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Future of the Past: Reviving the Queer Archives
MFA student Ryan Conrad curated this photo exhibition of 80s and 90s queer activism in Maine. The show is on view on the first and second floors of the Porteous Building from June 5 to July 3.The photographs in the exhibit are drawn from the Annette Dragon papers of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Collection in USM’s Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine. In addition to the exhibition, an intergenerational panel discussion on queer/trans activism in Maine will take place during Southern Maine Pride week in lecture hall 305 at MECA on Thursday, June 18 at 6 p.m.

More info

Osher Hall

MECA will celebrate the opening of Osher Hall with a reception on May 5 at 4:30 pm. Located on the second floor of the Porteous Building, the lecture hall is the newest facility inside the 150,000 square foot main campus building. The construction was made possible thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation. The lecture hall seats 112 people and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology so the College can stream lectures live. Lecturers will have the ability to control lighting, video, television and computer presentations from a touch-screen panel embedded in the lectern. Supporters can purchase brass seat plaques for $250. For more information, email Tim Kane at tkane@meca.edu.

Press Herald article

Commencement

Maine College of Art will hold their commencement exercises at Merrill Auditorium at 2 pm on May 10, 2009. Nearly 100 degrees will be awarded to students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program and the Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts program. Stu Kestenbaum will deliver the commencement address.

Commencement address

Press Herald article

Photos

BFA Thesis Exhibition

Graduating students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program exhibit their thesis work throughout the Porteous Building. On view from May 1 through May 24 with an opening reception scheduled for First Friday, May 1 from 5 to 8 pm. Curator Jeff Waites MFA '05 is assisted by BFA seniors Quinn Casey and Sydney Williams. Hours of viewing for the public: Monday - Friday 8 am to 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 5 pm.

Image by Sheila Sanfason, text made from clay.

Words for Warpaint
April 17, 7:30 to 10:00 pm, Student Center, 2nd floor Porteous
Words for Warpaint is a student run event to help raise funds for the nonprofit organization Invisible Children, dedicated to ending the abduction of child soldiers in Uganda. The evening features local performers Iris Downey, Port Veritas and Grant Street Orchestra.

MECA Student Designs Label for Geary's Summer Ale
Each year, the D.L. Geary Brewing company partners with Maine College of Art on a contest for students to design the label for the Geary’s Summer Ale. The winning student is awarded a $5000 scholarship and their work is featured on the label and packaging for nearly one million bottles of beer distributed along the Eastern seaboard. This year the winner is Kegan Ambrose of Denmark, Maine, a senior majoring in graphic design. His design features a colorful assortment of lobster buoys spelling out the word “Geary’s”. Kegan grew up sailing the coast of Maine with his family. He recently restored a 19-foot sailboat, which is moored off East End Beach in Portland. His time on the ocean and his love for it inspired his colorful lobster buoy design. In the future he hopes to combine his design work with his interest in sailing. He is the son of Gary Ambrose, a longtime member of the sculpture faculty at the College. Says his father, “He has wanted to win this competition since he enrolled at MECA.”

See a slideshow of the entries

New: Master Class in Ceramics Open to the Public

John Britt will lead a three day workshop from June 19 to 21. It will be an intense, hands-on, information-packed weekend with nationally known ceramic artist John Britt, author of The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cone 10. John is known as a great teacher who can make complex glaze formulation easy to understand. The class will be a general overview of cone 10 ceramic glazes designed for beginner to intermediate potters. We will discuss cones, kilns, firing principles, and dynamics, as well as applying those principles to various firing cycles. This will lead us into some basic classifications of glazes, like shino, copper reds, ash, celadon, temmoku, oil spots, etc. We will discuss how and why each type of glaze works and how you can achieve them. John will follow the format of his book and will go into more detail than the book allowed.

John Britt has worked and taught at the University of Dayton, Dayton art Institute, Penland School of Crafts (where he was Clay Coordinator for three years), Collin County, Cedar Valley, and Brookhaven and Maryland Community Colleges. He has taught all types of ceramics classes, including basic hand-building, throwing, sculpture, raw materials and glaze chemistry, glazing techniques and kiln building to all levels of students.

Register by calling 207-699-5061.

Woodworking Exhibition by Artist-in-Residence

March 28 to April 18, Friedman Gallery

Closing reception, April 17, 5 to 8 pm

“Fair Bends” is an exhibition of work by Ray Duffey, the first artist-in-residence within the Woodworking & Furniture Design department. The work is inspired by the coastal environment and the materials and forms that make up its visual vernacular. The Friedman Gallery is open from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday and is accessible through the entrance at 87 Free Street.

