To see archive local news footage of how the MECA at Cathedral Art Program began in 2002, click here.

Cathedral School is blessed to have a wonderful collaborative art program with the Maine College of Art (MECA).  Founded in 2002 by Dolores and Craig Foster, the program is a community-based approach to providing a high quality art education to our students.

Each week, grades 1-8 are offered art instruction from local art students and practicing artists specializing in a variety of disciplines.  Classes are held at Cathedral in our especially dedicated art room.  Students are exposed to the foundations of art and introduced to art in the community through regular field trips and visits to the Maine College of Art, local galleries and museums.

The primary objective of the program is to provide students with an understanding and appreciation for art, both in the classroom and throughout the community.  The program is designed to integrate art into a classic elementary and middle school curriculum helping students recognize and apply the principles of art throughout their school years and into their adult lives.

An annual juried art show is held in May within the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  It is open to the public and showcases the many creative works of our students. 

Photo (left to right): Rev. Kevin J. Martin, Parochial Vicar; Mrs. Dolores Foster, MECA At Cathedral Program foundress; Msgr. Paul F. Stefanko, Cathedral Rector and First Lady, Mrs. Karen Baldacci.

On Wednesday, December 12, 2007, our art room was officially dedicated by Maine's First Lady, Mrs. Karen Baldacci.  The room was blessed by Monsignor Paul F. Stefanko, Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  Built with the financial support of grants from the Simmons Foundation and the Virginia Hodgkins Somers Foundation, our space was constructed and painted by dozens of volunteers who dedicated many long hours towards its completion.  "I'm just honored to be here in celebration with MECA's commitment with Cathedral School in opening up a space that's completely dedicated for art...a way for children to express and learn," said Mrs. Baldacci.