Maine College of Art

Chinese Brush Painting: Christine Maclin
2017-09-20 09:00 - 2017-10-25 17:00 (America/New_York)
Chinese Brush Painting: An Exhibition of Christine Maclin's Work
On view through September 20–October 25, Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
Reception: Wednesday, September 20, 5–7pm
Maine College of Art & Design, Charles Thomas Gallery, Second floor
Learn more about Christine Macklin in the Portland Press Herald article, A grieving husband honors his wife by curating a show of her Chinese brush paintings.
Christine Maclin, Flowers

2017 Salt Alumni Exhibition
2017-10-06 09:00 - 2017-11-12 17:00 | ICA at MECA&D, 522 Congress St., Portland, Maine, 04101, United States
2017 Salt Alumni Exhibition
October 6–November 10, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, October 6, 2017, 5:00-8:00pm
Artists at Work Gallery, First Floor, Porteous Building
This exhibition features the work of thirteen alumni from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, which is now a graduate certificate program at MECA&D. As we welcome Salt to campus— Fall 2017 students are the inaugural class – we honor the history of Salt and its long commitment to documentary storytelling.
Featured artists include: Abigail Holtzman '14, Adam Kampe '05, Alexandra Marvar '06, David Foster '10, Douglas W. Milliken '05, Grace Mendenhall '13, Jodie Goodnough '07, Kristin Moe '12, Molly Graham '09, Morgan Springer '14, Posey Gruener '05, Stephanie Mitchell '95, Thalassa Raasch '12.
Thalassa Raasch, Dessert from the series Rim Road, 2015

Confabulations of Millennia
2017-10-06 11:00 - 2017-12-08 17:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Confabulations of Millennia
On view from October 6–December 8, 2017
Exhibition Reception: Friday, October 6, 2017, 5:00–8:00pm
Melora Kuhn, Waterfall Bust, 2016
Curated by artist Richard Saja, Confabulations of Millennia brings together the works of 19 contemporary artists who take direct inspiration from the 18th and 19th centuries. Using established styles, techniques and objects perfected in the 18th and 19th centuries, the 19 artists assembled deploy history as a springboard in order to speak to the intricacies and inconsistencies of modern life be they social, political or aesthetic.
Artists include: Martha Arquero, John Brauer, Joey Chiarello, Emily Diaz Norton, Douglas Goldberg, Jeremy Hatch, Beth Katleman, Ryan Wilson Kelly, Melora Kuhn, Livia Marin, Oscar Sancho Nin, John O'Reilly, Erin M. Riley, Richard Saja, Anthony Sonnenberg, Ryan Swanson, Vadis Turner, Julia Whitney Barnes, Kehinde Wiley
Masthead Image: Beth Katleman, Hostile Nature, USA (detail), 2014
The ICA at Maine College of Art & Design is free and open to the public. Wednesday–Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm, Thursday 11:00am–7:00pm, and First Fridays 11:00am–8:00pm.

Opening: 'Confabulations of Millennia'
2017-10-06 17:00 - 20:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Confabulations of Millennia
On view from October 6 - December 8, 2017
Exhibition Reception: Friday, October 6, 2017, 5:00–8:00pm
Curated by artist Richard Saja, Confabulations of Millennia brings together the works of 19 contemporary artists who take direct inspiration from the 18th and 19th centuries. Using established styles, techniques and objects perfected in the 18th and 19th centuries, the 19 artists assembled deploy history as a springboard in order to speak to the intricacies and inconsistencies of modern life be they social, political or aesthetic.
Melora Kuhn, Waterfall Bust, 2016
Artists include: Martha Arquero, John Brauer, Joey Chiarello, Emily Diaz Norton, Douglas Goldberg, Jeremy Hatch, Beth Katleman, Ryan Wilson Kelly, Melora Kuhn, Livia Marin, Oscar Sancho Nin, John O'Reilly, Erin M. Riley, Richard Saja, Anthony Sonnenberg, Ryan Swanson, Vadis Turner, Julia Whitney Barnes
Masthead Image: Beth Katleman, Hostile Nature, USA (detail), 2014
The ICA at Maine College of Art & Design is free and open to the public. Wednesday–Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm, Thursday 11:00am–7:00pm, and First Fridays 11:00am–8:00pm.

Q&A + Exhibition Walkthrough: Confabulations of Millennia
2017-10-07 11:00 - 13:00
Join us in the ICA at MECA&D for a Q&A and Exhibition Walk-Through — with Guest Curator Richard Saja and the artists from Opening: 'Confabulations of Millennia' exhibition.
Richard Saja, Guest Curator. Participating Artists: Erin M. Riley, Melora Kuhn, Beth Katleman, and Anthony Sonnenberg
Artwork in Header:
Richard Saja, A Three Day Party (detail), 2016
Confabulations of Millennia
On view from October 6 - December 8, 2017
Exhibition Reception: Friday, October 6, 2017, 5:00–8:00pm
Melora Kuhn, Waterfall Bust, 2016
Curated by artist Richard Saja, Confabulations of Millennia brings together the works of 19 contemporary artists who take direct inspiration from the 18th and 19th centuries. Using established styles, techniques and objects perfected in the 18th and 19th centuries, the 19 artists assembled deploy history as a springboard in order to speak to the intricacies and inconsistencies of modern life be they social, political or aesthetic.
Artists include: Martha Arquero, John Brauer, Joey Chiarello, Emily Diaz Norton, Douglas Goldberg, Jeremy Hatch, Beth Katleman, Ryan Wilson Kelly, Melora Kuhn, Livia Marin, Oscar Sancho Nin, John O'Reilly, Erin M. Riley, Richard Saja, Anthony Sonnenberg, Ryan Swanson, Vadis Turner, Julia Whitney Barnes
Masthead Image: Beth Katleman, Hostile Nature, USA (detail), 2014
The ICA at Maine College of Art & Design is free and open to the public. Wednesday–Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm, Thursday 11:00am–7:00pm, and First Fridays 11:00am–8:00pm.

MAKE.ART.THINK.
2017-11-03 17:00 - 20:00 | 360 Cumberland, 360 Cumberland, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Reception: Friday, November 3, 5-8pm
380 Cumberland, Portland, Maine
An exhibition highlighting the collaboration between MECA&D's MAT program and students from Portland and South Portland LearningWorks Afterschool sites. Additionally, there will be a celebration of 21st Century Learning with afterschool programs from around Portland at MECA&D's Green Space, located next to the 380 Cumberland building.
Make.Art.Think is supported by Jeremy Moser and Laura Kittle through a gift from the Moser Family Foundation.

