Maine College of Art

Artist Lecture: David Johansen and Mara Hennessey
2016-09-29 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
MECA&D’s Visiting Artist & Guest Lecturer Series invites professional artists, educators, curators, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs to give presentations 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.
David Johansen and Mara Hennessey
Thursday, September 29th, 12:00pm

New York City rock legend David Johansen has been recognized over the years for his brilliant forays into entertainment and culture. In the 1970’s, Johansen, along with Johnny Thunders formed the seminal protopunk band the New York Dolls. Though they disbanded a few years later ("too much, too soon"), Johansen continued to follow his mantra of "adjust and create," emerging as the iconoclastic persona/performer known as Buster Poindexter, a "Rascal Pack bon vivant" known for his trademark martini glass and pompadour. With The Uptown Horns, Johansen/Poindexter performed a mixture of jazz, lounge, calpyso and novelty. He also occasionally performed with the Saturday Night Live house band.
Johansen claims that he is "neither unhappy enough to be a poet nor indifferent enough to be a philosopher, but lucid enough to be a condemned man." For several years he performed in an act called Howlin for Hubert, in which he conjured Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters with Howlin Wolf's guitarist, the late Hubert Sumlin. He continues to write, sing, and tour with the New York Dolls as well as through solo performances in NYC’s classiest nightclubs as Buster Poindexter.
Johansen's wife Mara Hennessey has been touring and collaborating with him for many years. A writer and visual artist, Hennessey designs, produces, and art directs their performances, both at home in New York, and all over the world. She is currently working on a book based on material from her travels.

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.

Julie Poitras Santos: Performance Art
2016-09-15 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
O time your pyramids, by Julie Poitras Santos, in the Institute of Contemporary Art's exhibition Bounty, will be performed three times over the course of the exhibition:

Friday, September 9th, 3:00-5:00pm
Thursday, September 15th, 4:00-6:00pm
Thursday, September 29th, 4:00-6:00pm

BOUNTY: 2016 Biennial Faculty Exhibition
On view from Wednesday, August 24–Thursday, September 29, 2016.
Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, September 2, 2016, 5:00–8:00pm
Guest Curator Sage Lewis '04 has selected artists and work coalescing around the idea of bounty, a word that surfaced while viewing the artists' portfolios. Bounty refers to both generosity and reward, but particularly for the reward sought out by the pursuit of artistic practice. The relation of the artist to their subject matter, the histories of makers and philosophers that have come before, and the often private searching that occurs in seeking and finding form for the work are central parts to this theme.
These relationships will deepen as the format of the exhibition develops in meetings and studio visits with each artist.

Drew Hodges
2016-09-14 18:30 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
About Drew
Drew Hodges started Spot Design in 1987, followed ten years later by the launch of full service New York City entertainment advertising agency SpotCo in 1997. SpotCo has sold over 30 million tickets to live entertainment, and created the branding and advertising campaigns for numerous Broadway shows and cultural institutions including Rent, Chicago, The Color Purple, Kinky Boots, Avenue Q, Book of Mormon and Hamilton, among many others. Cultural institutions include The New York Botanical Gardens, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall among others.
Drew is the former president of the board of AIGA NY and most recently, the author of On Broadway: from Rent to Revolution, published April 2016 by Rizzoli Publishing. He has interests in the performing arts, contemporary art, watercolor, sculpture, and mentoring entrepreneurs. He and his husband Peter Kukielski reside in Portland and Cushing, Maine.

J. Felice Boucher '84 Exhibition
2016-09-09 09:00 - 2016-11-08 17:00 (America/New_York) | Charles C. Thomas Gallery at Maine College of Art & Design, second floor
J. Felice Boucher '84
Charles Thomas Gallery exhibition
September 9–November 8, 2016
Monday–Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm
Felice Boucher is the recipient of the 2016 Canon Par Excellence Award, as well as the 2016 Maine Photographer of the Year and the 2016 PPA International Diamond Photographer of the Year. In 2015, she was New England Photographer of the Year. In describing her work, Boucher notes that her photography is "still and direct, and closely parallels my meditation practices. All sense of time and place is set aside." Her newest body of work centers on women, exploring contrasts of soft and hard, life and death, strength and vulnerability.
Felice Boucher, Blue Bird, photographic print, 29" x 17 1/2", 2015

CREATE V: Annual Continuing Studies Exhibition
2016-09-01 09:00 - 2016-09-27 17:00 (America/New_York) | Maine College of Art & Design, First Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Opening Reception for CREATE V: September 1, 5:00–7:00pm
On view: September 1—27, Monday - Friday, 9:00am–5:00pm, Maine College of Art & Design, First Floor

The fifth annual Continuing Studies exhibition showcases the work of both faculty and students in areas ranging from metalsmithing and jewelry, ceramics, painting, drawing, mixed media, found objects, sculpture, and more. Around 100 artists are represented in the exhibition this year, which is sponsored by The Art Mart.
Mark Ford, Munjoy Hill, archival pigment print, 8” x 12”

2016 Biennial Faculty Exhibition
2016-08-24 11:00 - 2016-09-29 17:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
2016 Biennial Faculty Exhibition
On view from Wednesday, August 24–Thursday, September 29, 2016.
Please join us for the Opening Reception on Friday, September 2, 2016, 5:00–8:00pm
ICA Gallery hours Wed–Sun,11am–5pm, Thurs, 11am–7pm, Friday, 11am–5pm, (FFAW until 8pm)
Kate Greene, Untitled, Photography, 2016
Curator Sage Lewis '04 has selected artists and work coalescing around the idea of bounty, a word that surfaced while viewing the artists' portfolios. Bounty refers to both generosity and reward, but particularly for the reward sought out by the pursuit of artistic practice. The relation of the artist to their subject matter, the histories of makers and philosophers that have come before, and the often private searching that occurs in seeking and finding form for the work are central parts to this theme.
These relationships will deepen as the format of the exhibition develops in meetings and studio visits with each artist.
2016 Artists

