1997-2017
Curator-in-Residence
“For twenty years I served as MICA's Curator-in-Residence, consulting on community-based and public programming models focused on exploring new ways to connect art, artists, and audiences.
I introduced the Exhibition Development Seminar (EDS)—a year long undergraduate exhibition-making course which is now taught by Jeffry Cudlin. From 2011-17, I founded, directed and taught in the MFA in Curatorial Practice (CP) now directed by Jose Ruiz.”
The Ciscle Method: Pedagogy, Practice and Impact
by Jeffry Cudlin
Ciscle’s way of working—animated by his strong, democratizing personal ethos—is perhaps most clearly evident in the curatorial pedagogy he established after leaving The Contemporary, through twenty years of teaching and leadership at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). This mid-career jump from museum director to full-time educator near the end of the nineties might appear like a break, but it was in reality a doubling-down on first principles: For fifteen years prior to organizing his first exhibition at George Ciscle Gallery, he had developed an interdisciplinary high school arts curriculum and worked in a program for disadvantaged children. At MICA, Ciscle began to see all art as essentially a means to an educational end: “In the long run, the most important thing was not necessarily the art itself,” he explained in a 2018 interview, “but what role art could play in a person's life, in their learning, ability to change, develop and grow…the exhibition space is the same to me as a classroom when working with my students.”
Invited (CP 13) Catalog Link
Congregate (CP 14) Catalog Link
Locally Sourced (CP 15)
Intersection (CP 16)
2011-2017
Curatorial Practice MFA
The first M.F.A. of its kind in the country, MICA's M.F.A. in Curatorial Practice (CP) prepares students to expand the role of curators--engaging audiences more effectively by proposing alternative models of exhibition-making, institution-building, and social justice through art.
CP offers a hands-on curriculum that balances collaboration and socially engaged practices with academic research in history and theory. By creating real-world collaborative and individual exhibitions, our students raise awareness, bridge societal gaps, and catalyze exchanges across various disciplines, both inside and outside the art world.
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Designed to forge connections among artists, institutions, and communities, the program fosters contemporary art and culture in collaboration with diverse audiences, and links local issues to international discourse. Through the Practicum and Seminar studio courses students gain real-world experience curating independent and groups projects with local institutions.
Thesis
Practicum is a two-part studio course for first-year CP students who collectively research, propose, plan, and execute a solo or thematic exhibition (or a suite of curatorial projects) featuring local, national, and/or international artists and/or cultural producers. The exhibition’s concept and format is driven by a cooperative, flexible system of decision-making.
CP students complete projects and collaborate with artists, communities, organizations, and venues. Each student works in a variety of contexts and formats in order to bridge contemporary art, culture, and diverse audiences.
Practicum
Dirt, Joseph Orzal, November 8, 2018
Allison Gulick (CP 13) Reloading the Canon, James E. Lewis Museum, Morgan
Michelle Gomez (CP 14) Devociones Y Fe, El Tesoro Restaurant
Gloria Azucena (CP 15) Nature Indoors, Druid Hill Park Conservatory
Kibibi Ajanku (CP 16), Indigo Magic, Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Museum
CP 2013-2017
CLASS of 2017
CAROL DYSON
LIZ FAUST BETTY GONZALES YVONNE HARDY-PHILLIPS
DASOL KIM
SHEENA M. MORRISON FITSUM SHEBESHE
CLASS of 2014
MICHELLE GOMEZ
ASHLEY MOLESE
VICTORIA TIMPO CAITLIN TUCKER-MELVIN
QIANFEI WANG XIAOTIAN EVAN YANG
CLASS of 2016
KIBIBI AJANKU
NADA ALARADI
RHEA BECKETT
ASHLEY DEHOYOS
MARGARET MACDONALD JEN MELVIN
CHRISSIE A. MILLER
NICK PETR
JIE YU
CLASS of 2013
CATHERINE AKINS
JAMIANNE AMICUCCI
GABRIELLE BUZGO
EMILY CLEMENS
ALLISON GULICK
DEANA HAGGAG
CHLOE HELTON-GALLAGHER
HYEJUNG JANG
MADELYN SPALDING
CLASS of 2015
GLORIA AZUCEÑA
YEIM AMY BAE
CHRISTOPHER BEER
MARNIE BENNEY
MELANI DOUGLASS
JENNIFER GRAY
KELLY JOHNSON
EMILY KOHLENSTEIN
SAMANTHA REDLES
KIRSTEN MARIE WALSH
The George Ciscle Curatorial Practice Scholarship was established in 2015 to support outstanding emerging curators from diverse cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds during their graduate studies at MICA. Initiated by the program’s founding director, George Ciscle, the scholarship is given annually to a student nominated on the basis of merit and financial need. Gifts at all levels will open doors for CP students who might not otherwise be able to attend MICA. It also allows the College to recruit the most promising students while at the same time cultivating diversity, equity, and inclusion.
