dog that bites our tail, race is now used as the flag, the anthem you use to create your path to freedom."

The article also mentions the Transformations: New Directions in Black Art conference, which took place in late October 2009 at the College and was organized by King-Hammond's Center for Race and Culture and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University.

Founded in 1826, MICA is among the top visual arts colleges in the nation. It enrolls 1,714 undergraduate and 218 graduate students from 48 states and 52 foreign countries, offering programs of study leading to the bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.), master of arts (M.A.), and master of fine arts (M.F.A.) degrees. It also offers post-baccalaureate certificate programs and a full slate of credit and noncredit courses for adults, college-bound students, and children. MICA is recognized as an important cultural resource for the Baltimore/Washington region, sponsoring many public and community-outreach programs-including more than 100 exhibitions by students, faculty, and nationally and internationally known artists annually-as well as artists' residencies, film series, lectures, readings, and performances.