A Neighbor’s Curiosity

As a longtime resident of Bolton Hill, James “Jim” Wright quickly discovered that living next door to MICA came with surprises. Each fall, he wanders through student art markets, stopping at tables covered with hand-printed posters, handmade jewelry, and inventive furniture.

“These students were clearly trying to be entrepreneurs,” Wright recalls. “But I wondered: Did they have any entrepreneurship training?”

As chair of the Ratcliffe Foundation, Wright’s first glimpse of MICA was more than a passing impression. His curiosity soon turned into a challenge, and that challenge sparked a partnership still defining MICA’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Seeding a New Program

In 2014, when Samuel Hoi became MICA’s president and emphasized entrepreneurship as part of the school’s future, Wright saw the moment to act. Soon after, the Ratcliffe Foundation awarded MICA a $600,000 grant to launch what became UP/Start MICA, a program empowering students and recent alumni to turn ideas into ventures.

“It was a very good collaborative effort to think through and start a program,” Wright says. “It has expanded so much since then that we’ve made several additional grants to add to the entrepreneurial spirit at MICA.”

That spirit quickly became part of campus culture. What began as a single competition has grown into a hub of mentoring, workshops, and pitch events that help students see themselves as problem-solvers and builders, not just artists in the studio.

Unexpected

For Wright, MICA’s take on entrepreneurship looks unlike anything he’s seen at other institutions. “Even if 90 percent of students decide not to pursue entrepreneurship, they should know what being an entrepreneur means,” he says. “That knowledge is valuable no matter what they choose to do.”

He remembers being stunned in the program’s early years when one of the winners wasn’t a tech startup or app developer but a team of craftspeople designing furniture. Drawing on MICA’s design training, they built pieces so distinctive that the Ratcliffe Foundation still uses them at its headquarters.

“That’s what makes MICA different,” Wright says with a smile. “Students translate creativity into unexpected ventures that are both practical and beautiful.”

A Ripple Effect

UP/Start’s real impact, Wright insists, isn’t measured only by the handful of winners each year. It’s in the ripple effect across campus.

“One of our goals wasn’t just to have UP/Start,” he explains. “It was to create a sense in all students that something was happening around entrepreneurship.”

The significant awards helped capture attention, but the true win is cultural: hundreds of students, whether or not they compete, are now aware that creativity and entrepreneurship belong in the same conversation.

Baltimore, Bolton Hill, and Beyond

Wright’s connection to MICA remains grounded in place. Living in Bolton Hill gave him an appreciation for the way students animate the neighborhood each September with energy and fresh ideas. “We loved it,” he says. “They bring a vibrancy to the community. Different ideas, different styles, that’s refreshing.”

As MICA marks its 200th anniversary, Wright sees continuity between the school’s history and its present. Founded in 1826 to train artisans for an industrializing city, MICA now equips graduates for today’s creative economy. The tools have changed — digital technology, global platforms, entrepreneurial know-how — but the mission to combine artistry and practical skill endures.

Looking Ahead

The Ratcliffe Foundation, Wright notes, supports about 20 grants at a time, ranging from community colleges to business schools. But MICA remains special. “Community colleges play a very important role in entrepreneurship, and so does MICA with its focus on art and design,” he says.

As the foundation looks to the future, Wright expects to keep blending lessons learned from both successes and failures. “We’ll use that knowledge to help Baltimore and Maryland move forward,” he says.

A Formative Moment

Wright is quick to acknowledge the way the college empowers students at a formative moment.

“These students come in at 18, trying to find themselves through hair, fashion, and the way they interact,” he says. “MICA gives them the tools to turn that search for identity into something sustainable, something that can impact their community.”

That, Wright believes, is the echo that will carry into MICA’s next century: a school where creativity doesn’t stop at the studio door but reaches outward, into businesses, neighborhoods, and lives.