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

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32 ALUMNI Alumnus Jim Pollock Brings Art to Baltimore’s miraCle on 34th street When four ColleGe friends Graduated from miCa in the late 1980s and needed a house with studio space, they found themselves living in the middle of one of Baltimore’s quirkiest holiday attractions: a block of row houses in Hampden known during the winter as the Miracle on 34th Street. Every December, neighbors deck the street out in thousands of Christmas lights, glowing candy canes, model trains, and other displays of holiday cheer. Roommates, neighbors, and holiday decorations have come and gone over the years, but Jim Pollock ’89 has been keeping the tradition of sharing art with his neighbors alive. Pollock ended up buying the house he once rented with his college buddies and for the past 15 years he has been welcoming passersby into his front room, which now serves as an exhibition space. Last year, 27,000 people came through Pollock’s front door to check out his art displayed there, along with the art of seven of his friends. Amongst all the over-the-top holiday kitsch, Pollock’s studio is a reminder that art brings communities together. “It’s a wonderful gift to share, and I always encourage people who show in the house to stand in the house. The whole point of being an artist is meeting the public,” said Pollock. Pollock, who considers himself a folk artist despite his formal training at MICA, makes his work out of salvaged materials from the Potomac River, flea markets, and “wonderful treasures” left on his front porch by admirers. Among his signature pieces are bike wheels stacked and welded together to form snowmen, National Bohemian Beer cans that take the shape of angels, crisscrossing strands of pencil steel that look like snowflakes, and crabs with wrenches for appendages. But what Pollock is most known for is stringing hubcaps together to create the form of a Christmas tree, which he has done every year since 1995. Although his neighbor originally had the idea for the hubcap tree, Pollock has expanded the sculpture from three feet to a towering 10 feet tall. There are now more than 100 hubcaps that make up the sculpture, a collection that was mostly aided by a historic snowstorm in 1996 that left the nearby streets riddled with potholes, allowing a large number of hubcaps to be “loosened” from passing cars. Today, the hubcap Christmas tree is a sculptural landmark amongst all of the glitz and glamour of the rest of the street. Jim Pollock’s Christmas tree made of hubcaps during the 2010 holiday season. (Photo by Libby Zay) Although more artists seem to be moving to the block and taking part in the Miracle on 34th Street, Pollock said many of his creative neighbors who should consider themselves artists don’t see their glowing creations in the same light. “Most of the people here don’t want to call themselves artists and don’t want to be tagged,” he said. “Although there are finally artists moving in, it ebbs and flows as people move into rented spaces.” According to Pollock, however, when all the neighbors come together and decorate, “it feels like the whole block lights up.” Visitors who come to see the block in all its shining glory can stop by Pollock’s studio at 708 W. 34th Street.
(top to bottom) Ursula Minervini, Red Deer Notecard, letterpress from a woodcut and handset type; Natalie Jacob, Scrabble Word Necklace. MICA Art Market Offers Buyers Art-Filled Holiday Shopping Wednesday, December 7–Saturday, December 10, 10 am–6 pm Brown Center: Leidy Atrium and Falvey Hall lobby, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave for the fifth year in a roW, 250 MICA students, alumni, faculty, and staff will come together just in time for the holidays to sell original jewelry, illustrations, paintings, prints, posters, sculptures, mosaics, stationery, T-shirts, ceramics, textiles, book arts, toys, wrapping paper, and more. At MICA Art Market, shoppers and collectors can discover work by emerging artists or find collectibles from leading artists in their respective fields. Visitors can talk one-on-one with the artists about their work while taking in the lively atmosphere of the market and supporting the local economy. Sponsored by the MICA Alumni Association and the Master of Professional Studies in The Business of Art and Design program, the market fosters student professional development and peerto-peer networking, while also providing funding for need-based student scholarships. Vendors will accept the following forms of payment: Visa, MasterCard, MICARD, cash, and check. Jodi Hoover, Treena, screen print, acrylic ink, and color conte on paper, 2009. EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS 33
Page 1 and 2: NEWS, EVENTS, & EXHIBITIONS Novembe
Page 3 and 4: EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS November Throu
Page 5 and 6: Students display ampersands while s
Page 7 and 8: Making History /Making Art: MICA wa
Page 9 and 10: Local artists pose on top of one of
Page 11 and 12: Students Design Mobile Farmers Mark
Page 13 and 14: MICA welcomed its largest class eve
Page 15 and 16: Richelle Vargas, Thoughts, oil past
Page 17 and 18: system that allows everyone involve
Page 19 and 20: (top) James F. Blue III (pictured o
Page 21 and 22: Irish Delight Last spring, senior Z
Page 23 and 24: View of Lux Art Institute, featurin
Page 25 and 26: (left to right) José Villarrubia (
Page 27 and 28: Shannon May, How Pleasure Works, ed
Page 29 and 30: Alumni Office Abuzz miCa’s alumni
Page 31: like ? On Twitter: @mica_news On Fa
Page 35 and 36: Brittney Posternock wearing one of
Page 37 and 38: the Common obJeCt Thursday, Decembe
Page 39 and 40: end to end: Works by Youngmi Song O
Page 41 and 42: Monday Artist at Noon: Joyce J. Sco
Page 43 and 44: General fine arts Tuesday, November
Page 45 and 46: School for Professional and Continu
Page 47 and 48: fat PiG and reasons to be Pretty Th

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

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