Montserrat College of Art is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

located in Beverly within Essex County of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The school is accredited by both the

New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and other ...

and the

National Association of Schools of Art and Design The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees ...

History

The school was established in 1970 as Montserrat School of Visual Arts and was founded by the North Shore Community Arts Foundation, a

civic organization Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

that managed the nearby

North Shore Music Theatre North Shore Music Theatre is the largest operating Regional theater in the United States, regional theater in New England. It is located in Beverly, Massachusetts and is one of the few remaining theatre-in-the-round stages left in the United State ...

. Joseph Jeswald, a local

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and former head of the Fine Arts Department at

New England School of Art and Design The New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University is a school of fine arts and design located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school offers undergraduate (BFA) and graduate (MA) degrees, as well as continuing education courses and prog ...

, was chosen to serve as the first president of the school and Stephen Slane, one of the founders of the Arts Foundation along with C. Henry Glovsky and Ruby Newman, was named managing director. The school was accredited as a

and authorized to award a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree in the mid-1980s, at which time it changed to its name to the Montserrat College of Art. In 1992, the school moved to its present location on Essex Street in the Hardie Building, a renovated nineteenth-century school structure that serves as the campus center. In early 2015, Montserrat College of Art explored a possible merger with

Salem State University Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...

, a large

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

in neighboring Salem. After some months of research and negotiations, the proposal was found to be not feasible and the plan was dropped in mid-2015. For one year, William J. Bakrow served as interim president of Montserrat College of Art. In 2018, Kurt T. Steinberg was named the eighth president in school history.

Academics

Montserrat College of Art offers

degrees in a number of fields including: Animation and Interactive Media; Art Education; Book Arts; Graphic Design; Interdisciplinary Arts; Illustration; Painting; Photo, Film, and Video; Printmaking; and Sculpture. A number of minors are offered including: Art Education; Art History; Creative Writing; Curatorial Studies, and Entrepreneurship in the Arts. The school has study abroad programs for its students in Niigata,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Additionally, the school offers

continuing education Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...

courses and workshops in such subjects as

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

Campus

The Montserrat College of Art is located in downtown Beverly. The small campus includes the central Hardie Building on 23 Essex Street, a classroom, gallery, studio, and office space building on 248 Cabot Street, and apartment-style residence halls. In 2009, the Helena J. Sturnick Student Residence Village was opened. As of 2016, the college campus consists of a total of twelve academic and residential buildings. The school is home to six public galleries, which are free to the public: the 301 Gallery; the Bare Gallery; the Carol Schlosberg Gallery; the Founders Gallery; the Montserrat Gallery; and the President's Office Gallery. The spaces exhibit a variety of works by international, national, regional, and local artists. Past exhibitions have featured artists such as Clint Baclawski, Hunter Cole, Jess T. Dugan, Sally Heller, Yun-Fei Ji, Valeri Larko, Derek Lerner,

Vanessa Platacis Vanessa Platacis (born 1973) is an American contemporary artist, known for her large scale painting installations and her paintings and performance art. Platacis hand draws and cuts stencils that are used to paint directly onto walls using a vari ...

Cynthia von Buhler Cynthia von Buhler (; born Cynthia Carrozza, 1964) is an American artist, author, playwright, performer, and producer. Early life Cynthia von Buhler was born Cynthia Carrozza and raised in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the middle child in an ...

, Leigh Wiener, and David H. Wells. The Paul M. Scott Library is part of the North of Boston Library Exchange consortium.

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

* Carlos Dorrien (1974),

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Jos Sances John Joseph "Jos" Sances (born August 18, 1952) is an American artist, activist, writer, and community organizer, known for his printmaking, and tile murals/public art . He is the founder and director of Alliance Graphics. Sances is based in Berk ...

(1976),

* Carol Schlosberg (1990),

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

* Mary Pennington (Updike) Weatherall, painter Montserrat College of Art has also awarded

honorary degrees An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

to the artists

Edward Burtynsky Edward Burtynsky (born February 22, 1955) is a Canadian photographer and artist known for his large format photographs of industrial landscapes. His works depict locations from around the world that represent the increasing development of indust ...

, Tom Friedman, and

Annette Lemieux Annette Lemieux (born 1957 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American artist who emerged in the early 1980s along with the “picture theory” artists (David Salle, Jack Goldstein, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Richard Prince). Lemieux brought to th ...

, as well as the curators Anne Hawley and Robert Storr.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montserrat College of Art 1970 establishments in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1970 Art schools in Massachusetts Private universities and colleges in Massachusetts Universities and colleges in Beverly, Massachusetts