Maine College of Art

Mend the Gap: A Community Blanket (Resilience Week)
2020-02-08 11:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | 380 Cumberland Avenue, 380 Cumberland Avenue, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Mend the Gap: A Community Blanket
Click image for a downloadable poster
Saturday, February 8 from 11am–2pm
MECA&D, 380 Cumberland Avenue, Portland
Free and open to the public
Participants will be making quilt squares out of upcycled textile material. The individual squares will be sewn together to create a community blanket. Focused on collective healing through the act of patching, mending, and upcycling textiles to generate conversation surrounding the topics of diversity, representation and inclusivity through art making. The final blanket will be included in an exhibition at MECA&D called Resilience of Diversity on February 15, 2020.

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

Navigating the Intersection: Film Festival & Panel (Resilience Week)
2020-02-08 12:00 - 22:30 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Navigating the Intersection Film Festival & Panel
Click image for a downloadable poster
Saturday, February 8 from 12–10:30pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Navigating the Intersection takes place February 8th, 2020 from 12pm-10:30 pm in Osher Hall at Maine College of Art & Design. The night is dedicated to the exploration of the intersection between gender identity, sexuality, and race within a historical and contemporary context. Some of the media that will be screened include Paris is Burning (1990), Tangerine (2015), Moonlight (2016), and more. Join us in expanding the conversation beyond what we know to explore the intersection of life, race, identity, and circumstance. Please view the film schedule calendar here.

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

Get Down + Groove Dance Party (Resilience Week)
2020-02-09 19:00 - 22:30 | SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Live Performance with Alejandro Graciano and DJ Session with Liz Rhaney
Click image for a downloadable poster
Sunday, February 9 from 7–10:30pm
Space Gallery, 538 Congress Street, Portland (down the street from MECA&D)
Free and open to the public
The live performance with Alejandro Graciano and DJ session with Liz Rhaney is intended to bring students together to celebrate Latin and African blues music with original poetry. The performance invites participants to explore self-expression and to experience many musical influences.

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

Séan Alonzo Harris: Artist Lecture (Resilience Week)
2020-02-10 18:00 - 19:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Séan Alonzo Harris: Artist Lecture
Click image for a downloadable poster
Monday, February 10 from 6–7pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public

Séan Alonzo Harris is a professional photographer and his work focuses on human experience and identity and examines how individuals visualize themselves and how they are portrayed. His images bear witness to often invisible or overlooked members of our communities, and create portraits that provide a counter-image and narrative of self-worth and personal agency.

Harris has received critical acclaim for his work, is a Kindling Fund grant recipient and was selected for the 2018 Portland Museum of Art Biennial. He has a BFA from the Art Institute of Boston and his professional practice includes collaborative, community-driven projects with nonprofit organizations.

"My work is marked by a fine art sensibility and an emphasis on environmental portraits. My creative process draws from a wide range of photographic traditions and methods and is driven by an authentic connection to my subjects and my clients. I’m genuinely curious about peoples’ lives and the experiences that shape their world.”

With support from Indigo Arts Alliance.

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.
Supported in part by the Isabel K. Pease Trust, and friends of the College through the Osher Chair Naming Program.

Resilience of Diversity: Opening Reception
2020-02-10 19:15 - 20:15 | Joanne Waxman Library
Resilience of Diversity: Opening Reception
Click image for a downloadable poster
Monday, February 10 from 7:15-8:15pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Joanne Waxman Library, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Resilience of Diversity brings together student artists from MECA&D, alumni, faculty and members of the community to broaden the narrative of artists of color. In sharing the intimate pockets of the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual mind of these artists, we invite you to look beyond any preconceived ideas to explore the nuances of our stories, our work, and our experiences. As makers, as humans, as a family, we share ourselves with you to expand the conversation beyond stereotypes and ignorance. We showcase the beauty and resilience of diversity while critiquing the Western art historical canon that perpetuates racist, sexist, and exclusionary pedagogy throughout art institutions. Together, the participating artists showcase the beauty of intersectionality, vulnerability and their own cultural traditions to tell the story of community, identity, resistance, and justice.

