Maine College of Art

CREATE VI
2017-08-23 09:00 - 2017-09-15 17:00 (America/New_York) | Maine College of Art & Design, First Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
CREATE VI: MECA&D's 6th Annual Continuing Studies Student & Faculty Exhibition
Porteous, First Floor
On View: August 23–September 15, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, August 25, 5-7pm
The annual Continuing Studies student and faculty exhibition at MECA&D features a range of work from paintings to photographs to ceramics and highlights the breadth and depth of talent in our local community.

Please click above to enlarge poster.
Artists

Kifah Abdullah
Aileen Agnew
Cynthia Ahlstrin
Nela Alvarez-Sotomayor
Jennifer Battis
Laura Bicherl
Liz Bieber
Annette Cardullo
Kay Carter
Jean-Marie Caterina
Crystal Cawley
Mary Baldwin Collins
Russ Cox
Bess Cutler
Diane Dahlke
Kathryn SB Davis
Deb Dawson
Anna Dibble
Kathleen Donkin
John Doyle
Abby Elder
Betsy Elliman
Hayley Emmons
Amy Fecteau
Rachel Alvarez Flaherty
Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo
Linda Green
Marshall Green
Alicia Greenwald
Katherine Griffin
Cathryn Hammond
James Harrod
Lynn Holler
Janet Hyland
Alison Kamar
Wendy Kaye

Ruth Kepron
Marguerite Lawler
Gilles Letourneau
Carol MacLeod
Margareta McDonald
Richard McFaul
Karen Merritt
Rachel Michaud
Martha Miller
Mary Morse
Maggie Muth
James Neuger
Phoebe Parker
Kerrin Parkinson
Sally Paterson
Emily Percival
Gail Pfeifle
Christina Replogle
Digby Roberts
Wylie Roberts
Jillian Schleicher
Arthur Schaefer
Mary Siteman
Adam Stockman
Tricia Toms
Tammy Towle
Amy Vander Els
Linda Vander Els
Dietlind Vander Schaaf
Kathy Wagner
Kelly Wallace
Mardie Weldon

Kathy Wagner, Rene, oil on panel, 24" x 24"

An Evening with New Yorker Illustrator Emily Flake
2017-08-28 18:30 - 20:00 | 45 Seashore Avenue, Peaks Island, ME, United States
An Evening with New Yorker Illustrator Emily Flake

Monday, August 28, 6:30–8:00pm
Historic 5th Maine Museum on Peaks Island
45 Seashore Avenue, Peaks Island, ME
Free and open to the public
Presented by MECA&D & the Illustration Institute

Emily Flake began cartooning for The New Yorker in 2008, and has had more than a hundred cartoons published in the magazine since. Her cartoons and illustrations have also appeared in Mad, the New York Times, the New Statesman, the Wall Street Journal, the Globe and Mail, and in many other publications. Her book These Things Ain’t Gonna Smoke Themselves (Bloomsbury USA) was published in 2007, and she is currently working on Mama Tried, a book of essays and cartoons about parenting.

An Evening with Wayne White
2017-08-29 18:30 - 20:30 | 2 Garden Pl, Peaks Island, ME, 04108, United States
An Evening with Wayne White

Tuesday, August 29, 7:00–9:00pm
Peaks Island Lions Club
2 Garden Pl, Peaks Island, ME 04108
Free and open to the public

Wayne White

The Illustration Institute will be screening the documentary BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING followed by a Q&A with Wayne White, who is the subject of the film.
Wayne White is an American artist, art director, puppeteer, set designer, animator, cartoonist and illustrator. He has won four Emmy Awards for his work. Learn more about him here.
View the trailer for Beauty is Embarrassing here.
View Wayne White's TED Talk here.

