Maine College of Art

Wu Man Lecture & Short Film
2016-03-30 18:15 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Osher Hall, second floor at Maine College of Art & Design
March 30, 6:00–8:30pm
Open to the public, free
MECA&D is pleased to be hosting an evening with Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet on Wednesday, March 30th at 6:15 pm in Osher Hall. There will be a viewing of Wu Man's short film and a personal conversation with her afterwards.
Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 1963, Wu Man began taking pipa lessons at age 9. At 13, she became the youngest student at the school, and her final audition was covered in national newspapers. Wu Man first performed in the United States as a member of the China Youth Arts Troupe in 1985. She moved to the U.S. five years later to pursue a career in pipa performance that would allow her repertoire to extend beyond traditional Chinese music.
Today she is recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Grammy Award-nominated musician Wu Man is a very special artist, educator, cultural ambassador. From Carnegie to London’s Wigmore and Albert Halls to festivals around the world -- Wu Man has carved out a career as a leading contributor to thrilling collaborations, as featured guest in some of the world’s most prominent orchestras, a solo recitalist, educator and composer. Performing on an instrument with a 2000+ year history, she is a fierce advocate for its use in both traditional and contemporary music and an ambassador of Chinese music. Projects she has instigated have resulted in the pipa finding a place in new solo and quartet works, concertos, opera, chamber, electronic, and jazz music as well as in theater, film, dance and the visual arts. Her adventurous spirit and virtuosity have led to collaborations with everyone from Tan Dun, Chen Shi-Zheng and Zakir Hussain to Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Kronos to Esa-Pekka Salonen and many others. She is a founding and principal member of Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. She is the first artist from China to perform at the White House. She will be here March 30-31 for a concert with the Shanghai Quartet in a program that features traditional music for pipa, a major Western classical work and a new work commissioned by the film composer Zhao Jiping (Farewell My Concubine, Raise the Red Lantern).

Collective Actions
2016-04-01 - 2016-04-22 | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Collective Actions

Aerial photographs by Alex MacLean
Public Engagement Capstone Projects
Converging Roots / Verdant Bloom

Opening Reception on Friday, April 1, from 5:00pm—8:00pm
On view from Friday, April 1 — Friday, April 22, 2016
Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design (ICA at MECA&D)
522 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101
The images of the tar sands were created to bring awareness to the dirty energy that would have been transported through the Keystone XL pipeline. The extraction of bitumen and its conversion to crude oil is more carbon intense than the production of regular petroleum, resulting in greater net emissions when burned in cars and homes. By showing the processes used to extract and upgrade bitumen through open pit mines, the images reveal the magnitude of air and water pollution. Smoke and steam rising into the atmosphere represent wasted energy, and the settlement ponds filled with toxic by-products from the petroleum upgrading plants often leak into groundwater — Alex MacLean
Alex S. MacLean
Since 1975, pilot and photographer Alex MacLean has flown his plane over much of the United States, and has worked internationally, documenting the history and evolution of the land. Trained as an architect, MacLean’s work depicts the relationship between the natural and constructed environments, from vast agricultural patterns to city grids, recording changes brought about by human intervention and natural processes. MacLean’s photographs have been exhibited widely in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, and are found in private, public and university collections. He has won numerous awards, including the 2009 CORINE International Book Award for OVER: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point, the American Academy of Rome’s Prix de Rome in Landscape Architecture for 2003-2004, and is the recipient of grants from foundations such as the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Massachusetts One Percent for Arts program, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Most recently, MacLean was a 2015 and 2012 fellow at the HWK Institute in Delmenhorst, Germany. He is the author/coauthor of ten books including: Up on the Roof: New York’s Hidden Skyline Spaces (2012), Chroniques Aériennes: L’art d’Alex MacLean (2010), Las Vegas|Venice (2010), OVER: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point (2008), Visualizing Density (2007), The Playbook (2006), Designs on the Land: Exploring America from the Air (2003), Above and Beyond: Visualizing Change in Small Towns and Rural Areas (2002), Taking Measures Across the American Landscape (1996) and Look at the Land; Aerial Reflections of America (1993). MacLean maintains a studio and lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Public Engagement Capstone
The Public Engagement Capstone with community-engaged component is the culminating experience for seniors in the Public Engagement Minor. Students work independently with their chosen community partner to develop a proposal and socially engaged art project that creatively addresses a local or national issue within a real world context.
This years capstone projects highlight a range of topics including climate change, cultural identity and storytelling. Community partners include the Sierra Club, Goodwill Industries, Boys and Girls Club and Maine Seeds of Peace Program.
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

Visualizing Portland’s Studio Culture
2016-04-01 10:00 - 2016-04-08 15:00 (America/New_York) | ICA at MECA&D, 522 Congress St., Portland, Maine, 04101, United States
Maine College of Art & Design students in the Public Engagement course Visualizing Portland’s Studio Culture have spent the semester visiting spaces of several Portland-based studios and conducting interviews with the local creative community. This exhibit features their research in progress and will include student work from multiple disciplines.
Artists at Work Exhibition Space (first floor)
April 1–8, Monday-Friday, 10:00am–3:00pm
Open for First Friday Art Walk, April 1, 5:00-8:00pm

