Matthew Ryan '13 attended the Maryland Institute College of Art's (MICA) month long Pre-College Summer Program this past summer and received a $12,000 scholarship to MICA for next fall.
The program allowed 180 high school students from all over the world a glimpse inside the life of a college art student at MICA, while offering three different college level art courses.
The three classes that Ryan attended included a core class in graphic design Monday through Wednesday from 8 - 3 p.m., a video workshop and an art history lecture every Friday.
Throughout the four weeks, Ryan spent most of his time perfecting his final project, which included a t-shirt design of one of his favorite bands (shown above) along with a new font created by using the street grid of a section of Baltimore city.
Ryan had to apply with a portfolio, get a letter of recommendation and write essays pertaining to how he would benefit from such a program.
"It was very similar to applying for college," said Ryan.
Ryan recieved a lot of support from the art department.
"Mrs. Petr was the one who told me about the program and suggested that I should apply, and Mr. Zimmerman wrote my recommendation."
The program was open to juniors and seniors on an international level. Students were selected from all over the world, including Venezuela and Asia.
"There were a lot of different kids from a variety of backgrounds and their artistic inspirations varied, which led it to feel more like a college experience," said Ryan.
One thing that made it different from a typical college experience was the endgame prize of a $12,000 scholarship, awarded to a handful of students who showed the most promise during the program.
"The scholarship was awarded based on the work done during the program. The professors and Teaching Assistant Resident Counselors (TARPs) were the ones who collectively voted on who they thought should receive the scholarships based on interactions with the students over the four weeks," said Mr. Matthew Zimmerman, Loyola's graphic design teacher.
An average of two students from each core class ended up receiving a scholarship. In the graphic design core, there was a total of 40 students, split into two classes.
Ryan is still unsure about what art form(s) he wants to pursue in college. According to him, most first year art students are usually immersed into a melting pot of different forms anyways.
"Each art form lends itself to creating a different type of work," said Ryan. "Having another year to grow and decide what I want to pursue will definitely be helpful."
All in all, Matthew appreciates what he has learned from his teachers at Loyola.
"They supplied me with the motivation and the skills to succeed in this. They really helped hone my perception of good work versus bad work. What they're teaching up there [in Burk] is obviously working."
Matthew's work is on display on the wall across from the Chapel of Our Lady of Monserrat next to the Burk Hall entrance.