Resilience Week at MECA&D
Friday, February 7 – Friday, February 14, 2020
Brought to you by the Diversity Committee at MECA&D and the Students of Color Coalition, Resilience Week is dedicated to our mission of racial, sexual, and gender inclusivity here at MECA&D. By bringing together an exhibition, reading lists, film screenings, community meals, and workshops, we provide a network of support for those committed to fostering change here at MECA&D. Generating conversation and awareness of topics surrounding identity, race, representation, and justice we are carving a space where our students of color don’t just survive. They thrive.
View all public Resilience Week events here

Black Poets Speak Out (Resilience Week)
2020-02-11 11:00 - 12:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Black Poets Speak Out
Click image for a downloadable poster
Tuesday, February 11 from 11am–12pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public
*via VideoConference
This workshop focuses on poetry’s ability to help engage communities and address social justice initiatives. As the cofounder of Black Poets Speak Out, Amanda Johnston, will lead participants through a conversation about the movement against police brutality as well as the use of art to express solidarity and transform policy.

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

History of Braiding (Resilience Week)
2020-02-11 18:00 - 20:30 | Joanne Waxman Library
History of Braiding
Tuesday, February 11 from 6pm–8:30pm
& Friday, February 14 from 6:30-8:30pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Joanne Waxman Library, Second floor
Free and open to the public
For many years, and in many cultures, braiding has been a significant way of building connections and nurturing relationships across the globe. Kris Patridge will be leading us in a conversation about the history of hair braiding and it's significance in our modern day lives. Please come join us for this free educational and hands on event!

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

Palmira Muniz: Colorism (Resilience Week)
2020-02-12 18:00 - 19:00 | Maine College of Art & Design, Second floor, Room 209
Colorism
Click image for a downloadable poster
Wednesday, February 12 from 6pm–7pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Room 209, Second floor.
Free and open to the public
*via VideoConference
Palmira is here to elaborate on her published work “7 Ways Non-Black People of Color Perpetuate Anti-Blackness”. The lecture will be in discussion style.
Palmira Muniz is a fat, queer, Afro-boricua from The Bronx, but also raised in SoCal. Now living in Los Angeles, the UC Davis graduate works within the entertainment industry, while also working as a writer, stand-up comedian, and content creator. Palmira starred in, produced and wrote for the web series One Story Building with other Black and Brown comedians and SAG-AFTRA Horror project, Macabre. Palmira has written articles that have been featured on BuzzFeed, The Body is Not an Apology, Remezcla,Csuitemusic, currently Queen Media Collective, and has been published in university textbooks such as Pan African Spaces: Essays on Black Transnationalism. As a comedian, Palmira has been featured on the Riot Grrrl Comedy Festival, Thigh Gap Comedy, Moral Support, and most recently, the Woman of Size podcast, Militantly Mixed Podcast, En Latinidad, Bronxnet, and Latina-ishTv. After spending a lifetime writing and many years studying film and theatre, Palmira ultimately hopes to become a critically acclaimed show-runner and create media that resonates with communities of color, especially other fat Black and Latinx women.

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

Cultural Identity Contemplations (Resilience Week)
2020-02-13 16:00 - 17:30 | Joanne Waxman Library
Cultural Identity Contemplations
Click image for a downloadable poster
Thursday, February 13 from 4–5:30pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Joanne Waxman Library, Second floor
Free and open to the public
This workshop centers on the integration of mindfulness meditation and socially-engaged spiritual practice and will include brief meditation, a short talk, some experiential exercises, and group discussion. This offering focuses on how we engage the present moment experience with collective willingness, genuineness, and integrity with our personal and social values. We will have the opportunity to engage in group practice or “social meditation” to more fully explore that kind of connection and understanding in relationships, particularly when it comes to social-cultural identity: How do I see others and how am I seen? What are the personal, emotional, and societal obstacles to authentic relationships with those different from myself? How can we use the practices of mindfulness and contemplation to realize more gentleness, openness, awareness, and honesty, even with the most unfamiliar, misunderstood, or difficult people in our lives?

