Mica

Author and New York University film professor Manthia Diawara will be a panelist tonight for a public seminar on "Originality, Authorship and Authenticity" at the Maryland Institute, College of Art.Diawara, who edited the 1993 book "Black American Cinema," will be joined by art historian and MICA instructor Jane Elkington, Baltimore Museum of Art curator Frederick Lamp, and MICA instructor, art historian and critic Frazer Ward. Leslie King-Hammond, dean of graduate studies at MICA, will moderate the discussion.

Anyone who feels a creative urge is invited to the Maryland Institute, College of Art to sit at a communal quilt to stitch and talk -- and perhaps make new friends.This communal work-in-progress is part of an art exhibition that has as many pieces as the colorful quilts it showcases.At the show's center is an exhibit of 45 vivid works created by Baltimore's master-quilter Elizabeth Scott. The Scott retrospective, curated by George Ciscle, includes quilts with patterns ranging from traditional strips to whimsical critters.

Cigarettes burn like tobacco torches in the dimly lit warehouse, where ashes and butts are scattered on the ground. Exposed wires and light fixtures add a touch of devil-may-care bohemian flair. Casually stacked speakers outline the stage, occupied by a band tuning up, creating a sound that one attendee labels "Marilyn Manson and the Chemical Brothers being strangled."Last Saturday night, nearly 500 people came to "New Blood," a monthlong exhibition of art and music by both local and national names.

Baltimore Youth Television celebrates its fifth year tonight with a showing of 10 short video productions by its middle- and high-school-age filmmakers.Organized by the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1994, the program originally put 33 students from city middle schools through a four-month video production course held on Saturdays.Since then, it has expanded to include Northern High School students attending a summer program at the Johns Hopkins University, as well as groups of alumni of the BYTV program who attend courses at MICA to continue producing videos.

Picture this: beautiful cliffs overlooking the Caribbean, remote villages locked in time and ancient volcanoes sleeping against a warm amber sky.This is what some students enrolled in the Maryland Institute, College of Art summer program see daily while earning academic credit. This summer, MICA is offering travel programs to Italy, Greece, Canada and Mexico. Students will place their easels in front of some of the most amazing scenery in the world and return with painted memories.The programs are taught by faculty members from the institute and other schools.

WASHINGTON -- The list of charities that federal employees can donate to via payroll deductions runs 21 pages. Rep. John L. Mica says it's now time to erase many of them from the list because they don't directly benefit the needy.Mr. Mica, a Florida Republican who chairs a House subcommittee on civil service, said yesterday that he wants to return the charity payroll-deduction program -- what he terms a "mushrooming taxpayer-financed grab bag" -- to its original mission of 1961: to help charities that directly aid needy groups, such as sick children and the homeless.

Three Maryland composers are among the 10 national winners of the 43rd Annual BMI Student Composer Awards. The winners, all age 17 to 26, include two students from the Peabody Conservatory, Laura C. A. Kolker and David Smooke.Smooke, 26, also was honored with the 1995 William Schuman Prize for his soprano and chamber ensemble score, which was judged most outstanding in the competition.Ms. Kolker, 17, composed "The Armenian Mother" for chorus.In addition, Donald J. Sparr Jr., 19, from Hampstead was named a winner for his "Guitar Quartet."

MY FOOT sank into the muddy edge of the stream as I bent to pinch a stem. "Here, try it. It tastes a little like pepper," I said as I handed it to my daughter.It was one of the first warm evenings of spring, an invitation to investigate nature's rebirth. The awakenings seemed to spark memories.After seeing the grimace on the face of my obliging daughter, I conceded that maybe the taste was meant for an adult palate. But the story of my mother's watercress would be hers.I began to tell Mica of my mother's love of nature.

The Mazda MPV minivan is available in a "special edition" form that features leather seats, alloy wheels and an exclusive two-tone finish that renews my curiosity about the people who name automobile paint colors.I'm wondering who could look at paint chips, then walk up to another adult and say, with a straight face, "Why don't we call these special MPV colors 'Whisper Green Mica' and 'Prestige Silver?' "If Sigmund Freud were still alive, he could probably shed much light on the nature of these paint people.

An asterisk denotes events that will be signed for the hearing impaired.TONIGHT* 6 p.m.ARTSCAPE visual arts exhibitions receptions at Decker Gallery in Mount Royal Station Building; Meyerhoff Gallery, Thesis Gallery Fox Building at Maryland Institute, College of Art (MICA); and outdoor sites.* 7 p.m.Dreamtime Selections, performance by Spoon Popkin, at Decker Gallery, MICA.* 8 p.m.Never Enough, performance by Lisa Mandle, at Decker Auditorium, Mount Royal Station Building, MICA.* 8:30 p.m.The Amazing Papers, performances by Sharon Farmer, Wayson Jones, Annette Lawrence, Leigh Mosley, Michelle Parkerson and Joyce Wellmen at Decker Auditorium, MICA.