An Evening with Cartoonist Mimi Pond
2017-08-31 19:00 - 21:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
An Evening with Cartoonist Mimi Pond

Thursday, August 31, 7:00–9:00pm
Maine College of Art & Design's Osher Hall
522 Congress St, Portland, ME
Free and open to the public

Join LA-based cartoonist Mimi Pond for the launch of her highly-anticipated graphic novel The Customer Is Always Wrong. Told in the same brash yet earnest style as her previous memoir Over Easy, The Customer is Always Wrong is the saga of a young naïve artist named Madge working in a restaurant of charming drunks, junkies, thieves, and creeps. Taking place in Oakland in the late seventies, Pond’s story details the trials and tribulations of Madge’s daily grind as a waitress at the Imperial Cafe. She'll be joined in conversation by local author, illustrator, and professor at MECA&D, Scott Nash.
Mimi Pond is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. She has created comics for the Los Angeles Times, Seventeen magazine, National Lampoon, and many other publications. She has also written for television: her credits include the first full-length episode of The Simpsons, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”, and episodes for the television shows Designing Women and Pee Wee’s Playhouse. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the painter Wayne White.

ICA at MECA&D: American Genre Painting Symposium
2017-09-15 10:00 - 17:00 | ME
Portland, Maine ~ The Institute of Contemporary Art in conjunction with the Painting and MFA programs at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) is pleased to invite the public to attend On Genre: A Painting Symposium, a daylong series of conversations about the power of painting and the idea of genre as a cultural structure — one that guides interpretation, anticipation and imagination.
This unique community gathering will spotlight and examine the exhibition American Genre: Contemporary Painting, curated by Michelle Grabner, Crown Family Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Nationally and internationally recognized presenters will be joined by an engaged group of artists, arts leaders and students to share perspectives about still life, landscape and portraiture as categories that chart historical continuity and reveal American value systems. A rich opportunity for extended discussion, Grabners’ exhibition is compelling and approachable, and yields great potential for interpretation and reflection on painting and genre as spaces of agreement.
The morning session will begin with a brief overview by Michelle Grabner, followed a keynote lecture entitled Contemporary Genre Painting: Animating the Intimate by Marie Shurkus, Ph.D, Chair of Academic Studies and Professor of Art History at MECA&D. Drawing insight from the feminist tenet that the personal is political, this talk will analyze how contemporary genre paintings invite audiences to participate in an imaginary realm that activates real consequences.
An afternoon panel discussion, Painting as Common Ground, led by Barry Schwabsky, American poet and the art critic for The Nation (the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States), will explore genre and painting as systems that organize, interpret, translate and imagine history and experience. In response to Michelle Grabner's curatorial focus, five panelists Sharon Butler, Angela Dufresne, Shara Hughes, Chris Stiegler and Roger White will share a variety of perspectives and insights about contemporary painting and illuminate the role of genre as a ubiquitous frame of reference. A community event intended to foster cultural dialogue, audience members will be encouraged to take part in an extended question and answer period following the presentation.
On Genre: A Painting Symposium will end with a closing reception in the ICA. For more information, please contact Erin Hutton, Director of Exhibitions and Special Projects, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art & Design at 207.699.5025 or ica@meca.edu .
This event is free and open to the public. Due to limited seating, RSVP to the September 15th Symposium by emailing ica@meca.edu.
Header Artwork: Dan Attoe, Cedar Tree with Creep, 2017

Adriane Herman: Out of Sorts
2017-09-16 12:00 - 2017-10-14 18:00 | SPEEDWELL, 630 Forest Avenue, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Adriane Herman: Out of Sorts
On view September 16–October 14 at SPEEDWELL

Surrender Sunday
Sunday, October 1, 2-4pm
First Friday Art Walk
Friday, Oct 6, 4-8pm
Artist talk with Adriane Herman
Friday, October 13, 6pm
Emotional Value Auction/Closing Reception
Saturday, October 14, 12-5pm

Visit SPEEDWELL's site for more information.
Read Portland Press Herald's "Artist Adriane Herman’s changing lives, one project at a time."