#MECA&Dmade Showcase
2017-12-06 10:00 - 2017-12-23 17:00
#MECA&Dmade is a pop-up shop in Artists at Work from December 6–23 featuring selected alumni work.
Regular Hours

Monday–Thursday, 10am–5pm
Friday, 10am–7pm
Saturday, 11am–4pm

Special Hours

Thursday, Dec. 7 until 7pm as part of Merry Madness
Saturday, Dec. 23, from 10am–5pm for last minute shoppers

The #MECA&Dmade showcase will include the following artists: Kari Radasch '97, Eric Drzewianowsk '04, Kristin Fitzpatrick '13, Maggie Muth '11, LK Weiss '11, Amalia Guettinger '12, John Nelson '12, Shannon Owen '14, Kelsey Haley '15, Tabitha Barnard '16, Sophie Cangelosi '16, Melinda Aste '17, Meg Hahn '17, Eden McDowell '17 and faculty member Adriane Herman.
Also participating is Might and Main, a local design firm co-founded by MECA&D alum Sean Wilkinson '01 and employing alums Morgan DiPietro '11, Sarah McLean '14, Sabrina Volante '14, Miekala Cangelosi '16, and intern Mackenzie Mangosing, a current student. As an homage to Maine, Might & Main created a collection of usable goods marked with the word that has proclaimed our state’s mission since declaring independence in 1820: “Dirigo,” Latin for “I Lead.”
For more information contact us at ArtistsAtWork@meca.edu.

PROXIMITY: Salt Final Exhibition
2017-12-14 17:00 - 2017-12-15 19:30
Proximity

Thursday, December 14, 5-7:30pm
Osher Hall at Maine College of Art & Design
Free and open to the public

Proximity features work by Salt at MECA&D’s inaugural class. Via their commitment to documenting the experiences of others, dedication to the craft of narrative, and camaraderie in the classroom, these nineteen storytellers have built a collective body of work which honors the spirit and history of this program while also marking a new chapter in the story of Salt.
Over the past four decades, Salt students have told the stories of hundreds of people from across Maine and New England, and the program became known for an approach to storytelling that is as thoughtful as it is rigorous. The name “Salt” was chosen by the first group of students to complete the program: it represents Maine’s deep sense of place, its many subcultures, and the tenacity required to live and work off the beaten track. In 2016, Maine College of Art & Design acquired the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies and developed a graduate certificate program commonly known as Salt at MECA&D.
Please join us for this semester’s final exhibition.
Featured Artists: Nora Boydell, Kristen Cabrera, Mac Christopher, Eliza Dennis, Dara Fruchter, Casey Georgi, Leila Goldstein, Jennifer Kinney, Pallavi Kottamasu, Olivia Norrmén-Smith, Phoebe Parker, Christopher Seigel, Justin Sloan, Rick Stark, Harry Sultan, Samira Tazari, Alix Towler, Joel Tsui, and Tressa Versteeg.
Header: Phoebe Parker MFA '17
Poster:
Click for bigger size.

'Aubades' Exhibition: Michel Droge MFA '10
2018-01-05 10:00 - 2018-01-31 18:00
Michel Droge: Aubades
On view from January 5–31, 2018
Located at Anthropologie (60 Pearl St, Portland, ME)
Viewing Hours: 10am–6pm
In this exhibition, Michel Droge MFA '10 (Visiting Assistant Professor of Printmaking and Foundation) presents 53 small paintings.
Michel Droge, Aubade #1
"Aubade... a French word for a song or poem of lovers parting at dawn.
These small paintings are my Aubades...they are for Love and early mornings and the sweetness and....for You. My song , my heart
The sky is white as clay, with no sun."
—Philip Larkin (from Aubade)

Masthead image by Michel Droge (cropped)

Images of Children/Youth Exhibition + Opening
2018-01-11 09:00 - 2018-04-01 17:00 | 716 Stevens Avenue, 716 Stevens Avenue, Portland, Maine, 04101
Opening Reception of Images of Children/Images of Youth: Period and Contemporary Photographs

Opening Reception: January 11, 2018, 5–7pm
On view from January 11—April 1, 2018
Curated by Stephen K. Halpert, Assistant Professor in Academic Studies
Featuring work by Charles Melcher, Associate Professor in Graphic Design

Postcard, click to view larger.
What is the definition of a child? For many of us the word may conjure up an image of someone young and small, perhaps vulnerable and dependent. But societies, laws and customs may not conform to that. What is the age of consent, of driving a car, buying cigarette, serving in the army? Of having a crime tried in juvenile court? What do their cultures call the ten-year-old armed soldiers spreading terror in distant villages? (For parents they are our children forever.)
In this exhibition, photographs from around the world, shot just yesterday, or a near-century ago, depict the protected nursing infant, the hard working field hand, the fear of abandonment, the joy of friends swimming in the river. The age cut is arbitrary. Images of Children knowingly expands the term. Here are a hundred fine photographs, many from the University’s own collection, and many by Maine artists working today.
Learn more about UNE's Art Galleries here.

Located at University of New England's Art Gallery, Portland Campus

716 Stevens Avenue, Portland, 207.221.4499

Free and open to the public

Masthead image: Judy Glickman Lauder, Adult and Child in Israel (cropped)

STILL STANDING: The Abyssinian Meeting House Story Archive
2018-01-24 09:00 - 2018-02-24 17:00 | ICA at MECA&D, 522 Congress St., Portland, Maine, 04101, United States
STILL STANDING, The Abyssinian Meeting House Story Archive
Opens Friday (Artwalk), February 2, 2018
On view January 24—February 24, 2018
Artists at Work Project Space
SALT Program in Documentary Studies will be conducting live interviews and audio recording on first Friday, February 2 and there will be a Story Circle event on Saturday, February 3 from 3-6PM. All events are free and open to the public.

The Public Engagement Program at Maine College of Art & Design presents the exhibition STILL STANDING, The Abyssinian Meeting House Story Archive, to be held at Maine College of Art & Design. The show is a culmination of a three year oral history and storytelling project with elders and community leaders from Portland and students at MECA&D.
The Abyssinian Meeting House is full of great stories. In 1866 it survived The Great Fire when fireman and member William Wilberforce Ruby saved it by covering it in wet blankets courtesy of spring running through the building’s basement. The Abyssinian Meeting House functioned as a cultural center and a leading contributor to The Underground Railroad. After years of vacancy, this cultural center was almost lost again in the 1970’s when it was slated for demolition by the city. Deborah Cummings Khadraoui rediscovered this important cultural center and catalyzed its restoration. As the third oldest African American meeting house in the country, The Abyssinian Meeting House is an important American cultural landmark.
For the past three years, students in the Public Engagement class Storytelling 101 have collaborated with The Abyssinian Meeting House to celebrate its story. For this project, students interviewed African American elders in Maine, to create an archive of stories to be housed at The Abyssinian Meeting House. By documenting these stories, the partnership aimed to honor the contribution and experience of African American elders by creating an archive of stories for future generations. Still Standing is the culminating event to celebrate the importance of African American experiences in Portland and communicate the significance of this history in the state of Maine.
The exhibition features audio, text and photographs from all three years of the project. The exhibition opens on first Friday, February 2, 2018 and runs from January 24, 2018–February 24, 2018 in the Artists at Work Gallery at 522 Congress Street, Portland. Students from the SALT Program in Documentary Studies will be conducting live interviews and audio recording on first Friday, February 2 and there will be a Story Circle event on Saturday, February 3 from 3:00-6:00PM. All events are free and open to the public.
Header
Lelia DeAndrade at the 2016 Still Standing event in the ICA. (Photography by Kyle Dubay '18)
For more information contact
Elizabeth A. Jabar, Associate Dean + Director of Public Engagement, ejabar@meca.edu
Quote from one of the interviews:
Because the true story of the black community, the African Americans in Maine, in Portland, they’ve done an awful lot of good. History books have not been kind to the African Americans here in Maine, or in Portland. But we’re changing that. We’re the Abyssinian, we’re changing that. Make sure the history books at least tell part of the story, the true story. At least from this point on, if anybody beat the drum I think we beat the drum, we helped make Portland a better place to live for the people that were here as well as for my family. — Leonard Cummings

