Rick Lowe is an acclaimed artist, community activist, and founder of Project Row Houses. Lowe has been an artist-in-residence at numerous universities throughout the United States, lectures internationally, and has exhibited at museums, such as the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles. Rick Lowe's lecture is sponsored by: MFA in Community Arts, MFA in Curatorial Practice, and Mixed Media Lecture Series.

Founded in 1826, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation. The College enrolls nearly 3,500 undergraduate, graduate and continuing studies students from 49 states and 52 countries in fine arts, design, electronic media, art education, liberal arts, and professional studies degree and non-credit programs. With art and design programs ranked in the top ten by U.S. News and World Report, MICA is pioneering interdisciplinary approaches to innovation, research, and community and social engagement. Alumni and programming reach around the globe, even as MICA remains a cultural cornerstone in the Baltimore/Washington region, hosting hundreds of exhibitions and events annually by students, faculty and other established artists.