'Simultaneous Light and Dark' | Lecture featuring Bernie Reim
2019-08-08 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Darkness and the Light Lecture featuring Bernie Reim, author of the Portland Press Herald's monthly astronomy column What's Up?, co-host of WMPG’s live weekly radio program "Scientifically Speaking", and an Instructor of astronomy lab courses at the University of Southern Maine.

Find more information about the exhibition here
Darkness and the Light
On view from July 12—September 20, 2019

'Darkness and the Light' | Performance featuring Barry Saunders
2019-09-05 18:00 - 19:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Darkness and the Light Performance featuring jazz musician Barry Saunders.
Saxophonist, clarinetist and composer, Barry Saunders has played clubs, festivals and concerts throughout the United States, with a few dates in Europe and Asia, with such notable musicians and ensembles as Conte Condoli, Pete Christlieb, OK|OK, Michael McGinnis, Stew & TNP, Brad Terry, Erik Deutsch, Barry Manilow, Three Dog Night, Portland Jazz Orchestra, Fogcutters Big Band, Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, Assisi Festival for the Arts (Italy), North Shore Philharmonic, and Opera North.
Barryʼs work, with his own ensemble, has been featured on the award winning Maine Public Radio news program Maine Things Considered. Most recently, he could be heard on Spinning on Air with David Garland from the studios of WNYC. He can also be heard on Erik Deutschʼs CD “Hush Money” (hammerandstring.com) and Mike McGinnisʻs CD “Road*Trip” (mikemcginnis.com).
Prior to teaching at the School of Music at USM, Barry has taught at Bennington College, Williams College, and Bates College. In addition to teaching at USM and MSAD51, Barry also enjoys a thriving private studio where he teaches, saxophone, clarinet, improvisation and composition.

Find more information about the exhibition here
Darkness and the Light
On view from July 12—September 20, 2019

'Darkness and the Light' | Curatorial Talk presented by SDA Maine & MCA
2019-09-14 14:00 - 15:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
CURATORIAL TALK WITH LISSA HUNTER
Surface Design Association Maine (SDA Maine) and Maine Crafts Association (MCA) present a talk with Lissa Hunter, the curator of Darkness and the Light at The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) on Saturday, September 14 at 2 pm. The talk is free and open to the public.
Hunter's talk will touch on the process of curating the show, developing working relationships with the artists, and being witness to their practice. Darkness and the Light was conceived by Hunter several years ago. She invited thirteen Maine artists with established careers and reputations for fine craftsmanship and artistic excellence to join her in creating work specifically for this exhibition.
Exhibiting artists work in a range of materials and processes and include Lynn Duryea, Rebecca Goodale, Tom Hall, Joe Hemes, Alison Hildreth, Lissa Hunter, Jamie Johnston, George Mason, Julie Morringello, Jan Owen, Warren Seelig, Carol Stein, Todd Watts, and Susan Webster.
Find more information about the exhibition here
Darkness and the Light
On view from July 12—September 20, 2019

'Darkness and the Light' | Artist Gallery Talk
2019-09-19 18:00 - 19:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Artist Gallery Talk featuring Curator Lissa Hunter and exhibiting artists: Rebecca Goodale, Joe Hemes, Alison Hildreth, George Mason, Warren Seelig, and Carol Stein.
Find more information about the exhibition here
Darkness and the Light
On view from July 12—September 20, 2019

...to unravel the bind: Maine College of Art & Design 2020 Faculty Triennial Opening Reception
2020-01-17 17:00 - 20:00
...to unravel the bind:
Maine College of Art & Design 2020 Faculty Triennial
Opening Reception
On view from January 17 – March 1, 2020
Exhibition Opening: Friday, January 17, 2020, 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 Julie Poitras Santos, and Juror Ellen Tani, Boston-based art historian and independent curator.
Is the end in sight, or can we already see the end times? In 2020, we will weather the swells and tensions of subterfuge, irreversible change, and societal forces that tend toward self-destruction. Now more than ever, we need the thinking, making, and imagining that drives artists to make work both because of and in spite of these challenges. Inevitably pulled into the fray, where there is no clear path forward, up, or out, their practices navigate shifting grounds one step at a time, adapting to uncertainty both provisionally and purposefully. To unravel the bind, some pursue processes of dismantling, yielding new spaces and material configurations. Others take up forms, materials and design once intended to visually obscure or physically confine, transforming or repurposing them into new tools and structures for generative exploration. In doing so they explore the increasingly evanescent contours of truth, knowledge, and fact, reading the world as it presents itself—in all its complexity and imbalance—even when it does not make sense.
- Ellen Y. Tani, Guest Juror

