In The Beginning...

     During the early 1980s young artists discovered a neighborhood in Lansing that had the city’s highest concentration of historic buildings, but had been mostly abandoned. They began renting and buying properties for studios, art galleries and performance space. In 1984, a group of these artists formed the North Lansing Art Association (NLAA) which was renamed the Old Town Business & Art Development Association (OTBADA) to eventually become the Michigan Institute for Contemporary Art (MICA) with a mission to catalyze community transformation through the arts.