Lucy Breslin
Michael Connor
Jamie Hogan
Hilary Irons
Kate Greene

Justin Kirchoff
Joshua Reiman
Julie Poitras-Santos
Gail Spaien
Gan Xu

Artist Biographies
Lucy Breslin, Associate Professor and Program Chair, Ceramics
Lucy Breslin has taught for over 25 years at MECA&D. She earned her MFA in Ceramics from Kent State University and has a BA from Pennsylvania State University. After completing her MFA, she was awarded a year‐long residency at The Archie Bray Foundation in Montana. The following year she lived and traveled in Spain on a Fulbright Fellowship, visiting over 40 traditional potteries. Her work has been widely exhibited in venues such as Yellowstone Art Museum, Hunter Museum of American Art, NCECA Clay National, and others. She has been a visiting artist at schools and art centers around the country and has participated in numerous NCECA panels and demos. In 2014 she worked with 13 artists from nine different countries at the International Ceramic Center in Denmark. Her work has been included in the publications Ceramics Monthly and Clay Times as well as 500 Vases, 500 Plates, and 500 Ceramics, all published by Lark Books.
Michael Connor, Instructor, Illustration
Michael Connor has taught at Waynflete Summer Arts and Breakwater Creative Arts, as well as taught workshops in comics and cartooning for children and adults before joining MECA&D’s Illustration Program. He is also a freelance illustrator whose clients have included local music acts Big Blood, id m theft able, Tom Whitehead, and Dan Knudsen, as well as international musicians Jaap Blonk and B.J Snowden. He also exhibits his work frequently in local galleries. While he enjoys many means of image‐making, including graphite drawing, collage, painting, and assemblage, his area of expertise is black‐and‐white line art and sequential narrative, much of which has been self‐published in a zine titled Coelacanthus. Michael also works at the local eclectic shop Strange Maine. He earned his BFA from the University of Southern Maine and is a frequent Maine Comics Festival participant.
Jamie Hogan, Assistant Professor of Illustration
Jamie Hogan grew up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and, after living in Providence, Boston, and San Francisco, settled on Peaks Island in Casco Bay, Maine. She earned her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and has taught at MECA&D for over a decade. Her illustrations have appeared in American Illustration, Print magazine, Graphis, Maine magazine and the Los Angeles Times. In 2015, her work was featured in the exhibit The Storybook Waters of Illustrator Jamie Hogan at the Sam L. Cohen Children’s Library at the Portland Public Library. Recent projects include illustrations for: Island Birthday, a children’s picture book about a Maine island by renowned essayist Eva Murray; the children’s chapter book Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins; and John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall by Julie Danneberg. She is the winner of the Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Award for illustrations in Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins and is a member of the Maine Illustrators Collective.
Hilary Irons, Instructor, Foundation
Hilary Irons earned her BFA from Parsons School of Design in 2002 and began teaching at Yale School of Art, where she earned her MFA. She studied as a private student with painter Sigmund Abeles and maintains a studio in the Artists Studio Building in Portland. While her work has become more stylistically diverse with time, some consistent themes remain: how does the juxtaposition of naturalism and abstraction (in the context of composition) mirror the human experience in the natural world, and how does this relate to our use and interpretation of our natural habitat? What kind of power dynamics are at work in the relationship between people and the land? How have landscape painting and geometrical abstraction traditionally approached this dynamic? Her site‐specific work was recently included in the group exhibit Knock Knock at Mayo Street Arts. She has received grants from the Leon Levy Foundation and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and received the Al Held Prize to attend the American Academy in Rome.
Kate Greene, Instructor, Photography
Kate Green earned her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and her MFA from Yale University School of Art. She has lectured at Humboldt State University and served as an assistant curator of public education at Yale University Art Gallery. Her work has been exhibited at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Noorderlicht International Photofestival at Museum Dr8888, the New York Photo Festival, and the Daniel Cooney Gallery. She has received fellowships from the Tierney Family Foundation, Yale Summer School of Art and Anderson Ranch Arts Center.
Justin Kirchoff, Professor and Program Chair, Photography
The son of artists and collectors, Justin Kirchoff has an interest in images both as a form of communication and as objects. His respect for the integrity of the medium is an important value he instills in his students. He earned his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and his MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art. Kirchoff’s work explores the contradictions and connections of fatherhood, masculinity and the home, while prodding the clichés of midlife. He is a Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant 2013 recipient and his work has been collected by The Addison Gallery of American Art and the Center of Creative Photography.
Joshua Reiman, Assistant Professor of the MFA in Studio Art, and Sculpture
Joshua Reiman is an artist working in sculpture, film, video, and photography. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States, in Germany, and in Estonia. Prior to joining MECA&D, Joshua was a visiting professor of art at Carnegie Mellon University where he taught sculpture, installation, and site‐work. Josh has an MFA in sculpture from Syracuse University and a BFA in sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute. In the spring of 2016 he has an exhibition at The Nassauischer Kunstverein in Wiesbaden, Germany. Other exhibitions include solo shows at Napoleon in Philadelphia and Martin Chen Gallery in Pittsburgh. He received a 2015 Wildfjords Artist Residency in Isafjordur, Iceland and is an ongoing contributor to Sculpture Magazine.
Julie Poitras Santos, Adjunct Assistant Professor of the MFA in Studio Art
Julie Poitras Santos employs diverse materials to create installations and site‐ specific performances that share a relationship with language. The work engages ritualized actions and spaces as a methodology for narrative re/creation. Also a poet, her research interests include areas where art and language intersect. She has taught sculpture at Bowdoin College, the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design,and the University of Colorado at Boulder. She lived in Barcelona, Spain, for three years (2004‐2007) and worked as the artistic director of the art residency program Can Serrat, in Montserrat National Park. She has a BS from Tufts University in Geology and English and earned her MFA at the University of Colorado. She also has an MFA in poetry from the Stonecoast Creative Writing Program at the University of Southern Maine. She was awarded a NES Artists Residency in Skagastrond, Iceland and her work has been exhibited in Reykjanesbaer Art Museum in Iceland and at the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, Spain.
Gail Spaien, Professor and Chair of the MFA in Studio Art
Gail Spaien interprets the natural world from different perspectives: as observed specimen, as aesthetic concept, as metaphor, and as a subject that can represent ephemeral experience. She investigates this traditional genre as a commentary on the complexities of our time and a continuation of her interest in the intersection of nature and culture. Gail received her BFA from the University of Southern Maine and her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work has been shown at the DeCordova Museum, the Portland Museum of Art, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, the Crocker Art Museum and other venues. She is affiliated with the Miller Yezerski Gallery in Boston and the George Marshall Store Gallery in Maine. Reviews and mentions in major publications include Art New England, the Boston Globe, and New American Painting. Her work has been widely collected and will also be included in the forthcoming Maine Art New: Contemporary Perspectives, published by University of Maine Press. Past Residencies include the Djerassi Foundation Resident Artist Program, Millay Colony for the Arts, and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Gan Xu, Professor of Academic Studies, and Art History
Dr. Gan Xu was born in Shanghai, China and studied art history in the at Xi’an Academy of Art, China. He received his MA in Chinese Art History from Vanderbilt University, and his Ph.D. in Comparative Arts from Ohio University. His research and publications focus on Western and Chinese contemporary art. He has published two books and more than 30 articles in magazines and exhibition catalogs. He lectures nationally and internationally, and has taught at Eastern China Normal University, Sichuan Academy of Art, Langzhou University, and Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts. He has led educational overseas travel groups to China, Japan, Korea, Italy and France. He has been exhibiting his work since the 1970s and also teaches Chinese calligraphy and ink painting.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Jim Shaw, Artist
2016-08-01 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Jim Shaw, Illustrator
Since the 1970s, Jim Shaw has created a vast body of work spanning diverse media and reference points. Shaw’s work mines the essentials of American cultural detritus, from comic books, pulp novels, and album covers, to vintage advertisements, movie posters, and noise rock. Originating from these sources, the work often features recurring characters, including himself, his friends, fictional superheroes, politicians, and film stars. Combining text and the painted figure with objects and drawings from his unconscious, Shaw’s works consistently illustrate purposely bad puns, while twisting politics, religion, and belief into one long dream sequence. Jim Shaw’s most recent solo exhibitions include Jim Shaw, Simon Lee Gallery, London, UK; The End is Here, New Museum, New York, NY; and Entertaining Doubts, MASS MoCA, West Adams, MA. His work will be the focus of two upcoming solo exhibitions: Realisms, at The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia, and Rather Fear God, at Praz Delevallade & Vedovi, Brussels, Belgium.
RSVP on Facebook here.
About the MFA Visiting Artist Summer Lecture Series
MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art Program is pleased to announce the 2016 MFA Lecture Series, which brings a national and international roster of visiting artists, curators, and scholars to Portland, Maine. These Visiting Artists intersect with the MFA Summer Intensive Residency Program, deliver a public lecture, attend critiques, and conduct studio visits with graduate candidates.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Media Sponsor

