Reece Cox ’17, who came to Baltimore from Charlotte, N.C., was adamant that he wanted to be a figurative painter. “I’ve taken a few leaps since then,” he said. “Coming out of high school, MICA was the perfect fit with what I wanted to do then. It continued to be a good fit as my interests have changed.”

His interests turned to the sculpture and the art form’s vast possibilities, and when Reece graduates with his B.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Sculpture on Monday, May 15, he will do so having already established a professional practice. In spring 2017, his work was the subject of a solo show at AC Repairs CO in Toronto. He’s taken part in numerous exhibitions in New York City and Baltimore, including several additional solo shows. Reece also received a residency for sound art at EMS Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm, Sweden.

Reece credits MICA’s faculty — and especially the visiting “thinkers, writers, and artists” the sculpture department brought to campus — with introducing him to powerful and significant ideas. He also says that his immediate involvement with Baltimore’s music and arts scene enabled him to build connections with experimental musicians and visual artists working in the real world.

“I was learning things in school and then seeing people live these lives outside of school,” he explained. “My network — groups of friends and collaborators and people I’m inspired by — spans, at this point all, over the world, and I’m always meeting new people because of that network. That wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t come to Baltimore.”