serveUP: Information Session
2017-11-13 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | ME
ServeUP 2018: Rebuilding Lives Through Building Homes
Info Session at MECA&D: Monday, November 13, 2017, at 2:00pm, Room 264
What is ServeUP: ServeUP is an alternative spring break opportunity where students serve together in areas that have been affected by natural disasters while engaging in dialogues about race, social justice, and faith. This year, ServeUP is expanding disaster relief in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as well as Houston, Texas.
Where: Students from Maine College of Art & Design are invited to join other colleges from Northern New England to serve in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Why: Baton Rouge suffered a huge flood in 2016 which destroyed about 110,000 homes. Although this flood was a historic event, it got very little media coverage. Because of the lack of resources, residents of Baton Rouge are still struggling to rebuild their homes.
When: March 9–18, 2018
Find out more
Can’t make it to the info session, or have any questions? Contact Sara Inacio '17 at sinacio@meca.edu.

Salt: Live Storytelling Event
2017-11-15 16:00 - 19:00 | Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, 519 Congress St #2B, Portland, Maine, 04101
The students of the Salt Graduate Certificate in Documentary Studies at MECA&D are taking a break from making documentaries to host an evening of stories, readings, and audio adventures.
Please join us on Wednesday, November 15 at the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association Ballroom. There will be a reception and mixer at 4pm, followed by the reading at 5pm.

RSVP on Facebook here.
Salt Alumni Exhibition in Artists at Work will be closing on December 14.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Stephanie Cardon
2017-11-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
BFA Fall 2017 Visiting Artist Lecture Series
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Supported in part by the Gene R. Cohen Charitable Foundation, the Isabel K. Pease Trust, and friends of the College through the Osher Chair Naming Program. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Stephanie Cardon
Thursday, November 30, 12:00–1:00pm
Stephanie Cardon, Oil and Water, Concrete, bamboo string, 2014.
Stephanie Cardon is a cross-disciplinary artist from France and the United States whose current work and research focuses on how one’s perception and experience of space and distance can be altered through patterns and interference.

Media Sponsors

Maine Home+Design is connected to those who live and breathe architecture, art, and good living. Its pages are filled with architectural masterpieces, home design inspiration, compelling artwork, designers, craftspeople, and the latest design trends and industry news.
At Maine Magazine, we believe that Maine is alive with intense creativity and passionate people who contribute to the vibrancy that makes this such a great place to live. We dedicate ourselves to bringing it to our readers.

The Portland Press Herald publishes daily newspapers in the city of Portland, Maine. Serving the state's largest and principal commercial city, as well as much of southern Maine, the Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram form the largest-circulation newsroom in the state.

Maine Home+Design is connected to those who live and breathe architecture, art, and good living. Its pages are filled with architectural masterpieces, home design inspiration, compelling artwork, designers, craftspeople, and the latest design trends and industry news.
At Maine Magazine, we believe that Maine is alive with intense creativity and passionate people who contribute to the vibrancy that makes this such a great place to live. We dedicate ourselves to bringing it to our readers.

The Portland Press Herald publishes daily newspapers in the city of Portland, Maine. Serving the state's largest and principal commercial city, as well as much of southern Maine, the Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram form the largest-circulation newsroom in the state.

A Day With(out) Art
2017-12-01 11:00 - 17:00 | ME
The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design will be participating in A Day With(out) Art by shrouding a work in the current exhibition, Confabulations of Millennia by artist and curator, Richard Saja, titled The Eighties, 2017. MECA&D will be flying the Red Ribbon flag, and students are also developing World AIDS Day poster.
"Born in the mid-sixties, I became aware of my difference as a child and this difference really blossomed in my adolescence in the early 80s– a time coincidental with the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Growing up in the NYC area, the “gay plague” was a frequent news story and a hysterical news media instilled in my then-impressionable young mind a terror whose presence still reverberates, regardless of reason. The “safe sex” movement was something I paid attention to, preferring self preservation to the alternative and I am one of the lucky ones who got away in those early days. I lost many dear, beautiful and gentle people to the virus - one after the other they fell helpless to a little understood illness. This work is a memorial not only to them but also to those who took care of them in their often horrible last days: to the partners, to the families, to the doctors and nurses and to all the caregivers of the epidemic. For Ray, Will, Tim, Jaimie, Albert and Emilio, I remember."—Richard Saja

'Design Studio', taught by Drew Hodges teamed up with Creative Portland and Frannie Peabody Center to create posters for World Aids Day 2017.
This year, World Aids Day aligns with the First Friday Artwalk.

