EMERGING ARTISTS

EMERGING ARTISTS MEG HAHN

Meg Hahn ’17 currently lives and works in Portland, Maine. Her work has been included in exhibitions in Maine at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Perimeter Gallery, and BUOY, and at Collar Works in Troy, New York.

Hahn has attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Hewnoaks Artist Colony, and the Monhegan Artists’ Residency, and will be a resident at the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation in 2021. In 2017, she was a recipient of the Joseph A. Fiore Painting Prize, a Maine award for emerging artists. Meg is also a co-director of the curatorial collective Border Patrol in Portland, Maine, and has co-organized Re-Site, a public art initiative organized by SPACE Gallery, and the inaugural Portland, Maine, chapter of the Terrain Biennial. She graduated from Maine College of Art with a BFA in Painting and a Minor in Art History and works out of the SPACE Studios building.

Can you talk a bit about your experience at MECA and why you chose to study here? What is a project you are currently working on that you are particularly excited about?

My time at MECA was a positive experience both personally and academically. I felt really connected to the community I was around, and felt like there were a lot of opportunities to grow. I chose to study here because I was interested in Portland and was really attracted to the small size and intimate nature of the school and the studios themselves. I like the variety of creative energy Portland has and the close-knit nature of the community here, especially within the arts. While I was at MECA, the small and intimate nature definitely encouraged me to ask questions, try new ideas, and learn in a more personable way. The smaller class sizes and being able to connect with professors in this way were really beneficial to me. In my studio, I am steadily making paintings that pertain to the same language and realm I am always working in and developing. One project I am currently working on that I am excited about is as an independent curator with SPACE Gallery, co-organizing Re-Site— a site-specific public art and Portland history-telling initiative. In collaboration with Maine historian Marieke Van Der Steenhoven and co-organizer Lia Wilson, I am working with five artists who each chose a site on the peninsula to create a temporary installation or performance in response to that location’s history. The artists featured in Re-Site are Asha Tamirisa, Shane

C. Smith, Heather Flor Cron ’20, Veronica A. Perez ’16, and Asata Radcliffe (Adjunct Instructor of Academic Studies at MECA). The project description reflects our commitment to reexamining history: “Rooted in the fundamental knowledge of our presence on Wabanaki land, Re-Site strives to promote broader understanding of the lineage of colonization and gentrification that has transformed this landscape, seeing connective steps from the past to the present moment.” This is a project I am very proud to be a part of, as it has provided me with the professional room to grow and learn in a very collaborative way. I also have three works on view at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art 2020 Biennial, in Rockport, Maine, which I am also very happy to be a part of. The works in this exhibition were all made earlier this year, and focus on my continued interest in color relationships and how the architecture of windows and door frames relates to abstraction.

How did your experiences at MECA and the networks you developed influence your career path following graduation?

I felt very fortunate to be able to ask questions and have conversations with faculty, who had professional experiences and personal knowledge they shared with me. This gave me the opportunity to learn more, gain inperson experience, and become aware of potential career paths I was interested in pursuing after graduating. Two pieces of advice I received during my last year at MECA have stuck with me since. First was the idea of doing what you feel like doing in your studio, rather than maybe what you think you should be doing. It’s a good reminder for me to not be so strict with myself at times. For example, if you feel like cutting paper, filling in sections of color, etc., that day, do that—in the end, it all becomes incorporated into the work. That interest and energy will come through and help guide your process. The second, which I think is important for students, especially seniors, is that graduating is really just is the beginning of your artistic career and that there is much more to come.

How do you stay connected with MECA? Recently, I served as the Painting Studio Technician for the Painting Department at MECA. I also stay connected and up-to-date on MECA and my network by keeping up with alumni and MECA newsletters.

Top: Circle 4, oil on paper, 22.5” x 18”, 2020. Photo courtesy of artist. Bottom: Window Gate, oil on panel, 14” x 14”, 2020. Photo courtesy of artist.