Down East Enterprise, Inc., is a multimedia company based in Camden, Maine. The company’s flagship publication, Down East Magazine, is the largest paid-circulation magazine dedicated to the Pine Tree State. For nearly six decades, Down East has been the authority on Maine, and today continues to capture the reader’s attention with an insider look at contemporary life in Maine. People who love Maine love Down East.
Artwork Credit
Jim Shaw, Seven Deadly Sins, acrylic on muslin, Left: 96" x 48", Center: 96" x 96", Right: 96" x 48"; 96" x 194" overall, 2013. Courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Ann Hirsch, Performance Artist
2016-07-25 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Ann Hirsch, Performance Artist
Ann Hirsch is a video and performance artist who examines the influence of technology on popular culture and gender. Her immersive research has included becoming a YouTube "camwhore" with over two million video views and an appearance as a contestant on Frank the Entertainer...In a Basement Affair on VH1. She was awarded a Rhizome commission for her two-person play Playground, which debuted at the New Museum and was premiered by South London Gallery at Goldsmiths College. Hirsch has been an artist-in-residence at Yaddo, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Recent solo shows include MIT List Visual Arts Center, Smart Objects, Los Angeles, and the New Museum’s online project space First Look.
RSVP on Facebook here.
About the MFA Visiting Artist Summer Lecture Series
MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art Program is pleased to announce the 2016 MFA Lecture Series, which brings a national and international roster of visiting artists, curators, and scholars to Portland, Maine. These Visiting Artists intersect with the MFA Summer Intensive Residency Program, deliver a public lecture, attend critiques, and conduct studio visits with graduate candidates.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Media Sponsor

Down East Enterprise, Inc., is a multimedia company based in Camden, Maine. The company’s flagship publication, Down East Magazine, is the largest paid-circulation magazine dedicated to the Pine Tree State. For nearly six decades, Down East has been the authority on Maine, and today continues to capture the reader’s attention with an insider look at contemporary life in Maine. People who love Maine love Down East.
Artwork Credit
Ann Hirsch, Playground, 65 minute two person play, performed at The New Museum, presented by Rhizome, 2013. Photo cred: Oresti Tsonopoulous

Visiting Artist Lecture: Keith Edmier, Sculptor
2016-07-18 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Keith Edmier, Sculptor
Keith Edmier has evolved his artistic process into one that intertwines his own personal narrative with historical personalities, architectural simulations, and botanical wonders. He has directly collaborated with many iconic figures such as Farrah Fawcett, Evel Knievel, and Frank Veteran (the doctor who attended to John Lennon the night Lennon was shot), among others. His use of materials such as casting his childhood crush in white Crayola crayon, the recreation of his childhood home, or masterfully executed botanical specimens in otherworldly synthetic materials add to the presence of his work when one encounters his ghostly creations. Keith Edmier has been the focus of numerous exhibitions including Keith Edmier: 1991—2007, CCS Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; Crystaline Wombs and Pregnant Hearts, neugerriemschneider, Berlin; and Keith Edmier, Die Hallen Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum Haarlem, The Netherlands. His upcoming solo exhibition, Brementowne, opens at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis in 2017.
RSVP on Facebook here.
About the MFA Visiting Artist Summer Lecture Series
MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art Program is pleased to announce the 2016 MFA Lecture Series, which brings a national and international roster of visiting artists, curators, and scholars to Portland, Maine. These Visiting Artists intersect with the MFA Summer Intensive Residency Program, deliver a public lecture, attend critiques, and conduct studio visits with graduate candidates.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Media Sponsor

Down East Enterprise, Inc., is a multimedia company based in Camden, Maine. The company’s flagship publication, Down East Magazine, is the largest paid-circulation magazine dedicated to the Pine Tree State. For nearly six decades, Down East has been the authority on Maine, and today continues to capture the reader’s attention with an insider look at contemporary life in Maine. People who love Maine love Down East.
Artwork Credit
Keith Edmier, Victoria Regia (First Night Bloom), Polyester resin, silicon rubber, acrylic, polyurethane, pollen, steel, 285 x 325 x 338 cm, 1998. Courtesy of the Akzo Nobel Art Foundation Collection.

