 Hi, I'm Leslie McVane for CTN member highlights, and today we're featuring Maine College of Art. My guest is Deetlin Van Der Chef. Yep. Hi. How are you? I'm good. And you're from the Development Office at Metcalfe's. And today we're talking about all kinds of things that are coming up this spring. We have a busy season. I don't know how you're going to fit it all in the drawer. Sure either. Well, the first thing coming up is a fashion show. Yeah. It's our first time doing this event, so it's brand new. We're creating it from scratch. And when you say creating from scratch, that means the designs, the fashions, are created by the students. Well, some of the designs that we'll be featuring are created by the students. Because this is our inaugural show and the department is still pretty new, we don't have enough work just from the students themselves. So Roxane Quinby had donated dresses from her collection of vintage dresses. And then we're pairing them with accessories and other items and including clothing that have been created by alumni. So there's going to be a lot of surprises on the runway. It sounds like so much fun. Yeah. And the hope is that the fashion show eventually will evolve to being the students' creations. Yes. The fashion show will have its own, the program itself will have its own fashion show with work just by the students in coming years. Well, I think it sounds like a fabulous addition to the offerings at Mecca. And it hasn't even been a year has it? No. It's very new. This is the first year. We're brand new. So it's very exciting. Well, I'm excited about the fashion show. When will it be? So the fashion show is on Saturday, April 20th, and there's still tickets available for that. Okay. And it will be held at Mecca? At Main College of Art. Yeah. It's going to be right in the ICA. We're building the runway and we've got about 25 models, I believe, that'll be going down. There's going to be a lot of surprises on the runway. I can't wait. I know. And so will my mom. Oh, how nice. Yeah. So that'll be fun to see. So the next thing after that, once you clear the air a bit, it comes the annual, 17th annual, honors? Art honors. Yeah. And art honors is always a really special night at the college. It also takes place at Mecca on all three floors of the Porteous Building. And I think one of the things that's really exciting about art honors is the way that we have showcased the student work, so the senior thesis will be up. And so everybody will be able to mingle around and meet the students and see their work. We're honoring three different people this year, or three different, well, two different people in one entity. So we're honoring Dahlav Ipkar for leadership as a visual artist. And Candice Pilk-Keru for leadership in philanthropy in the arts. And then the Portland Museum of Art for leadership in the visual arts. So it's really going to be a spectacular evening. It's going to be sold out. I think so. Hopefully. Well, I walked through Mecca this morning, or main college of art. People don't know what Mecca is, but I think everyone does. And they're busy painting walls. And you can feel the excitement getting ready for what's to come. Right after the fashion show, the seniors will be mounting their thesis. So there's going to be art all over the walls. It's going to be a beautiful evening. And to see the student work as it goes up on the walls is, to me, so exciting. Me too. It's so much creativity, so alive with different kinds of talent. Exactly. And it's really the accumulation of everything that they've studied for four years. So it's really, there's a lot that might be unexpected, you know. In fact, every year there's something really unexpected. Every year. That happens. But that's part of what's so great about working at an arts college. Now, do you do the auction? Is that part of this? No, we're not doing the auction anymore. We decided to move away from the auction. That we just, we really, when we started our auction initially, we were the only ones doing it in the state. But we've decided that it doesn't really fit with the mission of the college anymore. So we're moving to a completely new event. Our third in the lineup this spring. Few. Which is our first ever pop-up art sale. So that's going to be taking place June 9th through the 12th. And there'll be four different days, there'll be different events happening on each day. And we've reached out to our alumni, as well as a few people who were participants in the auction to have work in the pop-up sales. So that is also going to take place at Mecca. And there's going to be so much work. That's just going to be like a carnival of art. And it will be mostly alumni from... Yes. It'll be some current student work, but primarily it'll be alumni works. Oh, so it's fun because some of your alumni have gone off to be quite famous. It's true. And they have work that is just so desirable. I know. And there will be some of that there. But to be able to come and see it all together will be wonderful. Yeah. And there'll be some really fun events that will be happening with that. There'll be some Meet the Artists, some live demos, and we're still on the planning stages for that. Oh, terrific. That's coming up in April as well. No, that's going to be in June. Oh. Yes. So we have a little more time. A little wiggle room there. Yeah. And in the middle, probably somewhere in there, there's a commencement. Yes. Commencement happens right after art honors. We've moved them. In the past, we used to have art honors after commencement, but then the students couldn't participate. And we really felt that it was a great opportunity to have our senior graduating class meet people in the community who are supportive of Maine College of Art and who also were just really supportive of the visual arts. So it's a Thursday before commencement. And to find out more information about all of these wonderful happenings. Yeah. You can go right to our website, mecca.edu backslash events, or you can contact myself or Annie Wadley in the development office. Okay. Yeah. Terrific. Thank you so much. You're welcome. And I look forward to getting tickets to some, if not all. Oh, good. I hope to see you there. Thank you so much. Thank you.