2017 MECA&D Holiday Sale
2017-12-01 17:00 - 2017-12-02 17:00 | ME
2017 MECA&D Holiday Sale
Find the perfect gift made by MECA&D students, alumni, faculty and staff. We invite you to share an experience beyond shopping— connecting with the arts community, celebrating with your family, and buying local. Free Admission! All ages!
Click here to visit the Holiday Sale site with more information.
Location and Sale Dates

Maine College of Art & Design, Porteous Building
522 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101

Friday, December 1, 5pm–9pm
Saturday, December 2, 10am–5pm

#MECA&Dmade
In addition to the two-day event, this year there is a new sales venue. #MECA&Dmade is a pop-up shop in Artists at Work from December 6 to 23, 2017 featuring selected alumni work. Learn more about #MECA&Dmade here.
Details
This year’s Holiday Sale at the Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) will be held on Friday December 1, 2017 from 5pm to 9pm and Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 10am to 5pm. In its 23rd year, the MECA&D Holiday Sale is the Arts District’s premier holiday sale event, connecting Maine makers and buyers, providing an experience beyond shopping.
The juried 2017 Holiday Sale will include over 50 alumni vendors, selling handmade ceramics, jewelry, furniture, prints, and textiles. Student vendors include the Printmaking, Illustration, Metalsmithing & Jewelry, and Drawing departments.
Vendors

Kifah Abdulla (Continuing Studies Faculty)
Ebenezer Akakpo '01 of Akakpo & Co.
Cat Bates '09 of Cat Bates Jewelry & Accessories
Ingrid Bathe of Ingrid Bathe Porcelain
Derek Bedford '01 of Possum Hollow Farm Soap, LLC
Shana Belknap '91
Don Best '80 of Don Best Wood Art
Maggie Bokor of Maggie Bokor Jewelry
Carrie Brezzo '04 of CarrieSewFancy
Katie Burns, Current Student
Crystal Cawley (Continuing Studies Faculty)
Daniel Cerreta '10 of Fathom Toy Works
Peter Dore '17 of Boothby Furniture Company
Nicholas Downing of Downing Arts (Staff)
Melanie Duarte '07 of Porchpegasus
Lisa Ferreria Jones '02 of Ember Grove
Kristi Frank of SALTGRASS Jewelry
Janine Grant of Janine Grant Ceramics
Sam Guay '12 of Sam Guay Illustration
Amalia Guettinger '12 of Amalia Moon
Adriane Herman (Faculty)
Hannah Hermes '15 of The Hermes Crab

Elizabeth Jabar of Future Mothers (Faculty)
Adrian King '12 of Adrian King Pottery
Marilyn Lucey '09 of LunaPetunias
Tracy Mastro '91 of Tsmastro Enameling
Hugh McCormick '15 of Hired Wrights
Taylor Mirabito '16 of Taylor Mirabito Illustration & Hana Firestone ‘14
Jason Morrissey '98
Kevin Mosca, Current Student
Emily Norton '07 of Emily Diaz Norton Ceramics
Jeanne Paterak of BloomStudio (Continuing Studies Faculty)
Emily Percival '06 of Emily Percival Jewelry (Staff) & Maria Wolff
Roxanne Quimby Hon. DFA '12 of My Pasta Art
Kari Radasch '97 of Radasch REDware (Faculty)
Natalie Reed '13
Joe Rosshirt '11 of FortHouse Studio
Hope Rovelto '01 of Little Chair Printing
Miles Spadone '13 of Spadone Home
Aaron Staples '08 of Staple Goods
Molly Steinmetz '14 of Pinfolk Studio
Beth Taylor '08 of Longstocking Design
Jessica Teesdale of Jess Teesdale Pottery (Staff)
Dietlind Vander Schaaf, (Staff) & Amy Vander Els
LK Weiss '11 of Bowline Co.
Sarah Camille Wilson '07

The Joanne Waxman Library at MECA&D will be holding their annual book sale during Holiday Sale hours. All of the proceeds from the book sale will benefit the Library.
Header: LK Weiss '11 of Bowline Co.

