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Open Saturday, October 24th, 2026, from 1 pm – 5 pm
MICA is one of the oldest art colleges in the country, founded as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts in 1826. For many decades the school was housed over the Centre Market until it was destroyed in the 1904 downtown fire, launching plans for a new purpose-built structure located uptown near the Bolton Hill neighborhood. New York City architects Pell and Corbett designed a new Renaissance Revival palazzo for MICA that was partially funded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, MICA’s Main Building houses the Office of Admission, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost/Academic Affairs, the First Year Experience and Photography departments, as well as studio space for painting and drawing classes. As a hub for student activity throughout the year, it is the site for MICA’s notoriously-creative student Halloween Party. And in May, the buildings, classrooms, galleries, and open spaces serve as exhibition halls for the senior thesis show, ArtWalk.
