Maine College of Art
Portland, Maine
Overview
Founded in 1882, Maine College of Art is the oldest arts educational institution in Maine and the largest employer of visual artists in the state. An organized curriculum was established in 1911 and the first diplomas were awarded in the 1920s. The first B.F.A. degrees were awarded in 1975, and the M.F.A. program was launched in 1998. MECA is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
The Location and Community
Located less than 2 hours from Boston, Portland is a small, cosmopolitan city on a peninsula in Casco Bay that continues to attract attention as a cultural destination. It is just minutes from beaches and hiking areas and less than 2 hours from nationally rated ski areas. American Style magazine has listed Portland as one of the top twenty-five national art destinations. The College's buildings (all on the National Register of Historic Places) are located in the downtown arts district, along with museums, theaters, an exquisite concert hall, many artists' studios, and numerous restaurants, cafés, and coffeehouses.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
Maine College of Art M.F.A. in Studio Arts program takes two full years (twenty-four months) to complete. Each year is divided into two 6-month semesters, with eight-week intensives over two summers, ten-day winter intensives, and a four-day spring thesis residency making up the residency part of the program. Residencies are held at the MECA campus in Portland, Maine, where each graduate student has a private studio and an individual program that reflects his or her unique strengths and aspirations. There is supervised nonresidency studio study at the student's home-area studio and independent study and distance learning academic projects. The intent of this 60-credit program is to combine intensive summer residencies with tutored independent study to provide a professional program that meets or exceeds the rigors and vitality of the traditional model as the terminal professional degree for studio art and design. MECA's intention is to accommodate well-qualified and motivated students for whom a traditional nine-month residency is not feasible.
The program integrates advanced training in the making of visual art with a solid course of study in art history, theory, and cultural studies. Students are treated as graduate scholars learning the craft of making art within the framework of research and intellectual thinking and writing. In addition to the attainment of artistic excellence, the program is conceived as an interactive process geared toward professional training, personal development, and cultural engagement. The program serves mature individuals already functioning in the field who seek nontraditional graduate study in studio arts.
The College has earned a reputation for an intimate learning atmosphere in a state-of-the-art building, where safe art-making combines with breath-taking views of Casco Bay.
Facilities & Resources
The Joanne Waxman Library is one of the largest independent visual arts libraries in northern New England and a major resource for the region. Its collections number more than 20,000 volumes and 100 periodicals as well as videos and other materials. In addition, the library maintains a specialized collection of nineteenth-century publications in the arts, a collection of artists' books, and a collection of 45,000 slides. Access to online resources and a growing digital image collection is available through the library's online catalog.
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art features leading-edge exhibitions and public programs that showcase new perspectives and new trends in contemporary art. Located in stunning galleries in MECA's landmark Porteous Building in downtown Portland, the ICA presents innovative work in a range of media by influential national and international artists as well as emerging artists. A rich array of public programs enhance the ICA's exhibition schedule, including provocative talks by leading artists and critics, timely forums on current issues in art and design, and interactive workshops for young people. The ICA is an essential part of MECA's educational resources for students and faculty members, providing opportunities to engage visiting artists and to explore new approaches in curatorial practice and museum education.
Expenses and Aid
Tuition for the 2004-05 academic year was $21,850.
Financial Aid:
There is limited scholarship assistance available to students, most of whom are working artists. Other financial aid includes Federal Perkins Loans, subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Stafford Student Loans, veterans' benefits, and supplemental loan programs. There is a professional financial aid staff available for consultation.
Housing/Living Expenses:
Students are responsible for living expenses during the eight-week summer intensives. Summer housing is available in college dorms or through subleasing arrangements. Average room and board costs vary depending on residence. Winter and spring residency housing is provided by the College.
How to Apply / Application
Applicants must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution. In addition to a working knowledge of art history and aesthetics, applicants are expected to have at least 72 semester hours of studio experience and submit a slide carousel of recent work and a written program proposal. Admitted candidates must have access to personal studio space adequately equipped to fulfill the nonresidency requirements of the program. There is a $40 nonrefundable application fee.
Who to Contact
Maine College of Art
97 Spring Street
Portland, Maine 04101
800-639-4808
E-mail: mfa@meca.edu
Faculty
The resident and studio faculty members are interdisciplinary specialists who lead the summer and winter residencies in coordination with visiting artists and scholars specializing in a variety of fields. Visiting artists give presentations, participate in critiques, and meet with students in small groups and individual sessions during the residencies. Visiting artists are selected according to the particular needs and interests of the resident faculty members and the students. Poets, engineers, architects, musicians, computer experts, scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers are invited to participate in the residency program, as are experts from within the field, such as art dealers, career consultants, museum curators, and publishers. Nonresident studio instructors satisfy the same criteria for appointment as do resident graduate faculty members. Like resident faculty members, they are active members of the arts community who present their work regularly to the public and have achieved professional standing in their respective fields of expertise or areas of practice. The coordinator of studio appoints nonresident studio instructors who work within travel distance of the student's studio.
• Katarina Weslien, Director, M.F.A. in Studio Arts; M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art. For the last two decades, Katarina Weslien has been developing a multidisciplinary practice that fuses questions of materiality, cultural identity, and broad sweeping historical concerns into installations and digital images that have been exhibited internationally. In addition to her studio practice, she lectures, teaches seminars, and has been a visiting artist in graduate programs in the U.S., Israel, India, and Sweden. Central to these practices is her deep and abiding interest in understanding the global movement of the cross-cultural diaspora. She teaches studio, interdisciplinary theory, and studio seminar.
• Iain Kerr, M.Arch., Texas at Austin. Iain Kerr has an international studio practice in spatial design and performance. He has written and lectured extensively across a variety of disciplines, including philosophy, architecture, film and video theory, spatial theory, and performance. He teaches studio, critical theory, and cultural studies.
• Chris Thompson, Ph.D., Goldsmiths College, University of London. Chris teaches art and cultural history and theory. His writings have appeared or will soon appear in Performance Research, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, Radical Philosophy, Adbusters, Domus, Print, Tate International Arts and Culture, ARTL!ES, Art New England, The Portland Phoenix, and others. His essay ?The Look of Ethics: Emmanuel Levinas, Leo Bronstein, and the interhuman intrigue,? is forthcoming in the book Text and Ethics, Rodopi/University of Gothenburg Press. He is co-editor of the forthcoming book Ingestation: What Art Eats and is completing a book on the 1982 meeting between German artist Joseph Beuys and H. H. the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet.