 Donald Tuske is beginning his third year as president of the Main College of Art. During his tenure, more students have been taking advantage of better facilities and more space. He talked with Leslie McVane about the ways in which the students are using their Mecca education as a foundation for a lifelong career in the arts. Hi Dawn, welcome. Thank you. I must say, I was driving up Casco Street from Cumberland up to Congress the other night. And looking up at Mecca, all lit up and energy. Things happening in all the windows. It just felt so good. And you are growing and thriving. Tell us a little bit about this. Well, it's a third year in a row for an increase in enrollment. And we've actually acquired a third residence hall now. So we have three choices for our students to live in. And over half of our students live in the residence halls. And we have about 400 students now and about 1,500 continuing study students. And we have a lot of community people in and around Portland who take a class or two a year at Maine College of Art. And you're mentioning about the night at night at Mecca. Our students have access to the building 24-7. So there's a lot of excitement early in the morning or late at night with students doing artwork. And creativity doesn't work just from 9 to 5. It works 9 to 5 nights and weekends. And students really love the fact that they can use their hands, their head and their heart to be creative. And so you give them access to the building as much as we can. Well, and it certainly looked like it was being used. It felt good. Now, you have a new program, the Fiber program. Right. We're starting a textile apparel and fashion program with the wonderful gift from Roxane Quimby. And we've hired a faculty member to design the program, Ann Emline. And she's done a lot of great research on how to bring together textiles and the long traditions in Maine and Portland for textiles with fashion program. And in fact, yesterday our industrial sewing machines came in yesterday for the program. And that was very exciting to have those delivered yesterday, 10 of those. And so she was very excited about the delivery of those sewing machines yesterday. So we anticipated being a major by next fall. We have classes this fall and next spring, which are already full. So we're very excited about that program. How exciting. Well, I love the idea that Mecca starts, it's not just college age kids. As you say, it's open to the community for people going back and taking a class. But also you have programs for young children. Absolutely. We have weekend, a lot of Saturday courses. And we have a pre-college program for high school students in the summertime. But also programs throughout the year for all ages of people. And it's really wonderful. And we know that we're all can be creative just to a certain degree. And some people will have wonderful careers in law or politics or business. But there's something about creativity intellectually that's very interesting to a lot of people. And so we're doing more to make sure that more and more people can experience that. And so we're very excited to bring a new program. And textile courses will also be offered through our academic studies program as well. So a whole wide range of students can participate in that program. How exciting. Well, I've known several lawyers who've gone back. And one in particular is working full-time as an artist now. Very good. Yeah. And thanks to Mecca. Wonderful. We have a couple of board members who did the same thing, had careers in other areas, and came back and did actually a BFA. So it's wonderful. Yeah. Now, you also have gallery space, display space. Not for artists that are from far away, but for the students themselves. Absolutely. Really the entire building, especially the big nice open staircases and hallways, is one large gallery. And students, there are different, more formal shows. Sometimes students can sign out space on their own. Part of that is we want them to understand how to not just create art, but to exhibit it as well. And we're couching this in what we're calling artists at work. And it's a program that brings together curricular and co-curricular experiences where students learn right when they start at Maine College about how to be a working artist. We want them to make great art, but also make a living. So knowing how to exhibit your work is very important. And then there are other things that we do in terms of internships and special projects. We designed a new logo for the Portland Pirates 20th anniversary season this year, Hockey Team, which was a great process last year. But we also want to make sure that students know the full range of what it means to be an artist and out in the community. So important. As the mother of artists who are trying to live as artists and as a photographer myself, I realize how important that is. Yeah. And I love that the involvement in the community with, as you say, the logo. And also the beer. Oh, yeah. Gary's Summer Ale. The 15 years we've been designing that. It's a wonderful competition. And right now, we have 61 students who entered that this year. And they'll select one in the next couple of weeks. We've got to wrap this up. And you need to come back because there's so much to talk about. Sure. If people want to learn more. Go to mecca.edu. All right. Thank you. Right. Thank you. Thank you.