SPEEDWELL projects proudly presents Out of Sorts, an exhibition orchestrated by experience broker, Adriane Herman, which explores cycles of accumulation and release in our physical and emotional landscapes. Opening September 16th with a reception from 5-8 pm, the show invites visitors to consider individual and collective consumption as manifest in five mini-bales of recyclable materials that non-profit solid waste manager, ecomaine compressed and loaned for the exhibition. Also on view are photographs Herman took of our trash being incinerated and our recycling being sorted both mechanically and by hand.
Herman is pressing pause on the recycling process to allow visitors to contemplate their own patterns of consumption, as well as the various conduits for release available to us, and the personal, cultural and global implications of material excess and disposability. To facilitate such reflections, Out of Sorts includes benches fabricated from salvaged wood by Benjamin Spalding and upholstered by Amy Emmons with fabric printed with Herman’s photographs of bales of recycling and municipal woodpiles. Visitors can sit on the plushly cushioned benches and register the visual, visceral, and psychological impact of what she calls “simultaneously minimalist and maximalist monuments to communal efforts to keep things out of the landfill.” Materially manifest in the strata of these intimate yet anonymous commodities is evidence of how we eat, drink, work, play, and clean, and how much attention we pay to discarding things responsibly.
In addition to a First Friday Reception October 6 from 4–8pm, ecomaine’s Environmental Educator, Katrina Venhuizen, will discuss the “art” of recycling and the importance of composting food waste on Friday, September 29th from 6-8 pm. Additional events include two “witnessed releases” Herman is choreographing, including Surrender Sunday, when anyone looking to let go of something weighing them down can consult one-on-one with a compassionate listener/receiver on Sunday, October 1st from 12-2 pm. Herman will give an artist talk Friday, October 13th at 6 pm. Out of Sorts ends with an Emotional Value Auction on Saturday, October 14th from 12-5 pm. Anyone interested in releasing an object they desire to pass on to someone who will value it and know its history can inquire about participation by emailing adrianeherman@gmail.com. “Bids” will take the form of written statements of interest in an item. At the end of the “auction,” each item’s owner may choose a winner. Everyone is welcome to witness these meaningful exchanges between strangers. All events take place at 630 Forest Avenue.
Herman has exhibited widely and lectured at over fifty institutions. Her work is in collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. She is a Professor of the MFA in Visual Art at Maine College of Art & Design, and holds a BA from Smith College and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Out of Sorts, a subsidiary of Herman’s projects Goods Riddance, and The Freeing Throwers, was facilitated by ecomaine, Hour Exchange Portland, The KISMET Foundation, and Yarmouth Public Works.
SPEEDWELL projects is an artist-run studio and gallery dedicated to launching thought-provoking exhibitions in all media, including site-specific installations, public art, spoken word and performance.

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

Ceramics Visiting Artist: Chris Gustin
2017-09-26 11:00 - 11:50 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Visiting Artist Lecture: Chris Gustin
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Presentation: Osher Hall, 11:00–11:50am
Chris Gustin, Cloud Series #1720, 2017, 24x28x25, Stoneware, Anagama Wood Fired
"I am interested in pottery that make connections to the human figure. The figurative analogies used to describe pots throughout history all in some way invite touch. The pots that I respond to all speak of a clear, direct sense of the hand. The hand is celebrated in the work by its maker, whether it is that of a fifteenth century rural potter or a nineteenth century court artisan. And it becomes a necessary tool for the user in understanding the relationship of the object to its function, and subsequently, to how that object informs ones life.
Though most of my work only alludes to function, I use the pot context because of its immense possibilities for abstraction. The skin of the clay holds the invisible interior of the vessel. How I manipulate my forms "around" that air, constraining it, enclosing it, or letting it expand and swell, can allow analogy and metaphor to enter into the work.
I want my work to provoke image to the viewer, to suggest something that is just on the other side of consciousness. I don't want my pots to conjure up a singular recollection, but ones that change with each glance, with each change of light. I use surfaces that purposely encourage touch, and by inviting the hand to explore the forms as well as the eye, I hope to provoke numerous memories, recollections that have the potential to change from moment to moment."
View Chris Gustin's website here.
Chris Gustin, Cloud Series, #1719, 2017, 30x28x26, Stoneware

Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder
2017-10-02 19:00 - 20:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder
Monday, October 2, Osher Hall at 7:00pm
Hrishikesh Hirway is a musician and designer who started making podcasts in 2014. He hosts and produces the award-winning podcast Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.
In 2016, he created The West Wing Weekly, an episode-by-episode discussion of the beloved political drama, which he co-hosts with West Wing actor Joshua Malina. In 2017, Hrishikesh helped Google launch their first original podcast, City Soundtracks, and an experimental music VR project, called Inside Music. He has also collaborated with Apple, WIRED, and Vulture. Through his shows, he has interviewed a wide range of guests, including Björk, U2, Lorde, Metallica, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Allison Janney, and Aaron Sorkin.
Hrishi was an artist-in residence at the Sydney Opera House, and he has spoken about creativity, music, and design at Pinterest, IDEO, Etsy, and the Google Design Conference in Los Angeles. He has a BA in Art from Yale University.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Anthony Sonnenberg
2017-10-05 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.
Anthony Sonnenberg
Thursday, October 5, 12:00–1:00pm
Crowns and candlesticks— things made in the moments just before a crash are the subject of my work. Rather than casting judgments, I seek to actively engage with and bear witness to the tragic and beautiful nature of this cycle. My making comes from seeing the writing on the wall and not knowing what to do about it.
Artist included in ICA exhibition: Confabulations of Millennia. On View: October 6–December 8, 2017
Anthony Sonnenberg, Character Study for Silenus, Archival Inkjet Print, Materials of crown - Hand cut and shaped brass sheeting, brass piping, red coral, silver solder. 2014.

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

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

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

Opening: 2017 Salt Alumni Exhibition
2017-10-06 17:00 - 20:00 | ICA at MECA&D, 522 Congress St., Portland, Maine, 04101, United States

Khen Rinpoche Tsetan: "Dealing with Negativity in the World Around Us"
2017-10-06 19:00 - 20:00 | ME
Khen Rinpoche Tsetan, Tibetan Lama speaks on
"Dealing with Negativity in the World Around Us"
Friday, October 6, 7:00pm
Osher Hall, Second floor, Porteous
Free and open to the public
Khen Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan, a Tibetan Buddhist monk and educator, founded the Siddhartha School in 1995 in his remote home village of Stok, Ladakh. What started in a one-room shed is now an exemplary private school with over 300 students in grades K through 10. The Siddhartha School gives the children of Ladakh access to the highest-quality, thoroughly modern education in the region, while also honoring their way of life and traditions within the school curriculum and activities. Children at the Siddhartha School learn four languages (English, Hindi, Tibetan and Ladakhi), computer skills, sciences, math, creative arts and social studies. Unique in Ladakh, Siddhartha School does not deny admission on the basis of need.

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

Visiting Artist: Jackie Brown
2017-10-19 10:00 - 11:20 | ME
Artist Talk with Jackie Brown
Thursday, October 19, 10–11:20am
Room 209 (Science Lab), Porteous
*not open to the public
Please join us for an artist talk by Jackie Brown, a sculpture installation artist whose work stems from an interest in nature, science, and living systems. She exhibits work nationally including installations at the Roy G Biv Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Saratoga Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. Brown was recently an artist-in-residence at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana and an artist-in-residence at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts. She is currently the Marvin H. Green Jr. Assistant Professor of Art at Bowdoin College and she has an upcoming installation at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, which opens November 11th. Brown received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and her BA from Hamilton College.

2017 MECA&D PechaKucha
2017-10-19 19:00 - 21:30 | ME
PechaKucha 20x20 is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds, as you explain your idea or story. This night celebrates MECA&D with special presentations from our community.

When: Thursday, October 19, 2017. Doors open at 6:30pm. Showtime is 7:20pm.
Where: The Portland House of Music, 25 Temple St., Portland.
Cost: $7 General Admission at door, $5 Students.

Our Emcee for tonight is Raffi der Simonian, MECA&D's Marketing & Communications Director.
RSVP on Facebook
MECA&D Presenters
James Sylvester (Printmaking '18)
The Process of Play

James Sylvester is a visual artist born and raised in Milford, Connecticut. He grew up pushing himself creatively through drawing, skateboarding, and music and studying varying forms of personal expression seen in the drawings of Vincent Van Gogh and heard in the songs of Neil young and Leonard Cohen. Seeking a stronger artistic community, he moved to Portland, Maine to study fine arts at MECA&D, where he fell in love with printmaking processes that allowed him to manipulate and produce his drawings in ways he was not previously capable.

Erin Curren
Art Becomes You

As a creator and teacher, Erin loves sharing the joy of movement through Nia and inspiring others to connect with their bodies, one another, and their creativity in new ways. She believes when we tap into our innate creativity, energy shifts, life is lighter and possibilities flow.

