“I love all things beautiful”

For Jacqueline Clements, beauty is more than something to admire; it is something to seek out, surround herself with, and ultimately create.

“I love all things beautiful and strive to surround myself with them,” she says, repeating a personal mantra.

Today, that philosophy has found a home at MICA, where Clements is pursuing her BFA in Photography. A Baltimore native, Marine Corps veteran, mother, and retired human resources professional, Clements has taken a winding path to the classroom. Yet each chapter of her life has contributed to the artist she is becoming, building on creative exploration, personal discovery, and the belief that artistic growth knows no age limit.

“I’m a ‘senior’ senior,” she says with a laugh, “and I’m proud of that!”

A Journey Decades in the Making

Clements grew up in a public housing community in South Baltimore, where her fascination with photography began long before she imagined pursuing it professionally. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Morgan State College in 1979. But financial realities soon intervened. Needing a steady income, she joined the United States Marine Corps, beginning nine years of military service that would shape her outlook and approach to life.

After leaving the military, Clements worked at Bethlehem Steel before building a career in human resources, holding positions at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Johns Hopkins University, and MICA. Although her work took her through different institutions, she was especially drawn to environments where art, education, and creativity were part of everyday life.

Her connection to MICA extended beyond her professional role. In the 1990s, she took her first photography class there, an early step toward an ambition she would set aside while building her career. Retirement from Johns Hopkins eventually allowed her to return to that interest and pursue it more fully. Now, with graduation expected in May 2027, Clements is preparing to complete a journey that began decades earlier.

Finding Common Ground Between Courage and Creativity

At first glance, the Marine Corps and an art college might seem to have little in common. Clements, however, sees an important connection. Both experiences demanded that she reach beyond familiar limits, though in profoundly different ways. Her military experience also informs her photographic aesthetic, particularly her preference for precise, uncluttered compositions. She describes her approach as clean, direct, and perhaps even a little rigid. Every element within the frame must serve the story.

At MICA, however, she has learned that developing an artistic voice also requires a willingness to challenge it. Through faculty guidance, exposure to other artists, and classroom critiques, Clements has discovered the value of experimentation, even when it feels uncomfortable. More often than not, those experiments reveal possibilities she might otherwise have overlooked.

An Inspiring Community Across Generations

For Clements, inspiration at MICA begins before she even enters the classroom. Architecture, lighting, composition, color, and scale all contribute to her appreciation of the campus environment. Yet it is the creative energy of her fellow students that has made an especially lasting impression.

As one of approximately 14 seniors in the Photography department, Clements has developed close relationships with classmates whose perspectives often differ dramatically from her own. And despite the generational differences, she has never felt excluded or defined by her age. She appreciates the freedom of expression she encounters throughout campus, describing MICA as a place where individuals can be themselves without judgment.

Preserving the Stories of Black Families

Clements’ commitment to storytelling extends beyond her own experiences. Her senior thesis focuses on a Baltimore family headed by a single mother raising five children. Through photography, she hopes to capture the family's relationships, resilience, individuality, and everyday experiences. The project reflects a larger mission that Clements hopes to continue after graduation: photographing Black lives and creating images that families can preserve for generations. That commitment is rooted in a deeply personal realization.

“There are only three photographs of me as a child,” she explains. “Two are school photographs, and one is a family photograph.”

For someone who has loved photography since childhood, that absence feels profound. While she treasures her memories, Clements recognizes the unique power of photographs as tangible connections to the past, preserving moments and giving lasting form to personal history. She wants to ensure that other families have the opportunity to hold on to those tangible reminders of their lives and loved ones. Her work is therefore more than an artistic pursuit; it is an act of preservation, an acknowledgment that everyday lives deserve to be documented and remembered.

The Art of Staying Curious

Clements’ journey illustrates how creativity can emerge, evolve, and deepen across decades of experience. For older adults considering a return to school, her advice is unequivocal, encouraging prospective students to embrace the freedom of an environment where curiosity and individuality are celebrated.

For Clements, the pursuit of beauty through photography has come full circle. What once existed as a quiet passion has become a means of understanding her own history, celebrating others, and building a meaningful creative future.

“I’m grateful for the experience,” she says. “I’ve learned so much, and I’m still learning.”

Perhaps that is the most fitting reflection for MICA’s power of art that lies not only in what we create, but in our willingness to keep discovering what is possible.