About

The Pre-College Art & Design Program at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) is a three-week residential summer program for students ages 15–18, running July 12–August 1, 2026, on MECA&D's campus in Portland, Maine. Students choose two studio majors from nine options, work in professional studios with faculty who are practicing artists and designers, and earn three transferable college-level studio credits upon completion. No portfolio is required to apply.

Portland is an unusual setting for an art program — and deliberately so. MECA&D sits on Congress Street in the center of Portland's Arts District, a walkable neighborhood densely populated with galleries, artist studios, the Portland Museum of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D, and independent creative businesses. Students don't need to travel to find the art world here; it surrounds the campus. The city's compact, walkable scale means students can sketch at the harbor, attend gallery openings, and explore the Old Port in the time between studio sessions, and Portland's character as a working artist community rather than a cultural tourist destination gives the experience a texture that larger urban programs can't replicate.

The nine studio majors span a wider range than most comparable programs: Animation, Ceramics, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fashion & Textile Design, Illustration, Metalsmithing & Jewelry Design, Painting, Photography (traditional black-and-white darkroom), and Printmaking. Students select two for the full three weeks. Several of these are rarely available at the pre-college level — Metalsmithing & Jewelry Design, black-and-white darkroom Photography, and Comics & Graphic Novels are each unusual enough to be noteworthy for a student whose interests point specifically in those directions. All students, regardless of major selection, participate in shared figure drawing sessions to build observational drawing skills across disciplines. The program concludes with a public exhibition on the morning of August 1, open to family and friends, at which students present work created during the three weeks.

Students live in supervised residential housing in Portland throughout the program, with residential staff on-site around the clock. Tuition for 2026 is $5,300 for a single room or $4,800 for a shared room, inclusive of housing, meals, studio instruction, most supplies, campus facilities access, and the final exhibition. A $40 non-refundable application fee and a $500 deposit upon acceptance are required. Need-based scholarships are available on a limited basis; priority consideration requires uploading parent or guardian tax documents alongside the application. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the program reaches capacity; studio majors fill quickly and early applications secure preferred placements.

The application requires a completed online form, a 250–300 word essay responding to one of two prompts, one letter of recommendation from a teacher or mentor, and an unofficial high school transcript. No portfolio is required. Refund requests must be submitted in writing before June 1, 2026.

For a student drawn to one of MECA&D's more specialized disciplines — particularly Metalsmithing, Comics, or darkroom Photography — this program is one of very few pre-college options that treats those fields as full studio majors rather than elective workshops. Paired with three weeks in one of New England's most active and walkable arts communities, it makes a compelling case for students who want studio depth in a beautiful New England city.