Eva Rose Goetz
Angels, Animals and Robots

Rose Goetz's early years were spent with her family: Mom Dad, brothers and sister and dog Tippy, traveling along flat dusty Texas roads and visiting cotton gins. Her love of art was fostered in the back seat of an old un-air-conditioned station wagon. The family spent winter vacations along Texas border towns near Mexico. Eva crossed into Mexico and her senses were charmed. Goetz's work is born from these early travels into Latin America. Her love of South America, the people, the language, the food, and color--stems from these early beginnings. Today, Eva lives with her own family in Maine; balancing her time between art making, PachaWorks (a shamanic energy practice), and motherhood. Her daughters are now almost grown. She still travels. Peru calls her often, and South America still inspires her.
Goetz received a BFA from University of Texas in Austin, and a MS in Education from Bank Street College in New York where she was also active in the East Village Art Movement. Goetz has exhibited throughout the United States for many years.

Tabitha Barnard (Photography '16)
Cult of Womanhood

Tabitha Barnard was born in Freedom, New Hampshire, in 1994. She is a photographer who grew up in rural Maine with three sisters. Growing up in a very Christian female-dominated family has had a huge influence on her work. She works primarily in digital and analog color photography, exploring themes of femininity and religion. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art from Maine College of Art & Design in the Spring of 2016 and currently works as the media technician at the Maine College of Art & Design.

Lewis Rossignol (Illustration '17)
Discarded: A Visual Journal

Lewis Rossignol is a freelance illustrator located in South Portland, Maine. He graduated with a BFA in Illustration from Maine College of Art & Design. He has worked with clients including Dispatch Magazine, Current Affairs Magazine, ICA @ MECA&D, Defender Razors, Geary Brewing, and JDM Pedals.

Hannah Merchant (Woodworking & Furniture Design '13)
Strengthening Within for a Resilient Future

Hannah Merchant earned a BFA in Woodworking and Furniture Design, a minor in Public Engagement from the Maine College of Art & Design in 2013. She assisted Future Farmers during the WORK OUT: Sustainable Engagements with Landscape exhibit at the deCordova Sculpture Park. She designed and built the Grow Cart, a tricycle powered mobile farmstand for Portland nonprofit, Cultivating Community. Her current project, motivated by motherhood, sustainability, and connecting to our food, is homesteading and starting Dugnad Farm in Northport, Maine.

Gergana Rupchina (Graphic Design '98, MAT '17)
My Multifaceted Human Experience

Gergana Rupchina has been creating art starting at an early age in her native country of Bulgaria. Her love for art eventually lead her to the Maine College of Art & Design where she earned a BFA in Graphic Design. After working as a graphic designer and a self employed artist, she decided to embark on a new carrier as an art teacher. Gergana went back to the Maine College of Art & Design to graduate from their Master of Arts in Teaching program. Throughout my creative life experiences, she has designed jewelry, created pattern designs, as well as a mixed media art.

Mark Marchesi (Photography '99)
Now You See Me... The Changing Cityscape of Portland

Mark Marchesi was born in 1977 in a suburb of NYC. He earned a BFA in photography from Maine College of Art & Design in 1999. Mark's photographs have been exhibited widely throughout the US. Notable shows include Port of Portland: A Ship Shaped History at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine, Slack Water at Space Gallery in Portland, ME, and most recently Evangeline: A Modern Tale of Acadia at PhoPa Gallery in Portland. Mark has received three Maine Arts Commission grants to support photographic efforts, his images have been published in two photography books about Maine, and he recently published a monograph. Mark currently resides in the Portland area with his wife and two young daughters.

Joanne Arnold (Painting '79)
Showing Up

In 1979, Joanne Arnold graduated from Maine College of Art & Design with a BFA in Painting, with honors.
Regaining her visual self became a priority for Joanne 10 years ago after all of her children were off to college. One practice she began and continues now is to photograph at first light/dawn every day, year round, without exception. She wanted to learn the lessons of showing up; of putting herself on the spot; to work with what was available right in front of her and recalibrate the discipline of seeing; to be faced over and over again with a not-knowing that would rekindle a spirit of invention and challenge her assumptions.
In 2013 Joanne was ordained as an Interfaith Chaplain after two years of study and internships. The listening skills cultivated in chaplaincy deepened her ability to witness and extended her empathy and compassion. She found that the camera became a part of chaplaincy; a sacred witnessing; a visual listening; an opportunity to discover something about the people she shared this world with. Joanne found that the camera offered her a way to be with people that she cannot otherwise experience without the camera; it becomes an extension of care and connection. Joanne discovered it was not a way to stay on the periphery, but a tool that allowed her to enter the field with the subject, in a place of grace, where they are affected by one another.

