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The Next Level: SALT

Wheels click in staccato rhythms and rubber stoppers shriek against the slick wooden floor of the track. Strapped head to toe in protective pads and helmets, 10 women on rollerskates jockey for . . .

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The Art of Music: Seeing Sound at MECA&D

The fusion of music and art at MECA&D is a match made in heaven, or at least in Newark, New Jersey, where Bob Crewe grew up. The path from Newark to Portland, Maine, may seem unlikely, but . . .

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Walking As Aesthetic Practice

Assistant Professor in MFA Julie Poitras Santos' site-specific visual practice takes many forms, including installations, video, performances and public projects. Much of her recent work uses walking . . .

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Highlight on the Arts in Portland

Maine College of Art & Design shares deep roots with the Portland Museum of Art. In 1882, the Portland Society of Art was founded, which encompassed both the art school and the museum. Not until 1982 . . .

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Intern Profile: Elizabeth Dee Gallery, NYC

By being involved in the gallery’s administrative aspects, I was able to not only work but witness, as well, how the multiple functions of a gallery come together. This included the gallery’s . . .

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My Path to Freelance Illustrator

My path to becoming a freelance illustrator began when I made the decision to transfer from a liberal arts school in Massachusetts to an art school next to my hometown. I knew that I wanted to be . . .

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Critique in the K-12 Classroom

Think about it. When was the last time you and a friend discussed a really good book or movie and asked each other the names of the three major characters? In a forgetful moment, perhaps, but not as . . .

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Vivian Beer ’00 Wins Ellen DeGeneres’ Design Challenge

Vivian Beer '00 was announced the Winner of Ellen DeGeneres' Design Challenge on last night's finale. Vivian won a $100,000 cash prize from Wayfair.com and her work will be featured in HGTV Magazine. . . .

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Testing One’s Own Imagination

I’ve loved to make art as long as I came remember.  Mostly drawing.  I came to MECA&D after graduating high school, and growing up with fantastically creative friends who helped me to exercise my . . .

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MECA&D Students Embrace Real-World Projects

What happens to history when stories are lost? And what is the artist’s role in saving and sharing stories? Students in Documentary Storytelling, a class taught by MECA&D Adjunct Instructor of . . .

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Artistic Excellence › MFA

NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship Grant

NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship Grant

MECA&D is thrilled to announce that MFA candidate Anna Valenti ’20 is the recipient of the 2020 NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship Grant. The fellowship is awarded to a graduate student to foster knowledge . . .

Making Migration Visible: Co-Curator Interview

Making Migration Visible: Co-Curator Interview

Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways is a wide-ranging exhibition of a dynamic group of contemporary artists whose work engages the theme of migration. Organized by Erin Hutton ’98, . . .

Sustaining a Professional Practice After MFA

Sustaining a Professional Practice After MFA

When did you graduate? Were you a full or low resident? May 2018 and I was a full resident in the program. Why did you decide to get your MFA at MECA&D? I decided to get my MFA at MECA&D because of the . . .

Highlight on the Arts in Portland

Highlight on the Arts in Portland

Maine College of Art & Design shares deep roots with the Portland Museum of Art. In 1882, the Portland Society of Art was founded, which encompassed both the art school and the museum. Not until 1982 did the . . .

Out and About

Out and About

My experience during the 2017 MFA research trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles was a fruitful one. Along with the established itinerary, packed with visits to art institutions and scenic locations relevant . . .

Life After MECA&D

Life After MECA&D

Tessa Greene O’Brien MFA ’16 and her husband, Will Sears, both painters, had a long-standing dream to fill the city of Portland with colorful, graphic works of art in public spaces. Immersed in the worlds . . .

Trash Talks in Sculpture Exhibit at Speedwell Projects

Trash Talks in Sculpture Exhibit at Speedwell Projects

The following excerpt is sourced from an article published in the Portland Press Herald, by Bob Keyes Adriene Herman, an interdisciplinary Maine artist and MECA&D Professor of the MFA in Studio Art and . . .

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Awards

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Awards

Sharon Shapiro MFA '19 was one of 27 Virginia art students and professional artists out of 771 applicants to receive a 2018-2019 fellowship and one of six graduate students to receive an award. The program was . . .

God Bless

God Bless

About The Work I was invited to take part in the inauguration exhibition of The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit. I finished my summer intensive course at Maine College of Art & Design in Portland and went back . . .

Direct + Meaningful Connections

Direct + Meaningful Connections

Inspired by the historic tradition of allegorical painting, my work depicts figures in ambiguous situations as a way of exploring the strange, nebulous rules of human behavior. I intend my paintings to be both . . .

Walking As Aesthetic Practice

Walking As Aesthetic Practice

Assistant Professor in MFA Julie Poitras Santos' site-specific visual practice takes many forms, including installations, video, performances and public projects. Much of her recent work uses walking as a . . .

Time, Energy, and Attention

Time, Energy, and Attention

What differentiates MECA&D from your own college and grad school experience? MECA&D’s intimate scale facilitates symbiotic flow between faculty and students. Of course, significant connections evolve at all . . .

Portland Mural Initiative

Portland Mural Initiative

The Portland Mural Initiative aims to bring contemporary art into the public spaces of Portland and its surrounding areas. They work with emerging and established artists that have a strong connection to . . .

Trick or Treat Concert

Trick or Treat Concert

Matthew Tanzi, MFA '15: Camille Saint-Saens — Danse Macabre from Maine College of Art & Design on Vimeo. On October 18th, 2015, the Portland Symphony Orchestra held a "Trick or Treat" concert at the . . .

The Fine Art of Simulacra

The Fine Art of Simulacra

H. Maxwell Fisher was a visionary toy shopkeeper and pioneer amateur space aeronaut whose estate sale featured amazing collectible artifacts, including his personal hand‐built spacecraft, the “Fisher . . .

Broadening the Audience

Broadening the Audience

How does the term 'public engagement' differ from artist to curator? Public engagement is a form that an idea can take in the same way that a painting or a photograph or a table is a form. Artists who make . . .

The Transformative Power of Assembly

The Transformative Power of Assembly

Susan Bickford has been a full‐time practicing artist for over 25 years, often working in Digtal Media, creating installations that utilize video, animation, sound and theater.  She is an Adjunct Professor . . .

I Make Whatever The Moment Calls For

I Make Whatever The Moment Calls For

Susan Bickford often works in digital media, creating installations that utilize video, animation, sound and theater. She is an Adjunct Professor of Visual & Electronic Art at the University of Maine at . . .

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