Nov.-Dec. 2011 - Maryland Institute College of Art

Richelle Vargas, Thoughts, oil pastel and soft pastels, 2010.
MICA Welcomes New
and Potential Gates
Millennium Scholars
this fall, tWo Gates millennium sCholars entered
miCa: Jessica Bastidas, who attended Lehigh Valley
Charter High School for the Performing Arts in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, and Richelle Vargas, who attended the Design
and Architecture High School in Miami, Florida.
Bastidas hopes to pursue a BFA in illustration as well as a liberal arts minor
in creative writing. Not only is Bastidas an award-winning artist, she is a
gifted athlete, having won gold medals in both grappling and kickboxing in
the Challenge of Champions. In the future, she hopes to share her personal
storybook world with children, and allow them to, in her words, “glimpse
another dimension beyond our now digital universe, one where there is still
an air of mystery that allows the imagination room to discover for itself.”
Along with her plans to study interaction design and art, Vargas
is interested in MICA’s liberal arts minor in art history and studio
concentration in illustration. She is another of MICA’s entering students
with interests outside of the visual arts. As a volunteer at The Shimmy
Club, Inc., for example, Vargas worked as a mentor for visually impaired
and blind teenagers who were learning the physical art of the Argentine
tango through the club’s You Move Me program. When speaking of her
artwork, she stated, “I am aware of the environment the figure is in,
whether one is depicted or not. The environment can say as much about
the mood as the expression on a figure’s face.”
Since its establishment in 1999 by a $1 billion grant from the Bill &
Artwork by Jessica Bastidas
INNOVATION 15
Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Millennium Scholars program has
had a remarkable record of success. The program is dedicated to providing
outstanding minority students with significant need the financial ability
to reach their highest potential. Already, it has funded more than 15,000
scholars in 50 states and five outlying areas. These students have enrolled
in more than 1,500 colleges and universities; the first four cohorts saw a
graduate rate of 79.9 percent in five years. In fall 2010, Aurelia Javier ’14, a
student of Dominican descent who came from the New World School of the
Arts high school visual arts program in Miami, became the first ever Gates
Scholar to enter MICA.
Yet until recently, young artists and designers were not taking advantage
of the opportunities provided by the scholarship program. MICA President
Fred Lazarus IV decided it was time to change the trend—not just for the
College, but for art colleges nationwide. He called a meeting with the Gates
Millennium Scholars administration in Fairfax, Virginia, and invited his fellow
presidents from Rhode Island School of Design, Pratt Institute, School of the
Art Institute of Chicago, and California Institute of the Arts to join him. The
outcome was a MICA-initiated program to identify and mentor young artists
in the application process for the Gates Millennium Scholarships.
“Our goal is to have more artists become competitive for these awards,
and mentoring these young artists and designers is essential,” Theresa
Bedoya, MICA’s vice president for admission and financial aid, said. “The
process for applying for a Gates Millennium Scholarship is demanding. Eight
essays are required, and leadership and community service are key elements
in the selection process. Students also must maintain a 3.3 cumulative grade
point average through their senior year.”
Bedoya continued, “This past summer, we began by meeting with 11
students in our pre-college program who met the criteria to become Gates
Scholars. We offered them the opportunity to work with College faculty or
staff through the application process—and I’ve already had one student
contact me to discuss her first essay. This effort will truly impact next
year’s class.”