The Inspiration of Abstraction
2016-07-15 19:00 - 20:15 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Portland Preview Event
Doug Varone and Dancers team up with Abstract Painter and MECA&D Faculty member Michel Droge for a look at the inspired work of Joan Mitchell through dance, imagery, and dialogue. A special presentation co-sponsored by Maine College of Art & Design and the Bates Dance Festival. Friday, July 15, 7:00pm at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at MECA&D.
Image header shows Doug Varone and Dancers by Grant Halverson.
About Joan Mitchell
"La Vie en Rose". 1979. Oil on canvas. Overall (4 panels): H. 110-3/8, W. 268-1/4 inches (280.4 x 681.4 cm.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Anonymous Gift and Purchase, George A. Hearn Fund, by exchange, 1991 (1991.139a-d) Image licenced to Jen Dohne Joan Mitchell Foundation by Jen Dohne. © Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource
Joan Mitchell’s primary medium was oil paint on canvas. Mitchell’s professional period began around 1950 and can be loosely defined as the point when she moved into full abstraction. Throughout her life she never ceased to deepen and refine her relationship to and facility with the medium. Her oeuvre can be broken down into a multitude of periods; shifts in her work typically coincide with a shift in her surrounding landscape, personal relationships, or some major life event. Learn more.
About Doug Varone
Award-winning choreographer and director Doug Varone works in dance, theater, opera, film, television and fashion. He is a passionate educator and articulate advocate for dance. By any measure, his work is extraordinary for its emotional range, kinetic breadth and the many arenas in which he works.
His New York City-based Doug Varone and Dancers has been commissioned and presented to critical acclaim by leading international venues for nearly three decades. In 2008, Varone’s Bottomland, set in the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky, was the subject of the PBS Dance in America: Wolf Trap’s Face of America. Learn more.
About Michel Droge
Michel Droge received her BA from Oberlin College and her MFA from Maine College of Art & Design. She is the recipient of awards and grants including the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Award and a Maine Arts Commission Grant. She exhibits regularly both nationally and internationally. Learn more.

Women Make Movies Make History
2016-07-15 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
With Special Guest Ariel Dougherty, director and Women Make Movies co-founder
General Admission $10 / $7 for MECA&D Faculty / $5 for MECA&D Students
Screening of historic, narrative shorts from the 1970s — “Domestic Tranquility” and “Sweet Bananas” — followed by Q&A talkback with director Ariel Dougherty on the films, the history of Women Make Movies, and the future for filmmakers who want to make narrative films about women and girls. The screening will be approximately 45 minutes with 30 minutes for Q&A afterward.
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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Visiting Artist Lecture: Lori Nix, Photographer
2016-07-11 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Lori Nix, Photographer
Lori Nix was born in the late 1960’s and raised in the American Midwest. Her early exposure to the destructive powers of Mother Nature and Hollywood dystopian stories fueled her young imagination. For the last 20+ years she has constructed small scale dioramas and photographed them. Beginning with retelling the tall tales of her youth in her Accidentally Kansas series, she has progressed to imagining urban scenes of the apocalypse. Her last series, The City, spanned 10 years and imagined a future mysteriously devoid of mankind. Intensely detailed and rich in color, her photographs offer up a possible future for modern society. A small selection of Nix’s solo and group exhibition venues include The Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau, Germany; Galerie Klüser, Munich, Germany; Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA; ClampArt Gallery, New York, NY; George Eastman House, Rochester, NY; and Apex Art, New York, NY. Her solo exhibition at the Nerman Museum of Art, Kansas Focus Gallery, Overland Park, KS, is upcoming.
RSVP on Facebook here.
About the MFA Visiting Artist Summer Lecture Series
MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art Program is pleased to announce the 2016 MFA Lecture Series, which brings a national and international roster of visiting artists, curators, and scholars to Portland, Maine. These Visiting Artists intersect with the MFA Summer Intensive Residency Program, deliver a public lecture, attend critiques, and conduct studio visits with graduate candidates.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Media Sponsor

Down East Enterprise, Inc., is a multimedia company based in Camden, Maine. The company’s flagship publication, Down East Magazine, is the largest paid-circulation magazine dedicated to the Pine Tree State. For nearly six decades, Down East has been the authority on Maine, and today continues to capture the reader’s attention with an insider look at contemporary life in Maine. People who love Maine love Down East.
Artwork Credit
Lori Nix, Fountain, from the series The City, C-print, 2008

Visiting Artist Lecture: Huma Bhabha, Sculptor
2016-07-05 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
Huma Bhabha, Sculptor
Huma Bhabha is known for her engagement with the human figure and her use of found materials. Often tending towards the grotesque, Bhabha's sculptural works and photo-based drawings feature bodies that appear dissected and dismembered, but one can likewise view them as monuments to human life reclaimed from the detritus of a post-apocalyptic landscape. Incorporating materials like Styrofoam, animal bones and clay, Bhabha creates figures that feel unstable and ephemeral. Insistently contemporary, they nevertheless recall classical figurative traditions across a range of cultures and historical periods. Huma Bhabha’s selected solo and group exhibitions include Wages of Fear, C L E A R I N G, Brussels, Belgium; Salon 94, New York, NY; VW (VeneKlasen Werner), Berlin, Germany; Unnatural Histories, MoMA PS1, L.I.C., NY; All The Worlds Futures, 56TH La Biennale di Venezia 2015, Venice, Italy; Wild Noise: Artwork from The Bronx Museum of the Arts, El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba; and America is Hard to See, Whitney Museum of American Art Inaugural exhibition, New York, NY.
RSVP on Facebook here.
About the MFA Visiting Artist Summer Lecture Series
MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art Program is pleased to announce the 2016 MFA Lecture Series, which brings a national and international roster of visiting artists, curators, and scholars to Portland, Maine. These Visiting Artists intersect with the MFA Summer Intensive Residency Program, deliver a public lecture, attend critiques, and conduct studio visits with graduate candidates.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Media Sponsor

