PORTLAND, Maine — It is boasting a new name, but the vision and goals of the Maine College of Art & Design remain clear: to offer academic excellence and a place for students here in Maine and across the country to pursue their dream of an education in art. We talked with Laura Freid, the president of the school, to learn more.
Maine College of Art & Design is rolling out a new creative identity.
"Within the past ten years the interest in design has really skyrocketed across the country and of course here at Maine College of Art & Design as well," Freid said. "We offer 11 different majors here but we’ve been watching how much interest there is in design, so we wanted a name that reflected the reality of who we are here at Maine College of Art & Design and we also have programs in Sustainable Eco-systems Art and Design. Those were words that weren’t really around 140 years ago when the college was founded. But now, Art and Entrepreneurship, Ecosystems and Art are all part of what we provide for our students. Now that everyone finds their art school online we thought it would be helpful to the 75% of our students who are not from Maine to understand what is happening right here in Portland."
A decade ago, 30% of the college's students were interested in design (alongside fine art and craft). Now, that number has doubled to 60%.
"A lot of that has to do with the fact that we see the world these days pretty much through our phones and our iPad and visual storytelling is the way we learn," Freid said.
Interest in the college comes from all over the world. One of their strategic goals is to expand online education. The new strategic plan is designed to attract students to Maine, as well as keep students in Maine.
The school is thinking on a more global basis, and showcasing programs online.
"All over the country in 2025, the number of 18-year-olds is declining. We have to look at where our students come from and over the last ten years more of our students have been coming from further and further away," Freid said. "We are attracting students from all over the country. And they have to learn about what we have to offer. And it’s harder to bring them in to our building and show them so this is a way of telling them through the internet and through our name exactly what we have to offer."
Much of their strategic goal planning occurred before the pandemic, but when everything shut down, the decision was made to pause – and to re-visit the goals. The planning incorporated faculty, students and alumni.
Freid reiterated the goals for the school.
"Academic excellence is the most important thing for all colleges, that goal continues to be the most important goal. Inclusivity and diversity became an even more important goal during the pandemic," she said. "We all saw the inequality in our world and in our country and we want to make sure we do our very best to be as inclusive as possible and that also includes telling our story to students who might be further away and offering them tremendous financial aid packages."
The Maine College of Art & Design has doubled their endowment in the last four years, raising 6 million dollars just for financial aid. Freid said inclusivity is key to their mission going forward.
"All of us in higher education are looking beyond our borders to attract students to the lifestyle and offerings here that actually since the pandemic have become even more important," she said. "The natural landscape, the health and safety that we were able to provide. I want to say that we’ve had in person, in studio 24-7 classes all during the pandemic in a very healthy environment here. We were happy to create an arts oasis and now we want to invite more people to join us."
Students returned to the Maine College of Art & Design campus on Thursday, Aug. 26. Click here to learn more about their programs.