#MECA&Dmade Showcase
2017-12-06 10:00 - 2017-12-23 17:00 | ME
#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 | ME
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 | ME
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)

'Off the Wall' Exhibition
2018-01-18 11:00 - 2018-02-23 17:00 | ME
Off the Wall
On view from January 18 - February 23, 2018
Exhibition Reception: Thursday, January 18, 2018, 5:00–7:00pm
In 1966, German-born American sculptor Eva Hesse attached a seemingly simple long metal cord to a canvas that dramatically transformed a painting into a sculpture. Such a simple act revolutionized our understanding of what a painting could be. By privileging the painting’s marginal feature—the frame, its structural support — Hang Up transcends the medium’s inherent two-dimensionality.
Rosy Keyser, 'Skeleton'
Off the Wall pays homage to Hesse’s groundbreaking work and investigates how contemporary artists continue to explore this liminal space between painting and sculpture. At times, a painting’s skin slides onto the floor or creeps onto the ceiling. In others, structural components protrude outward into the gallery space. As our spatial relationship with such works is reconfigured, objects on view in Off the Wall permeate into space and challenge our comprehension of both painting and sculpture. To provide an intimate perspective on this topic, Off the Wall will feature a range of works by two Brooklyn-based artists, Rosy Keyser and Ryan Wallace. A representative sampling of work will be presented by each artist to provoke thought about the shifting dynamics between painting and sculpture or sculpture and painting as well as their collision. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog with an essay by guest curator Jaime DeSimone.
Artist Biographies
Rosy Keyser (born 1974, Baltimore, MD) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Medusa, NY. Keyser received a BFA from Cornell University and an MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions include Maccarone, NY/LA, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Lora Reynolds, Austin TX, Freddy, Baltimore, Karma, New York and Peter Blum, New York. Keyser has been included in exhibitions at Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlabaek Denmark, Hauser and Wirth, New York, NY, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, and The Chianti Foundation, Marfa TX. Her work is in the permanent Collection of The Portland Art Museum, Portland ME, The Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlabaek DK, The Zabludowicz Collection, London UK, and The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN.
Ryan Wallace was born in 1977 in New York City, and lives and works in Brooklyn and East Hampton, New York. He received his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Recent solo exhibitions include Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC; 56 Henry, NYC; Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto; Romer Young Gallery, San Francisco; and the Window on Broad, Rosenwald Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia. His work has been exhibited at The Elaine de Kooning House, East Hampton, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, University of Nevada Las Vegas; BAM, Brooklyn; Albada Jelgersma, Amsterdam; Jerome Pauchant Gallery, Paris; and Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles among others. Wallace’s works can be found in the collections of the RISD Museum, Providence; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, among others.
Guest Curator
Jaime DeSimone
With over twelve years of curatorial experience in contemporary art, Curator Jaime DeSimone conceives and implements the exhibition program and manages the Permanent Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville. Most recently, DeSimone has curated Project Atrium: Gabriel Dawe, Synthesize: Art + Music, and Confronting the Canvas: Women of Abstraction, the first museum show to focus on contemporary female abstract painters. She was previously the exhibitions project manager at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, where she managed a portfolio of exhibitions, including Calder and Abstraction and FreePort No. 008: Celeste Boursier-Mougenot . From 2005 to 2012, DeSimone served as the assistant curator at the Addison Gallery of American Art, located on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where she curated a number of exhibitions, including Flash Back: November 23, 1963 (2013), The Civil War: Unfolding Dialogues (2011), and Kara Walker: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) (2008). She holds a master's degree in American contemporary art from American University (2005) and a bachelor's degree in art history from Bates College (2001).
For more information or to request an interview, please contact MECA&D’s Director of Exhibitions and Special Projects, Erin Hutton, at 207.699.5025 or ehutton@meca.edu.
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.
Masthead Image: Ryan Wallace, Dragnalus, 2016