ME Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition
2018-01-27 09:00 - 2018-02-10 17:00
Maine Region Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition at Maine College of Art & Design
January 27–February 10, 2018
Porteous, First Floor
The Maine Region Scholastic Art Award Exhibition features juried work submitted by 7th to 12th graders who are attending schools in Maine. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition initiative for creative teens. Maine’s regional Gold Key, Silver Key, Honorable Mention, and American Visions & Voices Nomination recipients are honored locally through community ceremonies and exhibitions.
Page Header Credit: Caitlyn Duffy, Mantra, Grade 12, Art Teacher: Chris Crosby, Gorham High School

The Peoples State of the Union Story Circle
2018-02-03 15:00 - 18:00 | Artists at Work Project Space, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
The Peoples State of the Union Story Circle, in conjunction with the exhibition Still Standing: The Abyssinian Meeting House Story Archive.
The Peoples State of the Union Story Circle
February 3, 2018 from 3pm–6pm
Opens Friday (Artwalk), February 2, 2018
On view January 24—February 24, 2018
Artists at Work Project Space, 522 Congress Stress
Free and open to the public
MECA&D and the Abyssinian Meeting House invite community members to share stories that reflect on the current state of our union and hopes for the future.

About

On Saturday, February 3, the Public Engagement Program and The Abyssinian Meeting House along with the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC.us) and organizations across the country, will invite the public to participate in the People’s State of the Union #PSOTU2018. Community members will take part in Story Circles, sharing personal experiences that reveal the state of our union. This event coincides with the exhibit Still Standing: The Abyssinian Meeting House Story Archive on view at Maine College of Art & Design. In addition to participants engaging in Story Circles, the event will feature an introduction and performances from the Abyssinian Meeting House community and art-making activities from local socially engaged printmakers the Ears and Hands Collective.
In January of most years, the President delivers a State of the Union Address highlighting the past year and suggesting priorities for the coming year. It’s a broadcast from one to many. But democracy is a conversation, not a monologue. Understanding the state of our union takes We the People reflecting in our own communities on our challenges and opportunities locally, nationally, and globally.
Since 2015, the USDAC has hosted the People’s State of the Union as an invitation to supplement the President’s stories by coming together in our own homes, schools, houses of worship, and community organizations to share our own take on the state of our union. Thousands of people in more than 350 communities have taken part over the last three years, and this year between January 25-February 4, 2018, individuals and organizations will again host Story Circles across the U.S.
Maine College of Art & Design, Public Engagement Program and The Abyssinian Meeting House will be hosting Story Circles to reflect on the current state of our union and share brief stories of hope, belonging or not belonging from the past year. The free event will take place from 3pm to 6pm.
After the Story Circles, participants who wish can upload their stories and images to an online platform, yielding a body of stories that can be searched and shared, inspiring new ideas and new actions. This repository of stories will also provide the source material for the Poetic Address to the Nation, collaboratively composed and performed by poets from across the country that will be performed live on April 15th from the Public Theater in NYC and live-streamed with poetry, theater, music, and more.
The Abyssinian Meeting House is a historic church building at 73–75 Newbury Street, in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Built 1828-1831 by free African-Americans, it is Maine's oldest African-American church building, and the third oldest in the nation. The Public Engagement Minor at Maine College of Art & Design is a four year curricular pathway that integrates art, real-world problems and community partners. Students work with a range of partners in a variety of public contexts to address and solve complex issues in our project and problem-based courses. The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC) is not an official government agency. It is a people-powered movement dedicated to cultivating empathy, equity, and social imagination. For more information visit usdac.us/psotu.

'Till the Night' Exhibition – Kyle Patnaude
2018-03-03 10:00 - 2018-04-29 21:00 | Brooklyn Metal Works, 640 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY, 04101, United States
Till The Night
Brooklyn Metal Works
640 Dean Street, Brooklyn, New York
On view March 3–April 29, 2018
Open to the public
Kyle Patnaude’s (Assistant Professor in Metalsmithing & Jewelry) work explores the emotive and humanistic coding of objects, specifically a certain “queerness” pertaining to the cultural guise of hypermasculinity. In Till The Night Patnaude works with queer narratives, from inherently counter-culture gay tropes to the Homoromanticism of masculine power within authoritarian regimes. Using historical figures as touch points Patnaude constructs representational characters to develop this dialog throughout the exhibition.
Included in these investigations are themes of persecution. Says Patnaude “Where much of queer work celebrates the progressive gay narrative, I choose to cultivate from darker regions of my community and culture. For several years Russia and the southern Republic of Chechnya have committed hundreds of acts of abduction, torture, and murder of men suspected of being homosexual. The exhibition features nineteen aluminum photo prints of gay and trans men with their eyes pixelated. The audience determines their identities through implication as victim or criminal, their erasure, or preservation of anonymity—and themselves as either activist or bystander.”

'Till The Night' by Kyle Patnaude will be on view In the Gallery at Brooklyn Metal Works from March 3–April 29, 2018. An artist talk will be held on April 22 at 1:00pm. All events are open to the public.
Header Image: Kyle Pautnaude

You Never Know How You Look Through Other People's Eyes
2018-03-08 11:00 - 2018-04-20 17:00
The ICA at Maine College of Art & Design is free and open to the public. Wednesday–Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm, Thursday 11:00am–7:00pm, and First Fridays 11:00am–8:00pm.
You Never Know How You Look Through Other People's Eyes
On view from March 8 - April 20, 2018
Exhibition Reception: Thursday, March 8, 2018, 5:00–8:00pm
Sean Downey, Untitled, 2017
“Cinnamon and sugary and softly spoken lies, you never know just how you look through other people’s eyes.” - Gibby Haynes, 1996
In the summer of 1996 pop culture gave us the songPepperby the Butthole Surfers. Deceptively playful, the lyrics make clear the impossibility of having first-hand knowledge of the self by boldly stating that you can never fully know who you are to someone else. The artists involved allow their works to exist sympathetically and in spite of each other for an exhibition that proposes a state of coexistence at odds with itself. Within this experimental framework they free and restrict through unpredictability. All involved are both collective collaborator and individual practitioner within a complex network that confirms and denies the possibilities of true egalitarianism toward some kind of antagonistic equilibrium. This exhibition is curated by artist Scott Patrick Wiener. Artists include: Sonia Almeida, Paul S. Briggs, Caleb Charland, Sean Downey, Sean Fader, Sean Glover, Jaclyn Jacunski, AJ Liberto, Lilly McElroy, Eric Petitti, Scott Patrick Wiener.
Masthead Image: Jaclyn Jacunski, Lay of the Land (2017-18), process detail, 2017-18