Down East Enterprise, Inc., is a multimedia company based in Camden, Maine. The company’s flagship publication, Down East Magazine, is the largest paid-circulation magazine dedicated to the Pine Tree State. For nearly six decades, Down East has been the authority on Maine, and today continues to capture the reader’s attention with an insider look at contemporary life in Maine. People who love Maine love Down East.
Artwork Credit
Detail of Against What? Against Whom?, 2014, Cork, Styrofoam, wood, acrylic paint, oilstick
Sculpture Dimensions: 95 x 36 1/8 x 24 inches (241.3 x 91.8 x 61 cm)
Base Dimensions: 56 x 44 x 4 inches (142.2 x 111.8 x 10.2 cm)
Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94, New York

Ann Hirsch: Sharing Love
2016-07-01 17:00 - 2016-08-12 19:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Ann Hirsch: Sharing Love
Video still from: how to be alluring (After Chris Farley), part of hornylilfeminist.com, run time 16 secs, 2015, courtesy the artist and American Medium, Brooklyn.
On view from Friday, July 1—Friday, August 12, 2016
Exhibition Opening, Friday, July 1, 5:00-8:00pm
Visiting Artist Lecture, July 25, 5:30-7:00pm, Osher Lecture Hall
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design
Ann Hirsch: Sharing Love at ICA at MECA&D presents works by video and performance artist Ann Hirsch made over the last decade. The Los Angeles-based artist is known for her approachable and often humorous investigations into love, gender, the female body, pop culture and the internet. Hirsch’s works take myriad forms, including a video art website archive, a Youtube channel, reality TV appearances, an iOS app, paintings, and even a play. They are brought together at ICA at MECA&D as immersive multi-media installations.
Born in the mid-1980s, Hirsch examines the changing landscape of sexuality amidst the burgeoning web culture pre- and post-Y2K. Her works often takes the form of coming-of-age narratives of the first generation of digital natives, now in their early 30s. The app Twelve (2013), censored from the Apple store, recounts Hirsch’s preteen experience finding love with an older man in a chatroom, while her most recent work, Horny Lil Feminist (2015) is an archive of quick webcam videos riffing on ideas about gender, marriage, and online feminism. Her works, often incredibly personal, are disarming in their frankness, openly exploring aspects of sexuality that tend not to be aired in public. An early work, The Scandalishious Project (2008-09), is a Youtube channel archive of Hirsch’s online performance as the hipster “camwhore” Caroline, and has received over two million views. It is shown at the ICA at MECA&D as a projection with the response videos and often misogynist and anti-semitic comments it received. Here For You (Or my Brief Love Affair with Frank Maresca) (2011) features Hirsch’s intervention on the VH1 reality television program Frank the Entertainer… in a Basement Affair, in which she challenged the typecasting of her character with poop jokes. Dr. Guttman’s Office (2014-2015) comprises paintings based on childhood drawings and portrait color pencil drawings evoking feelings of body dysmorphia and emotional isolation.
Ann Hirsch was awarded a Rhizome commission for her two-person play Playground, which debuted at the New Museum and was premiered by South London Gallery at Goldsmiths College. Hirsch has been an artist-in- residence at Yaddo, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Recent solo shows include MIT List Visual Arts Center, Smart Objects, Los Angeles, and the New Museum’s online project space First Look. She is represented by American Medium in New York and Arcadia Missa in London.
Ann Hirsch: Sharing Love is curated by Karen Archey. Karen Archey is an art critic and independent curator based in New York and Berlin. With a focus on feminist practices and the intersection of art and technology, her writing is regularly featured in Frieze, Art Review, Art-Agenda. She is Editor of e-flux conversations, and a 2016 Arts Writers Grant recipient for short-form writing.

Made in LA
2016-07-01 17:00 - 2016-07-31 17:30 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Made in LA
On view from Friday, July 1, 2016 – Sunday, July 31, 2016
Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, July 1, 2016, 5:00–8:00pm
June Fitzpatrick Gallery at Maine College of Art & Design

An interactive exhibition of the thriving yet often hidden creative makers in Lewiston Auburn, Maine, showcasing the ideas, processes and products driven by innovation and dependent on traditional and contemporary design solutions.
As an institution devoted to educating our students on the value of process and skill in the crafting of their work, Maine College of Art & Design is excited to present this exhibition highlighting the breadth of skilled makers residing in Lewiston Auburn, Maine. Made in LA will showcase the diverse range of manufacture and artisanal craftsmanship taking place in these cities. With recognition of their deeply rooted history in mill manufacture, we look forward to the present and future of these industries, and honor how Lewiston Auburn maintains a thriving and growing community of makers and products. Participants in the exhibition include: Rancourt & Co. Shoecrafters, Thomas Moser, Maine Thread Company, McIntosh & Company Cabinetmakers, Sofia Fima, Fashionuji, Bourgeois Guitars, Elmet Technologies, Modula, Globe Footwear, EllieAnna Purse Company, Neokraft, and Museum LA.
Made in LA is curated by Nikki Rayburn. Nikki received an MFA in Craft/Material Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013 and a BFA in Woodworking and Furniture Design from Maine College of Art & Design in 2011. Her work embraces traditional craft techniques, with training in woodworking, textiles, and basketry construction, and aims to honor the laborious and physical nature of one’s making practice. Nikki has exhibited her work extensively throughout the United States, and has work included in multiple permanent collections including the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, VA. She currently serves as Adjunct Faculty and Woodshop Technician in the Woodworking and Furniture Design Department at Maine College of Art & Design.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Hrag Vartanian, Editor-in-Chief of Hyperallergic
2016-06-27 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Hrag Vartanian, Editor-in-Chief of Hyperallergic
Hrag Vartanian is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic, the winning art blogazine based in Brooklyn, NY. His art criticism explores the evolving status of art, its audience, and its transmission and reception. His words and images have appeared in countless publications, and he has been invited as a guest commentator on Al Jazeera, CBC, ABC, WNYC, KCRW, and other national and international media outlets. In addition to his writing and commentary, he has curated numerous exhibitions, including #TheSocialGraph, which was the first exploration of the evolving landscape of social media art back in 2010, and The Arch of my Eye's Orbit at BAM in 2016. He maintains an extensive Flickr archive of art-related images (10,000+) under a Creative Commons license.
RSVP on Facebook here.
About the MFA Visiting Artist Summer Lecture Series
MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art Program is pleased to announce the 2016 MFA Lecture Series, which brings a national and international roster of visiting artists, curators, and scholars to Portland, Maine. These Visiting Artists intersect with the MFA Summer Intensive Residency Program, deliver a public lecture, attend critiques, and conduct studio visits with graduate candidates.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Media Sponsor

