MCAD News and Events

FAILE, a street artist collaboration with MCAD alum Patrick Miller ’03, painted a three-story mural on the back tower of MCAD’s Main Building.
Photo: Courtesy of MCAD

2017 is a year of change and growth at MCAD!

May 31 marked the completion of MCAD’s first-ever comprehensive capital campaign, NEXT/NOW, which supports facilities, programs, and scholarships. Nearly 24M was raised in support of these initiatives. MCAD is planning an event on 9/16, Celebration Saturday- a public open house and celebration inviting the public in to view their new spaces: M/LAB, a media laboratory, a black box, a redesigned Entrepreneurial Studies suite with new client presentation spaces, a student lounge, and classrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows. In addition, MCAD has commissioned three alumni to do temporary installations in honor of this milestone in their history.

In honor of this campaign, FAILE (faile.net), a street artist collaboration with MCAD alum Patrick Miller ’03, has painted a three-story mural on the back tower of MCAD’s Main Building (left). This is the first time this world-renowned artist has done a mural in Minnesota, and the first time MCAD has had a mural on one of their buildings.

In other news, MCAD will be launching a new Product Design major and will be enrolling students in the degree program next fall. Recently hired faculty member Gabriel Ruegg is rolling out this new degree program.

MCAD’s Entrepreneurial Studies space has been redesigned and will be open to the public on 9/16. The Entrepreneurial Studies degree (one of only two ES degrees offered by AICAD schools) positions art and design students to succeed in a constantly evolving economy through real-world, client-based projects that connect business, art, design, and sustainable development.

Lastly, MCAD is holding its 20th annual Art Sale on November 16–18, 2017. The MCAD Art Sale is a Minnesota tradition that has generated more than $3,000,000 for emerging artists. This is believed to be the largest college art sale in the nation, and all proceeds go directly to the individual artists or to the MCAD Art Sale Scholarship Fund.

With new programs and initiatives, MCAD seeks to celebrate a history of collaboration and dialog.