Coral Howe (Illustration '16)
Reiki—The Power of Nothing

I have a rare form of tinnitus where all I hear is screaming. I graduated from MECA&D in 2016. I tried to run away as fast as possible, but I tripped and scuffed my knee. I've been here ever since.

Photo by Niki Taylor

Want to view videos from our last PK? Click here.

Wayne Higby: Artist Talk
2017-10-26 17:30 - 19:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
ELEMENTAL INTERSECTIONS:
Conversations on Art & Environment | Part 3: Earth
Thursday, October 26, at 5:30 pm
Osher Hall, Second Floor, Porteous
Join Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts at MECA&D for a conversation exploring the intersections of art-making and our environment.
Artist Wayne Higby will join Donna Loring of Maine's Penobscot Nation and marine geologist Joe Kelly to discuss the dynamic and unique qualities of Maine's rocky coastline. Julie Burstein, co-creator of Public Radio's Studio 360, will facilitate the discussion.
Learn more about the panelists via this PDF.
Header: Wayne Higby, Pictorial Lake, 1986

Visiting Artist Lecture: Jeremy Hatch
2017-11-02 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.
Jeremy Hatch
Thursday, November 2, 12:00–1:00pm
Jeremy Hatch, Treehouse, porcelain, 2006.
Jeremy Hatch’s studio practice employs a variety of techniques and concepts linked to ceramics, ranging from vessel-based, wheel thrown sculpture to large-scale slip cast porcelain installation. In 2008, he founded Ricochet Studio as a means to explore the intersections between craft, art, and design, with the goal to collaborate with artists from various disciplines to develop limited edition ceramic products.
Artist included in ICA exhibition: Confabulations of Millennia. On View: October 6–December 8, 2017

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.

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

Visiting Artist Lecture: Christy Georg
2017-11-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Visiting Artist Lecture: Christy Georg, Visiting Assistant Professor, Sculpture
Thursday, November 9, 2017; noon (universal lunch) in Osher Hall
Christy George, Photograph courtesy ©Koen Dijkman
Artist Statement
"I am attracted to desolate and harsh natural environments. My work is inspired by travel and research in varied landscapes- lately the American West, sailing the Eastern Seaboard, and the Norwegian Arctic. I reflect on the history and importance of discovery, voyaging, and striking out into the unknown. The focused endurance of flora and fauna to flourish in harsh climates, and likewise, the endurance of hardy and curious explorers traversing such lands, inspires a true willfulness of existence which compels the subject of my work.
My projects often involve making a device or situation to communicate with the natural landscape, or a historical site or story – something I consider raw, true, and amazing, which demands my attention and response. I make sculptural instruments and devices which function either actually, or metaphorically. Their meticulous craftsmanship lends them authority as functional objects, but upon inspection may seem quite absurd, fetishistic, alchemical, or otherwise uncanny. Their elusive, esoteric function tickles curiosity and speculation."

About Christy Georg
Christy Georg earned her BFA at Kansas City Art Institute and her MFA at Massachusetts College of Art. She has participated in numerous residencies, including The MacDowell Colony, the Roswell Artist-in-Residency Program, the Fine Arts Work Center, Kohler Arts Center’s Arts/Industry Program and The Arctic Circle artist and scientist residency program. She has received recognition for her sculptural work from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the University of Rhode Island, the Mellon Foundation, and the Leighton International Artists Exchange Program.
Her solo exhibitions include the Contemporary Artists Center in North Adams, the Roswell Museum, Gettysburg College, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, the Trustman Gallery at Simmons College in Boston, and the Khyber Institute of Contemporary Art in Halifax. Recently, her retrospective exhibit "20 Years" was hosted by the Gardiner Gallery at Oklahoma State University and in the “Alcoves” series at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe.
Visit the artist's website.

Top Banner Artwork:
Christy Georg, Monitoring the Dunes, White Sands National Monument, Sept. 2005

serveUP: Information Session
2017-11-13 14:00 - 15:00 | 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)