Opening Reception: You Never Know How You Look Through Other People's Eyes
2018-03-08 17:00 - 19:00
You Never Know How You Look Through Other People's Eyes
Exhibition Reception: Thursday, March 8, 2018, 5:00–7:00pm
On view from March 8 - April 20, 2018
Sean Downey, "Untitled," 2017
“Cinnamon and sugary and softly spoken lies, you never know just how you look through other people’s eyes.” - Gibby Haynes, 1996
In the summer of 1996 pop culture gave us the songPepperby the Butthole Surfers. Deceptively playful, the lyrics make clear the impossibility of having first-hand knowledge of the self by boldly stating that you can never fully know who you are to someone else. The artists involved allow their works to exist sympathetically and in spite of each other for an exhibition that proposes a state of coexistence at odds with itself. Within this experimental framework they free and restrict through unpredictability. All involved are both collective collaborator and individual practitioner within a complex network that confirms and denies the possibilities of true egalitarianism toward some kind of antagonistic equilibrium. This exhibition is curated by artist Scott Patrick Wiener. Artists include: Sonia Almeida, Paul S. Briggs, Caleb Charland, Sean Downey, Sean Fader, Sean Glover, Jaclyn Jacunski, AJ Liberto, Lilly McElroy, Eric Petitti, Scott Patrick Wiener.
Masthead Image: Caleb Charland, Cube with Phosphorescent Particles (cropped), 2015, Pigmented ink print , 40×32 inches
The ICA at Maine College of Art & Design is free and open to the public. Wednesday–Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm, Thursday 11:00am–7:00pm, and First Fridays 11:00am–8:00pm.

Q+A and Exhibition Walkthrough: You Never Know How You Look Through Other People's Eyes
2018-04-06 15:30 - 16:30 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Q+A and Exhibition Walkthrough:
You Never Know How You Look Through Other People's Eyes
Friday, April 6, 2018 - 3:30PM
Join us in the ICA at MECA&D for a Q&A and Exhibition Walk-Through — with Guest Curator Scott Patrick Wiener and the participating artists from the exhibition.
Participating Artists: Sean Fader, Sean Downey, Sean Glover

Collect: Summer Art Sale
2018-06-28 10:00 - 18:00, 2018-06-29 10:00 - 18:00, 2018-06-30 10:00 - 18:00

Curious Nature: 2018 Alumni Triennial
2018-08-03 11:00 - 2018-09-15 17:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Curious Nature: 2018 Alumni Triennial
On view from August 3 – September 15, 2018
Exhibition Opening: Friday, August 3, 2018, 5:00–8:00pm
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11:00am–5:00pm, Thurs, 11:00am–7:00pm, Friday, 11:00am–5:00pm, (FFAW until 8:00pm)
Curious Nature brings together a diverse group of artists who draw inspiration from the natural world. Employing various mediums, from painting to sculpture, photography, and installation, their works are rooted in the act of looking closer.
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. - John Muir
“These artists explore our relationship with the natural world through investigating the structure of reality, daily rhythms, beauty, texture, and emergent patterns. Focusing their attention on places and processes that are often overlooked, they illuminate the various forces affecting ecosystems and the environment that surrounds us. Their perspectives range from the micro and macro, revealing new views of familiar terrain. In an attempt to capture that which is in a state of constant transformation, they record their surroundings, yielding works that inspire our own sense of awe, inviting us to both celebrate nature and protect it.” -- Guest Curator, Shannon Rankin ’97.
Rankin’s selections include fifteen artists exhibiting diverse works that range from painting, printmaking and photography, to sculpture, ceramics, metalwork and installation. Artists include: Annika Earley MFA ’16, Kristin Fitzpatrick ’13, Danielle Gerber ’12, Alisha Gould MFA ’10, Kayla Goulden ’13, Lenka Konopasek MFA ’01, Mark Marchesi ’99, Tessa Greene O'Brien MFA ’16, Isabelle O'Donnell ’17, Catherine Quattrociocchi ’17, Sam Richardson ’15, Celeste Roberge ’79, Bryan Stryeski ’01, Sarah Camille Wilson ’07 and Charley Young MFA ’14.
Learn more
Masthead Image: Danielle Gerber, Canyon, 2012, bronze, brass, spray paint.

Opening of Curious Nature: 2018 Alumni Triennial
2018-08-03 17:00 - 20:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Curious Nature: 2018 Alumni Triennial
On view from August 3 – September 15, 2018
Exhibition Opening: Friday, August 3, 2018, 5:00–8:00pm
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11:00am–5:00pm, Thurs, 11:00am–7:00pm, Friday, 11:00am–5:00pm, (FFAW until 8:00pm)
Curious Nature brings together a diverse group of artists who draw inspiration from the natural world. Employing various mediums, from painting to sculpture, photography, and installation, their works are rooted in the act of looking closer.
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. - John Muir
“These artists explore our relationship with the natural world through investigating the structure of reality, daily rhythms, beauty, texture, and emergent patterns. Focusing their attention on places and processes that are often overlooked, they illuminate the various forces affecting ecosystems and the environment that surrounds us. Their perspectives range from the micro and macro, revealing new views of familiar terrain. In an attempt to capture that which is in a state of constant transformation, they record their surroundings, yielding works that inspire our own sense of awe, inviting us to both celebrate nature and protect it.” -- Guest Curator, Shannon Rankin ’97.
Rankin’s selections include fifteen artists exhibiting diverse works that range from painting, printmaking and photography, to sculpture, ceramics, metalwork and installation. Artists include: Annika Earley MFA ’16, Kristin Fitzpatrick ’13, Danielle Gerber ’12, Alisha Gould MFA ’10, Kayla Goulden ’13, Lenka Konopasek MFA ’01, Mark Marchesi ’99, Tessa Greene O'Brien MFA ’16, Isabelle O'Donnell ’17, Catherine Quattrociocchi ’17, Sam Richardson ’15, Celeste Roberge ’79, Bryan Stryeski ’01, Sarah Camille Wilson ’07 and Charley Young MFA ’14.
Learn more
Masthead Image: Celeste Roberge, Agarum Clathratum, Cyanotype on Somerset paper, 30" x 22", 2014.
Photography Credit: Robert Diamante. Printed at: University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL. Collection of the Artist.

