Art in Exodus is a mentoring, exhibition, and storytelling project through which refugee artists share their art and culture through an exhibition and a storytelling event.

Maine College of Art is pleased to present the second annual Art in Exodus exhibition in it’s flagship Porteous Building, from June 3-24, 2016, in recognition of World Refugee Day, which takes place every year on June 20  and in conjunction with Portland’s World Refugee Day celebration at King Middle School on Saturday, June 4, 2016. Open 9:00am-5:00pm weekdays in the Porteous Lobby.

The exhibition Art in Exodus features five artists and will feature an opening reception from 5-8pm on Thursday, June 2. The reception will include food from local ethnic markets and vendors, as well as music. Featured artists include Kifah Abdullah from Iraq (acrylic paintings); Nabaa Alobaidi from Iraq (traditional pyrography woodburning); Titi De Baccarat from the African country of Gabon (mixed media paintings, sculpture, and jewelry); Jawad Alfatlawi from Iraq (handmade traditional instruments); and Diana Brown from Colombia (wearable textile art). The exhibit will also be open during the Friday, June 3 First Friday Artwalk and refugee artists from the community, in addition to the featured artists, will offer their work for sale. In addition, on National Refugee Day, Monday, June 20, from 6:00-8:00pm, MECA will offer “Stories from Art in Exodus,” a storytelling event through which the work of the exhibited artists will come to life.

This project is funded in part by an Arts & Humanities grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maine Humanities Council.