John Nelson, a 2012 graduate of Maine College of Art with a degree in sculpture, welds footrests on chairs in his workshop at Nelson Metal Fabrication, his metalworking business in Portland. “Art school really helps you become a really good problem solver, it helps you learn to work really hard because there is no final answer, so the work is unlimited,” Nelson says.

John Nelson’s hands are coated with metal residue from the steel he’s using to make chairs at his Portland metalworking business. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

John Nelson sits in his workspace at his metalworking business in Portland. Like many art schools nationwide, Maine College of Art, of which Nelson is a graduate, is teaching its students not only the making of art but how to make a living with it after graduation. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

Miles Spadone, a 2013 graduate of Maine College of Art, sits with some of the ceramic and urethane sculptures he creates. Spadone took a entrepreneurship class in his junior year and found it “mind-opening.” “It was more about empathizing with people so you can better understand their problems in order to solve them,” he said. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Brian Wilk, a 1995 Maine College of Art graduate, has two MECA students as interns in his department at toy giant Hasbro in Pawtucket, R.I., where he is a vice president. Contributed photo