Delve: Salt Fall 18 Final Exhibition
2018-12-13 17:00 - 19:30 | Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
DELVE features work by the members of Salt’s Fall 2018 class.
Over the past semester, students in audio and visual storytelling honed their skills while seeking out the narratives of people in Maine and beyond: from a chef building an aquaponics greenhouse in Brunswick, to the mystery of a ransacked home in Greene, to the end of a harvesting tradition in Presque Isle, to the story of conjoined twins leaving home for the first time in Connecticut, to a “dating” service between farm sellers and seekers looking for land throughout the state.
Their collective body of work demonstrates a deep respect for the stories of those they met along the way.
Featured Storytellers

Eve Austin
Asher Brown&gt
Mollie Burke
Anna Cassell
Robyn Edgar
Emma Geiger
Meaghan Gonsior
Leta Hallowell
Becca Haydu
Bailey O’Brien
Emily Scott
Sofia Stuart-Rasi
Lucas Westcott
Allison Wilson

Photography credit: Emma Geiger (cropped)

Drawing Now: Exhibition
2019-01-17 11:00 - 2019-03-22 17:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Drawing Now
On view from January 17–March 22, 2019
Exhibition Opening: Friday, February 1, 2019, 5:00–8:00pm
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11:00am–5:00pm, Thurs, 11:00am–7:00pm, Friday, 11:00am–5:00pm, (FFAW until 8:00pm)
This exhibition is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, Director of Exhibitions, Erin Hutton and co-curated by Bruce Brown and Munira Naqui.
Drawing Now celebrates the works by artists of the Drawing Collective and three guest artists. With its members hailing from eleven countries, the Drawing Collective’s objective is to maintain the development of an international aesthetic. The common denominator uniting these artists is the practice of drawing.
Descendants of Bauhaus, De Stijl, Réalities Nouvelles and Art Concret their works represent a contemporary continuum of research in the formal purity of abstraction. The core of the Drawing Collective lies in the inter-connectivity of artists separated by geographical, linguistic and cultural barriers. Devoted to the exploration of new strategies and methods, their works expand upon a rich intellectual and aesthetic history of abstract drawing.
Following Paris and Sydney, Drawing Now at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, Maine is the Drawing Collective's first exhibition in the United States.
Bruce Brown and Munira Naqui, Guest Curators
Artist Biographies
View Artist Biographies

Wahida Azhari (Germany) A Hamburg-based artist, Azhari is inspired by the relationships between space, emptiness and light.
Louise Blyton (Australia) A reductive artist experimenting with light and form, Blyton explores the fragility of beauty through subtle shifts of light and shadow.
Christine Boiry (France) Boiry’s work comes from the study of color, material and movement to create a minimal space, in search of rhythm, emptiness and light.
Anne Brochot (France) Brochot’s work is influenced by the geometrical patterns, materials and tools of architecture, as well as the organic structures of the countryside.
Liz Davidson (Canada) Davidson’s drawings are not preparatory sketches for other works. They are studies of light and shadow observed through the seasons in her studio in rural Quebec.
Elena Dombrovska (Ukraine) Dombrovska uses the line as a structural and form producing element to reflect on the aesthetics of geometric forms.
Clint Fulkerson (USA) Fulkerson is a graduate of the Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D). Fulkerson’s work features complex patterns and forms made by an accumulation of hand drawn marks. His art is influenced by science, mathematics and information technology, as well as an innate curiosity about the fundamental aspects of existence.
André Geertse (Netherlands) Geertse’s work is inspired by his time spent on the North Sea Coast of the Netherlands with the spectacle of sea, light and air. The work reflects a strength of color, space and light.
Ellen Golden (USA) Golden’s drawings flow from an intuitive and emotional response to the natural world. Her drawings are products of a very focused meditative process.
Barbara Halnan (Australia) Halnan, a multimedia artist believes drawing is essential to her art-making. Her fine line drawings on paper reference the flatness of the dry lake bed .of Menindee in NSW - the distant horizon, the sky and the colors of the local vegetation, sand and earth.
Daniel G. Hill (USA) A multi-disciplinary artist who has worked in sculpture, installation, painting, and digital media, Hill focuses on the works construction and its physical presence that gives rise to self reflective viewing ito remind us of our capacity to wonder. Hill is an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at the Parsons School of Design in NYC and is the President of American Abstract Artists.
Erdem Kucuk-Koroglu (Turkey) Having a master’s degree in mathematics has greatly influenced Kucuk-Koroglu’s artwork, which he describes as geometric abstract paintings.

Emma Langridge (Australia) Landridge, who considers herself primarily a painter, applies the same strict practice used in her paintings in her drawings. She uses everyday materials, strictly controlled procedures, and a reliance on millimeter increments with allowance for irregularities.
Danielle Lescot (France) Lescot is a painter, ceramist and sculptor who lives and works in Paris. Lescot”s drawings are results of a daily exploration of color and form in her studio.
Jean-Luc Manguin (France) The basis of Manquin’s art work is the square, a quadrilateral figure that is a surface to divide evenly, a checker board space to fill, or an element to build into a grid.
Marilyn Chapin Massey (France) Passionate about color, Massey’s work is inspired by the colors and shapes of urban areas, such as New York and Paris. Massey”s recent drawings use non color as she continues to experiment with the underground transportation web.
Munira Naqui (USA) The Drawing Collective founder Naqui, born in Bangladesh came to the USA in 1982 after studying in Moscow. She lives in Portland and works from her studio in New Gloucester. For Naqui, drawing is a meditative exercise that follows the manner of Tibetan mandalas, always focusing on the process to reach clarity of thought.
Michael Perlbach (Germany) A visual artist who uses a drawing technique he calls “dissolution”, Perlbach’s drawings are assembled from tiny structures sometimes not distinguishable from simple dots.
Marion Piper ( UK) Drawing and painting are increasingly indivisible activities in Piper’s studio. Each sets the stage for the other and creates space for an improvised performance in both the manufacture and the content of the work. Colour, materials and surface form part of the plot.
Tineke Porck (Netherlands) The nature of Porck’s art is abstract, minimal and has interfaces with constructivism, zero and minimal art. She uses a basic language of form - lines, points, crosses and surfaces – and sober colors, such as shades of grey, white and black.
Grieteke Roosma (France) Roosma pursued drawing and photography after earlier careers in education and fashion design. A keen observer of nature and different cultures, her drawings are abstract studies greatly influenced by the physical and emotional world.
Diane Scott (New Zealand) A sculptor, Scott uses sculpture to inform her drawings through their shared concerns of space, illusion, materiality and light. She employs different media for her drawings that push the boundaries of traditional drawings.

Jamel Sghaier (Germany) After serving in the Merchant Marines, Tunis-born Sghaier, became a self-taught visual artist. His work is inspired by pure abstractions of forms. He currently lives and works in Tunisia and Germany.
Bogumila Strojna (France) A sculptor born in Poland Strojna lives and works in Paris.She has used drawing as a sketching tool, as well as a point of departure to develop independent works.
Truong Thanh (Vietnam) Thanh focuses his work on the use of three-dimensional geometry, inspired by constructivist and minimalist art. His drawings are based on the structures of objects and their response to forces.
Richard van der Aa (France) Born in New Zealand, van der Aa lives and works in Paris. He is the founder of ParisCONCRET. The works on paper van der Aa is presenting in Drawing Now are indicative of the lexicon of reduced but evocative forms the artist has been employing over many years in his exploration of the limits of minimalism and formal abstraction.
Wilma Vissers (Netherlands) A Dutch visual artist who is inspired by emptiness and space, Vissers believes spatiality and infinite space must be present even in the smallest work.

