About the MECA Made Logo
The letterforms used in the MECA Made logo are from an extremely unique collection of wood type from our printmaking department. These four letterforms are actually part of a much larger initiative involving hundreds of physical plywood type blocks entirely designed and machined here at MECA by our faculty and students back in 2015.
In a collaborative workshop with Mark Jamra, Pilar Nadal MFA ’13 and Steve Bowden ’97, students worked collectively to physically produced several full sets of wood type blocks complementing a recent acquisition of random and incomplete wood type. To create it, students first pulled prints from the original blocks. Then they translated their forms into the computer, revealing the logic and armature of the original type system. Students were then individually assigned old and new forms that mirrored, corrected and complemented the originals. All of these were then CNC machined in MECA’s woodshop to the exact same dimensions as the originals and can be used interchangeably with the original blocks.
Next time you’re in printmaking, you might want to check them out. We are really excited to use them for this new initiative in 2021.
Students involved:
Hallie Mitchell ’17
Hannah Miao
Justin Lumiere ’17
Mariana Silva ’17
Megan Young ’18
Miekala Cangelosi ’16
Miriam Amaro Ochoa ’17
Natalia Lefebvre ’17
Paige Leonas ’19
Rebecca Tochterman ’17
Richard Mahoney ’17
Rosetta Kong ’17
Taylor McElhinny ’18
Photography by Justin Lumiere ’17
About MECA Made
MECA Made is the college’s new initiative to promote and sell the work of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff. In 2021, MECA Made launches online with a series of short run, thematic, virtual pop-up shops.
MECA Made was born out of the college’s long history of thematic sales promoting and selling student, faculty and alumni work going back to the early beginnings of the Holiday Sale and the Collect Art Sale in the 1970s and 1980s. These two sales have grown into well known and loved annual events that provide an opportunity to showcase and support the work of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as a way to support our student scholarship fund and allow buyers and collectors to purchase incredible works of art.
This past year we had to move these sales online for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic. While this was an unexpected shift, it allowed us to invest in a new online sales platform, giving us the opportunity to promote artists and their work for a longer period of time and to a much larger audience. This also allowed us the opportunity to host additional thematic sales through the year, leading to the launch of the MECA Made initiative.
Our first sale, MECA Made, With Love builds on the history of in-person Valentine’s Day Pop-Up Shop that the Illustration and Jewelry Departments have held in the past.
The Name
In 2017, Artists At Work hosted #MECAmade, a pop-up style exhibition featuring the work of alumni and faculty. Curated and organized by Edwige Charlot ’10, Interim Associate Director of Artists at Work, the exhibition piloted the #MECAmade platform and showcased art, craft, and products as well as commissioned visual display graphics on the streetfront store window. Originally conceived and developed as an extension of the annual MECA Holiday Sale, it broke away from the 3-day shopping model. By providing visitors the opportunity to engage with the exhibition and storefront over 3 weeks, it created a new revenue stream for participating alumni and a unique shopping experience for the local community.
The #MECAmade exhibition included products by Might and Main, sculptures, jewelry, paintings, prints, hand painted textiles, wall hanging, metal fabricated stools by the following artists:
Kari Radasch ‘97 – Website | Instagram
Sean Wilkinson ’01, Website | Instagram
Eric Drzewianowsk ‘04 – Website | Instagram
Maggie Muth ‘11 – Instagram | StichHIVE Instagram
LK Weiss ‘11 – Website | Portland Design co. Instagram | Bowline co. Instagram
Amalia Moon Guettinger ‘12 – Website | Instagram
John Nelson ‘12 – Website | Instagram
Kristin Fitzpatrick ‘13 – Website, Instagram
Shannon Owen ‘14 – Website | Instagram
Kelsey Haley ‘15 – Website | Instagram
Tabitha Barnard ‘16 – Website
Sophie Cangelosi ‘16 – Website | Instagram
Melinda Aste ‘17 – Website| Instagram
Meg Hahn ‘17 – Website
Eden McDowell ‘17 – Website | Instagram
Adriane Herman – Website | Instagram
Considering MECA’s 2020 launch of our Be Seen Campaign, an initiative to promote the work of students and alumni in the Portland and global community, now is better than ever to bring MECA Made further via an online sale platform.
MECA Made Committee
Amy Teh, Pinecone + Chickadee
Isabelle Maschal O’Donnell ’17, Alumni Relations & Events Coordinator
Jessica Tomlinson, Director of Artists at Work
Jordan Carey ’19, LOQUAT
Jennie Coyne, Community Member
Kathryn Knight-Wise, Advancement Committee Member
Lauren Glennon, Director of Institutional Advancement and Strategic Planning
Lily Felsenthal, Digital Marketing Specialist
Steve Bowden ’97, Adjunct Faculty Graphic Design