Undoing Racism Exhibition at Joanne Waxman Library

April 3 to 25

Opening reception April 3, 5 pm

Read the Portland Press Herald article

Undoing Racism is a multi-media collaborative project designed by faculty, staff, and students at the Maine College of Art in partnership with local community members and organizations. Using a combination of art making, exhibitions, performance, public lectures, community workshops, and curriculum, the project addresses issues of diversity, inclusion, and representation within the college while making connections to the broader Portland community.

One component of the exhibition is “Picturing Us” a collaborative print project with MECA Printmaking majors, MECA Art Education students, King Middle School students and local graffiti artists. Students and artists created a unique stencil print edition to express their views on the issues of race, representation, and power.

Ebune Parade and Workshops

Ebune, the Procession of the Ram, is an annual parade that celebrates the entrance of spring and the release of the winter months. The festival is sponsored by The Museum of African Culture, Maine College of Art, the Maine Humanities Council, Maine Arts Commission and Artist and Craftsman Supply.

Art Making Workshops

March 30 – April 3, 4-7pm Baxter Building, 619 Congress St.

The Art Education Department of MECA will lead puppet, mask and banner making activities for all levels. These creations will then be carried in the Ebune Parade. Free and open to the public

Lecture by Oscar Mokeme

April 3, 4-7pm Baxter Building, 619 Congress St.

The theme of this year’s Ebune is “Grace: Manifesting the Grace in You.”

Oscar Mokeme, Director of the Museum of African Culture, will explore the idea of grace in a struggling economy and how to move us through the spirit of dryness and challenges of this time. Free and open to the public.

Ebune Procession

April 5th, 12 Noon Porteous Building, 522 Congress St.

The procession lines up at 11:30 a.m. in front of MECA’s Porteous Building. At noon the parade proceeds down Congress Street to the Eastern Promenade where there will be food and a lively celebration. Volunteers are needed to help carry banners and animate puppets or masks. Volunteers are encouraged to contact us in advance, but can also show up at 11 a.m. on the day of the event.  Contact Nicholas Ellard at nellard@meca.edu or Oscar Mokeme at africart@museumafricanculture.org

Chinese Ink Painting
Chinese Ink Painting is an exhibition of work by Continuing Studies and undergraduate students from Professor Gan Xu's Chinese Ink Painting classes. The work is on display April 3-16 in the Free Street Gallery, accessible at 87 Free Street or through the main entrance at 522 Congress Street. Gallery hours are 9 am - 4 pm Monday through Friday. An artists reception will be held on First Friday, April 3 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Portland Greendrinks

Each month, Portland Greendrinks provides a networking forum for people working on environmental and social issues. On March 10, MECA will be the host for the event, along with Maine Island Trail Association and The Dobbyn Foundation. MECA will offer tours, artmaking opportunities and student work for sale. Bring a tshirt to silkscreen at our Ink Bar. From 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Nothing Major

At MECA, students spend their first two years taking Foundation courses before chosing a studio major. This exhibit features the work of first and second year students only. The work is on view through March 20 on the second floor of the Porteous Building.

Closing Reception & Dance: Friday, March 20, 8-11pm, Student Center

Ebune Workshops and Parade

March 30 to April 3, 4 to 7 pm, Baxter Building, 619 Congress St.

A public workshop of puppet, mask and banner making activities with student in the Art Education program at MECA. Creations will be used in the Ebune parade of April 5. The parade is sponsored by The Museum of African Culture, the Maine Humanities Council, Maine Arts Commission and Artist and Craftsman Supply

Student Exhibit in Free Street Gallery

"Old Soles: A look into the life of left and right," is an installation curated by MECA student Sydney Williams. A senior at MECA, Williams is enrolled in the Art History and Curatorial Practice major. "Old Soles" is a collection of loaned shoes from artists and teachers at the Maine College of Art. Each submission is accompanied by a handwritten narrative, tracing memories or events evoked for the wearer. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit closes March 6.

Experimental Collective at ICA at MECA

The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art will host a musical performance by The Experimental Collective on Thursday, February 26th at 6:30pm. This event is free and open to the public. The Experimental Collective will create and premier an improvisational musical performance in response to Jim Campbell’s immersive multi-media installation, Last Day in the Beginning of March currently on view in the ICA’s exhibition Twilight. The Experimental Collective’s performance will feature musicians Nathan Kolosko, Carl Dimow and Benjamin Noyes.