Featured Artists
Marian Baker, Stephen Benenson, Michel Droge MFA '10, Annika Earley MFA '16, John P. Gardiner '07, MFA '14, Kate Greene, Adrian King '12, Alysha Kupferer, Alex Lukas, Honour Mack, Kelly McConnell, Rachel Eleni Somerville, Ling-Wen Tsai

For more info, visit: meca.edu/to-unravel-the-bind

Featured Image: Michel Droge

RESCHEDULED: The Tolerance Project Public Reception
2020-02-21 17:00 - 18:30 | Porteous Building, Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
EVENT RESCHEDULED (2/21/20)

The Tolerance Project Public Reception
Friday, February 21, 5–6:30pm
MECA&D, Porteous Lobby
522 Congress Street, Portland ME, 04101
Free admission

About The Tolerance Project

On view from December 13, 2019 - February 22, 2020
Maine College of Art & Design: Congress Street Windows + MECA&D Lobby

THE TOLERANCE PROJECT has brought a message of social acceptance to over 100,000 people in 26 countries. Founded by artist-activist Mirko Ilić, this initiative showcases posters designed by artists from around the world. THE TOLERANCE PROJECT starts a conversation about inclusion, which can only begin with a foundation of tolerance. In a world increasingly split by race, religion, sexuality, and national origin the show utilizes the unique power of design to remind us what we all have in common. THE TOLERANCE PROJECT includes over 137 posters made by designers worldwide. The selection exhibited at Maine College of Art & Design represent a larger global conversation.
For more info: toleranceposters.blogspot.com

Header image:
Alejandro Magallanes / Mexico (cropped)

Closing Reception: Resilience of Diversity
2020-02-22 19:00 - 20:00 | Joanne Waxman Library
Saturday, February 22 from 7–8pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Joanne Waxman Library, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Join us for the closing reception of Resilience of Diversity, a show bringing together student artists from MECA&D, alumni, faculty and members of the community to broaden the narrative of artists of color. The closing reception will celebrate our artists and student curators. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Header image: Sidney Sanchez ’21, Morelias #1 and Morelias #2 (left to right), oil on linen and yarn

The exhibition Resilience of Diversity brings together student artists from MECA&D, alumni, faculty and members of the community to broaden the narrative of artists of color. In sharing the intimate pockets of the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual mind of these artists, we invite you to look beyond any preconceived ideas to explore the nuances of our stories, our work, and our experiences. As makers, as humans, as a family, we share ourselves with you to expand the conversation beyond stereotypes and ignorance. We showcase the beauty and resilience of diversity while critiquing the Western art historical canon that perpetuates racist, sexist, and exclusionary pedagogy throughout art institutions. Together, the participating artists showcase the beauty of intersectionality, vulnerability and their own cultural traditions to tell the story of community, identity, resistance, and justice.

CANCELLED: Maine Region Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition
2020-02-26 09:00 - 2020-03-14 16:00 | Maine College of Art & Design, First Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
EVENT CANCELLED. MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. Learn more about MECA&D's implementations for the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020).

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.
Maine students are invited to submit creative and original work to any of the Awards’ seventeen creative categories, including architecture, photography, sculpture, comic art, painting, video game design, fashion, and more. At each level of judging, all works are selected to move on to the next stage based on the same three criteria that have represented the program since its founding in 1923: originality, technical skill, and emergence of personal vision or voice.
The exhibition consists of all Gold and Silver Key winners for individual works of art in all categories, as well as one piece from art portfolios that earned a Gold Key or Silver Key. This exhibition is free and open to the public and runs from Friday, February 26 through Saturday, March 14, 2020. Open hours are 9–5 Monday through Friday, and 11–4pm on Saturday and Sunday, plus a reception on Friday, March 6 from 5–7 coinciding with First Friday Art Walk in Portland.
Congratulations to all of this year's winners!