'Off the Wall' Opening Reception
2018-01-18 17:00 - 19:00 | ME
Off the Wall
On view from January 18 - February 23, 2018
Exhibition Reception: Thursday, January 18, 2018, 5:00–7:00pm
Rosy Keyser, 'Skeleton'
In 1966, German-born American sculptor Eva Hesse attached a seemingly simple long metal cord to a canvas that dramatically transformed a painting into a sculpture. Such a simple act revolutionized our understanding of what a painting could be. By privileging the painting’s marginal feature—the frame, its structural support — Hang Up transcends the medium’s inherent two-dimensionality.
Off the Wall pays homage to Hesse’s groundbreaking work and investigates how contemporary artists continue to explore this liminal space between painting and sculpture. At times, a painting’s skin slides onto the floor or creeps onto the ceiling. In others, structural components protrude outward into the gallery space. As our spatial relationship with such works is reconfigured, objects on view in Off the Wall permeate into space and challenge our comprehension of both painting and sculpture. To provide an intimate perspective on this topic, Off the Wall will feature a range of works by two Brooklyn-based artists, Rosy Keyser and Ryan Wallace. A representative sampling of work will be presented by each artist to provoke thought about the shifting dynamics between painting and sculpture or sculpture and painting as well as their collision. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog with an essay by guest curator Jaime DeSimone.
Artist Biographies
Rosy Keyser (born 1974, Baltimore, MD) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Medusa, NY. Keyser received a BFA from Cornell University and an MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions include Maccarone, NY/LA, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Lora Reynolds, Austin TX, Freddy, Baltimore, Karma, New York and Peter Blum, New York. Keyser has been included in exhibitions at Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlabaek Denmark, Hauser and Wirth, New York, NY, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, and The Chianti Foundation, Marfa TX. Her work is in the permanent Collection of The Portland Art Museum, Portland ME, The Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlabaek DK, The Zabludowicz Collection, London UK, and The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN.
Ryan Wallace was born in 1977 in New York City, and lives and works in Brooklyn and East Hampton, New York. He received his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Recent solo exhibitions include Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC; 56 Henry, NYC; Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto; Romer Young Gallery, San Francisco; and the Window on Broad, Rosenwald Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia. His work has been exhibited at The Elaine de Kooning House, East Hampton, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, University of Nevada Las Vegas; BAM, Brooklyn; Albada Jelgersma, Amsterdam; Jerome Pauchant Gallery, Paris; and Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles among others. Wallace’s works can be found in the collections of the RISD Museum, Providence; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, among others.
Guest Curator
Jaime DeSimone
With over twelve years of curatorial experience in contemporary art, Curator Jaime DeSimone conceives and implements the exhibition program and manages the Permanent Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville. Most recently, DeSimone has curated Project Atrium: Gabriel Dawe, Synthesize: Art + Music, and Confronting the Canvas: Women of Abstraction, the first museum show to focus on contemporary female abstract painters. She was previously the exhibitions project manager at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, where she managed a portfolio of exhibitions, including Calder and Abstraction and FreePort No. 008: Celeste Boursier-Mougenot . From 2005 to 2012, DeSimone served as the assistant curator at the Addison Gallery of American Art, located on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where she curated a number of exhibitions, including Flash Back: November 23, 1963 (2013), The Civil War: Unfolding Dialogues (2011), and Kara Walker: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) (2008). She holds a master's degree in American contemporary art from American University (2005) and a bachelor's degree in art history from Bates College (2001).
For more information or to request an interview, please contact MECA&D’s Director of Exhibitions and Special Projects, Erin Hutton, at 207.699.5025 or ehutton@meca.edu.
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.
Masthead Image: Ryan Wallace, Dragnalus, 2016

Meet the Residencies: New date
2018-01-23 17:30 - 19:00 | ICA at MECA&D, 522 Congress St., Portland, Maine, 04101, United States
Meet the Residencies
Representatives from Maine artist residencies will offer an overview of their various programs. Meet the Residencies will be held at Maine College of Art & Design on Tuesday, January 23 from 5:30pm–7:00pm in the ICA at MECA&D.
Presenters include the Hewnoaks Artist Colony, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Monhegan Artist Residency, MECA&D Residencies, Celebration Barn, Kismet Foundation, Watershed Center for the Arts, and the Joseph A. Fiore Art Center.
Administrators will discuss the specifics of their residency, who is a good fit, and what makes for a successful application.
*Admission is free. To reserve a seat, contact artistsatwork@meca.edu or 207.699.5016.
Header Image: Meg Hahn, 2017 MECA&D alum, was accepted into two residency programs last summer, the Monhegan Artist Residency and Hewnoaks (pictured). Image credit: Alban Maino.
RSVP on Facebook here.

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 | ME
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

World Premiere of Burrow: Revisited
2018-02-02 19:00 - 20:00 | ME
Maine College of Art & Design presents the world premiere of Burrow: Revisited, a collaborative performance piece by sound artist Alex Waterman and Assistant Professor Seth Rogoff.

