image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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. . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article
 image

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 . . .

Read Article

Artistic Excellence › Painting

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 . . .

Dan Gillotte ’93: The Many Values of Art School

Dan Gillotte ’93: The Many Values of Art School

Dan Gillotte ’93 is “chief executive grocer," as he likes to call himself, of the Wheatsville Food Co-op, a grocery business with sales of $35 million in 2016. He also continues to paint and plays the . . .

Human Figure as Vehicle

Human Figure as Vehicle

Describe a body of work that you are currently working on. I am currently exploring the contrasts between my Bosnian upbringing and how moving to America created an intense shift in my personal development. . . .

Intern Profile: Elizabeth Dee Gallery, NYC

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 maintenance, . . .

Formalist Abstraction

Formalist Abstraction

Describe a body of work that you are currently working on. Overall my studio practice is focused on formalist abstraction; exploring the relationships between color, material, and shape. Currently I have been . . .

2015 Guggenheim Fellowship

2015 Guggenheim Fellowship

MECA&D, Portland School of Art Alum Matthew Blackwell '77 won a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship. Often characterized as “midcareer” awards, Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for men and women who have already . . .

Contradictory Nature

Contradictory Nature

ON HIS ART I love the contradictory nature of painting. It is a language that constantly undermines itself. In my opinion, painting is not a discipline suited for finding solutions, but it is unbelievably . . .

Atrocities of War

Atrocities of War

With rudimentary English skills and a vague knowledge Portland, Ahmed Alsoudani fled his home in Baghdad, Iraq and arrived at Maine College of Art & Design. While working several jobs to support himself, he . . .

Recent Achievements

Recent Achievements

Honour Mack, Professor of Painting, during her most recent sabbatical, was able to focus exclusively on her painting practice and exhibiting her work. Her work was recently included in the group exhibition Sea . . .

Communicating Ideas

Communicating Ideas

When does the tipping point from private perception to an awareness of public perception occur in your work? How do you know this point has been reached? As a painter, I spend all of the creative process . . .

Artist, Curator, Material Explorer

Artist, Curator, Material Explorer

Sage Lewis ’04 earned her MFA in Painting and Drawing from Ohio State University (OSU) and in 2015 completed a 10-month Artist-in-Residence fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, where, in . . .

Load More