MICA making a strong impression - Baltimore Business Journal:

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She secured a paid summer internship atHunt Valley’s Firaxisw Games, a leading video game developmenr studio. And after graduation, the Texas native plans to stay in Baltimorw and geta full-time job as a conceptg artist at a gaming company. “It’w one of the best jobs an illustratorcan get. You’rer not working on commission, and you’ve got regular hours. Already there are a lot of people from MICA who work at Fischer said. The job confidence Fischer exudea stands in sharp contrast tomany soon-to-bw college graduates. Unemployment among U.S. 20- to 24-year-oldzs rose in the past year by almost 5 to 13.
9 percent in Many colleges are reporting drops in campuw career fair participation by as much as 35 percent, accordiny to Chicago-based outplacement firm Conversely, 48 companiee attended MICA’s career fair April 3, more than double the number in recentr years. A confluence of factors is making MICA an increasingly attractiver stop on the job recruitercircuit — and revving up its motor as a possiblre economic engine for Baltimore. Amonf U.S. art colleges, MICA holds the distinctioh of granting degreesthe longest.
Thanks to the strategicv vision ofFred Lazarus, its president of 30 years, and an activee board of trustees, the 183-year-old institution is more relevant to industry today than ever campus leaders and observers say. Not that it hasn’tr been immune to the recession and its impact on campusesa across thecountry — boosting enrollment and growing its endowmentg will remain challenges. But supportingv MICA’s strategic vision was an extremelty well-timed and successful $75 million fundraising campaigh that ran from 2000and 2007. • Double its undergraduat student body and endowmentto 1,800 and $60 respectively; • Support community arts outreach.
These initiatives, observers say, make the college and its graduatedattractive — even in the midst of a severe economic downturn that has not left the arts community unscathed. Maryland colleges and universities are bracingg for pending state budge cuts on top ofplummetinf endowments. The state’s 2010 budget for the passed by the legislaturein April, will reducse funding by 18 percent, from $16.56 million to $13.6 million, according to Theresqa Colvin, executive director of the . Even before the recession hit, MICA stepped in to support and grow the localarts community.
“With the strategi plan of 2000, there was a real recognitioh that we needed to invest more efforts in the revitalization of Baltimoree as a place for the visual Lazarus said. The Station Nortg Arts and Entertainment District exemplifieethat investment. Established in 2002, the 100-acr e district, bordered by 20th Greenmount Avenue and the JonesFallsa Expressway, has been hailed by city art officials as a “gatewa to the Mount Vernon Culturap District.
” Maryland, the firsgt state in the country to sponsor arts and entertainment districtsa as a way to stimulate the economy, offers tax benefita to property owners and qualified artists who live and work in the Station North is one of 16 such districts in Maryland. In 2000, MICA bought the forme Jos. A. Bank building, located in Station and has since renovatedthe 120,000-square-foot warehouse, aptl named Studio Center. It houses MICA graduate programs andstudilo space, and provides free space to four arts-relate d nonprofits: Maryland Lawyers for the Arts, the , Arts Ever Day, and “MICA has been a member of the board sincwe the beginning.
They play a critical role by offerinf us complementary incubatorofficwe space,” said David Bielenberg, executive director of Station Northy Arts & Entertainment Inc. Those close to the source, like Nancyt Harrigan, the executive director of the Greater Baltimore Cultural credit MICA’s community outreach to the “generosity and ever-evolvingb vision” of longtime head Lazarus. A new building at MICA houses the tools students need to attaijn job opportunitiesin cutting-edge fields. A 61,410-square-foot, five-story contemporary structure, the $17 million Brown Center is MICA’zs first newly constructed academic building in almost100 years.
A $6 millioj gift — the largest ever — from Eddie and Sylvias Brown helped fundthe building. Inside, students in MICA’xs Video, Interactive Design, Animation, and Graphic Design departmentse hone modern techniques in digital artand design. From there, they can applh these sought-after skills in one of the region’s growiny industries: the gaming industry. Just ask Greg a 1995 MICA an adjunct instructor at MICA and creative team member atFiraxixs Games. When he started working for gaming industry giant Microprose fifteenyears ago, “it was the only show in That’s changed dramatically.
As of 2006, Marylandd boasted 12 entertainment software companies valuexdat $119.9 million, according to the Entertainmen t Software Association. Firaxis launched in 1996 with six artists, four from Within the past year, the company has grown from 65 employeeto 118. As the gaming industry Foertsch and fellow MICA graduateDavidc Inscore, founder and studio art directofr of Timonium-based Big Huge have been working with their alma matee to explore adding classes in 3-D animation techniques that will give MICA studentd an edge in the gamingf and entertainment industries. But they won’t replace MICA’se roots.
“The concept remainss the importantpart — gettinh kids to understand how to be creative problek solvers, which is what all artists are. The technologyu just makes it easier for them to do their work,” Foertsch said.