Portraits:
Left: Sound artist Alex Waterman.
Right: MECA&D Assistant Professor Seth Rogoff
Burrow: Revisited is a collaborative performance piece by world-class musician and sound artist Alex Waterman and MECA&D Assistant Professor, writer, and scholar Seth Rogoff, premiering at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) at 7pm on Friday, February 2, 2018, during the First Friday Artwalk. The performance, based on a prose piece written by Rogoff that engages with and interprets Franz Kafka’s short story “The Burrow,” explores our shrinking privacy and how the disruptive quality of sound shapes our personal and social lives. An interactive discussion will follow the performance.
Structured as a fictional lecture that is delivered to an imagined class, Burrow: Revisited offers an interaction with literature that is non-academic and explorative, probing exciting new ways of transmitting, teaching, and enjoying literary work. Alex Waterman, a New Music composer who is deeply interested in how to create artificial soundscapes in order to provide multi-dimensional imaginary landscapes for the audience, has created an original score.
Burrow: Revisited takes place in the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D, an established art space that features innovative exhibitions and public programs that showcase new perspectives and trends in contemporary art. This project is funded in part by an Arts & Humanities grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maine Humanities Council.

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.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Mary Murray
2018-02-08 13:00 - 14:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
BFA Spring 2018 Visiting Artist Lecture Series

MECA&D’s Visiting Artist & Guest Lecturer Series invites professional artists, educators, curators, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs to present on topics of interest and importance to the MECA&D community.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Supported in part by the Gene R. Cohen Charitable Foundation, the Isabel K. Pease Trust, and friends of the College through the Osher Chair Naming Program. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Mary Murray
Thursday, February 8, 12–1pm
Mary Murray has been curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at MWPAI since September 1991. At MWPAI, she has organized more than forty exhibitions, including four collections-based touring shows with scholarly catalogs: Life Lines: American Master Drawings, 1788-1962 with Paul Schweizer; American 20th-Century Watercolors at the MWPAI; Collecting Modernism: European Masterworks from the MWPAI; and Auspicious Vision: Edward W. Root and American Modernism, with Paul D. Schweizer and Michael Somple. Recent contemporary exhibitions include "Substance and Light: Ten Sculptors Use Cameras," (2006), with Gina Murtagh; "Dimensional Line: Recent Work by Sharon Louden and Creighton Michael," (2004); "Resplendent: An Installation by Lynne Yamamoto," (2003); and "Patrick Dougherty: Full Court Press," (2001).
Mary has written about and lectured extensively on 20th- and 21st-century American art, recently presenting "Unlikely Provocateur: Edward W. Root, American Modernism and The Metropolitan Museum of Art" at the 2008 Southeast College Art Conference and "American and Modern: Edward W. Root and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute" at the 2007 College Art Association annual conference.

Navigating Ad Land: Stephanie Shore, CMO of Moo
2018-02-15 17:00 - 19:00 | ME
Navigating Ad Land with Stephanie Shore, CMO of Moo
Thursday, February 15, 2018, 5–7pm
Where:Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland
Ad Club of Maine; Tickets required

Join host Lisa DeSisto, CEO of the Portland Press Herald, as she sits down with top CMOs in New England to discuss the current landscape of marketing and advertising. From industry trends and consumer insights to breakthrough creative and thoughtful leadership, the series gives us a personalized look at the art of building a modern brand.
On February 15, the Ad Club of Maine welcomes Stephanie Shore of Moo.com.
Learn more & purchase tickets
*Students, faculty, and alumnae allowed discounted price
MOO is an award-winning online print and design company. Moo prints millions of cards a month and has hundreds of thousands of customers in more than 190 countries.
Stephanie Shore is the CMO at MOO, an award-winning print and design company specializing in premium business stationery and promotional materials since 2006. MOO helps its customers create, share or promote their professional identity and has subsequently become one of the fastest-growing print businesses in the world, with over a million businesses served in more than 190 countries in the last year alone. She oversees Creative, Brand, PR and Customer Marketing Teams in the US and UK, and is known for delivering results under a brand’s umbrella.
Prior to MOO, Stephanie spent six years at Zipcar, where she helped grow a little car-sharing company into the world’s leading car-sharing network as their Vice President of Marketing and Global Brand.
When she’s not working, she enjoys hanging with her family, long walks on the beach and a fierce game of Scrabble.
View Poster for more information

Language taken from Ad Club of Maine's event page.