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

West African Dance Workshop (Resilience Week)
2020-02-14 15:30 - 17:30 | Maine Mechanics Hall, 519 Congress Street
West African Dance Workshop
Click image for a downloadable poster
Friday, February 14 from 3:30–5:30pm
Maine Mechanics Hall, 519 Congress Street, Portland (across from Porteous)
Free and open to the public
Come ground yourself on Wellness Friday, this is Free and open to the public! Join us in learning a folkloric dance, have fun and get swept up in the rhythms of the drums. This West African Dance Workshop is facilitated by Athena Lynch, who has been practicing West African Dance for 19 years. Held at Maine Mechanics Hall, Friday, February 14th at 3:30, please wear loose clothing and comfortable shoes. Connect to the sound of your own drum, while adding to the overall rhythm of your community!

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

History of Braiding: Session 2 (Resilience Week)
2020-02-14 18:30 - 20:30 | Joanne Waxman Library
History of Braiding
Friday, February 14 from 6:30-8:30pm
MECA&D, Porteous, Joanne Waxman Library, Second floor
Free and open to the public
For many years, and in many cultures, braiding has been a significant way of building connections and nurturing relationships across the globe. Kris Patridge will be leading us in a conversation about the history of hair braiding and it's significance in our modern day lives. Please come join us for this free educational and hands on event!

This event is part of Resilience Week at MECA&D (February 7–14, 2020). View the event schedule and details here.

RESCHEDULED: Mirko Ilić Lecture: Design From Right to Left
2020-02-21 16:00 - 17:00
EVENT RESCHEDULED (2/21/20)

Mirko Ilić: Design From Right to Left
Visiting Artist Lecture
Friday, February 21, 4–5pm
MECA&D, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Limited seating
A talk by designer Mirko Ilić about The Design of Dissent, a book he co-wrote with Milton Glaser. The lecture will reveal left wing imagery created to fight right wing iconography and to support different causes around the world.
For more information about Mirko Ilić's THE TOLERANCE PROJECT, currently on view at MECA&D, visit: meca.edu/the-tolerance-project/

Header Image: The Design of Dissent, Written by Mirko Ilić and Milton Glaser, Designed by Mirko Ilić Corp., NY, 2005

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

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

About The Tolerance Project

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

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

Header image:
Alejandro Magallanes / Mexico (cropped)

February Open House + Finishing Day: BFA Admissions
2020-02-22 10:00 - 15:00 | Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
MECA&D: Open House + Finishing Day
Come see first-hand why students are choosing to study in MECA&D's close-knit community and rigorous artistic programs.
At an Open House, you'll have a chance to:

Get to know faculty and current students
Take a tour of our studios and res halls
Have your portfolio reviewed with professional artists
Explore the vibrant art scene in downtown Portland, Maine

This Open House is specifically designed for students interested in our BFA program — we'll send you more information in your confirmation email. Sign up below!
MECA&D's Finishing Day is designated for MECA&D's Admissions team to help you complete your application on the spot; priority application deadline is March 1, 2020.
Sign up below! If you have any questions about our Open Houses, you can contact us at admissions@meca.edu or 207.699.5026. Learn more about visiting MECA&D here.

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

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

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

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

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

Salt Live Storytelling: 7 Stories on the Theme of... Personal Geography
2020-03-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Salt Live Storytelling Event
7 Stories on the Theme of... Personal Geography
Please click on image to view full-sized poster.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020, from 7–8:30pm
Maine College of Art & Design, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Please join us for our live Salt Storytelling event! Hear each of our seven Salt Institute documentary students tell a personal story on the theme of "Personal Geography".

