Each year, graduate candidates in the Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art (MFA) program at the Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) descend on the city of Portland for an eight-week intensive during the summer trimester. During this time, students bond as an artistic cohort and engage in interdisciplinary conversations that will challenge and inform the art created throughout the program.

Central to the MFA Summer Intensive is the intimate exchange between our emerging artist candidates and the prestigious talent of the Visiting Artists on site each week for lectures, critiques, and studio visits. 

We are pleased to announce the 2024 Summer Visiting Artist Lecture Series, running June 17–July 31, which will include the thinking and work of:

● Andrew Roberts, a visual artist exploring the material dimension of horror through digital animations, installations, sculptures, and poetry.

● Jane Wong, a poet, visual artist, and author of the memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City.

● Anina Major, a visual artist who utilizes the vernacular of craft to investigate the relationship between self and place as a site of negotiation.

● Tawni Shuler, is a painter inspired by life in the ranchlands of Wyoming and the history of American landscape painting. 

● Demian DinéYahzi, is an artist, poet, curator, and founder of R.I.S.E. (Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment), an artist/activist initiative dedicated to the education, dissemination, and evolution of Indigenous art and culture.

● Sonya Schönberger, a visual artist whose practice deals with biographical fractures against the background of political or social upheavals. 

In 2023, the MFA Visiting Artists Series featured names such as Chiara No, Jen Liu, Tra Bouscaren, Leon Benn, Lourdes Correa Carlo, Monique Long, Alicia Eggert, Sebastian Black, and Gina Seipel.

Maine College of Art & Design’s MFA in Studio Art program provides artists the opportunity to work with world-renowned faculty, visiting artists, and graduate advisors who emphasize the intersection of studio practice, individual research, and critical analysis in their creative pursuits.

For more information, visit meca.edu/mfa.