Down East Enterprise, Inc., is a multimedia company based in Camden, Maine. The company’s flagship publication, Down East Magazine, is the largest paid-circulation magazine dedicated to the Pine Tree State. For nearly six decades, Down East has been the authority on Maine, and today continues to capture the reader’s attention with an insider look at contemporary life in Maine. People who love Maine love Down East.
Header credit
Photo by Veken Gueyikian.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Seth Goldenberg MFA '05, Designer
2016-06-23 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Seth Goldenberg, CEO of The Epic Decade
Seth Goldenberg is the Founder & CEO of The Epic Decade, a design think tank group propelled by the essential question "How will we Live, Learn, Work, Play, and Sustain ourselves in the 21st century?" The studio works with clients, sponsors, and partners to convene thought leaders, develop intellectual property, forge stakeholder and business partnership collaborations, and launch complex demonstration projects that represent breakthrough business and cultural models. Participants in The Epic Decade's IDEAS Salons have included executives from Google, Apple, GE, Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, Harvard University, American Express, the Gap, MIT Media Lab, the Guggenheim Museum, Genentech, University of Toronto, IBM, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, NASA, and more. The Epic Decade takes on some of the most complex, wicked, and inextricable challenges of our time.
RSVP on Facebook here.
About the MFA Visiting Artist Summer Lecture Series
MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art Program is pleased to announce the 2016 MFA Lecture Series, which brings a national and international roster of visiting artists, curators, and scholars to Portland, Maine. These Visiting Artists intersect with the MFA Summer Intensive Residency Program, deliver a public lecture, attend critiques, and conduct studio visits with graduate candidates.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.
Media Sponsor

Down East Enterprise, Inc., is a multimedia company based in Camden, Maine. The company’s flagship publication, Down East Magazine, is the largest paid-circulation magazine dedicated to the Pine Tree State. For nearly six decades, Down East has been the authority on Maine, and today continues to capture the reader’s attention with an insider look at contemporary life in Maine. People who love Maine love Down East.
Header credit
Photo courtesy of Epic Decade.

Art in Exodus Storytellling
2016-06-20 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
On National Refugee Day, Monday, June 20, from 6-8pm, MECA&D hosts “Stories from Art in Exodus,” a storytelling event through which the work of the artists in the Art in Exodus exhibition will come to life.
Art in Exodus is a mentoring, exhibition, and storytelling project through which refugee artists share their art and culture through an exhibition and a storytelling event.
Maine College of Art & Design is pleased to present the second annual Art in Exodus exhibition in it’s flagship Porteous Building, from June 3-24, 2016, in recognition of World Refugee Day, which takes place every year on June 20 and in conjunction with Portland’s World Refugee Day celebration at King Middle School on Saturday, June 4, 2016. Open 9:00am—5:00pm weekdays in the Porteous Lobby.
The exhibition Art in Exodus features five artists: Kifah Abdullah from Iraq (acrylic paintings); Nabaa Alobaidi from Iraq (traditional pyrography woodburning); Titi De Baccarat from the African country of Gabon (mixed media paintings, sculpture, and jewelry); Jawad Alfatlawi from Iraq (handmade traditional instruments); and Diana Brown from Colombia (wearable textile 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.

Vermont Interiors by Diane E. Fitch '79
2016-06-13 09:00 - 2016-09-07 17:00 (America/New_York) | Charles C. Thomas Gallery at Maine College of Art & Design, second floor
Diane E. Fitch '79, Hollister's Sewing Machine Collection, oil on linen, 24" x 36", 2016
Vermont Interiors by Diane E. Fitch '79
Charles Thomas Gallery exhibition
June 1—September 7, 2016
Monday - Friday 9am-5pm
"It is the essentials of painting that continue to intrigue me: the interplay between structure and meaning; the tension between surface and space/illusion/plasticity; the ability of a paint stroke to simultaneously be a concrete material substance and signifier.
I never paint portraits that focus solely on an individual: I am interested in the figure in a space, in how the person occupies a room, how he or she echoes other visual rhythms, or creates a contrast to the geometry of the space. I respond to complicated spaces, painting a room looking into another room, or an interior that opens onto the outdoors. As I make the painting I create paths to navigate the two dimensional and illusionistic constructs."