AIGA and MECA present BoNE Show

The Best of New England (BoNE) Show, AIGA Boston’s design competition, takes place once every two years and highlights the best work from the graphic design community in New England. The 2007 show has spent the last two years traveling throughout New England including stops in MA, VT, RI, CT and NH—and now Maine.

The exhibit will be on display on the first and second floors of the Porteous building at MECA, 522 Congress Street in Portland. It will run from February 6–28 and is open to the public M–F 8am–8pm and Sat 9am–5pm, please check in at the front desk. The exhibit coincides with the call for submissions for the next BoNE Show, deadline February 12, 2009, www.boneshow.org. AIGA, the professional association for design, is committed to furthering excellence in design as a broadly defined discipline, strategic tool for business, and cultural force. For more information visit: www.maine.aiga.org. The exhibit will officially open during the First Friday Art Walk on February 6, 5–8:00pm.

Continuing Studies Exhibition

Brushwork and Bronze is an exhibition of work by Continuing Studies students from the classes "Lost Wax Bronze Casting" and "The Practice of Painting." The art is on display in the Free Street Gallery, accessible at 87 Free Street or through the main entrance at 522 Congress Street. Gallery hours are 9 am - 4 pm Monday through Friday. An artists reception will be held on First Friday, February 6 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Holiday Hours

Maine College of Art holiday hours for the general public:

The Porteous building will be open 9 am to 5 pm from Dec. 15 to 19 and on Dec. 22 and 23.
The building will be closed Dec. 24 through Jan. 1 and open for normal business hours on January 2.

Food, Hunger, Justice

More than 100 first year students at Maine College of Art have participated in a unique freshman experience that has resulted in an exhibition called “Food, Hunger, Justice.”  As part of a new curriculum called FY-In that has a service learning component, students have spent their first semester researching the ood crisis in Maine. In response, they have volunteered on local farms, created artwork and will use the proceeds from art sales to provide food for low-income senior citizens in Portland.

Students partnered with Cultivating Community to visit their urban and suburban farms:  Turkey Hill Farm, Boyd Street Urban Farm and Oxford Street garden. During these visits, students harvested food, put gardens to bed, moved rocks and assisted with farm chores.

Based on their academic study and on-site experiences, students created artwork that reflected their learnings. These original works include prints, painting, drawings, photographs, t-shirts, mixed media and videos. Their goal is to use artwork to raise awareness about the pending food crisis in Maine. The work will be on view from November 19 to December 6 throughout Portland at Maine College of Art at 522 Congress Street, Aurora Provisions at 64 Pine Street, Rabelais Books at 86 Middle Street and Local 188 at 685 Congress Street. Proceeds from the sale of student work benefit the Elder Share fund of Cultivating Community, which delivers a weekly bag of produce to seniors living in one of three low-income housing in Portland.

Faculty member Matt Hutton (Woodworking & Furniture Design), is the recipient of the 2008 Society of Arts and Crafts Artist Award. Initiated in 1994, the SAC Artist Awards are presented bi-annually and include a cash prize and group exhibition. The exhibition of the award winners is on view until October 19 at the SAC gallery on Newbury Street in Boston. Matt’s work is also currently on view at the Center for Contemporary Maine Art Biennial exhibition in Rockport.

Faculty Member Lucy Breslin (Ceramics) will have work in Madrid, Spain this fall as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Fulbright exchange between Spain and the United States.  Breslin was awarded a Fulbright to study in Spain in 1985.

Alum Caroline Lathan Stiefel MFA ’01 received a Pollock Krasner Fellowship. Stiefel is also a past recipient of a Creative Capital Visual Artist grant. She has exhibited at galleries in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New York and New Jersey. She is the recipient of a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Grant in Sculpture and a Print and Paper Fellowship from the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper. From 1998-2003 she was Artist-in-Residence in New Jersey elementary schools.

Alum Kelly Rudman ’08 is the wood studio manager at Exhibitology in New York City. Exhibitology is a full service design and build fabrication studio that serves retail, museum and architecture clients by creating innovative exhibits, displays and interactives.

Alum Peter Selmayr ’08 spent the summer as an intern in the graphic design department at L.L. Bean and was hired on full time in the fall.

Current Student Regis Byron ’09 spent the summer working a paid internship for American Eagle Corporate Headquarters in Pittsburg. A graphic design major, Regis worked on web site imagery, package design and maintaining Facebook and MySpace pages for the clothing company.