Maine College of Art

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
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.

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) | ME
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 | ME
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 | ME
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) | ME
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) | ME
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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Women Make Movies Make History
2016-07-15 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Osher Hall, Maine College of Art & Design, 2nd Floor, 522 Congress St., Portland, ME, 04101, United States
With Special Guest Ariel Dougherty, director and Women Make Movies co-founder
General Admission $10 / $7 for MECA&D Faculty / $5 for MECA&D Students
Screening of historic, narrative shorts from the 1970s — “Domestic Tranquility” and “Sweet Bananas” — followed by Q&A talkback with director Ariel Dougherty on the films, the history of Women Make Movies, and the future for filmmakers who want to make narrative films about women and girls. The screening will be approximately 45 minutes with 30 minutes for Q&A afterward.
This event is part of the Bluestocking Film Series— an exclusive showcase for provocative, well-produced films that feature complex female protagonists driving the narrative and leading the action. All short fiction films must feature a female protagonist, submissions must also pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test.

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