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Maine College of Art & Design

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Maine College of Art & Design

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The College has transformed a former department store into the main campus building with vibrant classrooms and studios that are open 24/7.

Through our 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio, access to state-of-the-art facilities, 24-hour-a-day studio access, and our central location in Portland’s creative community, this is the right-sized city and right-sized school to make your mark. Located in the heart of the Portland Arts District, Maine College of Art offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts, a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, Salt Graduate Certificate in Documentary Studies, as well as Continuing Studies for adults and youths, including a Pre-College intensive for high school students. Also located in the Porteous Building, the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA serves a critical regional role in its commitment to presenting contemporary, provocative work by living artists from Maine and around the globe. The Joanne Waxman Library is one of the largest independent libraries in Northern New England and a major resource for the region. At MECA, undergraduate students spend the first year developing a foundation and the second year exploring a variety of media. At the start of junior year, students declare a major and spend the next two years working within their discipline. MECA offers 11 majors in the BFA program: Ceramics, Digital Media, Graphic Design, Illustration, Metalsmithing & Jewelry, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Textile & Fashion Design, and Woodworking & Furniture Design. The College provides individual studios to all juniors and seniors. MECA is part of a five-college alliance that allows students to access classes and resources in the surrounding area.

10/23/2026

Last week, Graphic Design students spent the day in Boston visiting global creative agency Digitas North America and LEGO Education. Students received a private tour of both spaces, heard from the in-house design teams about their collaborative process, and connected with them to network and get advice on portfolio development. A very special thanks to Graphic Design Faculty Peter Alfano and Amy Parker for making it all happen 💫

Learn more about the Graphic Design program at MECA&D here: https://meca.edu/academics/graphic-design/

10/20/2026

The Photography Department at MECA&D took a field trip to Gritty McDuff's for a behind-the-scenes tour of Maine's only analog photo booth courtesy of and . One of only 270 photo booths left in the world, students and faculty learned about the machine that was invented over 100 years ago, the chemical process, and got to take their own photo strips as a memento 📸

Learn more about the Photography program at MECA&D here: https://meca.edu/academics/photography/

10/16/2026

The halls are alive with work from the annual BFA Fall Exhibition!

Open to all current BFA students, this year's exhibition features the work of 109 students from every class year and major at MECA&D.

The exhibition culminates in a private awards ceremony where a select group of students receives scholarship prizes from a jury of MECA&D faculty and staff, as well as local arts professionals.

Register for our next Open House on October 24 to learn more about the BFA program and see the exhibition for yourself. Reserve your spot here: https://apply.meca.edu/register/OctoberSatOpenHouse26

10/09/2026

Register for our first Undergraduate Open House of the season on Friday, October 16, and be among the first to receive our new MECA&D Pass. 🎫

At the Open House, meet with an admissions counselor for a portfolio review, and you'll have the chance to receive a MECA&D Pass for guaranteed admission!

Based solely on your portfolio, a MECA&D Pass guarantees admission and scholarship preference after you complete your application, submit your portfolio online, and demonstrate good academic standing!

Reserve your spot here: https://apply.meca.edu/register/OctoberFriOpenHouse26

10/07/2026

Don't miss the chance to experience Place Setting at 49 Oak, a solo exhibition of ceramic work by Margo Halverson. For more than three decades, Margo was the Program Chair of Graphic Design at MECA&D, and after retiring in December 2023, she returned to campus as a BFA student in Ceramics.

Place Setting reaffirms that creative work, regardless of medium, welcomes possibilities to emerge and begin again.

Plan your visit before the exhibition closes! Find open hours: https://meca.edu/event/f5b84fd/

10/06/2026

Artist Kensuke Yamada () recently joined us at MECA&D for two days of workshops, a lecture, and studio visits!

During his time on campus, Yamada created three sculptures, giving students an up-close look at his approach to working with clay and the skill, experimentation, and process behind his practice. His visit offered students the opportunity to learn directly from an artist whose work pushes the possibilities of the medium.

View the entire Fall line-up of Visiting Artists: https://meca.edu/academics/visiting-artists/

10/02/2026

Our Visiting Artist Lecture Series is a way for our community to connect and engage with emerging and established creatives working across the fields of Art, Craft, Design, and academic areas of cultural production. All Artist Talks are held in Osher Hall at MECA&D and are free and open to the public, subject to space availability.

