Student artwork on exhibit at Portland art gallery
Students graduating from SMCC’s art program are exhibiting their photos, prints, paintings, sculptures and other works at a Portland art gallery.
Nine students are showing their artwork at 3fish art gallery from April 21-25 for the SMCC Senior Art Student Exhibit. The gallery is open to the public from 1-4 p.m. daily. The public is invited to an opening reception on April 24 from 5-7 p.m.
Students taking part are:
- Joseph Auclair of Portland: prints, photos, painting and drawings.
- Mayra Azucena Bello of Brunswick: paintings and photography that embrace the different musical folklore traditions from cultures around the world.
- Veronica DeSanctis of Westbrook: a collection of dry point etchings.
- Angela Gray of Warren: a variety of colorful works including portraits, still lifes and landscape paintings.
- Lauren Kennedy of Portland: a portrait series through documentary-style photography and cinematography.
- Miranda Newman: photography of solitude.
- Gayle Perry of Freeport: functional mixed media assemblage and other multimedia works.
- Koren Sullivan of South Portland: jewelry and wood sculpture inspired by lyrics, literature and human emotion.
This is the ninth group of students to graduate from SMCC with an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with an art concentration. The Fine Arts Department offers more than 40 courses in studio art, art appreciation, art history, music, theater and dance, and has transfer agreements with the Maine College of Art, Lesley University College of Art & Design, and St. Joseph’s College of Maine.
SMCC students help high school teams with wind turbine blades
SMCC students are helping high school students produce model wind turbine blades for a statewide competition that tests students’ technical and manufacturing 
skills.
Students from Bath Regional Career & Technical Center, Freeport High School, the Chewonki Foundation and Maine Region Ten Technical High School made the blades at SMCC’s Midcoast Campus on April 9 in preparation for the seventh annual Maine Wind Blade Challenge.
Each year, high school teams across Maine work with composites professionals to perfect their products and to give them a first-hand look at composite-manufacturing operations. Six of the teams this year made their wind blades with help from students enrolled in SMCC’s Composite Science & Manufacturing program.
The Maine Composites Alliance, a coalition of composite businesses in Maine, created the Maine Wind Blade Challenge to spur student interest in composites while teaching them about science, technology, engineering and mathematics. More than 50 teams of high school students are designing and making wind turbine blades for this year’s competition, to be held May 1 at the University of Maine.
SMCC’s Composite Science & Manufacturing program, located at SMCC’s Midcoast Campus in Brunswick, prepares students for high-demand jobs working with composites.
SMCC to go smoke- and tobacco-free
SMCC will become smoke- and tobacco-free beginning Aug. 1.
As of that date, the use of tobacco products (including e-cigarettes) will be prohibited on all SMCC property, including the Midcoast Campus. Maine Community College System trustees instituted a policy two years ago requiring all seven of its colleges to become smoke- and tobacco-free to promote healthy learning environments for students, employees and the public.
The policy applies to everyone on college property, including employees, students, contractors, vendors, and campus visitors. Tobacco use is also prohibited in vehicles that are on SMCC properties.
SMCC is joining the growing list of colleges and universities in Maine and nationwide that are becoming smoke-free. As of Jan. 1, there were more than 1,500 smoke-free campuses nationally, according to the Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative.
More information is available by visiting the Welcome page on the My SMCC student portal and clicking on the Smoke- and Tobacco Free Policy link under Safety and Security.
Phi Theta Kappa continues to shine
SMCC’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter continues to earn distinction.
At PTK’s regional conference in Connecticut in March, SMCC’s PTK chapter (Alpha Chi Nu) won top honors in the “most distinguished honors in action project” category for its divestment project, in which it has petitioned Maine Community College System trustees to divest MCCS of investments in companies involved in fossil fuels. The board has not yet voted on the proposal.
Seven students attended Phi Theta Kappa’s international convention, “NerdNation,” in San Antonio from April 16-18. Those attending the meeting were Jason Glynn, Ben Bussiere, Emily Mokler, Erik Squire, Maisarah Miskoon, Faiz Rahman-Sabean, Tyler Hinkley, along with faculty advisor David Stankiewicz.