Participating artists also include the following guest artists:
Josefina Auslender (USA) Born in Argentina during the era of abstract art, Auslender established herself as a successful sculptor. The troubled times of the 80s in that part of the world brought her to the USA where she started again as a visual artist. Her repertoire include intricately executed drawings that go beyond intellectual mark making. She uses simple forms to address complex issues related to her unique world view.
Kevin Townsend (USA) An internationally recognized artist and professor currently living and working in Kansas City as part of KCAI’s foundation department, Townsend’s expanded drawing practice centers around mark-making, obsession and the phenomenology of time. He previously taught as visiting professor in the Art Education Department of Massachusetts College of Art and Design and as a visiting artist and lecturer in Drawing & Painting at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Art at Tufts University.
Michael Winkler (USA) Winkler is a visual/conceptual artist. For over 35 years he has been engaged in an exploration of the imagery and implications of a process-based transformation of the signs of language. His abstract images reveal the patterns encoded in the letter-sequences of the spelling of word. Winkler says: “A word’s spelling is an unplanned product of a collective awareness which extends back to the word’s ultimate origin.”

Masthead Image: Clint Fulkerson, Portal 20 (cropped), graphite, ink and gouache on paper, 30" x 22", 2018

Exhibition: Visual Tensions | Parasitic Honeyshoes | Letting Yourself Go
2019-04-05 17:00 - 2019-04-26 17:00
The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design Presents ICA Spring Exhibitions:
Visual Tensions | Séan Alonzo Harris
Parasitic Honeyshoes | Greta Bank
Letting Yourself Go | Philip Brou
On view from April 5-26, 2019
Exhibition Reception: Friday, April 5, 2019, 5–8pm
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11am–5pm, Thurs, 11am–7pm, Friday, 11am–5pm, (FFAW until 8pm)

PORTLAND, Maine - The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) is pleased to announce the opening of the ICA Spring Exhibitions, a collective of three solo exhibitions: Visual Tensions | Séan Alonzo Harris, Parasitic Honeyshoes | Greta Bank, and Letting Yourself Go | Philip Brou. On view April 5-26, 2019, with a public Opening Reception on Friday, April 5, 5–8pm.

Séan Alonzo Harris, Visual Tensions, 2018
Visual Tensions is a collaborative photography project that brings community members together with members of law enforcement. African American photographer Séan Alonzo Harris creates photographic portraits as a means to foster relationships and build bridges between people of color with members of law enforcement. The project provides a platform to cultivate mutual respect and transform our images and perceptions of others.
Artist Biography
Séan Alonzo Harris’ work as an editorial, commercial and fine art photographer concentrating on narrative and environmental portraiture. Over the past 25 years, Sean’s work is in a range of national publications, advertising campaigns, and exhibitions. In these varied contexts, Sean’s work focuses on human experience, identity, and challenging stereotypes. Sean’s images bear witness to often invisible or overlooked members of our communities, and creates portraits that provide a counter image and narrative of self-worth and personal agency. The Visual Tensions project aligns with the goals and vision of Séan Alonzo Harris’ current practice and with past collaborative photo projects.
His work has been published in Atlantic Magazine, Paris Review, Boston Magazine, Down East, Portland Magazine, Maine Home and Design, Photo District News Rising Star feature, Maine Magazine, Harvard University Magazine, Ralph Lauren magazine, Mother Jones, Adweek, Consumer Reports, Teaching Tolerance, and USA Today. He has received several awards and grants for his work including: Kindling Fund grant from the Warhol Foundation, Good Idea Grant and Arts in the Capital Program, from the Maine Arts Commission, the Broderson Bronze Award, and the VanDerZee Black Heritage Award, from the University of Lowell. Most recently Séan’s work was featured in International Regional Magazine Awards, Silver Award Arts and Culture, Portrait Photography 2015 and One Eyeland, Best of the Best Photographers 2016.
To learn more about Séan or to get involved in the project go to seanalonzoharris.com.

Greta Bank, Parasitic Honeyshoes, mixed media installation, 2019

Parasitic Honeyshoes is a testimony to the colonization of the material and spirit world. It is intended for an audience to see in 15 years, implying that our present is responsive to the future. It is a cosmic sh!t accountable to another reality.
The parasitic behavior of the human species is a form of cannibalism, we consume to sustain a false reflection. We are not living, but surviving in a capitalist ecosystem, negotiating a spiritual crisis deeply founded on centuries of exploitation and extraction.
Artist Biography
Born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Greta Bank currently resides in Hollis, Maine. She received her BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and a MFA focused on painting from the University of Arizona. Her sculptural work, performance, installations and multi media, often use both topical and historical content to provoke social inquiry. Bank describes her work as visual essays, positioning her audience to reflect on diverse matters such as environmental corruption, mass consumption and social constructs. She has exhibited at SPACE Gallery, the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art and most recently the Hunterdon Museum of Art. Bank has received multiple grants from the Maine Arts Commission, as well as from the Taconic Community Foundation and an Emerging Artist Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
To learn more about Greta Bank, visit gretabank.com.

Philip Brou, i, oil on linen, 48_ x 32_, 2017
Letting Yourself Go is a new project by Philip Brou investigating ideas of selfhood, power, and the human condition. The project is rooted in a critical examination of the famous story of Polyphemus, the cyclops from Homer’s Odyssey. In Odysseus’ epic journey to return home, he and his men are held captive in Polyphemus’ cave. As part of a plan to free himself, Odysseus concocts a lie: he tells Polyphemus that his name is Nemo, which translates to Nobody. The presence of the Nobody, as a persona used to escape captivity, dismantle the archetype of the hero, and confront the ego, is at the core of Brou’s project. Although the work is rooted in a story from ancient times, its layered messages resonate today. Letting Yourself Go consists of paintings, drawings, sculptures and found objects. All works in the exhibition function as either portraits or utterances of Nemo, which is to say: portraits or utterances of Nobody.
Artist Biography
Philip Brou is an artist and educator based in Portland, Maine. Brou earned his MFA from The Ohio State University and his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. His work has been exhibited at venues such as the Fitchburg Art Museum in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; Corey Daniels Gallery in Wells, Maine; Able Baker Contemporary in Portland, Maine; the Urban Arts Space in Columbus, Ohio; 1708 Gallery in Richmond, Virginia; The Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine; The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, Maine; and The Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, Maine. His work is in the collection of the Portland Museum of Art. He has received numerous awards including the Biennial Purchase Prize from the Portland Museum of Art, a Good Idea Grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and a Presidential Fellowship from The Ohio State University. Reviews and acknowledgements of his work in notable publications include Art New England, Two Coats of Paint, The Portland Press Herald, The Portland Phoenix and The Columbus Dispatch. Philip Brou and his wife, Jennifer, currently live in South Portland, Maine. He is an Associate Professor in the Painting and Foundation Programs at Maine College of Art & Design. To learn more about Philip Brou, visit philipbrou.com.
NOTE TO MEDIA: For exhibition images, photo credits and captions, please visit this link.
For further information about the exhibition, please visit this link.
Header Image:
Philip Brou, i, 2017 (cropped)

Panel Discussion & Community Conversation: Visual Tensions
2019-04-18 18:00 - 19:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Visual Tensions Panel Discussion & Community Conversation
Please join us in the ICA for a public panel discussion and community conversation in conjunction with the exhibition Visual Tensions from artist Séan Alonzo Harris. The artist will be joined by a panel of project participants: Sophia Namara, Chanel Lewis, and Kelly Gorham.

