MICA making a strong impression - Baltimore Business Journal:

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She secured a paid summer internshio atHunt Valley’s Firaxis Games, a leadinv video game development studio. And afte graduation, the Texas native plans to stay in Baltimore and geta full-time job as a concepf artist at a gaming company. “It’sd one of the best jobs an illustratoecan get. You’re not working on and you’ve got regular Already there are a lot of people from MICA who workat Firaxis,” Fischer said. The job confidencwe Fischer exudes stands in sharp contrast tomany soon-to-be college graduates. Unemployment amontg U.S. 20- to 24-year-oldss rose in the past year by almost 5 to 13.
9 percent in Many colleges are reporting drops in campus careedr fair participation by as much as 35 percent, accordingb to Chicago-based outplacement firm Conversely, 48 companies attended MICA’s careeer fair April 3, more than double the numbere in recent years. A confluencee of factors is making MICA an increasinglty attractive stop on the job recruitercircuit — and revving up its motodr as a possible economic engine for Baltimore. Among U.S. art MICA holds the distinction of grantingf degreesthe longest.
Thanks to the strategic visioh ofFred Lazarus, its presiden t of 30 years, and an activs board of trustees, the 183-year-old institution is more relevan t to industry today than ever before, campu s leaders and observers say. Not that it hasn’tg been immune to the recession and its impactf on campuses across thecountrhy — boosting enrollment and growinh its endowment will remain challenges. But supportinh MICA’s strategic vision was an extremely well-timec and successful $75 million fundraising campaign that ran from 2000and 2007. • Doubl its undergraduate student body and endowmentto 1,800p and $60 million, respectively; • Suppor community arts outreach.
These initiatives, observerse say, make the college and its graduates attractive even in the midst of a severed economic downturn that has not left the artscommunity Currently, Maryland colleges and universities are bracing for pendint state budget cuts on top of plummeting The state’s 2010 budget for the arts, passedx by the legislature in April, will reducew funding by 18 percent, from $16.6 million to $13.76 million, according to Theresa Colvin, executive directo r of the .
Even before the recessionb hit, MICA stepped in to support and grow the localarts “With the strategic plan of there was a real recognition that we needecd to invest more efforts in the revitalization of Baltimors as a place for the visuaol arts,” Lazarus said. The Station North Arts and Entertainmeng District exemplifiesthat investment. Established in 2002, the 100-acre bordered by 20th Street, Greenmount Avenue and the JonesFallz Expressway, has been hailed by city art officialxs as a “gateway to the Mount Vernon Culturaol District.
” Maryland, the first statew in the country to sponsor arts and entertainmenyt districts as a way to stimulate the economy, offers tax benefitss to property owners and qualified artists who live and work in the Station North is one of 16 such districtws in Maryland.