The Maryland Institute College of Art has announced the winners of the 10th annual UP/Start Venture Competition, awarding more than $105,000 to student- or recent alumni-led creative businesses that impact Baltimore.
Flying House Arts Collective, led by Valentino Orlando ’25 ((MFA, Hoffberger School of Painting) and Isaac Kim’25 (MFA, Hoffberger School of Painting), won top funding of $35,000 for their Baltimore-based venture.
The collective is run by artists, many of whom are MICA alumni, including Rui Jiang ’25 (MFA, Curatorial Practice), Tim Moran ’25 (MFA, Hoffberger School of Painting), and Chia Hsiu Liu ’25 (MFA, Hoffberger School of Painting).
The organization provides accessible exhibitions, workshops, and professional development opportunities for emerging artists. Using a nomadic business model, Flying House Arts Collective creates community-driven programming in underused spaces throughout Baltimore.
“The idea for Flying House Arts Collective began as how we can create a platform for ourselves and quickly turned into how we can create a platform for people like us. The collective is drawn from people all over the world, people who joined MICA for the creative alchemy that is important to the city. I would like people who come here to study art to stay and support Baltimore,” Orlando said in a statement. “I’m really grateful our message is resonating with people. We have a very loyal following who were showing up at our prototype exhibitions. I’m really overwhelmed and very grateful.”
“UP/Start reflects the power of creative thinking to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and real-world impact,” MICA President Cecilia M. McCormick said in a statement. “In our bicentennial year, this competition is a powerful reminder that MICA’s legacy is shaped by 200 years of creative excellence and the artists and designers who are building the future.”
The competition is an initiative of MICApreneurship, and designed to develop creative ventures within the MICA and Baltimore communities. The UP/Start Venture Competition was created in collaboration with industry partners to offer mentorship and seed funding to students and recent graduates, with the goal of helping them turn their ideas into sustainable businesses rooted in Baltimore.
Other big winners of this year’s competition include Heavy Feather Productions ($30,000), Mystic Manifold Studio ($20,000 and the $5,000 People’s Choice Award), and Wild Clay Ceramics ($15,000).
Heavy Feather Productions was co-founded by Javier Ordóñez, a MICA student in the Filmmaking MFA program. His founding partners are Jack Brittan-Powell, Miguel Alfaro, and Oscar Armenta. The creative agency is minority-owned and rooted in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia arts communities. Heavy Feather Productions specializes in photography, videography, social media management, and narrative storytelling for creatives, performing arts organizations, and mission-driven businesses.
“This money is going to enable us to reach out to so many people in our respective communities to help uplift them and give them a story to tell,” Ordóñez said.
Mystic Manifold Studio was founded by recent MICA alumni Dylan Condon ’25 (BFA, Graphic Design), Rory Holcomb ’25 (BFA, General Fine Arts), Natt Scott ’25 (BFA, General Fine Arts), and Zora Troupe ’25 (BFA, Illustration). The studio is a Baltimore-based tabletop game studio dedicated to diverse representation through immersive gameplay. Mystic Manifold Studio is a group of Black and queer artists who develop, write, and illustrate stories and games. They invite players from all walks of life to enjoy fantasy adventures they create.
“This has been a nerve-racking but deeply joyful experience because I have been working with my favorite people on Earth,” Troupe said. “I could not imagine doing this without them. They make magic.”
Wild Clay Ceramics was founded by Alexandra Ozga, who will graduate from MICA in May. Her small-batch pottery business turns wild Maryland clay, oyster shells from restaurants in Baltimore, iron runoff from abandoned coal mines, and harmful algae blooms from the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore Harbor, into food-safe, functional ceramics. Her work bridges science, education, and art. The seed money will allow Ozga to continue funding Wild Clay Ceramics, for which she has big aspirations.
“I am graduating from MICA this year, so [the funding] will let me find ways to continue my art practice and make a difference,” Ozga said. “I’m hoping to take Wild Clay Ceramics global. I’m really excited.”
The UP/Start Venture Competition featured six ventures created by current students or recent alumni from the class of 2025. In the space of four months, participants engaged in intensive skill-building, iteration, prototyping, and strategic planning before presenting their businesses to a panel of judges and the Baltimore community.
Over the last 10 years, the UP/Start Venture Competition has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to student-led creative ventures. MICA is celebrating its bicentennial year in 2026.