About the Panel
Sophia Namara / Photo by Séan Alonzo Harris
Sophia Namara is an arts administrator living and working in Portland, ME. After graduating from Bowdoin College, she joined Portland’s art community as the manager of PhoPa Gallery, an exhibition space dedicated to showcasing photography and works on paper from Maine-based artists. At Phopa, Sophia curated and organized exhibitions, designed promotional content, and built a strong network of artists, makers, and curators in Southern Maine. After PhoPa closed its doors in 2018, Namara joined the Portland Museum of Art as the Communications Manager, where she now spearheads projects in marketing, design, advertising and PR for the museum. Namara’s passion for art and curation was ignited by the Visual Arts and Art History programs at Bowdoin and nurtured by the thriving art community of the city she now calls home.

Chanel Lewis / Photo by Séan Alonzo Harris
Chanel Lewis believes in the power of listening, learning, dialogue, and action as tools for change. Her work and passion is fueled by a desire to live in a society and community where everyone is included and has equitable access to empathy, compassion, understanding, and respect. Chanel, like many in her generation, has a 9-to-5, juggles multiple projects, engages her community, and somehow manages to make friends as an adult. Ultimately, Chanel is enthused and energized by people, community, communication, and culture.
Chanel is an Employer Relationship Manager at the University of Southern Maine’s Career & Employment Hub. In this role, she facilitates engagement opportunities with organizations to provide equitable access for students in hiring, experiential learning opportunities, and professional connections. As a member of her community, Chanel created an initiative called A Seat at the Table, serves as a board member for the Portland Parks Conservancy, and previously lended her perspective as a member of the City of Portland’s Office of Economic Opportunity advisory council.
Chanel lives in Westbrook, Maine with her spouse and local musician, Just Plain Jones. She is an amateur photographer, avid cook, and organizational development nerd. A lifelong fan of Harry Potter, Chanel believes in the power of friendship, community, and love. In particular, how those three values work together to make our communities stronger, full of compassion, empathetic, respectful, and full of joy.

Kelly Gorham / Photo by Séan Alonzo Harris
Detective Kelly Gorham has been a member of the Portland Police Department since 2002.

Séan Alonzo Harris’ work as an editorial, commercial and fine art photographer concentrating on narrative and environmental portraiture. Over the past 25 years, Sean’s work is in a range of national publications, advertising campaigns, and exhibitions. In these varied contexts, Sean’s work focuses on human experience, identity, and challenging stereotypes. Sean’s images bear witness to often invisible or overlooked members of our communities, and creates portraits that provide a counter image and narrative of self-worth and personal agency. The Visual Tensions project aligns with the goals and vision of Séan Alonzo Harris’ current practice and with past collaborative photo projects.
His work has been published in Atlantic Magazine, Paris Review, Boston Magazine, Down East, Portland Magazine, Maine Home and Design, Photo District News Rising Star feature, Maine Magazine, Harvard University Magazine, Ralph Lauren magazine, Mother Jones, Adweek, Consumer Reports, Teaching Tolerance, and USA Today. He has received several awards and grants for his work including: Kindling Fund grant from the Warhol Foundation, Good Idea Grant and Arts in the Capital Program, from the Maine Arts Commission, the Broderson Bronze Award, and the VanDerZee Black Heritage Award, from the University of Lowell. Most recently Séan’s work was featured in International Regional Magazine Awards, Silver Award Arts and Culture, Portrait Photography 2015 and One Eyeland, Best of the Best Photographers 2016.

About the Project
Visual Tensions is a collaborative photographic project and community dialogue that pairs people of color with members of law enforcement. African American photographer Séan Alonzo Harris worked with local residents and officers from the City of Portland, Maine Police Department to create photographic portraits as a means to confront and question cultural and racial assumptions, stereotypes and fears.
After individual photographs were complete, the artist placed the images within a diptych composition and positioned the portrait subjects to face each other to create a heightened moment of recognition and tension. While the placement of the subjects and scale of the images capture a powerful visual tension, the individuals also appear to be looking just past each other. This moment of disconnection reflects the rupture and breaches within our communities locally and nationally.
The project provides a platform to examine the relationship between people of color and law enforcement, to provoke dialogue about injustice and implicit bias, and make space to engage these critical issues creatively. In addition to creating the photographic portraits, the artist interviewed project participants and asked about their personal experiences with racism, law enforcement, their sense of belonging or not belonging in their community and their interactions with people across difference.
This project is supported in part by The Kindling Fund, SPACE Gallery grant program.

Header Image: Séan Alonzo Harris, Anthony and Mwiza, 2019 (cropped)

IN MOTION: Salt Spring ’19 Film Exhibition
2019-05-02 17:00 - 19:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
IN MOTION features work by the members of Salt’s Spring 2019 class. The film showcase is this Thursday, May 2, from 5–6pm at Maine College of Art & Design. Free and open to the public. RSVP here.
Over the past semester, our storytellers honed their skills while seeking out the narratives of people in Maine and beyond: from the shores of Rockland and Harpswell, to the inland towns of Wilton and Brookfield, VT, to the southern reaches of Kennebunk and Portland, to Indian Township and Bradbury Mountain State Park. Their collective body of work demonstrates a respect for the stories of those they met along the way.
Please join us for this final exhibition.
Featured Storytellers

Christian Buckler
Lynnea Domienik
Jake Homovich
Taya Jae
Halle Johns
Jaime Kaiser
Ali Lemer
Rachael London
Carlye Meisburger
Lauro Minaya
Adreanna Rodriguez
Brooke Saias
Shelby Saucier
Erin Slomski-Pritz
Zach St. Louis
Emily Vaughn