Julia Galloway: Artist Lecture (Ceramics)
2020-03-05 12:00 - 13:15
Julia Galloway
Creative Campus Artist Lecture
Thursday, March 5, 12–1:15pm
MECA&D, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Limited seating

Julia Galloway is a potter with an active studio practice and a professor of ceramics at the University of Montana, Missoula. Julia has exhibited across the United States, Canada, and Asia and her work is included in the collections of the Renwick Gallery - Washington DC, Long Beach Art Museum - Long Beach CA, the Ceramics Research Center at the Arizona State Art Museum, American Museum of Ceramic Art - Pomona, CA, and Alfred Ceramics Art Museum in New York. She was recently awarded a United States Artist Grant and named a Distinguished Scholar at the University of Montana. Julia has served on the board of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, and served as a Director at Large for the National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Julia is a dedicated educator and has taught more than two hundred and fifty workshops, demonstrations and lectures at traditional college campuses, crafts schools and arts centers across the United States and abroad. In addition, she developed and maintains five service-based educational websites, which are utilized by thousands of clay artists of all ages and levels: ‘Montana Clay’, “Field Guide for Ceramic Artisans”, ‘Library of Cups – website for critiquing’, ‘Random Acts of Clay’ and ‘Making History".

Funded through the generous support of the Windgate Charitable Foundation.

MECA&D Zine Fair 2020
2020-03-06 17:00 - 2020-03-08 15:00 | Maine College of Art & Design, First Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
MECA&D Zine Fair 2020
Dates + Times

Friday, March 6, 5–9PM (First Friday)
Saturday, March 7, 9AM–5PM
Sunday, March 8, 9AM–3PM

Location
MECA&D, Porteous Building, First Floor
MECA&D Fishbowl Gallery (facing Congress St)

The Zine Fair, hosted by the MECA&D Zine Club, is a non-profit event that allows artists (local & distant) to display & sell their work (zines, books, prints, pins, stickers, and more!) with 100% of the profits going to the artists themselves. Come to browse a variety of art and support small artists and businesses!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

POSTPONED: Henri Paul Broyard, Artist Lecture
2020-03-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
EVENT POSTPONED. MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. We look forward to rescheduling this event. Stay tuned for updates. Learn more about MECA&D's implementations for the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020).

Henri Paul Broyard
Visiting Artist Lecture
NEW DATE: Friday, March 20, 6–7pm
MECA&D, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Limited seating

Please click on thumbnail to download full-sized poster.
Henri Paul Broyard’s engagement with the interior scene as framework for painterly experimentation. Broyard collects photographs from thrift shops, flea markets, and cast-off design magazines, often cropping them or removing figures to generate an initial pictorial situation. Within this structure, Broyard creates zones of abstraction that are alternately improvisatory and deliberate, working until portions of the picture may be unrecognizably distorted or transformed. Henri Paul Broyard received a B.F.A. in Drawing and Painting from the California College of the Arts in 2013. He attended the Klasse Peter Doig at the Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf, in 2014. His work has been included in exhibitions at: SOLA Art Gallery, Los Angeles; the School of Painting Hangzhou, China; Tom Dick or Harry, Dusseldorf; 41 Cooper Square Gallery, New York; Haphazard Gallery, Los Angeles; and 119 Essex Street, New York. His work has been featured in Surface and Studio Visit magazines. Broyard lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
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.

MECA&D’s Visiting Artist & Guest Lecturer Series invites professional artists, educators, curators, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs to present on topics of interest and importance to the MECA&D community.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Supported in part by the Isabel K. Pease Trust, and friends of the College through the Osher Chair Naming Program.

Header image: Henri Paul Broyard, DJI, Acrylic, Graphite, and Flashe on Canvas, 42×52,″ 2015

CANCELED: March Accepted Student Day (BFA)
2020-03-28 11:00 - 15:00 | Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
March Accepted Student Day is canceled. We hope to see you at our April 11th Accepted Student Day event.
MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. We look forward to rescheduling this event. Stay tuned for updates. Learn more about MECA&D's implementations for the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020).

