So, it's pretty much common knowledge that the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) here in Baltimore has been dealing with a whole lot of financial difficulty and even layoffs thanks to the pandemic. The money situation has been tight, new students aren't exactly flooding in, and the bills are piling up for this institution that's been around for a whopping 197 years. In the midst of all this chaos, I caught wind of the news that Samuel Hoi, the president of MICA, is planning to retire by the end of this year.

Let's rewind a bit. Back in 2019, Sammy (yeah, that's the nickname everyone uses) publicly apologized for MICA's seriously racist past. Can you even believe that MICA had the audacity to keep Black students out until the 1950s? It's a real head-shaker. The going has been tough over at MICA for quite some time.

 

My first time setting foot on the grounds was back in 2015 at the now-defunct MICA Place, which used to be one of the few places where MICA had any interaction with the community. It took a while, but I eventually found myself enrolled at MICA to pursue my Master's in Social Design. And hey, I even ended up working there for a stint. I've got to admit, it wasn't exactly surprising to hear that the place was having a hard time after my experience there.

 

Now, on a personal note, I've had my fair share of good conversations with Sammy. He took the reins of an institution with a seriously questionable past. Being a Black woman from Baltimore, I didn't really engage much with MICA until I decided to check out this event called OVA EAST at the old MICA Place.

 

I'm definitely intrigued to find out what kind of person they'll be scouting for once Sammy steps down. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that they don't fall into that tired old pattern of "let's hire a Black woman to magically fix everything." Trust me, we've seen enough of that.