Artwork in header: Shelby Saucier

Art in Exodus
2019-05-30 - 2019-06-20 | Porteous Building, Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Art in Exodus is a mentoring and exhibition project through which refugee artists and Mainers from underrepresented populations share their art and culture.
Maine College of Art & Design presents Art in Exodus, a mentoring and exhibition project through which immigrant artists and Mainers from underrepresented populations share their art and culture.
The third Art in Exodus exhibition takes place in MECA&D’s flagship Porteous Building from May 30–June 20, 2019. Art in Exodus began in recognition of World Refugee Day, which takes place every year on June 20 and features a variety of celebrations.
Art in Exodus features eight artists; an opening reception will be held on June 6, 2019 from 5-8pm. The exhibit will also be open for the June 7 First Friday Artwalk from 5-8pm at which work by the artists will be for sale in the Porteous lobby.
This year’s artists include Liz Rhaney MFA '20 from Savannah, Georgia (multimedia); Caroline and Papa Mendy from Senegal (recycled wood designs); Amber Shahzad from Pakistan (painting); Jordan Carey ’19 from Bermuda (textiles); Shannon Infantes ’21, originally from Peru (photography); Sabina Najafova from Azerbaijan (painting, installation); and Hadithi Abdulle from Somalia (music). The various components of this event encourage underrepresented artists to share their art in a venue rooted in the center of the Arts District, gain confidence in their work, and build lasting connections with MECA&D and the greater Portland and Maine communities.
Amber Shahzad says, “I have been painting since childhood but the thirst of learning still remains. I want to be a skillful artist who could capture and perceive what an eye could see, a mind could imagine, and beyond imagination! I am searching for the light inside the human spirit which gives us faith and strength through my work. Whenever I paint I feel the urge to learn more. The vast ocean of knowledge stands in front of me and I am just waiting to jump in!”
Sabina Najafova who graduated from Azerbaijan State Academy of Art with a degree in applied arts, folk art & ceramics, says, “I want to invite my love for life, for nature, my love for my home country of Azerbaijan, which I love unconditionally, in this work. Azerbaijan is rich with natural resources and beauties, such as oil, gas, minerals, the Caspian Sea and Caucasus Mountains. When I look at the material, I know what to create from it, but fantasies come in the process. The day I came here I thought about MECA&D and how I could be involved, and now I am part of MECA&D. Here, I have free artistic expression. I have been building my network, making new work, and experimenting. I am learning about contemporary art and how to share my experiences with people.”
Recent MECA&D graduate Jordan Carey ’19, who majored in Textile & Fashion Design, says, “I always wanted to be an artist but found little to no opportunities for me in Bermuda. My father is American and through him I was able to come to the United States and pursue an art education. Feeling unfulfilled in my country of origin and unrepresented in my new home I struggle to find a fulfilling identity. In my work, I play with the contrasting voices of the Caribbean and the Celtic Isles that I see as polar voices blurred together within me.”
This project reflects MECA&D’s historic and ongoing interests in diversity, community, and public engagement and supports the College’s mission to “educate artists for life.” There is strong value in inviting artists of color and members of underrepresented communities to exhibit at one of Portland’s premier art spaces, where artists can gain greater visibility, interact within a central core of the Maine/Portland art community, and further their professional development skills.
The exhibition initially started as a way to recognize World Refugee Day, a global celebration that is held annually to honor the courage and struggles of the more than 15 million people worldwide displaced by war and persecution. Each year, Maine welcomes refugees from war-torn countries and helps them to rebuild their lives in safety. Since 2002, Maine has resettled more than 4,000 refugees from 24 countries.
This project is funded in part by a generous gift from the Moser Family Foundation, with in-kind support from Maine College of Art & Design and the participating artists.
Contacts
Leah Igo, Director of Marketing & Communications
207.699.5010 or ligo@meca.edu
Kelly McConnell, MAT Professor and Director of Art Education Outreach
207.699.5042 or kmcconnell@meca.edu

Header: Artwork by Sabina Najafova (cropped)

Alexandra Silverthorne MFA ’10: 'yes is the only living thing' | Exhibition + Reception
2019-07-05 09:00 - 2019-08-16 17:00 | ME, United States
Alexandra Silverthorne MFA ’10: yes is the only living thing

On view: July 5–August 16, 2019
Opening Reception: July 5, 6–8pm
Artists at Work Gallery at MECA&D

Artist Talk + Book Signing
August 1, 5:30pm
Osher Hall at MECA&D

This summer, Alexandra Silverthorne MFA ’10 will be showing work from the series at the Artist at Work Gallery at MECA&D. The show will be up from July 5—August 16, with an opening reception July 5, 6-8pm.
Alexandra Silverthorne MFA '10 is releasing her new book, yes is the only living thing, a series of 76 images looking at moments of celebration, wonder, and stillness in her own life. Shot the year following a friend’s sudden cancer relapse and near-immediate death, the images echo her attempts to infuse her own life with some of the same determination, thoughtfulness, and grace that was ever-present in her life. The series was captured with recently-discontinued peel apart instant film on a fickle hand-me-down Polaroid Reporter camera. Silverthorne was attracted to the unpredictability of both the film and the camera and how this seemed to echo the unpredictability of life, itself. The book features all 76 images, a collection of text by Julie Poitras Santos, and a conversation with Annie Mahon.
View the project and learn more here.

There will also be an Artist Talk + Book Signing featuring a conversation with Julie Poitras Santos on August 1, 5:30pm at Maine College of Art & Design in Osher Hall. The talk will be moderated by Katarina Weslien.

Page Header
Alexandra Silverthorne, yes is the only living thing, 11" x 14" archival inkjet print from scanned instant film. Edition of 5.

'Darkness and the Light' Exhibition
2019-07-12 10:00 - 2019-09-20 17:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Darkness and the Light
On view from July 12—September 20, 2019
Opening Reception: July 12, 5–8pm
Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D
Dark and light. The space between. The moment of change. The necessity of one to identify the other. Hope. Fading. The opportunities to explore the theme seemed so many and varied that the idea of a group exhibition was born. Invited artists have created work addressing the psychological and/or physical implications of light and/or dark. All are Maine artists with established careers and reputations for fine craftsmanship and artistic excellence. Because of the size of the Institute for Contemporary Art, participants were encouraged to undertake large-scale work, if they wished, in order to take advantage of the unusual opportunity to use this vast, beautiful space.
Exhibiting Artists include: Lynn Duryea, South Portland; Rebecca Goodale, Freeport; Tom Hall, Raymond; Joe Hemes, South Portland; Alison Hildreth, Portland; Lissa Hunter, Portland; Jamie Johnston, Portland; George Mason, Nobleboro; Julie Morringello, Stonington; Jan Owen, Belfast; Warren Seelig, Rockland; Carol Stein, Kittery Point; Todd Watts, Blanchard TWP; Susan Webster, Deer Isle
Learn more

This exhibition is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, Interim Director of Exhibitions Nikki Rayburn, and Guest Curator Lissa Hunter.
When I was a child, my mother would say, “Be in before dark”, as I ran out the door to play in summer. We lived in that kind of neighborhood. It was the fifties, in the Midwest, on a short block with dozens of kids and no fences. “Before dark” became a particular designation of time, between outside in daytime and the inside at night. It held a kind of magical conversion, a sliver of time that signaled a shift in energy and focus.
When the sun fell below the horizon, colors flattened and lost definition. The sky looked lighter than the treetops below, which became a single mass of darkness. Houses were Monopoly pieces, with no definition of windows or porches, just outlines and dark interiors until the lights within were turned on, creating golden rectangles.
The air became cool. The earth smelled moist. And the fireflies became apparent, flashing lights against the gathering dark, adding to the sense of separation from the real world. It didn’t last long. Maybe ten or twenty minutes.

Header
Warren Seelig, Shadowfield: Colored Light (detail), 2019
Photograph: Dowling Walsh Gallery
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11:00am–5:00pm, Thurs, 11:00am–7:00pm, Friday, 11:00am–5:00pm, (FFAW until 8:00pm)