Congratulations on your acceptance to Maine College of Art & Design!
You are cordially invited to attend one of MECA&D’s Accepted Student Days this spring — we’d like to warmly welcome you to campus as a new member of MECA&D’s artist community. Our Accepted Student Days will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2020 and on Saturday, April 11, 2020.
If you have any questions, you can contact us at admissions@meca.edu or 207.699.5026. Learn more about visiting MECA&D here.

Virtual Accepted Student Day (BFA)
2020-04-10 12:00 - 16:00 | Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Congratulations on your acceptance to Maine College of Art & Design!
You are cordially invited to attend MECA&D’s Virtual Accepted Student Day - we’d like to warmly welcome you to campus as a new member of MECA&D’s artist community. Our Accepted Student Days will be held on Friday, April 10, 2020. Visit meca.edu/acceptedstudentday for more information and to register.
If you have any questions, you can contact us at admissions@meca.edu or 207.699.5026. Learn more about visiting MECA&D here.

POSTPONED: Yevgeniya Kaganovich, Artist Lecture
2020-04-16 18:00 - 19:00 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
EVENT POSTPONED. MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. We look forward to rescheduling this event. Stay tuned for updates. View MECA&D's implementations for the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020).

Yevgeniya Kaganovich
Visiting Artist Lecture
Thursday, April 16, 6–7pm
MECA&D, Osher Hall, Second floor
Free and open to the public
Limited seating
Please click on thumbnail to download full-sized poster.
Yevgeniya Kaganovich is a Belarus born, Milwaukee, Wisconsin based artist, whose hybrid practice encompasses Jewelry and Metalsmithing, sculpture and installation. Yevgeniya has received a Masters of Fine Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Metal/Jewelry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Yevgeniya has been an active art practitioner since 1992, exhibiting her work nationally and internationally. Her work has received a number of awards and has been published widely.
Funded through the generous support of the Windgate Charitable Foundation.

MECA&D’s Visiting Artist & Guest Lecturer Series invites professional artists, educators, curators, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs to present on topics of interest and importance to the MECA&D community.
All lectures in this series are hosted in Osher Hall and are open to the public at no charge. Seating is limited. Supported in part by the Isabel K. Pease Trust, and friends of the College through the Osher Chair Naming Program.

POSTPONED: Artist Residency Program Info Session for Mid-career Artists
2020-04-18 10:00 - 15:30 | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
EVENT POSTPONED. MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. We look forward to rescheduling this event. Stay tuned for updates. Learn more about MECA&D's implementations for the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020).

Saturday, April 18, 2020
MECA&D, Osher Hall, Second floor
Information Session: 10am–12:30pm
Digital Portfolio Review: 1:30–3:30pm (20 minute blocks)
FREE, with thanks to the Stephen and Palmina Pace Foundation

The morning information session introduces program managers from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts to talk about their programs and their target artist participants. A representative from the Alliance of Artist Communities, the international association of programs that support artists creating new work, will share information on the field of opportunities available to mid-career artists.
The afternoon portfolio review will be restricted to artists who meet the criteria below. Interested artists can use this form to submit their names, artist CVs, and goals for future residency participation in order to be scheduled. Assigned, twenty minute reviews will be conducted by representatives from the Bemis Center, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Surf Point Foundation, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Monson Arts, Tides Institute, Monhegan Artist Residency, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art.
Both sessions will specifically speak to artists who are "mid-career" - that is, beyond the beginning / emerging stages of their creative career but not fully established. These artists should have some combination of:

Having worked on their practice for at least 5 years beyond their education
Experience exhibiting or presenting their work in solo or two-person shows or similar
Have attended a residency program before
Has some particular goals in mind for participating in residency programs, i.e. a kind of time and space, a community to intersect with, a project to work on

To register for the morning session, sign up using Brown Paper tickets:
Register
To be considered for the afternoon portfolio review, submit by April 16 using Submittable:
Portfolio Review

Header image: Photo of a studio at Yaddo; credit: Megan Vossler.