This fall, we're welcoming a dynamic group of creatives to campus and invite you to join us for a series of Artist Talks, featuring the following:

Monday, October 5, 12:00–1:00 pm: Eileen Isagon Skyers
Co-hosted with the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D and funded by the generous support of the TD Charitable Foundation.
Wednesday, October 7, 5:30–7:00 pm: Tony Matelli
Monday, October 19, 12:00–1:00 pm: Raúl The Third
Co-hosted with the Illustration Department at MECA&D and funded by the generous support of the TD Charitable Foundation.
Monday, October 26, 12:00–1:00 pm: Philip Brou
Monday, November 2, 12:00–1:00 pm: Sondra Sherman
Co-hosted with the Metalsmithing & Jewelry Department at MECA&D and funded by the generous support of the TD Charitable Foundation.
Monday, November 16, 12:00–1:00 pm: Taylor Baldwin
Funded through a generous gift from Dr. Edward M. Friedman '08 and Carole J. Friedman, in honor of Sculpture Professor Emeritus Gary Ambrose.
Monday, September 28, 12:00–1:00 pm: Kensuke Yamada
Co-hosted with the Ceramics Department at MECA&D and funded by the generous support of the TD Charitable Foundation.

The Visiting Artist Lecture Series is funded through the generous support of the Gene R. Cohen Charitable Foundation.

Learn more here: https://meca.edu/academics/visiting-artists/

Slide 1: Image courtesy of Eileen Isagon Skyers.
Slide 2: Tony Matelli, Arrangement, silicone, epoxy, urethane, hair, clothing, 67 x 35 x 24 1/8in, 2022.
Slide 3: Image courtesy of Raúl The Third.
Slide 4: Philip Brou, The Mirror with a Memory, oil on linen, 24x18", 2026.
Slide 5: Image courtesy of Sondra Sherman.
Slide 6: Taylor Baldwin, head of an elder, 70 x 16 x 16in, 2020.
Slide 7: Image courtesy of Kensuke Yamada.

10/01/2026

Want to know what it's like to be a BFA student at Maine College of Art & Design? Join us on Friday, October 16, for our first Undergraduate Open House of the semester! Prospective students and families can tour the MECA&D campus in the heart of Portland, Maine's Arts District, hear from students and faculty, enjoy a complimentary lunch in the MECA&D Cafe, and schedule a portfolio review with one of our admissions counselors.

Save your spot: https://apply.meca.edu/register/OctoberFriOpenHouse26

09/28/2026

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢,

Artificial Intelligence may well be the defining technology of our lifetimes, and might best be understood as an accumulation of digital dependencies decades in the making, arriving now as infrastructure. 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢, invites audiences to interrogate the consequences of leasing ourselves to our screens and to consider how we might demand more equitable and supportive systems amid the ever-increasing weight of accelerated technology.

Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design
On View: October 2 – December 13, 2026
Opening Reception: October 2, 5:00-8:00 pm

𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬: Nouf Aljowaysir, Alice Bucknell, Sarah Friend, Claudia Hart, Heesoo Kwon, Maya Man, Amor Muñoz, NOCELLCOVERAGE, Analia Saban, Tianyi Sun, Vickie Vainionpää, Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Anna Zhang

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢, is curated by ICA Director Iris Williamson and independent curator Eileen Isagon Skyers.

Explore the show: https://meca.edu/ica/dear-data/

09/25/2026

Join contemporary New England artists Patricia Brace '06, Ethan Murrow, and Joshua Reiman for a conversation at the Portland Museum of Art, exploring imagined marinescapes in dialogue with the work of Winslow Homer. The conversation will be held on September 29 at 5:30 pm.

Patricia received her BFA from MECA&D in 2006 and is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Painting, Sculpture, & Foundation at MECA&D. Joshua Reiman is the Associate Professor of Sculpture and the Gary Ambrose Chair of Sculpture at MECA&D.

Learn more about the talk: https://meca.edu/event/7d18525/

Address

522 Congress Street
Portland, ME
04101

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 8pm
Tuesday	8am - 8pm
Wednesday	8am - 8pm
Thursday	8am - 8pm
Friday	8am - 8pm
Saturday	12pm - 5pm
Sunday	12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+18006394808

Website

http://www.meca.edu/

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