1997-2008
Exhibition
Development Seminar
Exhibition Development Seminar:The Curatorial Experience (EDS) is the capstone course for the 15 credit Curatorial Studies Minor. EDS is a 6 credit , two semester course that examines the curatorial process through the research, planning and production of a major exhibition. Students serve as curators, designers, and educators as they develop and implement proposals for the exhibit’s graphic and exhibit designs, interpretive texts, public programs, community outreach, website, publications, and public relations strategy. Fall is devoted to the conceptualization and development of the artistic, design and educational components for the exhibition presented in the Spring.
Risk/Reward: MICA and Morgan students learn more than professional expertise
The City Paper, Bret McCabe, January 31, 2007
2008
Beyond the Compass, Beyond the Square
Inspired by Walters Art Museum’s exhibit “Finding Our Place in the World”. Site-specific works in Mt. Vernon Square’s 4 parks, including community collaborations, performances, tours, and interventions; website; Catalog
2007
At Freedom’s Door: Challenging Slavery in Maryland
The struggle for freedom viewed from the dual perspective of contemporary artists and historical material. MICA collaboration with Morgan State University students at the Maryland Historical Society and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture; website; Family Guide; Catalog
Artists-in-Residence Joan Gaither and Arvie Smith
2005
Lawson Oyekan
and the spirit of nature
Monumental sculpture by London-based Nigerian ceramic artist, anchoring 16 MICA international exhibitions in conjunction with NCECA conference; state- wide teacher workshops and curriculum initiatives; Family Guide; website; Catalog
2004
Comics on the Verge
Group exhibit of 40 contemporary comics artists; MICA sponsored Comics Weekend; Catalog
Satellite exhibits: Creative Alliance, Park School , UMBC Library
2003
Everlasting: Sound and Video Installation by Ann Fessler
Oral histories of birth mothers from the region who gave up their children for adoption formed the basis for a sculpture, film and sound installation; symposium and film series; Resource Center; website; Catalog
Satellite exhibit : “Close to Home” and curricular initiative “Family Album” at McDonogh School
2002
Marlborough Art Project
Research by the senior residents of this historic apartment building (once home of the Cone sisters and their collection) informed their art projects that became incorporated into the re-development of The Marlborough Community Room
Artist- in- Residence Maria-Theresa Fernandes
Architect-in-Residence Gabriel Kroiz
2001
Situated Realities: Where Technology and Imagination Intersect
Works by 30 contemporary artists who explore the imaginative possibilities of the computed image and the changing nature of photographic representation ; Guest curator Will Larson
Toured by MICA to Minneapolis College of Art & Design
Satellite exhibit: Park School curricular initiative with Artists-in-Residence Lilla LoCurto and Bill Outcault
2000
Joyce J. Scott:
Kickin’ It with the Old Masters
At the Baltimore Museum of Art in collaboration with MICA; 30-year survey and site-specific installation; artist residency in community art programs; Teacher and Family Guides; Activity/Resource Center; Catalog
2004-2007: Toured by ExhibitsUSA to California African American Museum, Los Angeles; Dane Hansen Memorial Museum, Logan, KS; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN; Asheville Art Museum, NC; Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock; and Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
1999
Subject to Change
Parts I and II
Sculptors Linda Bills, Jann Rosen-Queralt and Jason Swift created site-specific work that welcomed audience participation in the creative process.
Reinstalled as Part II after evaluation and responses from artists, students and public; Resource Center; Catalog
1998
Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott
50-year retrospective of renowned fiber artist; Catalog
Satellite exhibit: legacy works; story quilts from 3 senior and 3 after-school recreation centers; Activity and Resource Center
Toured by MICA to Anacostia Museum Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA; and Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Friends of Exhibition Development Seminar (EDS)
Examines curatorial process through the research, planning and production of a major exhibition.
Instructions to support Friends of EDS
Designation: Other
How would you like to direct your donation? Friends of EDS