When Jessica Bastidas ’16 ’17  entered MICA, she an award-winning artist as well as a gifted athlete, having won gold medals in both grappling and kickboxing in the Challenge of Champions. She graduated from the College with a B.F.A. in Illustration + Humanistic Studies in 2015 and with a M.A.T. in 2017.

When she entered MICA, Bastidas said she hoped to share her personal storybook world with children, and allow them to, in her words,

glimpse another dimension beyond our now digital universe, one where there is still an air of mystery that allows the imagination room to discover for itself.”

Currently a student in MICA's Master of Arts in Teaching  (MAT) program, Bastidas is on her way to that goal. Also, in addition to working toward certification for teaching art in k-12 classrooms at MICA, Bastidas has worked as an art instructor at Baum Art School in Allentown, Pennsylvania since 2014. She will graduate from the MAT program in 2017.