Header Image: Taya Brown, LOVE, Gold Key: Photography, Kents Hill School (cropped)

Exhibition | Some Things We Can Do Together | Megan and Murray McMillan
2020-03-18 11:00 - 2020-04-24 20:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19, 2020, from 5–7pm
On view from March 18–April 24, 2020
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11am–5pm, Thurs, 11am–7pm, Friday, 11am–5pm, (FFAW until 8pm)
Megan and Murray McMillan make large scale projects that result in short videos, installations and photographic series. Constructing complex, architectural sets that become stages for video and photography, the McMillans create works that offer a window into seemingly impossible situations. Their intention is to find a connective thread between the temporality of video and the observational distance of photographs to imaginatively situate the viewer inside metaphorical, visceral, fabricated environments such as the coal bin of a decommissioned power plant or on a small boat circling an island in the Gulf of Finland. Employing a varied lexicon of elements throughout their work – vessels of transport, theatrical stages, bridges, passageways, rooms – the McMillans create magical, transportive journeys.
Megan and Murray McMillan have exhibited their large-scale video installations at Mass MoCA in Massachusetts, the Kunsthallen Brandts Museum in Odense, Denmark, The State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, Greece, The RISD Museum in Rhode Island, and the deCordova Museum in Massachusetts. Their work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, film festivals and international biennials.
Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan, curated by Jamie Uretsky, was first exhibited at the New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks! in New Bedford, MA.

Featured Image: Megan and Murray McMillan, Some Things We Can Do Together, photograph, 2019

POSTPONED: Opening Reception | Some Things We Can Do Together | Megan and Murray McMillan
2020-03-19 17:00 - 19:00 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
EVENT POSTPONED. MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. We look forward to rescheduling this event. Stay tuned for updates. Learn more about MECA&D's implementations for the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020).

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19, 2020, from 5–7pm

On view from March 18–April 24, 2020
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11am–5pm, Thurs, 11am–7pm, Friday, 11am–5pm, (FFAW until 8pm)

Please join us for the opening reception of Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan, featuring a survey of over ten years of work by Megan and Murray McMillan. The exhibition will be on view from March 18 through April 24, 2020.
Megan and Murray McMillan make large scale projects that result in short videos, installations and photographic series. Constructing complex, architectural sets that become stages for video and photography, the McMillans create works that offer a window into seemingly impossible situations. Their intention is to find a connective thread between the temporality of video and the observational distance of photographs to imaginatively situate the viewer inside metaphorical, visceral, fabricated environments such as the coal bin of a decommissioned power plant or on a small boat circling an island in the Gulf of Finland. Employing a varied lexicon of elements throughout their work – vessels of transport, theatrical stages, bridges, passageways, rooms – the McMillans create magical, transportive journeys.
Megan and Murray McMillan have exhibited their large-scale video installations at Mass MoCA in Massachusetts, the Kunsthallen Brandts Museum in Odense, Denmark, The State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, Greece, The RISD Museum in Rhode Island, and the deCordova Museum in Massachusetts. Their work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, film festivals and international biennials.
Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan, curated by Jamie Uretsky, was first exhibited at the New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks! in New Bedford, MA.

Featured Image: Megan and Murray McMillan, In What Distant Sky, video still, 2013

POSTPONED: Artist Gallery Talk: Some Things We Can Do Together | Megan and Murray McMillan
2020-03-19 17:30 - 18:30 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
EVENT POSTPONED. MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. We look forward to rescheduling this event. Stay tuned for updates. Learn more about MECA&D's implementations for the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020).

Artist Gallery Talk with Megan and Murray McMillan
Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 5:30pm
Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D
Free and open to the public
Megan and Murray McMillan will discuss their work and the process of working together on the newest ICA installation Some Things We Can Do Together.
The artists make large scale projects that result in short videos, installations and photographic series. Constructing complex, architectural sets that become stages for video and photography, the McMillans create works that offer a window into seemingly impossible worlds. Finding a connective thread between the temporality of video and the observational distance of photographs, their works imaginatively situate the viewer inside metaphorical, fabricated environments such as the coal bin of a decommissioned power plant or a small boat circling an island in the Gulf of Finland. Employing a varied lexicon of elements throughout their work – vessels of transport, theatrical stages, bridges, passageways, rooms – the McMillans create magical, transportive journeys. Some Things We Can Do Together features fifteen years of the McMillans’ collaborative work. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19, 2020, from 5–7pm
On view from March 18–April 24, 2020
ICA Gallery hours: Wed–Sun, 11am–5pm, Thurs, 11am–7pm, Friday, 11am–5pm, (FFAW until 8pm)

Featured Image: Megan and Murray McMillan, The Shape of Our Best Intentions, photograph, 2011
