MICA move

The dust is still settling here after our daughter’s departure for college. I am gladly between projects so I have the time and space to acknowledge what a transition it is. The drive from Maine to Baltimore is a haul, but Maryland Institute College of Art is a mighty welcome destination. This is the Brown Building, but we call it the Iceberg.

Daisy’s new residence: Leake Hall.

I had visions of struggling up stairs all day with loads of stuff. Wrong! A cheerful orientation team loaded a bin on wheels into an elevator.

Meeting the roommates was a sweet moment!

She was installed and ready for lunch, just like that.

There’s a whole kitchen in the suite, rather handy.

And a student lounge next door with a view of campus.

Daisy’s going to do just fine.

We saw the Postcard Project, a good source of conversation, where Daisy made new friends. This one is her submission, with the prompt to draw her spirit animal.

After a few practical errands, it was time for farewells.

I’ve got on my game face, but I am sobbing inside.

That hug has to last for a couple of months. We’re quite sure she was skipping once she turned the corner.

We attended a panel discussion for MICA parents, where we finally saw familiar faces! Daniel Minter, my colleague in the Illustration Department at Maine College of Art, and his wife, Marcia, look proud to be MICA parents, too! Their son, Azari, is also a freshman.

We’re all sporting our MICA Mom and MICA Dad pins.

We retreated to our hotel, depleted. The almost full moon rising boosted my spirits.

We spent the next day around town, meeting up with friends, and enjoying public art like this.

MICA’s brand is well positioned.

We visited the American Visionary Art Museum, where the empty nest metaphors seemed to be everywhere.

Creation is the reason we are here in the first place. What came first, the art or the egg? Behind the museum is Federal Hill, a lovely park overlooking the city.

The Inner Harbor is pretty upscale, nothing like our own Portland waterfront.

We dined at Parts & Labor with Donna and Peter, who generously shared their Bourbon Bread Pudding. Did not escape our notice that 5 of their 10 beer offerings  were brewed in Portland, Maine.

We left the next day for an arduous trek home. This piece by Cathy Lin in the Freshman Foundation exhibit in Bunting Hall seems to capture my feeling. Not sure which end is up yet. Let the adjustment begin!

I’m off this afternoon to the opening reception of Create IV, the fourth annual Continuing Studies Student and Faculty Exhibition at MECA. Time to celebrate art as a perpetual journey. Oh, and ship some more stuff to our MICA student!