Ceramics Pop-up Shop
2016-06-09 11:00 - 2016-06-19 17:00 (America/New_York)
Ceramics Pop-up Shop
Kristen Kieffer "Stamped cups. Wheel-thrown, stamped, and altered mid-range porcelain with underglaze and slip-trail deco, cone 7 oxidation."
On view from Thursday, June 9 — Sunday, June 19, 2016
The Pop-up Shop will be open Wednesday–Sunday, 11:00–5:00pm and on Thursday, 11:00am–7:00pm.
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, William Sloane Jelin Gallery
Please join us June 9–June 19 for a Pop-up Shop and presentations featuring the ceramic work of Ayumi Horie, Kristen Kieffer, Kathy King, and Kari Radasch. This pop-up shop lasts ten days only and promises to deliver some of the best ceramic work around. Remember to move fast, all work will sell out.
The ICA will host the Potters Council's: Graphic Surface Techniques workshops on June 10-12. To learn more about the workshop, please click here.
Kari Radash "Assorted Jars and App Plates, glaze fired earthenware, sizes vary, 2015"
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Art in Exodus Exhibition
2016-06-03 09:00 - 2016-06-24 17:00 (America/New_York) | Porteous Building, Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Art in Exodus is a mentoring, exhibition, and storytelling project through which refugee artists share their art and culture through an exhibition and a storytelling event.
Maine College of Art & Design is pleased to present the second annual Art in Exodus exhibition in it’s flagship Porteous Building, from June 3-24, 2016, in recognition of World Refugee Day, which takes place every year on June 20 and in conjunction with Portland’s World Refugee Day celebration at King Middle School on Saturday, June 4, 2016. Open 9:00am-5:00pm weekdays in the Porteous Lobby.
The exhibition Art in Exodus features five artists and will feature an opening reception from 5-8pm on Thursday, June 2. The reception will include food from local ethnic markets and vendors, as well as music. Featured artists include Kifah Abdullah from Iraq (acrylic paintings); Nabaa Alobaidi from Iraq (traditional pyrography woodburning); Titi De Baccarat from the African country of Gabon (mixed media paintings, sculpture, and jewelry); Jawad Alfatlawi from Iraq (handmade traditional instruments); and Diana Brown from Colombia (wearable textile art). The exhibit will also be open during the June 3 First Friday Artwalk, 5-8pm and refugee artists from the community, in addition to the featured artists, will offer their work for sale.
In addition, on World Refugee Day, Monday, June 20, from 6:00-8:00pm, MECA&D will offer “Stories from Art in Exodus,”a storytelling event through which the work of the exhibited artists will come to life.
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.

MFA, MAT & BFA Commencement
2016-05-07 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | State Theatre, 609 Congress St, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Maine College of Art & Design celebrates the graduation of students from its BFA, MFA, and MAT Programs on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 10:00am at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine.
For more information for parents and student, please click here.
The faculty speaker will be Chris Stiegler, Visiting Assistant Professor, MFA in Studio Art and Academic Studies.
The MFA Speaker will be Tessa O'Brien MFA ’16; the MAT speaker will be Andrea Reising MAT ’16; and the BFA speaker will be Coral Howe BFA ’16.
Ruby Lerner will deliver the Commencement address and receive an Honorary Degree.
Ruby Lerner is founding executive director and president of Creative Capital, an organization that supports innovative artists across the country with funding, counsel and skills-building workshops. Previously, Lerner was executive director of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers and publisher of The Independent Film & Video Monthly, among other leadership positions. Lerner is a frequent speaker on innovation in the arts and serves on advisory boards for the Headlands Center for the Arts, the Ackland Art Museum, the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, and Light Industry, among others.
The College will also confer Honorary Degrees on David Shaw and C. David Thomas ’68.
David Shaw’s career has encompassed entrepreneurial business leadership, public service, strategy consulting, and investment management. Shaw founded IDEXX Laboratories in 1983 and served as its CEO until 2002. He has subsequently been a director and/or founding investor of more than a dozen public and private companies in healthcare, energy, technology, and e-commerce.
C. David Thomas ’68 has long plied his craft as an artist, educator, and humanist. Thomas founded the Indochina Arts Partnership, which conducts cultural exchange programs between the United States and the countries of Southeast Asia. He has taught at Emmanuel College and Massachusetts College of Art, has been the recipient of numerous accolades and awards, and has had art included in more than 25 one-person shows and hundreds of group exhibitions.

MECA&Dmorphosis: Thesis Exhibition Celebration
2016-05-06 17:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Porteous Building, Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
MECA&Dmorphosis celebrates MECA&D's graduating professional artists and raises critical scholarship funds to educate the next generation of artists. This year, MECA&Dmorphosis consists of two separate events.

Friday April 29: Runway Fashion Show
The Runway Fashion Show in the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) featured work by students in our Textile & Fashion Design Program and was another huge success this year and raised crucial support for MECA&D's Student Scholarship Fund.
See photos of the event on MECA&D's Facebook Page and at Maine magazine's Faces Maine Facebook Page.
Friday, May 6: 2016 Thesis Exhibition Opening 5:00–8:00pm
The 2016 Thesis Exhibition Opening is held in conjunction with the First Friday Artwalk. This year’s exhibition features work by over 100 graduating students in our BFA, MFA, and MAT programs. Our celebration includes light fare and interactive art on Floors 1, 2 and 3 of the Porteous Building. Free and open to the public.
For more information contact Dietlind Vander Schaaf at 699.5012 or dvanderschaaf@meca.edu.
In Sensorium
In Sensorium is a four-part exhibition of thesis works from the graduating BFA class at Maine College of Art & Design. Each section explores the use of different materials, identities, processes and visual languages through four distinct themes: render, arrive, disturbance, and vivid. The exhibition showcases work from 11 disciplines across three floors of the Porteous building and two adjacent galleries. This collection of exploratory concepts and innovative designs culminate into a full sensorium of experience. Learn more about the exhibition.
On view in the Porteous Building
Friday, April 29–Saturday, May 21, 2016.
Opening Reception
Friday, May 6, 2016; 5:00–8:00pm
MFA Thesis Exhibit
MFA thesis work will be exhibited in the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D.
On view in the ICA
Friday, April 29–Saturday, May 27, 2016
Wed-Sun 11:00am-5:00pm; Thu 11:00am-7:00pm
Opening Reception
Friday, May 6, 2016; 5:00–8:00pm

