If I could do it all over again… I would either be a doctor or an art student. And if I chose the path of the latter of those two, I would want to come to Maine College of Art — it’s something that passes through my mind every time I’m here! The location of MECA is amazing — I imagine being a young person, attending school here, must be nothing short of fantastic given the proximity to every«cool» thing Portland has to offer. The interior of the school is also lovely: the facilities always seem clean, modern, and a safe place for creativity-fostering and imagination-wandering. I always love the times I get to come here and encourage you — if you never have — to take advantage of the open exhibits they have for the community(of which they are very welcoming of). I’ve been here on First Friday’s(it’s usually one of my first stops up Congress St and usually sets the tone for the rest of the Walk), for their annual Holiday Art Sale(which can be SERIOUSLY packed, but if you’re patient and accommodating, you can find some real art/jewelry gems during that time), for MECAmorphosis in Spring(one of the coolest art events I’ve been to in the city), or their«COLLECT» show in October. Some incredible art I’ve seen here(and there’s been so much it’s hard to recall after all these years)?: 1. Video games created by students and available for testing/playing with. 2. A student who created an interactive art installation of a 1920’s circus-themed birthday party for a little boy(there was another one nearby that was of a vegan restaurant, this must have been a project for the graphic design class or something). 3. A split-screen video, half of pre-recorded footage of seagulls eating donuts and half of real-time footage of people looking at the art eating donuts. Hysterical. Love this place and am continually happy it’s a part of our city!