Matthew Day Jackson: Visiting Artist Lecture
2018-02-15 17:30 - 19:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
BFA Spring 2018 Visiting Artist Lecture Series

MECA&D’s Visiting Artist & Guest Lecturer Series invites professional artists, educators, curators, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs to present on topics of interest and importance to the MECA&D community.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Supported in part by the Gene R. Cohen Charitable Foundation, the Isabel K. Pease Trust, and friends of the College through the Osher Chair Naming Program. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Matthew Day Jackson
Thursday, February 15, 5:30–7pm
Matthew Day Jackson’s multifaceted practice encompasses sculpture, painting, collage, photography, drawing, video, performance and installation. Since graduating with an MFA from Rutgers University in 2001, following his BFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, Jackson has had numerous solo exhibitions and his work has been shown at MAMbo Museo d'Arte Moderna in Bologna, Italy; the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Boulder, Colorado; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA; the Portland Museum of Art Biennial in Portland, Maine; and the Whitney Biennial Day for Night in New York.
Installation View, Matthew Day Jackson, HauserWirth 2011 (2)

Performance: 'The Poets and the Assassin'
2018-02-16 19:00 - 21:00 | ME
The Poets and the Assassin, a play written by Reza Jalali, will be performed at Maine College of Art & Design.
Friday, February 16
7–9pm, Osher Hall
Porteous, second floor
'Refuge' by Niyaz Azadikhah for Reza Jalali’s play about Iranian women, 'The Poets and the Assassin'.
"The story of Iranian women, including their century-old battle for rights, remains with the few exceptions, untold. Though they have been in the forefront of the national struggle for independence, liberty and democracy in Iran, and have been among the most educated and most independent women in the Middle East-they entered universities in 1936 and gained the right to vote in 1963-to those in the West, their lives stay, for most part, in purdah, hidden and veiled in mystery. Ironically, their tale is one of courage, resistance, sacrifice, and survival in an intensely traditional and patriarchal society, for unlike some of their sisters, in countries near and far, they have actively participated in the public sphere to protest, ask for rights, and demand equality. A myth-buster, the play helps us see them for who they are: fearless shir-zan, fighting oppressionand tyranny-a battle that can be ours, as well."

Funding provided in part by the Maine Humanities Council.

Linda Casbon: Visiting Artist Lecture
2018-02-19 12:00 - 13:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Linda Casbon
Monday, February 19, 12-1pm
Osher Hall, Second Floor, Porteous
Free, Open to the Public
Linda Casbon, Columns (side view), 2015, clay, glaze, wax, each approximately 28"x10"x75". Installation view of work at the Roger Williams Botanical Center, Providence, RI.
Brooklyn artist Linda Casbon constructs functional clay objects and large-scale ceramic sculpture. She studied design at the University of Colorado (BENVD) and ceramics and sculpture at Kent State University (MFA). Linda has participated in artist's residencies throughout the United States and Canada including the Bemis Foundation in Omaha, Nebraska, the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, and the John Michael Kohler Company in Wisconsin. Linda was awarded a NYFA fellowship in 1997. She is currently teaching at Hofstra University and Kingsborough Community College.
"My work translates forms into a language of metaphoric associations. It hints at meanings without using literal descriptions. Objects are the visual sounds of this language. When placed together these words form a sentence, a poem, and a kind of narrative with its own internal logic. The pieces look like . . . feel like . . . sound like . . . but cannot be consciously identified or named. With this work I am striving for a sense of unnameable familiarity."
This lecture is funded by a grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation. All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited.

Linda Casbon, Columns, 2015, clay, glaze, wax, each approximately 28"x10"x75". Installation view of work at the Roger Williams Botanical Center, Providence, RI.

Rebecca Hannon: Visiting Artist Lecture
2018-02-22 12:00 - 13:00 | ME
Rebecca Hannon
Thursday, February 22, 12–1pm
Osher Hall, Second Floor, Porteous
Free, Open to the Public
“I work in series and find each new grouping a challenge to create tension between the story, and the right medium to evoke meaning. Materials are endless; one must search and then concentrate to find the subtle message found in an object.”
Rebecca Hannon graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and then worked as a goldsmith for five years in New York City before attending the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste in Munich, Germany on a Fulbright scholarship. Five years later she returned to North America and currently teaches, lectures and has her own workshop.
Her work can be found in public and private collections internationally. In her work, she strives to create evocative objects that double as fine souvenirs. Place and time are documented through the process of making. A fleeting memory, a lost bauble or an everyday object are refashioned to create a small celebratory ornament.
Header Image: Rebecca Hannon, Long, (20'), 2010, laminate, cable.

