If the workshops were the heartbeat of MICA Weekend, the alumni gatherings were its soul — living proof that creativity, once kindled here, never truly fades.
Across exhibitions, reunions, and the bustling Art Market, generations of MICA makers returned not only to showcase their work but to renew the invisible thread that binds them to this place. What emerged was more than nostalgia; it was a shared recognition that every act of making is part of a continuum that stretches back nearly two centuries and forward into the art yet to be imagined.
In every corner of campus, the spirit of return could be felt, a quiet hum beneath the laughter, a shared recognition that to come back to MICA is to rediscover something elemental. The Alumni Art Market transformed the Brown Center into a constellation of creativity, each table a story of persistence, evolution, and craft. Prints, textiles, jewelry, books, and design objects spoke in the language of color and form, echoing the same experimental pulse that once filled the studios of those who made them.
Among the many artists who returned for the Art Market was Jayme Brodie ’21 (Illustration BFA). “It’s been a while since I’ve been back—about four years—but it’s really refreshing to return to the place where I first started selling my work as a student,” she said. “Back in 2017 or 2018, I did some school events, and MICA was so supportive and encouraging of me starting my own business and creating my own work.” That early encouragement, she added, continues to shape her path. “I’m currently working full time as an author and illustrator, and I’m really proud of what I’ve created.”
Justin Remo ’24 (Printmaking BFA), now living in Brooklyn and working as a printmaking associate with Saga Gallery, echoed that same spirit of growth through connection. “I’ve been tabling with MICA for years now, but I’ve done dozens of these events,” he said. “It’s always an important learning experience to see what it’s like being a salesperson for your own work, having face-to-face interactions with people, learning how to talk about your art, and seeing how that language connects with strangers. You meet dozens, sometimes hundreds of people in a single day. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fulfilling work. You get to talk about what you create, and you’re always hopeful that someone will take a piece home, share it with others, and keep the conversation going.”
At the Master Guild Reunion Brunch, laughter and memory intertwined like brushstrokes across time. Alumni from 50 years past swapped stories of all-night critiques, studio breakthroughs, and friendships that have outlasted the decades. Their presence served as both foundation and beacon, a reminder that MICA’s future is built upon generations of risk-takers who dared to imagine differently.
That continuum came full circle as Abbi Jacobson ’06 took the stage in Falvey Hall for From Baltimore to Broad City. Her story of humor, vision, and the courage to create without boundaries resonated as a modern echo of the same impulse that has animated MICA for nearly two centuries. Her words, like the work of every artist who returns home, affirmed the truth that binds this community: creativity is not only what we do; it is who we are.
