Maryland Institute College of Art - History

History

The Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts was established in 1826. One instrumental figure in the Institute's founding was writer, lawyer and inventor John H. B. Latrobe, son of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, designer of the United States Capitol and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, MD. The first home of the Institute was called The Athenaeum, and was situated at the cross streets of St. Paul and Lexington Streets in downtown Baltimore. It was destroyed by fire caused by a riot on February 7, 1835.

Classes resumed 12 years later in 1849 in rented space over the downtown Baltimore Post Office. In 1851, the Institute moved from the Post Office to its own building, built above the Center Market on Baltimore Street. The building covered an entire block and had two stories above the market, with two towers.

During this period the Maryland Institute adds a School of Chemistry, thanks in part to philanthropist George Peabody (for which the Peabody Institute is named) and B&O President Thomas Swann, and a School of Music. Night classes for Design are added for men who work during the day but would like training in Architecture and Engineering at night. In 1854, a Day School of Design opened for women—one of the first arts programs for women in the country. In 1860, the Day School for men opened, and in 1870 the Day school became co-ed, offering instruction in the fine arts for both men and women.

For 79 years the Institute was housed in the same location above the market, and its Great Hall, large enough to accommodate 6,000, attracted many famous speakers and lecturers. It not only hosted events and shows related to the Arts, but being one of the largest halls in Baltimore, it hosted important events to the city and the region as well. In 1852, it hosted the Presidential Conventions of Gen. Winfield Scott and his opponent Franklin Pierce (who became the 14th President of the United States in the following election).

During the American Civil War, the Institute served briefly as an armory for the Union and a hospital for soldiers wounded at the Battle of Antietam. On April 16, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech during a fair held in the Great Hall to benefit Union Soldiers.

On February 7, 1904, the Center Market building burned down along with 1,500 other buildings in downtown Baltimore during the Great Baltimore Fire. Temporarily, classes are moved to spaces above other covered markets in the city, while construction begins in two locations. Michael Jenkins donated the future site of the Main Building, which was to house the School of Art and Design, and the City of Baltimore offered the site and funding to rebuild the Center Market building for the Drafting school. Upon opening, the Main Building had spaces for pottery, metal working, wood carving, free-hand drafting, and textile design, as well as a library, galleries and exhibition rooms. The galleries and exhibition rooms were important, because at the time of construction Baltimore still did not have a public art museum.

In 1923, the Institute's galleries hosted the first known public showing of Henri Matisse's work in the United States, brought over from Europe by sisters Claribel and Etta Cone. In 1928, the new Center Market building, now known as the Market Place building, offers a course in Aeronautics theory and drafting following the increase in interest in the industry following Lindbergh's flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Institute legally changed its name to the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1959, and the Market Place building was razed to make room for the Jones Falls Expressway (I-83). The consolidation of MICA to the Mount Royal campus is furthered by the purchase of the Mount Royal Station, a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) train station, in 1964. In 1968, MICA was forced to close for the first time in its history since its first fire in 1835 due to the Baltimore riot of 1968 that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1972–1975, MICA was graced with the presence of a number of famous artists and critics of the period, including composer John Cage, poet Allen Ginsberg, photographer Walker Evans, master printer Kenneth E. Tyler, painter Elaine de Kooning, and art critic Clement Greenberg.

In the following years, MICA expanded rapidly along Mount Royal Avenue, adding the Fox building in 1978, the College Center (now the Art Tech Center) in 1986, a renovation of the Main Building in 1990, The Commons (added 1992), Bunting Center (1998), the Meyerhoff House (2002), the Brown Center (2003), the Studio Center (2007), and The Gateway (2008). During that time, the college focused on increased interaction with the international art world—offering study abroad programs and residences in numerous countries around the world.