A Message from MICA’s president Cecilia M. McCormick, J.D.

Every autumn, as the leaves turn and the air sharpens, MICA hums with a familiar electricity, a kind of alchemy that gathers artists, thinkers, dreamers, and makers back to the Hill. MICA Weekend is more than a reunion; it is a living canvas where time collapses, where the past, present, and future converge into one vivid moment of connection. Here, alumni who first sketched in our studios 50 years ago stand beside students just beginning their creative journey, and the spark between them is unmistakable. That spark — that exchange of imagination and insight — is what makes MICA incomparable. It’s not simply that we create art; it’s that we create belonging.

Every encounter throughout the weekend, every conversation in a gallery or beneath the tent, carried the resonance of two centuries of artistic inquiry. The exhibitions are not just displays of work. They are portals: openings into the continuity of MICA’s story. To see our artists return home, eager to share, to teach, to celebrate, is to witness the enduring rhythm of this community, a rhythm that moves through classrooms, studios, and the streets of Baltimore alike.

As we look toward MICA’s Bicentennial, this weekend was both a culmination and a beginning. The creative energy that animates these days reminds us that MICA has always been more than a college; it is a force that shapes culture and possibility. To all who call this place home — students, alumni, faculty, families, and friends — thank you for carrying that light forward. Together, we are composing the next movement in MICA’s unfolding masterpiece.