Montserrat College of Art

Photo and Commentary by Emma Barbin

The "Montserrat School of Visual Arts" was founded in the late nineteen-sixties as a college that, not only would instruct students on the arts, but also cater to their individual scholastic needs. It was originally located on the grounds of Beverly’s North Shore Music Theater, in what is now the theater arts and educational building. The school was stationed in that facility until nineteen-ninety, when it then moved to the building that once was known as the Hardy Elementary School. Since it has recently moved to it’s new location it’s name had been changed to simply, "Montserrat College of Art." The campus is located off of the new and beautifully improved, Beverly Commons, and has a campus of the "down town" and "cove" sections of Beverly. Montserrat College of Art, until 1980, only offered a professional art diploma, but now is recently authorized to grant Bachelors of fine arts to its graduating students. Although the college was only founded some forty something years ago, I believe that it will be around for many, many years to come. The campus itself offers a lot to the community as well. Communities of drawers, painters, and sculptors have risen into Beverly, and thus, our city in very diverse and rich with art and culture. The school also helps the economics of the community by becoming more residential and helping businesses near campus, to flourish. Due to the campuses style and location, many of the art students attending the school are bound to draw or paint their pictures of Beverly, thus it is constantly being immortalized in their works. I feel that the college itself will be immortal as well, and will bring many, many more artistically pink haired people to Beverly in years to come.
When the "Montserrat School of Visual Arts" was initiated in the nineteen-sixties, it reflected the changing world or the arts and the way people saw the status quo. Since then, it has nicely brought itself to a place where art is accepted and understood. I feel that this is the same situation regarding today’s society. In that society, art has finally been accepted and appreciated by the people. The arts have opened up new eyes to the society and made it more diverse and also has made it acceptable to be different and stand apart from the crowd. Although the college is relatively new, and just one of many arts colleges in the United States, it is a very important part of Beverly’s society. The college not only offer’s it’s regular school course, but also courses that are open to the community. Drawing, sculpting, and painting classes are available to people of all ages, and continue to become a community builder to many people in Beverly today.