This lecture is funded by a grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation. All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited.

"Recuperating Capitalism: Omer Fast & Sharon Hayes": Marie B. Shurkus Lecture
2018-02-24 10:30 - 12:00 | ME
College Art Association Annual Conference 2018
Feb 21, 2018–Feb 24, 2018

LA Convention Center
1201 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Professor Marie B. Shurkus (Program Chair and Professor of Art History at Maine College of Art & Design) will be giving a talk on the recuperation of the Brecht-ian notion of critical distance vis à vis Fredric Jameson in relation to the work of Sharon Hayes and Omer Fast.
Shurkus' Recuperation panel was also selected for the Shortlist by Rutgers University The Feminist Art Project!
Recuperation
Time: 02/24/2018: 10:30am-12pm
Location: Room 406A
Chair: Andrea Liu, Goldsmiths University
"Recuperating Capitalism: Omer Fast & Sharon Hayes"
Marie Shurkus, Maine College of Art & Design
"Alienation Effects in Muay Thai Sparring: On Dana Hoey's Fighters and the 'Recuperation' of Participatory Art"
Arlen Austin, Brown University, Modern Culture and Media Studies Department
"The Caricature of Postmodernism as "Moral Relativism""
Andrea Liu, Goldsmiths University
View the Conference Page.
View the Feminist Art Project Page.

Zine Fair: Submission Deadline 2/28
2018-02-28 09:00 - 17:00 | Artists at Work Project Space, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Zine Club and MECA&D Public Engagement present..
Zine Fair 2018
Open Call for Artists to submit to the 3rd Annual Spring Zine Fair!
Participation is open to both MECA&D and non-MECA&D students who are interested. The Zine Fair will be open for March's First Friday Art Walk and is on view February 28–March 18, 2018. It will be located in the Artists at Work Project Space at MECA&D.
We are looking for this to be an all-inclusive, collaborative event and exhibition that brings Portland's Community and its artists together. The space will have a Zine Library, for showing and selling zines, as well as tables for community zine-making (complete with materials—and a photocopier!).
In collaboration with the MECA&D Zine Club, we will be holding several workshops throughout the month. Some events are open to the public, while others are designed for MECA&D students and Zine Club. We hope for a diverse range of students, artists, and zines to be a part of this event!
Zine Guidelines
Zines may be made in any medium, topic, size (usually, the largest is 8 ½ x 11 folded in half). Artists may submit as many zines as they would like. We ask that each zine be an edition of 5 at the minimum and 25 at the maximum. All work must be editioned and labeled with the correct pricing, the artist’s name, and an inventory list of all work the artist will be selling.
The deadline for work is February 28, 2018. If you are interested in submitting work and/or have any questions, please contact Jo Tatlock and Allison Neilan at zineclub@meca.edu. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing your zines!
P.S. Don't know how to make a zine or want to know more? We suggest Rookie Mag's 'How to Make a Zine' and CreativeBloq's 'Make Your Own Zines'.
Jo Tatlock is a Printmaking Major and Public Engagement Minor at Maine College of Art & Design. Their work focuses on queer identity and culture, and socially engaged art. Jo and two of their printmaking colleagues (Marisa D’Andrea and Allison Neilan) co-founded the MECA&D Zine Club; In the winter of 2016, they officially formed the collective called Zazufren. They co-organized and curated two Zine Fairs in Portland, ME, in both 2016 and 2017. The most recent was part of a curated group show of the two collectives Zazufren and Future Mothers, called Collective Actions II in the ICA at MECA&D. This year, the Zine Fair is Jo’s Public Engagement capstone, with the help of Zazufren collaborator Allison Neilan.

