Artrageous 23!

Montserrat College of Art’s Artrageous! 23 benefit art auction on May 9, 2009, was a great success!

Julie Mehretu, Fracture Etching with aquatint, sugarlift and spit bite, 23" x 28" 2008 Commencement Speaker

The auction, now in its 23rd year, raised a huge amount of money, the majority of which is dedicated solely to student scholarship, but also towards purchasing state of the art, industry standard technology for classrooms.

The auction included more than 200 pieces of contemporary art by some of the country’s most respected and well-known artists, including Will Barnet, Norman Laliberté, Julie Mehretu, Brian Ulrich, Dave Kinsey, George Gabin, and a number of prominent faculty and alumni of the college.

Each year the Live Auction is juried by prominent members of the Art Community. This year's jurors were Tony Fusco of Fusco and Four, Joshua Buckno of the Nielson Gallery and Susan Lanoue from Lanoue Fine Arts. Hundreds of pieces are submitted and of the final twenty or thirty artists chosen for the Live Auction, there are always a hand full of students selected to have their pieces bid on alongside the work of world renowned artists. 

Congratulations and thanks are due to all involved in making this night such a success!

Great News Regarding the Galleries!

As you all know the three award winning galleries at Montserrat are a huge part of the curriculum here, and curator Leonie Bradbury and Assistant Curator Shana Dumont do a fantastic job of bringing emerging and established artists from all over the world to the Montserrat Campus.The gallery brings relevant and innovative exhibitions to the fingertips of the Montserrat Community, and is also is a valuable teaching tool. Each semester the gallery employs students to be involved in all aspects of running the gallery, giving those students valuable knowledge and insight into how a successful, professional gallery is operated. That being said, we are all very proud of four Publication Awards they recently received from the New England Museum Association 2009 Competition.

In the Exhibition Catalogues, under $10 category, “Many Kinds of Nothing” and “In Pursuit of Beauty” (both shows were in our Main Gallery) won Joint First Place; in the Calendars of Events & Programs category, Visiting Artists Spring 2008 won Joint Second Place; and in the Posters category, “Therefore & Because: Decoding Norman Laliberte” won Third Place. Chair of Graphic Design, John Colan, designed the catalogs and poster and alumna Jen Nazzaro '04 designed the Visiting Artist brochure.



The selections were made from a pool of 209 publications submitted by 70 museums entered in 19 different categories.

Congratulations to Leonie, Shana, John and Jen!

For more information on past, current and upcoming shows or to purchase a publication click here.

What Do You Love About Montserrat?

This video was filmed and edited by student Jenna Barbieri as a project to complete during her internship with Montserrat's Academic Computing Technician Jake Snyder. It started as an assignment but Jenna also thought "it would be a good idea to make a video that would show incoming or aspiring students a more personal aspect of the school by talking to the people who actually make up the frame work of this environment...I think it is informative and inspiring..."

And right she is. Please enjoy Jenna's video that so accurately captures the essence of Montserrat!

Jenna is a sophomore from Marlboro, MA who takes advantage of Montserrat's Interdisciplinary Study concentration because of her diverse interests in photography, graphic design, music and psychology.

Two Faculty Members Receive Glowing Reviews!

As you know, all of the faculty and staff at Montserrat College of Art are active in the art world and are recognized locally, nationally and internationally. That being said we are proud that not one, but TWO of our current faculty were granted very favorable reviews in the most recent issue of the regionally distributed art periodical Art New England.

Thorpe Feidt displayed paintings at Montserrat’s very own 301 Gallery. Thorpe has been exhibiting his work throughout the Northeast since the early 1960s, with solo exhibitions in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Gloucester, Beverly, Portsmouth and other cities, he has been on the Montserrat College of Art Faculty since 1973. Check out Thorpe’s full bio at www.montserrat.edu and feel free to send him a congratulatory email!

Doug Bell, Pretty Sweet Stack: Clock Tick, 2005, mixed-media assemblage, approximately 10 x 7 x 7 feet

Doug Bell recently had a solo show at HallSpace in Dorcester, MA, a gallery directed by the chair of our Graphic Design program, John Colan. He has exhibited widely and his work is collected and represented in many private and public collections including The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, The Fuller Museum of Art, The DeCordova Museum and many more. Check out Doug’s full bio at www.montserrat.edu and again, feel free to email him your congratulations!

Both of these shining reviews reiterate what we believe to be one of the greatest resources available to the Montserrat community, the success’ and accolades of our amazing faculty, and the ability to learn from them!

Dear Friends and Members of the Montserrat College of Art Community,

Welcome to the first post of “The Montserrat Scoop” a blog with the sole purpose of keeping the Montserrat Community (here, there and everywhere) informed about events on and off campus. We will also be showcasing the achievements of our faculty, staff and students. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome, and if you have an idea for a post please send it our way!

Speaking of community, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the newest members of Montserrat, the incoming class of 2009! This class is shaping up to be one of the largest, most geographically diverse and talented classes we have welcomed in some time! The Admissions Staff has been working closely with these students and we are confident that they will contribute greatly to the spirit of the college.

So, welcome everyone to “ The Montserrat Scoop” please visit often, enjoy and, in the spirit of Montserrat, contribute your voice as well!