Exciting September Starts Off Semester!
Every September (well, and a bit of August) at Montserrat is a busy one, and this year was no different. Since reopening campus to a new generation of Montserrat students at the beginning of the month, it has been a nonstop parade of campus activities to get our students and our community back into the Montserrat swing of things.
A few days after our new freshman class moved in, the annual traditions continued with this year’s Paint Wars down at Dane Street beach. Interim President Brian Pellinen opted for a full Tyvek ensemble this year, while the rest of the students had the usual white t-shirts. The tactical technicolor engagement ended, as it usually does, with all participants drenched in the full color spectrum.
Later that week, Montserrat celebrated the start of a new academic year with Convocation. This year the event was held at The Cabot Theater. It began with remarks from Interim President Brian Pellinen and Interim Dean of Faculty and Academic Resources Stacy Thomas-Vickory, followed by a viewing of oil-painted animated film Loving Vincent.
The next week, with the whole student body now back on campus and classes officially underway, we only had more programming to offer our students. There was a Welcome Back Glow Party hosted by Montserrat’s Campus Activities Board, a Sand Castle Competition hosted by Campus Life, and of course the annual Grilled Cheese Day.
Most exciting though was this year’s Fresh Start Fair. As usual, the fair included booths for student clubs, campus services, internships, and local organizations like NAGLY. The special guests this year, though, were the miniature horses from Minis with a Mission!
And lastly, but CERTAINLY not least, we have a newly renovated gallery space! The Montserrat Gallery at the Hardie Building has been redone and renovated with more work (like new lighting) yet to come. The first full show to move into the fresh gallery space is Wells Chandler’s PSYCHADELIC SOCCER DADA, which officially opens on September 25th. The exhibition explores ecology, community, gender and queer iconography through the mediums of crochet, embroidery, drawing and cake.
Already up in the Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery is another exciting exhibition. SHAPESHIFTERS features the work of alumni Aris Moore (’98) and Catalina Viejo Lopez de Roda (’05) alongside Boston-based artists Anukriti and Rose Ranauro. The exhibition explores change and transformation. “Drawing on the fantastical, morphological, and psychological associations with shapeshifting, the participating artists seek to transgress or transcend the corporeal and psychic dimensions of the self or the collective consciousness.”
And all of this is only the start of another exciting semester at Montserrat. We cannot wait to see what the rest of the academic year holds for the students and the community as a whole.