Rollin Leonard: Visiting Artist Lecture
2018-03-01 12:00 - 13:00 | ME
BFA Spring 2018 Visiting Artist Lecture Series

MECA&D’s Visiting Artist & Guest Lecturer Series invites professional artists, educators, curators, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs to present on topics of interest and importance to the MECA&D community.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Supported in part by the Gene R. Cohen Charitable Foundation, the Isabel K. Pease Trust, and friends of the College through the Osher Chair Naming Program. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Rollin Leonard
Thursday, March 1, 12–1pm
A Portland, Maine and Los Angeles based photographer and video artist, Rollin Leonard uses arcane and idiosyncratic techniques and materials to create offbeat and provocative portraits and images of the human figure. The work pushes the boundaries of the photographic medium and engages the viewer in a dialogue about representation, data, and individuality.
Rollin Leonard, Mud Puddle, Animation of two faces rotating below a interlocked liquid frames

'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 | ME
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 | ME
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.

Bluestocking Film Festival Shorts
2018-03-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Yawkey Theater, WGBH, 1 Guest St., One Guest Street, Boston, MA, 02135, United States
With Special Guest Ariel Dougherty, director and Women Make Movies co-founder
Boston, MA on March 15
Yawkey Theater, WGBH, 1 Guest St.
Pre-screening reception 6:30, screening at 7PM.
Free for WIFVNE and WGBH members, $10 for non-members.
"The event starts with networking and conversation with light refreshments provided in the Yawkey Atrium. Our group will enter the Yawkey Theater for the film screening. Following the screening, we will have a Q&A with the film festival founder Kate Kaminski."
This event is part of the Bluestocking Film Series— an exclusive showcase for provocative, well-produced films that feature complex female protagonists driving the narrative and leading the action. All short fiction films must feature a female protagonist, submissions must also pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test.

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Workshop: The Fine Art of Living & Dying in a Box!
2018-03-17 09:00 - 16:00 | ME
“Love deeply and let go!”
The Fine Art of Living & Dying in a Box!
Continuing Studies at MECA&D
Saturday,March 17, 9am–4pm
Course Link
Throughout centuries, Death has been honored with art, ritual and celebration. As vital as we are today, we will become ash, dust, compost for the next ones coming up. How can we look back at the ancient ways of letting go of loved ones, the artistry in wrapping the bodies in shrouds, with monuments to the heavens, memento mori and the gatherings in the parlor of friends and family with stories of laughter and joy, and move forward to the present of each day?
Our cultural paradigm in the past few decades has buried it’s celebrations of death and has been following a path of fear and repulsion. Death was once a welcome guest in homes, the dead comfortably taking up a room for a few days. Before the dead were sent to funeral homes, families and friends lovingly kept them in the front parlor, washing them, dressing them in their best, displaying them for all to see. Funerals were held at the local graveyard or on the land of the deceased. Children were part of the cycle, comfortable with the dying nearby, holding dead siblings for the photographer to get the family photo before laying the little one into the ground. Everyone had buried someone and shared in the loss by celebrating the life well-lived.
Gina Colombatto wants to bring normalcy back to death. Talking with groups of strangers at Death Cafes and in her studies of thanatology (thanatos = death), she has noticed that the more interaction we have with the subject of death and dying, the more conversations we can share of our personal experiences, the easier the process can be when one finds Death nearby.
She brings the invitation to design ways to hold death, in words, in movement, in containers enveloped in materials that make our hearts sing and our hands continue to make beauty. Offering the course The Fine Art of Living and Dying in a BOX!, brings community together to share thoughts around death, our own or of those we love in an up-close and personal way. Speaking directly to Death, we are reminded of the preciousness of life and that we are all in this together.
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About the Class
Build and embellish your own cremation urn. Not quite ready? A simple pine box holds ashes of your favorite pet, a loved one long passed, or plan ahead and design your own. Paint, fabric, decoupage or photomontage personalize this holder of cremains for later (or use it as a cookie jar now!). We'll spend the day talking about death/dying, of what to do with these precious bodies when they no longer serve us, and of paperwork needed in Maine for easy home funerals. Exploring age-old traditions and global customs we'll travel the globe and be inspired to see the varied arts that celebrate death and dying.
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Gina Colombatto is a Health Educator and Integrated Thanatology Counselor, which means she studies all things related to life and death and knows that gathering people to play together is good for the body, mind and spirit. Gina has envisioned and developed community art, worked with students of all ages, and continues to facilitate Death Cafes. Chuck Lakin is a Woodworker and Home Funeral Educator, whose interest in this topic came from his experience at his father's death. Without the knowledge and information about the options he had, he felt he missed out. Now, his goal is to share information needed to make informed plans and decisions before death, for a meaningful and smooth transition.
