The studios at Maine College of Art & Design are managed by the respective departments and require both a lab fee and the department chair’s approval to access.
The MFA program has its own dedicated studio space, but students may request to be placed in the respective department studios based on needs and availability.
Animation & Game Art
Shared workstations include a mix of PCs (Surface studios, Lenovo Yogas, Dell desktops) and iMacs paired with large Cintiq drawing tablets; access to Blender; Substance Painter; Toonboom Harmony; Toonboom Storyboard Pro; Dragonframe; Unity; Unreal Engine; Adobe Creative Suite; large and small stop-motion stages to accommodate both short-term exercises and dedicated space for long-term projects; DSLR cameras; geared head tripods; LED cinema lights; and stop-motion animation rigs.
Ceramics
Shared workstations include 30 electric wheels; six electric kilns; two test kilns; two downdraft gas car kilns; a downdraft front-loading gas kiln; an indoor Raku kiln; an indoor soda kiln; and dedicated spaces for clay mixing, glaze mixing, and mold-making. Note: Ceramics Studio Technician oversees all firings.
Graphic Design
Risograph machine with five color drums; guillotine; 28” Epson fine art printer; perfect binder; spiral binder; bookbinding tools; photo area for tabletop shoots; and light tables.
Illustration
Wacom/Cintiqs; 11” X 17” flatbed scanner; 28” Epson printer; and Risograph.
Painting
Individual storage space for work and materials; shared critique/work space; easels, work tables, air brushes, digital projectors, dslr cameras, tripods, light sets, sanders, drills, brad guns, clamps, and a compound miter saw (named Grant Wood).
Photography
A range of wide-format Epson printers; two traditional darkrooms (one for beginners and one for advanced users); 28 enlargers for printing from film (including enlargers for 35mm, medium, and large format negatives); equipment for creating gelatin silver mural prints; and an individual film processing room for large format film and color film. Lighting Studio with a comprehensive array of strobe and continuous lighting and an extensive collection of grip and gaffer equipment. A complete complement of print finishing equipment: 40”x 60” vacuum drymount table and a wall-mounted professional-level mat cutting system.
Sculpture
Wood Shop: SawStop table saws; miter saws; bandsaws; chainsaws; skill saws; drill presses; hammer drills; belt/disc sanders; angle grinders, die grinders; wire brush grinder; and, other hand tools.
Metal Shop: mig welder; tig welder; arc welder; oxy-acetylene welder; spot welder; plasma cutter; Ellis bandsaw; metal chop saw; sand blaster; propane forge; coal forge; sand casting; and foundry.
A/V: 27” iMacs with Logic, Adobe suite, and DaVinci Resolve; multiple video projectors; sound equipment; media players; digital audio and video recorders; and dslr cameras.
Other construction tools: plaster/mold-making studio; installation rooms; spray booth; industrial sewing machines; resin bonded sand; foundry furnace (240lb/90lb capacity); crucibles for bronze, copper and aluminum; electric hoist; ladders; and outdoor tools for site work.
Textile & Fashion Design
Three connected studios with floor-to-ceiling windows outfitted with professional equipment for creating textiles and garments. Equipment includes industrial sewing machines, sergers, dress forms, floor looms, knitting machines, drafting tables, textile printing tables, industrial induction cooktops, a darkroom, and a programmable embroidery machine.
Digital Fabrication Studio
CNC router; laser cutter; laser etcher; 3D printers (fused deposition modeling & stereolithography); fabric printer.
Metalsmithing & Jewelry Studio
Torches for casting and soldering ranging in size from mini to extra large; three enameling kilns and a large variety of vitreous enamels; powder coating system; heavy-duty lathe; handheld flex shafts and drill presses; large straight and curved shear; pulse arc mini tig welder; lapidary equipment, including cabbing wheels, at laps, and stone saws; draw horse; wide variety of anvils, stakes, and shaping mandrels; equipment for vacuum and centrifugal casting; bung wheels; small forge; sandblaster; bandsaw; belt sander; hydraulic press.
Printmaking Studio
Emphasis on low non-toxic materials and methods; screen print facility with exposure unit and darkroom for photo processes; lithography area with two large Takach presses and a mid-size Rembrandt, with a large selection of Bavarian limestones that offer a unique surface artists have historically compared to “drawing on an eggshell”; 3 Intaglio, relief, and monotype presses; letterpress studio including an iron hand press, a Vandercook press, 3 sign presses, 3 clamshell presses, and 7 banks of metal and wood type; digital workstation, software, and scanner for photo print processes; and color and B&W archival digital printing equipment.
Woodworking & Furniture Design Studio
Precision Italian machinery; CNC routers; 4 band saws; horizontal slot mortiser; chisel mortiser; Oneway lathes; drill press; 16” & 12” jointers; 15” & 24” planers; 36” wide belt sander; Lie Nielsen hand planes; Festool hand tools; SawShop table saws.
Sound Studio
Control room; recording studios; isolation booth; assortment of musical instruments and recording tools.
Learn More
For admission-related questions, email GraduateAdmissions@meca.edu or call 207.699.5023. For questions about the MFA program unrelated to admission, email the MFA program at mfa@meca.edu.