Montserrat Students Exhibit Revisits Summer Abroad Trip to Italy

October 23, 2014

Soggiorno in Italia 2014
On ViewOct. 22 – Nov. 15, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, Oct. 25, 1 – 3 pm
Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery, 23 Essex St. Beverly, MA
Gallery Hours: M,T,W,F: 10am-5pm, Thu: 10am-8pm, Sat: 12pm-5pm

Montserrat College of Art is proud to present Soggiorno in Italia 2014, an exhibition highlighting student work created during Montserrat’s Viterbo, Italy study abroad program. This annual exhibition showcases a day in the life of students in the enchanting medieval town of Viterbo.   Montserrat’s four-week program, which celebrated its 18th summer, provides college students and artists a unique opportunity to live and study in a country famous for its rich cultural legacy.

This year’s exhibition includes the work of students from Montserrat, RISD and State University of North Dakota. This exhibition is both a reminder and a reflection of their summer abroad, embracing foreign culture and revealing itself in a small body of work.

For many students this trip was one of their first immersive experiences, delving into a new culture wholeheartedly, finding inspiration in the “little things” such as a people-filled piazza, architecture and restaurant interiors. Student Monica O’Connor particularly enjoyed the rich antique wood and colored glass in local Viterbo bars. Her series of four watercolors shows wine and liquor bottles from the perspective of a patron sitting at the bar. The bottles resemble radiant gems or pieces of sea glass breathing life into an old watering hole.

Assoc. Prof. Caroline Bagenal, Montserrat faculty and participating instructor, poetically narrates the experience of Viterbo. “For the month of July students in the Montserrat Summer Study Program in Italy create drawings, paintings, studies, illustrations, photographs, collages, doodles, sketches, designs and all manner of art in response to living in the town of Viterbo. They explore the piazzas, the gardens, the cobbled streets, the ancient churches, the cafes, the palaces, and the hidden corners. Viterbo becomes their home, their muse, their inspiration, their days and their nights.


Published by College Relations Intern Josh Ramsey