3rd Annual Maine Statewide High School Ceramic Arts Show
2016-04-01 10:00 - 2016-04-15 12:00 (America/New_York) | Porteous Building, Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
High School and Jr. High School student ceramic work featuring utilitarian and sculptural clay work from several different schools throughout the state of Maine.
April 1-15, 2016, on view Monday - Friday 10:00am-12:00noon
Opening on Saturday, April 2 at 2:00-4:00 pm
Joanne Waxman Library at Maine College of Art & Design

Collective Actions Opening Reception in the ICA
2016-04-01 17:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor

Participatory Screen-printing Station & Art Giveaway
2016-04-01 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.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Roberto Lugo, Potter, Activist, Rapper and Educator
2016-04-07 12:15 - 13:30 UTC | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Free and open to the public.
Lugo attended the Art Institute of Chicago, earned a BFA with a concentration in ceramics at Kansas City Art Institute, and earned a MFA at Pennsylvania State University. Most recently Lugo spoke at the 2015 NCECA conference as a part of their emerging artists lectures. Lugo has exhibited at Art Basel, Ferrin Contemporary in Miami Florida, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and had a solo exhibition at The Artist’ House in Philadelphia.
Roberto Lugo was born in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, the first generation of his family raised in the United States. Growing up Lugo was exposed to prevalent drug use and gang activity, the crack epidemic leaving half of the houses in his neighborhood abandoned. This neighborhood gave very little hope for a future outside of its boundaries.
In 2011, Lugo spoke at the National Council of Education for the Ceramic Arts in Seattle, WA with a lecture entitled “Activism Through Ceramics”. The following year at the NCECA Conference held in Houston, Texas Lugo delivered another lecture titled “From the Wheel to the Wall”, a presentation on how graffiti relates to ceramics.
Recently, Lugo is exhibiting alongside photographer, Richard Ross, the combination being a catalyst for changing legislation on how juveniles are incarcerated. This exhibition provides a framework for Lugo to directly engage the community, one such event is a question and answer session with inner city youth, discussing his work as well as his life story.

Performance by Jared Paul: Poet, Rapper, Educator, Activist
2016-04-07 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor
Jared Paul will be appearing at the Institute of Contemporary Art at 6:00pm on Thursday, April 7, to coincide with National Poetry Month. Jared will perform several of his long-form performance poems, as well as discuss the context and mechanics of a life straddling DIY creativity and DIY activism. An open Question & Answer mediated by Senior Admissions Staff & Performing Artist Jason Cornell will follow.
The event is free and open to the public.

Click on the image above to download the hi-resolution, print-ready poster file.
Jared Paul: Poet, Rapper, Educator, Activist
Jared Paul is a writer, performance artist, and community organizer from Providence, RI. He is a two time Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist and an eight time coach of the Providence National Youth Slam Team, which placed second in the nation at Brave New Voices 2007. Having toured throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, playing alongside acclaimed poets, musicians, journalists, and speakers such as Amy Goodman, Saul Williams, Our Lady Peace, Paul Hawken, Immortal Technique, Anti-Flag, and Atmosphere, Jared is widely recognized as one of the premiere performance poets in the world. His work appears in poetry collections and alternative teaching guides such as Write Bloody’s Learn Then Burn 2 and We Will Be Shelter, and UnCommon Core on Red Beard Press, as well as in the Providence Journal, Socialist Worker, Motif Magazine, Driftwood, The Agenda, and more. Jared is a TEDx presenter, and has been a featured poet at South By Southwest music festival, the Greenbuild World Expo, Netroots Nation, Post Secret, and more. In January 2014, Jared was part of the largest protest-related class action settlement in U.S. history, Schiller v. City of New York, whereby after a decade of fighting, plaintiffs and the New York Civil Liberties Union defeated the NYPD and set precedent in Federal Court against the constitutionality of “Group” Probable Cause.
"Jared Paul is a stunning performer—staring audiences in the eyes and calling for conscious responses to injustice. His talent at sharing complex ideas through verse should not be missed." — The Eureka Times Standard
"If the United Nations needed a representative from the Slam/poetry community, we’d send them Jared." — Buddy Wakefield, Individual World Poetry Slam Champion
Learn more.

Artist Panel on Art-making & Environmental Responsibility
2016-04-08 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor

Band Blender Performances
2016-04-14 19:00 (America/New_York) | ICA at MECA&D, 522 Congress St., Portland, Maine, 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

