Visual & Performing Arts

Program Description

Montserrat College of Art

		Program Description Program Overview Get Free Info Web Site Visit Email a Friend

Montserrat College of Art takes a highly personal approach to teaching, valuing above all else the combination of strong individual support and challenging creative instruction. Located on Boston’s North Shore, it is a place where students feel inspired, encouraged, and at home.

Students come to Montserrat to gain professional competence, to develop their own unique abilities, and to engage in new areas of experience in pursuit of their Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree. With an enrollment of approximately 275 students of diverse cultural and artistic backgrounds, the College is large enough to offer the wide array of courses and concentrations that compose a strong visual arts curriculum, yet small enough to provide the personal attention that is often difficult to find in larger educational environments. Small classes encourage intensive, individualized instruction by a faculty of professional artists and designers and accomplished scholars.

The first year of foundation studies is a carefully crafted sequence of complementary courses emphasizing the visual, technical, written, and verbal skills essential to a successful art college experience. After foundation, a student may choose to major in graphic design, illustration, painting and drawing, photography and video, printmaking, or sculpture or do a self-directed study combining elements from different disciplines. Students may also combine any one of the studio concentrations with art education for a dual concentration. The Montserrat curriculum allows students to explore a wide range of studio electives not necessarily related to their concentration, encouraging the development of a truly unique, artistic voice.

Experiential learning provides a unique opportunity for students to gain professional practice. During the junior year, required internships and apprenticeships provide students with opportunities to experience the world of work and to integrate classroom learning with the realities of the workplace.

Entry into the Senior Seminar is determined by a faculty panel. Here, students have the opportunity to delve independently into a significant, coherent body of work and exhibit seminar work. This revelatory experience helps the artist and designer to mature and ultimately make the transition into professional life.

Montserrat is a residential college with apartment-style housing nestled among the homes of downtown Beverly, located on Boston’s North Shore. Boston and Cambridge are easily accessible by car or commuter train. World-class museums, such as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; galleries; libraries; shopping; sports; and a variety of entertainment options provide a stimulating intellectual, cultural, and social environment in which to live and learn.

Program Facilities

 The Montserrat campus has three galleries that feature exciting exhibitions by professional artists of national and international note and artists within the College community. The Visiting Artist and Lectures Series programs expose students to a wide range of viewpoints and aesthetics.

Montserrat’s main building, the historic Hardie Building, houses four floors of studios, classrooms, exhibition spaces, and the Paul Scott Library. Specially equipped studios for printmaking, photography, painting, illustration, and graphic design as well as video and computer labs are located here. The library contains a collection of more than 14,000 books, numerous art and related periodicals, videos, CD-ROMs, and other resources. The library offers Internet access and houses a comprehensive slide collection with more than 60,000 images. The 301 Cabot Studio Building offers facilities for sculpture and semiprivate studios for seniors.

All students are entitled to free admission to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, which has one of the finest collections of art in the world. The museum houses permanent exhibits of art and artifacts representing virtually all periods and civilizations as well as changing exhibitions of art.

Special Programs

 Montserrat offers students a variety of opportunities to broaden their horizons and earn credit towards their degree through local, national, and international study. The College is a member of the Northeast Consortium of Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts; students may take classes and use the library facilities of member colleges. Through Montserrat’s membership in the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), students may spend a semester or year in comparable studies at a member institution. The AICAD New York Studio Program offers third-year students the opportunity to spend a summer in New York City.

Students may spend a month in the walled, papal city of Viterbo in Italy while attending Montserrat’s summer, residential program. Intensive courses in painting, drawing, photography, art history, and writing are offered. A two-week trip to Mali, Africa, is also offered during the winter break.

High school students can experience life at Montserrat through the summer Pre-College program, which takes place in July on the College’s campus. This four-week program is primarily for students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year of high school and is designed to help young artists evaluate a career in the arts and develop a portfolio suitable for college admission. Students participate in assignments and critiques led by top instructors from Montserrat and other Boston-area colleges and, upon completion of the program, earn 3 college credits.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: August 1. Notification date--freshmen and transfers: August 15. Required: essay, high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, minimum 2.0 high school GPA, 2 letters of recommendation, portfolio, minimum TOEFL score of 520 on written test, 190 on computer-based test, and 68 on internet-based test for international students. Recommended: minimum 3.0 high school GPA, interview, SAT or ACT test scores. Auditions held 1 time. Portfolio reviews held continuously on campus and off campus in various locations across the country; the submission of slides may be substituted for portfolios if a campus visit is impossible.

Undergraduate Contact

Ms. Jessica Sarin-Perry, Dean of Admissions and Enrollment Management, Montserrat College of Art, 23 Essex Street, Box 26, Beverly, Massachusetts 01915; 800-836-0487, fax: 978-921-4241.