2016 Sponsors

Contributors

Media Sponsors

MFA Thesis Exhibition
2016-05-06 11:00 - 2016-05-27 17:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
MFA Thesis Exhibition
Maine College of Art & Design is pleased to announce the opening of the 2016 MFA Thesis Exhibition. The exhibition features work in a variety of media and surveys a range of conceptual themes and creative approaches that characterize the global cultural landscape and contemporary art practice.
The MFA Thesis Exhibition spotlights works by 13 artists graduating from MECA&D’s Master of Fine Arts Program in 2016: Mirandah Akeley, Melissa Cunningham, Annika Earley, Amelia Garretson-Persans, Cole Goldstein, Mickey McGarrity, Tessa O’Brien, Veronica Perez, Michelle Rogers, Bronwyn Sale, Nisu Seder, Xin Wang and Thressa Willett.
The thesis exhibition represents a synthesis of each student’s experience in Maine College of Art & Design’s MFA Program in Studio Art. Artwork located in the Institute of Contemporary Art on the first floor.
On view from May 6–May 27; open for viewing Wednesday–Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm, and Thursday until 7:00pm.
Image credit
Nisu Seder, Rope Waves, 2016, rope and filament

MECA&Dmorphosis 2016: Runway Fashion Show
2016-04-29 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
MECA&Dmorphosis celebrates MECA&D's graduating professional artists and raises critical scholarship funds to educate the next generation of artists. This year, MECA&Dmorphosis consists of two separate events.

Friday April 29: Runway Fashion Show
The Runway Fashion Show in the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) features work by students in our Textile & Fashion Design Program. Tickets required. Doors open at 7:00pm, show begins at 7:30pm.

Purchase tickets
Casting Call for 2016 Models
Friday, May 6: 2016 Thesis Exhibition Opening 5:00–8:00pm
The 2016 Thesis Exhibition Opening will be held in conjunction with the First Friday Artwalk. This year’s exhibition features work by over 100 graduating students in our BFA, MFA and MAT programs. Light fare and interactive art on Floors 1, 2 and 3 of the Porteous Building. Free and open to the public.
For more information contact Dietlind Vander Schaaf at 699.5012 or dvanderschaaf@meca.edu.
In Sensorium
In Sensorium is a four-part exhibition of thesis works from the graduating senior class at Maine College of Art & Design. Each section explores the use of different materials, identities, processes and visual languages through four distinct themes: render, arrive, disturbance, and vivid. The exhibition showcases work from 11 disciplines across three floors of the Porteous building and two adjacent galleries. This collection of exploratory concepts and innovative designs culminate into a full sensorium of experience. Learn more about the exhibition.
On view in Porteous Building
Friday, April 29–Saturday, May 21, 2016.
Opening Reception
Friday, May 6, 2016; 5:00–8:00pm
2016 Sponsors

Contributors

Media Sponsors

In Sensorium: 2016 BFA Thesis Exhibition
2016-04-29 11:00 - 2016-05-21 17:00 UTC
In Sensorium is a four-part exhibition of thesis works from the graduating senior class at Maine College of Art & Design. Each section explores the use of different materials, identities, processes and visual languages through four distinct themes: render, arrive, disturbance, and vivid. The exhibition showcases work from 11 disciplines across three floors of the Porteous building and two adjacent galleries. This collection of exploratory concepts and innovative designs culminate into a full sensorium of experience.
On view in Porteous Building
Friday, April 29–Saturday, May 21, 2016.
Opening Reception
Friday, May 6, 2016; 5:00–8:00pm
Viewing Hours
Wednesday—Sunday, 11:00am–5:00pm
Thursday until 7:00pm
Image Credit
Hannah Boone '16, My mom thinks you always look sad, 2016, acrylic on panel, 20"x30”, photography by Alik Versocki '15

Band Blender Performances
2016-04-23 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
The Band Blender is a coached ensemble class in MECA&D's Bob Crewe Program in Music and Art. Students have been working in different configurations, creating and rehearsing music new and old. All concerts are free and open to the public.
Performance #1
When: Thursday, April 14 @ 7:00pm
Who: Members of the Band Blender (a subset of the full group)
Where: Artists at Work
Performance #2
When: Thursday, April 21 @ 12:30pm
Who: The Band Blender (full group)
Where: ICA
Performance #3
When: Saturday, April 23 @ 6:00pm
Who: The Band Blender (full group)
Where: Osher

MECA&D Film Festival
2016-04-22 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
The MECA&D Film Festival is a viewing and celebration of student film work in the categories of Documentary, Narrative, and Experimental/Animated. It takes place on Friday, April 22. Doors at 6:30pm, film starts at 7:00pm. There will be jury-awarded trophies in each category. This is a closed event only for the MECA&D community.

Seed Bombs on Earth Day
2016-04-22 17:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Converging Roots / Verdant Bloom
Leading up to Earth Day, an interactive project space designed and facilitated by the Public Engagement Program with a focus on climate change and the environment. Visitors can participate, learn, take away, discuss and activate the ICA. Projects for all ages include screen printing poster workshops, DIY zine station, seed bomb making, panel discussions, films, and a climate change research station.
Events

Friday, April 1: Participatory Screen-printing Station & Art Giveaway, 5:00–8:00pm
Friday, April 8: Artist Panel on Art-making & Environmental Responsibility, 6:30pm
Wednesday, April 20: Green Zine DIY Drop-in Zine-making, 12:00-3:00pm
Thursday, April 21: Screenprinted Poster-making, 12:00–2:00pm
Friday, April 22: Seed Bombs on Earth Day, 5:00-8:00pm

Learn more about the exhibition Collective Actions at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at MECA&D.

Opening and Book Signing for On Broadway: From Rent to Revolution
2016-04-21 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | ICA at MECA&D, 522 Congress St., Portland, Maine, 04101, United States
Opening and Book Signing for On Broadway: From Rent to Revolution
With Drew Hodges, Founder of SpotCo
Thursday, April 21, 6:00–8:00pm with remarks at 7:00pm
Artists at Work, First floor of Porteous
Published by Rizzoli, On Broadway is a visual and oral history of Broadway with artwork by SpotCo, the New York design company founded by Drew Hodges, who will be a faculty member in the Graphic Design Department this fall. The book was written by Drew Hodges with a foreword by Chip Kidd and an introduction by David Sedaris.
