MICA kicks off search for new president
MICA has hired a Boston-based headhunting firm to lead its international search for a new president. The eventual candidate will replace Bolton Hill resident Sammy Hoi, who announced last August that he will end when the current school term ends. Hoi, 65, has led the school since 2014.
The search firm Isaacson Miller, in a job search document widely circulated, said the school offers “an exciting opportunity for an inspiring, communicative, and unifying leader who can guide MICA into the future of art and design education. “
The 195-year-old art school has struggled with lost enrollment caused by the COVID pandemic and complicated by geopolitical strains with China, where many pre-pandemic students were recruited. According to Isaacson Miller the college has about 1900 students (including 500 graduate students) and a budget of $84 million.
MICA is currently in the midst of a comprehensive fundraising campaign set to end in 2027, which has raised over $66 million to date. The campaign focuses on building fiscal resources for key priorities and goals in its newly adopted strategic plan. MICA has an endowment of $105 million, the search group said.
North Avenue project has a new name: Reservoir Square
The $100 million mixed-use community that MCB Real Estate and its partners are building on eight acres along West North Avenue, between Bolton Hill and Reservoir Hill, has a new name. Once the site of a public housing project dubbed “Murder Mall” because of the criminal activity there, it formerly was called Madison Park North.
Reservoir Square began site preparation last year for what will, it is said, eventually become a a site for 120 townhouses to be priced above $300,000, according to the developers. The first townhouses are expected to go on sale late this year.
The second phase includes two more parcels, totaling nearly three acres. Plans include a grocery store; about 200 apartments including workforce housing; up to 100,000 square feet of office space and additional street-level retail space.
Beth Am concert: turning sorrows into song
Beth Am Synagogue in Reservoir Hill is hosting a concert/album launch on Sunday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m. for musicians associated with Beth Am’s Uncle Ira’s Hebrew Washboard Ensemble. Gam Ki Elech is an album of 13 original melodies in Hebrew drawn from liturgy and psalms.
Rabbi Ilan Glazer and his wife Sherri assembled the music and arranged the concert in memory of their son Shemaryah Zichri, who died at birth after a long series of attempts by the parents to have a child. General admission tickets are $18. More information here.
About The Bulletin….
The Bolton Hill Bulletin is published 10 times a year. It is designed by Elizabeth Peters. We invite others to help write, edit, provide photos or work on the business side. Send suggestions and comments to bulletin@boltonhillmd.org. Thanks to Barbara Francis, Chris Kingsley, Paula Jackson, Trish Metz, Deborah Morris, Ginny Perkins, Lisa Savage, Amy Sheridan, Lee Tawney and others for helping with this issue. Errors and omissions are the responsibility of the editor, Bill Hamilton.
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