David Acheson Woodward (1823-1909) invents and introduces the first successful photographic enlarging camera that he calls a “Solar Camera” in 1857. Set up on rooftops to follow the sun, the camera focuses the light from the sun through a lens into a projector to create a larger image on a sheet of sensitized paper.
Portrait painter David A. Woodward becomes the principal of the Drawing Department for the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanical Arts. Following a destructive fire in 1860 he is appointed the principal of the regenerated school of art and design, leading it for the next 19 years.
Woodward gains international fame when he demonstrates his solar camera in London. The invention is called “one of the most important improvements introduced in the art of photography”.
In spite of two disastrous fires, the art school, begun in 1826, today is the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). MICA is the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation.
Two MICA graduates are also Maryland firsts. Amy Sherald (1973-), is the first African American women to paint a first lady portrait of Michelle Obama. Joyce J. Scott (1948-), a lifelong resident of Baltimore and a 2016 McArthur Fellow is best known for using her unique “Off-Loom Beadweaving” technique, creating sculptures and jewelry to address issues such as racism, sexism and violence coupled with spiritual healing.
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Maryland Institute College of Art