Five students in a Maryland Institute College of Art summer program have been diagnosed with probable H1NI influenza infections, commonly known as swine flu, a college spokeswoman said Friday. Three of the students enrolled in MICA's pre-college program who were showing symptoms have gone home, said Kathleen Murray, the spokeswoman. One student has been isolated, as recommended by the Baltimore City Health Department, and another is asymptomatic, beyond the seven-day period of infection, Murray said.

Megan Ryan knows the tacos in her part of town. Over the past four months she has eaten an estimated 80 of them from about 20 different Baltimore eateries, most near her Fells Point home. She has discovered that a taco labeled "meat" can have one of a dozen different fillings, everything from steamed flank steak to "lengua," better known as tongue, a favorite offering of the taco truck that sets up shop on South Broadway near Bank Street. She has decided that the tilapia cooked with cloves from Arcos Restaurant is a hit. But the orange roughy topped with orange marmalade from Annabel Lee Tavern is a mess.

FASHION MICA fashion show: The budding fashion designers of the Maryland Institute College of Art are ready to "make it work." Their annual runway show will include everything from elegant A-line dresses to eclectic machine-laden garments to lacy clothes inspired by the film Moulin Rouge! Starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at MICA's Brown Center. More: mica.edu FILM 'State of Play' : A congressman's young lover is killed, and a team of reporters is seemingly the only ones looking for the real killer.

Dolly the giant Kewpie doll is in the house. So is the Olfactory Factory, Apparatus for Orchestral Knitting, Haussner's Ball of String and Fugue Chamber for Amnesiacs . Bozo Prison (for four or more) is out on the plaza. These and other works by Baltimore-based interdisciplinary artist and self-proclaimed "cultural crackpot" Laure Drogoul, created over the past 25 years, have been assembled in one location for the first time in a sprawling, multimedia exhibit that opens tomorrow at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Follies, Predicaments, and Other Conundrums: The Works of Laure Drogoul is the title of the show, which runs through March 15 in the Meyerhoff and Decker galleries, the Gateway building and other campus locations.

Rep. John L. Mica is pumped up about the incoming Obama administration. The congressman is one of Capitol Hill's most ardent proponents of spending big bucks on high-speed rail projects, and he sees the president-elect as a kindred spirit. Mica has been traveling along the Northeast Corridor, pushing a plan to promote high-speed rail technology that could cut the time of travel from Washington to New York to less than two hours. The huge project would require an investment of billions of dollars on such things as replacing the ancient Amtrak tunnels through Baltimore - a significant drag on travel times along the East Coast.

The Maryland Institute College of Art will hold the world premiere of a 36-minute documentary about Maryland artist and educator Grace Hartigan at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Brown Center, 1301 Mount Royal Ave. Grace Hartigan - Shattering Boundaries, features studio interviews with Hartigan, the director of MICA's Hoffberger School of Painting since 1965, and artists she has influenced over the years. The reservations-only event includes a question-and-answer session with co-producers Janice Stanton and Alice Shure of Amici Films, as well as a reception.

The drum-shaped building near the intersection of North and Mount Royal avenues has a large opening on its west side that allows people on the sidewalk to look up and see a landscaped courtyard deep inside, two levels above the street. It has a horizontal opening on the south side that looks like a giant mail slot. The glass panes around the exterior aren't always in the same plane from floor to floor and change in color as one moves around the building. Did the contractor run out of the same color glass and decide to improvise partway through construction?

Anyone who doubts Baltimore's architectural landscape is leaping into the 21st century needs look no further than the Maryland Institute College of Art's stunning new Gateway building at North and Mount Royal avenues. The drum-shaped dorm and student activity center astride the Jones Falls Expressway has turned heads for months as workers put the final touches on its gleaming glass and steel exterior. When it opens Aug. 24, it will mark the northern anchor of MICA's campus and the newest addition to a local skyline that is winning Baltimore national renown for innovative design.

Four Seasons The lowdown: The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents two pieces created 250 years apart in two separate regions of the world, but with distinct similarities. Italian composer Vivaldi created Four Seasons, which is the most-recorded classical music work, making it very recognizable. Piazzolla modeled his Four Seasons of Buenos Aires after Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Listen to both pieces paired together tomorrow evening. If you go: The concert runs 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at the Meyerhoff, 1212 Cathedral St. Tickets are $25-$60.

With another five days to go before its scheduled dismantling, the golden chain-link fence that is serving as the controversial opening phase of a two-month-long art exhibit in Mount Vernon Place survived the weekend - remaining up, open and a source of disagreement. The fence originally blocked all access to the historic park and was to remain in place until Saturday. Late last week, amid heavy criticism from residents, the Maryland Institute College of Art student who created the fence removed a section from each of the park's four quadrants, allowing public access.