EMERGING ARTISTS SAM LEEDS SALT '19

Leeds is currently a producer for National Public Radio Music’s Louder Than A Riot, a podcast tracing the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. Their work has also been heard on NPR’s Life Kit and All Things Considered, as well as on NPR affiliate station KNKX Public Radio in Seattle. Sam is a recent graduate of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA and holds a BA in Communication and Spanish from the University of Washington.

Can you talk a bit about your experience at MECA and why you chose to study here? What is a project you are currently working on that you are particularly excited about?

Before coming to Salt at MECA, I had been working a full-time job in another industry and freelancing in radio on the side. After about a year, I realized I wanted to switch careers and become a full-time radio producer. My previous career meant I had the privilege of being able to afford tuition at Salt, so I took the leap. Salt made it socially acceptable to spend all my time either carrying a recorder or obsessing over a Pro Tools session. It also introduced me to a community of people who were equally passionate about audio—there’s nothing quite like being in a room of radio nerds. My cohort was full of incredible producers who wanted to make all different kinds of radio, and when I left I felt like I had a solid toolbox for entering the field. Right now, I’m one of the producers on NPR Music’s new narrative podcast Louder Than A Riot. It’s a limited series that traces the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration through stories and voices of the artists at this intersection. I started on the show as an intern with NPR’s Story Lab and am now on contract as a producer with the team. I’m especially passionate about two episodes I’m producing towards the end of our season. One episode tells the story of Philly rapper Isis Tha Saviour (née Mary Baxter). She gives us a window into how Black girls and people of marginalized genders are treated as adults from a very young age and punished accordingly, in ways that often funnel them into the prison system. Mary’s art helps her process her trauma, begin to heal, and reclaim time lost to the carceral system. The second episode unpacks the history of

prison reform through the story of Parchman Farm, a maximum-security prison farm in Mississippi, and the push towards abolition. I feel incredibly fortunate to get to work with hosts Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael to help bring their vision for this series to light.

How did your experiences at MECA and the networks you developed influence your career path following graduation?

Since Salt is only a five-month program, my time at MECA was fairly short, but it has had a big impact on my career path already. Part of the reason I landed my Story Lab internship with NPR was because of the connections I made through the Salt network. And because of that internship, I was at NPR right as the production of Louder Than A Riot was kicking into high gear. It was definitely a combination of networks, timing, and all of the skills I learned at Salt. Since moving across the country to enroll in a graduate certificate program isn’t a feasible option for many aspiring producers, I also want to push to develop more accessible entry points. Some of the failures that public media and journalism are facing right now stem from how high the barriers to entry are within our industry. How do you stay connected with MECA?

My Salt classmates formed a listserv before we left Portland and we keep each other updated on our lives and careers as much as possible. I’ve also really enjoyed speaking with people who are considering attending Salt and/or who are currently in the program. I also follow MECA’s Instagram account (@mecaart) for when I miss Portland and seeing all the installations in the hallways at MECA.

What impacts do you think your work has had on your community?

Since graduating from the Salt program, I have reported and produced stories on the deaths of essential workers due to COVID-19, the high rates of anxiety and depression in the LGBTQ community, and the rise of mass incarceration through my work with Louder Than A Riot. I think these kinds of stories are essential to understanding how to build toward a safer and more equitable future. But I’m also continually thinking about ways to make my work more of a resource to my community. Although Louder Than A Riot just launched earlier in October, the project unpacks some powerful truths about who gets to make art freely and whose art is surveilled and conscripted. As the hosts often say, the criminalization of hip-hop is a microcosm of America’s obsession with race and criminality writ large.

Note: Social justice is a cornerstone of Salt at MECA’s values, and that includes efforts to ensure that Salt helps to diversify documentary work and create opportunities for people who have historically been underrepresented in this field. To support our new Salt Diversity Fellowship Fund, visit meca.edu/salt-fund or contact Annie Wadleigh, Assistant Director of Development, at 207.699.5015. To learn more about the Salt program, visit meca.edu/salt.

