Montserrat College of Art
 | |
| Motto | "Where Creativity Works" |
|---|---|
| Type | Private college |
| Established | 1970 |
| Endowment | N/A |
| President | Stephen D. Immerman, EdD |
| Undergraduates | ~400 |
| Location | Beverly, Massachusetts, United States |
| Campus | suburban |
| Colors | Silver and Blue |
| Website | http://montserrat.edu |
Montserrat College of Art is a four-year residential college specializing in the visual arts, located in Beverly, Massachusetts, 23 miles north of Boston.
Description
The school was established in 1970 as Montserrat School of Visual Arts and offered a diploma program. The founders of the school, who were established artists in the Boston area, included Joseph Jeswald, Oliver Balf, George Gabin, Roger Martin, Reno Pisano, Paul M. Scott, James Sweeney, and Vincent Varvaro.
The school was accredited as a college and authorized to award the bachelor of fine arts degree in the mid-1980s, at which time it changed to its current name. In 1992 the school moved to its present location off Cabot Street on Essex Street in the Hardie Building, a renovated 19th century school building that serves as the center of the campus.
Currently, the campus includes the central Hardie Building located on 23 Essex Street; 248 Cabot street, which is home to liberal arts courses, senior illustration studios, and administrative offices; the 301 Gallery which is home to senior studios and the Sculpture department; and apartment-style residence halls. A residence hall, the Helena J. Sturnick Student Residence Village, was also constructed and opened for the start of the fall 2009 semester. The school emphasizes the positives of its small size, which allows more academic attention to the progress of each individual student. Montserrat has an active student body of 390 students as of Fall 2012.
As was widely reported in the press at the time, in early 2015 Montserrat College of Art explored a possible merger with Salem State University, a much larger public institution in a neighboring city. After some months of research and negotiations the proposal was found to be not feasible, and the plan was dropped in summer 2015.
The college hosts annual summer conferences with international involvement and several study abroad opportunities.
The college galleries exhibit the work of prominent international, national and regional contemporary artists and offer free lectures and events intended to take art education beyond the college's classrooms.
Among the college's alumni are prominent fashion designer Sigrid Olsen, sculptor Carlos Dorrien, painter Carol Schlosberg, and children's book illustrator Giles Laroche.
Degree programs
Montserrat offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Animation and Interactive Media, Book Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Painting and Drawing, Photography/Video, Printmaking, Sculpture, Self-Designed studies; and a program in Art Education, as well as minors in Art History and Creative Writing. It also offers non-credit classes for adults, teens, and children and for-credit summer programs for high school students.
External links
Coordinates: 42°33′1.21″N 70°52′35.54″W / 42.5503361°N 70.8765389°W