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Students Win at Biodesign Challenge

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Pictured (Left to right) Sabrina Ortega, Megan Hillaker, Ryan Hoover, and Mantis Harper ’24.

Megan Hillaker ’26 (Painting BFA) and Sabrina Ortega ’27 (Fiber BFA) took home the Outstanding Exhibition prize for their work, Cell-Phonic, at this summer’s 2026 Biodesign Challenge. Their project creates a platform for interspecies communication. As Faculty Ryan Hoover explained, the students “constructed a device that houses microbes in a series of custom microbial fuel cells that they designed and fabricated. The Cell-Phonic console converts the electricity generated by the microbes’ metabolic activity into sounds and visual patterns.”

While in New York, the Biodesign Challenge winners from 2025, Living Records, exhibited the next phase of their project at the BioBAT Art Space in Brooklyn (Michelle Li ’25, Liam Davis ’25, and Sofia Klimkowski Arango ’25). They created a genetic construct to produce colored proteins regulated by exposure to a particular wavelength of light, and used these engineered bacteria to create bio-photographic portraits.

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On The Cover: Fall 2026

At the Fête of Lights: Bicentennial Gala, Aidan Leizerov ’28 (Interdisciplinary Sculpture BFA) wore their wax soldier costume created in the Mask and Headdress course taught by Valeska Populoh, faculty in the Fiber, Fashion, and Textile program. On the upper landing, Martin Knuppel ’26 (Illustration and Printmaking BFA) is dressed as a modern version of the First Lord of Baltimore. Leizerov and Knuppel were part of a larger student interpretation of the Main Building’s Maryland painting. Students created a living mural that was more representative of MICA's students today.

First Impression: Fall 2026

First Impression: Fall 2026

Visitors explore students’ work during the final exhibition of MICA’s 2026 Pre-College Summer Intensive. Featuring work across painting, photography, sculpture, animation, illustration, and game design, the final exhibition brings together students, families, and art lovers to celebrate the next generation of creatives.