EMERGING ARTISTS BEN SPALDING MFA ’17

Spalding’s art practice is grounded in figuration and visual rhythm, influenced by music and ancestry. Spalding received his MFA from Maine College of Art in 2017 and moderated a panel at the International Sculpture Conference regarding materiality and the marginal identities (2017). He was a former resident at the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation (2018–2019) and has worked as an adjunct professor for the past three years. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Foundations and Sculpture at MECA.

Can you talk a bit about your experience at MECA and why you chose to study here? Prior to starting my MFA at MECA, I was somewhat adrift. I had been living abroad in Germany for eight years and had just moved back home to Maine and lacked structure in my art practice. I initially began to look into MECA because of its proximity and professorto-student ratio. As I learned more, I realized that MECA was a small school that values individual development and experimentation. During my time here, I was met with a challenging curriculum and professors who offered varied perspectives for making and relating as artists. My MFA at MECA was an intense process that has really enriched my art practice and opened me up to the importance of teaching as part of my practice. I still go back to books and lectures from my MFA experience for inspiration and conceptual grounding. What is a project you are currently working on that you are particularly excited about? My practice pivots between different making approaches and conceptual umbrellas, depending on the project, but right now, I’m asking questions about material. For better or worse, we are materialists who exist in a world of excess “stuff.” If we were really sensitive materialists, we’d care much more for the material around us. This leads me back to approaching objects and items that carry memory, offer possibilities for transformation, or are loaded with sensory impact. VHS tape, recorded sound, sporting equipment, and used construction

materials have been flowing back into my practice as installations and figurative forms. When it feels like the world is ending, how can we use the materials around us to rebuild and make something new? How can we use the discarded material around us to build an individual sense of cosmology or forge personal myths? All the pieces are here, it’s just a case of shifting perspective. How did your experiences at MECA and the networks you developed influence your career path following graduation? Prior to MECA, I never considered teaching to be a viable career path. During my time as an MFA student, I was a teaching assistant in several classes and enjoyed working with students and learning from them. This experience allowed me to begin teaching as an adjunct in the Sculpture Department after graduation, and, over time, developed into a visiting faculty position in the school. I have been supported by the MFA faculty as both an artist and educator, and the connections I’ve made here have led to various exhibition opportunities and residencies. As a professor, I’m constantly learning from my students and their individual perspectives, which has had a definite impact on my practice. How do you stay connected with MECA? Teaching at MECA means that I’m constantly connected with the school and its larger community. I visit the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA on the first floor every time a new show opens, and I encourage all my students to visit as well. Thankfully, I’m invited to show in exhibitions that feature a healthy group of MECA alums, so I see people from the school everywhere. For me, it’s about showing up as much as I can and realizing that I’m part of an active community of makers. What impacts do you think your work has had on your community? To say that my work speaks for other people or empowers a specific social cause puts a great deal of pressure on my practice. Hopefully my approach to both medium and making inspires people to view their reality as malleable and construct their own world with personally resonant material. In living in a world that’s dominated by language and science (both of which I respect and value), it’s important to inject some mystery and strangeness back into reality. The world is a strange place right now, and it’s calling on us for creative change—let’s see how weird we can make it.

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Planned giving is one way to give back to Maine College of Art in recognition of the College’s transformative impact on artists, arts education, and the economy in Maine and beyond. Donors typically receive tax benefits for planned gifts that may enhance your financial situation and/or that of your heirs—while leaving a legacy for future generations of MECA artists. We are happy to share educational materials and customized illustrations of how a planned gift can benefit you, a loved one, and MECA, all at the same time. We can assist you in crafting bequest language that will help you accomplish your charitable goals while ensuring that MECA will be able to use your bequest as you intend. There are many flexible giving options available, including ones you may not have considered. If you have already included MECA in your estate plans and have not informed us, please let us know so we can thank you personally. We would like to welcome you into the 1882 Society, which recognizes MECA’s planned gift donors.

CONTACT US TODAY TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE OF MECA.

Rebecca Swanson Conrad, Planned Giving Advisor, beckie.conrad@meca.edu Annie Wadleigh, Assistant Director of Development, awadleigh@meca.edu, 207-699-5015