Maine College of Art students enrolled in Sophomore Year Lab called "Gathering Influences: Collecting, Collections, Collectors, Collectibles" embraced the Public Engagement component of the course in the  Fall of 2012 with gusto.

Having created 'zines about themselves in relation to collecting, they distributed copies to 15 budding 'zine collectors who reside at Portland’s Bayview Heights in September. Each student verbally presented what he or she created using a simple single sheet format a.k.a. the "One Sheet Wonder."

Megan Daigle's 'zine is about her collection of broken hearts. The audience was both sympathetic and empathetic.

Anthony Zambana's 'zine about his scar collection elicited an extended conversation about surgeries.

Having a receptive and appreciative audience works wonders for artists, making this a truly symbiotic experience all around.

Our fantastic Teaching Assistant, then an MFA candidate, Pilar Nadal, designed and printed a "collector's case" to contain and repel dust from the eleven 'zines the class presented to each resident who attended our "Meet and Greet" session. Check out Pilar's joyful offgasings at

http://pilarnadal.org. She now runs Pickwick Independent Press and can teach you anything you need to know about letterpress printmaking or print whatever you need laid down on paper.

Residents reciprocated by telling (and showing) us about something they collected at one time. The students then undertook an extended unit in collagraph, a printmaking medium that allows artists to incorporate actual objects into a matrix or plate from which impressions can be "pulled," using either a relief rolling method of applying the ink or an intaglio process of carding ink onto the plate then wiping it off the surface. The latter allows the nooks and crannies of the materials collaged to the plate to hold then release the ink to a piece of dampened printmaking paper within the alchemical world below the press blankets.

Grace Hager patiently editions a complex collagraph with chine collé, a process by which printing and collaging happen simultaneously. Grace went on to major in painting and her work can be viewed at www.gracehager.com

Relationships were formed and no one wanted to part when class time ended!   

Residents like Jannie MacDonald shared precious documents of their lives and loved ones lost.

How could we not be rapt in the face of such poignant stories so generously conveyed?

Students were charged with taking photos and good notes so they could respond by making a collagraph inspired by one of the items shown/described.

Mason Hainey (seated with bow tie) presented his 'zine, which focused on a coin in his collection; and yes, you can have a bow tie like that made by Mason himself! Check out his etsy site here: http://www.etsy.com/people/masonhainey?ref=owner_profile_leftnav

Read about Irvin Kelley's amazing collection in the article online in case you didn't click on it, here's the link again 

https://www.voanne.org/news_and_events/art-students-open-doors

Thanks to funds from MECA's Public Engagement Department, we framed and presented a set of the students’ collagraphs as a gift to Bayview Heights to enhance their hallways and commemorate our collaboration.

Jannie was doubly rewarded for her generous sharing of multiple objects and received collagraphs from Megan Daigle and Hannah Hermes. Check out rad @TheHermesCrab wares at 

http://www.imgrum.net/user/thehermescrab/259694618

A landscape painter and former professional printer if memory serves, Don inspired Rochelle Garcia who made this jigsaw collagraph and went on to major in ceramics:  http://www.cuteandclay.com/exhibitions-artist-cv

Pilar displays one of the plates on view to demystify the process of collagraph printing.

Anthony describes his piece inspired by Irvin Kelley's collection of paper mache airplanes.

All participating residents received a copy of a print that they influenced directly or indirectly through something they shared with students....

...much to their delight!

Relationships were forged; memories revived and refreshed; new skills were gained; and art was created, shared, exhibited, gifted and gratefully received. Thank you staff and residents of Bayview Heights for such a memorable and successful collaboration. Cheers!