Shrunken Treasures by Scott Nash: Book Signing & Launch Party
2016-04-14 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Longfellow Books, 1 Monument Square, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine is hosting a Launch Party and Book Signing for Shrunken Treasures, an illustrated classic story book by Peaks Island author, illustrator, and MECA&D Illustration Faculty Scott Nash. Patricia Erikson of Peaks Island Press published a write-up of the book and Scott's creation process.
Book spread from Scott Nash's Shrunken Treasures, image provided by Candlewick Press
About Shrunken Treasures
Nine weighty literary classics are transformed into delectable morsels with Scott Nash’s playful versification and whimsical illustration.
Can’t stomach all of Frankenstein? Lacking the strength to read The Odyssey? Don’t have 1,001 nights to get through Scheherazade’s ordeal? Never fear, Shrunken Treasures are here! Nine of the world’s best-known stories and books have been reduced, like slowly simmered cherries, to tart and tasty mouthfuls. Lighthearted verse turns Moby-Dick into a simple nursery song. Outrageous color makes even gloomy Hamlet seem like fun. Riotous images transform Jane Eyre’s ordeal into a whirlwind adventure. The Metamorphosis, Remembrance of Things Past, Don Quixote, and others have all been delivered from dense duty to delightful ditty in Scott Nash’s collection of hallowed classics, featuring notes about the original texts at the end.
About Scott Nash
As a founding partner of BIG BLUE DOT, Corey McPherson Nash and NASHBOX, Scott Nash has developed an expertise in the branding and creative development of products and programming for the entertainment, consumer product and publishing worlds. In addition to designing identities for Nickelodeon, PBS, ABC, Comedy Central, FX, YTV, Scott’s design clients include American Girl, Disney, Harvard University, Mattel, Milton Bradley, NFPA, The Boston Pops and From the Top.
Scott’s work as a designer and illustrator has been recognized by leading trade organizations and publications such as The Academy for The Arts and Sciences (EMMY award), PROMAX, Broadcast Designers Association, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Society of Illustrators and HOW, Communications Arts, Print and Publishers Weekly Magazines.
He has lectured widely and taught at Boston University, Northeastern University, The Art Institute of Boston. Currently, he teaches at Maine College of Art & Design, where he helped establish the illustration department.
Scott has illustrated over forty children’s books, including Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp! and The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields, Betsy, Who Cried Wolf! and Betsy, Red Hoodie by Gail Carson Levine, the series Snow Day! Beach Day! Rainy Day! and Camping Day! by Patricia Lakin as well as the Flat Stanley series by Jeff Brown.
Scott is also a writer and is the author/illustrator of TUFF FLUFF, The Case of Duckie’s Missing Brain and The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay The Pirate. View his current projects here.

Image as Sound Live Performances
2016-04-15 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
The Image as Sound class will present two live performances on Monday, April 18th, 8–8:30pm, in room 007 (Lower Level). All welcome. Open to the public.
Students Eden McDowell, Susan Kuczwara, Bennett Thompson, Frenchi French, Ness Smith-Savedoff, Hank Hughes, and Cameron McDonald
Faculty Ling-Wen Tsai and Nathan Kolosko

Khen Rinpoche Lecture: How to Live in Our Modern World with Patience and Peace
2016-04-15 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Public Engagement students at MECA&D are holding a fundraiser for the Siddhartha School to coincide with Khen Rinpoche (Tibetan Lama)'s lecture on Friday. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations are accepted to help the Siddhartha School.
Khen Rinpoche will share the story and historical facts of the Buddha's life and introduce the key principles of the Buddha's teachings including the Four Noble Truths. Participants will learn the nature of karma, and the distinction between rebirth in Buddhist philosophy and reincarnation as it is envisioned in Hinduism and other religions.

About Khen Rinpoche, Siddhartha School
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.
The Siddhartha School is unique in comparison to other private schools along the Indian Himalayan range. As government schools are not addressing community needs for a culturally sensitive curriculum, other private schools have emerged in recent years. Regrettably, the majority of these schools are for-profit private businesses, rather than not-for-profit, social welfare organizations. Siddhartha School is a trusted, community-run school serving the district of Ladakh known as Leh and outlying nomadic areas. The school employs local Ladakhi and Tibetan staff, has a local board of directors, as well as a parents organization that works with and other international NGOs to improve the school for the children served.
For over 20 years, Siddhartha School has provided a dynamic, sensitive program of academic excellence for children of Nursery age through Class 10, regardless of economic means. The school has demonstrated consistently high achievement. Since the first graduating class in 2008, 100% of our students have passed the government exam. In 2008 and in 2009, a female student in each class set, and then surpassed, the highest exam records ever achieved in all of the Jammu and Kashmir regions. Siddhartha School students continue to produce ‘district toppers’ who score in the top 20 on the government exam, setting a standard of academic excellence for an area once plagued with illiteracy. In 2014, two of our graduates became the first Ladakhi girls ever to receive scholarships and education visas to complete their high school education in the USA.

Green Zine DIY Drop-in Zine-making
2016-04-20 12:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor

Sierra Club Maine: Manufactured Landscapes
2016-04-20 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Sierra Club Maine and MECA&D's Public Engagement program present the film Manufactured Landscapes on Wednesday, April 20, at 6:30pm in Osher Hall.
The award-winning, critically acclaimed documentary, "Manufactured Landscapes," focuses on renowned artist Edward Burtynsky's large-scale photographs of 'manufactured landscapes' – quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, dams. The film is a profound meditation on our impact on the planet.

Sponsored by Sierra Club Maine and MECA&D Public Engagement Program.

Screenprinted Poster-making
2016-04-21 12:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor

Band Blender Performances
2016-04-21 12:30 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design, first floor

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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: 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, 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.

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.

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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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."

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.