POSTPONED: Commencement 2020
2020-05-09 10:00 - 11:30 | State Theatre, 609 Congress St, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Due to COVID-19, Maine has banned gatherings of more than 10 people until further notice. In order to safeguard the MECA&D community and the community at large, we are postponing our 2020 Commencement Ceremony. We are planning to have a celebration of our 2020 graduates at the beginning of the Fall semester. We will update this page when we have more information.
Schedule

Doors open to the public at 9:15am. No tickets are required.
The commencement ceremony typically lasts two hours.
A reception will immediately follow the commencement ceremony at Maine College of Art & Design at 522 Congress Street, Portland, Maine.
Parking information is below. Plan to arrive early to allow time to find parking.
Any additional announcements for families and guests will be posted on this page. Questions may be directed to studentlife@meca.edu.

View the 2020 Commencement Digital Invitation

Lodging Options

Hotels in Portland and Surrounding Area
Bed & Breakfasts in Portland and Surrounding Area

Directions
Directions to Maine College of Art & Design, Porteous Building:
Portland Map
From the North
Take Interstate 295 to Exit 7, Franklin Street
From the South
Take the Maine Turnpike northbound to Exit 44, Interstate 295. Follow Interstate 295 to Exit 7, Franklin Street
Directions to the Porteous Building at 522 Congress Street:
Stay on Franklin Street until you hit the top of the hill and take a right onto Congress Street.
You will pass City Hall on your right; continue on Congress several more blocks, past Monument Square. Porteous is the large building on the left with a brown awning.

Parking
There is a public parking garage at 45 Spring Street, on the right just past the Cumberland County Civic Center. To go to the Porteous Building from the parking garage, leave the parking garage through its rear exit, onto Free Street; the Porteous Building will be immediately across the street from you.
On-street 2-hour parking is available on Congress, Casco (directly across from the Porteous Building entrance) and surrounding streets.

Portland Parking Garages and Lots

One City Center Parking Garage, Monument Square, 773.2761
Midtown Parking Lot, 44 Fore St.
Top of the Old Port Parking Lot, 119 Pearl & Congress Sts., 828.1212
Temple Street Parking Garage, 11 Temple St., 772.5762
Cumberland County Parking Garage, Newbury St., 871.8275
Custom House Sq. Parking Garage, Pearl & Fore Sts.
Fore Street Parking Garage, 439 Fore St., 772.7738
Casco Bay Parking Garage, Commercial St. at Maine State Pier, 774.8653
Cotton & Center Parking Lot, 57 Center St., 879.8983
Public Market Parking Garage, 315 Cumberland Ave, 774.2829
Spring St. Parking Garage, 45 Spring St., 874.2842
Gateway Parking Garage, 181 High St., 761.1568
Harbor Plaza Parking Garage, Union St., 775.3788
Monument Square Parking Garage, Cumberland and Brown Sts.

CANCELED: May Open House
2020-05-16 10:30 - 15:30 | Porteous Building, Maine College of Art & Design, 522 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
MECA&D's May 16th Open House is canceled. MECA&D is proactively postponing this event to prioritize the safety of our community, given the public health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the CDC. We look forward to rescheduling this event.

Come see first-hand why students are choosing to study in MECA&D's close-knit community and rigorous artistic programs. At an Open House, you'll have a chance to:
+ Get to know faculty and current students
+ Take a tour of our studios and res halls
+ Have your portfolio reviewed with professional artists
+ Explore the vibrant art scene in downtown Portland, Maine
This Open House is designed for students interested in our BFA and Pre-College programs — we'll send you more information within 48 hours of registration.
Sign up below!
If you have any questions about our Open Houses, you can contact us at admissions@meca.edu or 207.699.5026.
