Montserrat College of Art

Re-Collections
2024-04-23 - 2024-05-03 | Library Gallery, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
April 23 – May 3, 2024
Paul Scott Library Gallery
Curated by Josue Bessiake
Opening Reception on April 24 at 3pm

The works presented in Re-Collections have been selected from the Montserrat College of Art Teaching Archive, an archival body affiliated with the college that spans from the distant to the recent past. The Teaching Collection consists of diverse media acquired throughout Montserrat’s history–from paintings by former faculty and alumni to vintage adverts from the early days of Montserrat. The works selected here include such disparate works as an incomplete suite of Matisse lithographs, acquired from an unrecorded source, student prints by current faculty members Len Thomas-Vickory and Stacy Thomas-Vickory, to a printed poem by James Merrill.
The selected works from the archive illustrate how the meaning and significance of an artwork can change or evolve over time. Because of the ephemeral nature of the archive, the intent of specific objects that have entered the collection is not always clear or perhaps even lost. Therefore, the works shown here explore the spontaneous nature of the archive. In other words, the exhibition shows the randomness and range of artifacts in the collection. Such as the “Poem for Vassili and Mimi” by James Merril, a story that reminisces on a fond memory of having fun on a summer night. An incomplete suite of lithographs by Henri Matisse, entitled Rondeau, is a poem recalling a dream of a woman whose beauty is so great it warrants praise. Despite coming from vastly different origins the works come together to appear cohesive.
Re-Collections is a record of history and memory. The works represented are part of the chronicle of Montserrat College of Art consisting of former students, faculty, and staff as well as artists who have contributed their time and art to the college.

Upswingin'
2024-04-21 - 2024-04-26 | Bare Gallery, 275 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
A Collage Exhibition
Featuring Spencer Kall and Alex Pint.
Opening Reception on Wednesday, April 24
11am–12pm
1A Knowlton Street, Beverly
Open to the public

Montserrat Renaissance Fair and Market
2024-04-20 11:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Beverly Common, 31 Dane Street, Beverly, 01915, United States
Montserrat College of Art’s Campus Activity Board (CAB) is hosting an open to the public Renaissance Fair and Art Market.
April 20, 2024
11 am – 6 pm
Beverly Common (Next to the Hardie Building)
There will be over 60 student artists selling work ranging from jewelry, prints, books, paintings, and more!
We encourage you to dress up!

Monchella
2024-04-19 15:00 | MA
April 19
3pm
Behind the Hardie Building
Featuring:

Tysk Tysk Task
The P.A.’s
Neck Dive
Roaches

Faculty in Conversation: Mark Hoffmann
2024-04-18 11:00 - 12:00 | Hardie 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
In this talk, Mark will walk you through his latest picture book SOREN’S SEVENTH SONG written by Dave Eggers.
With a focus on creative mistakes and how they can influence a whole career, Mark will take students through the process of getting rid of expectations and celebrating being a kid at heart.
Hardie Room 101
23 Essex Street, Beverly
Open to the public.

Student Showcase
2024-04-13 - 2024-04-18 | Montserrat Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Open House: Saturday, April 13, 2 – 4 pm
Each spring, Montserrat celebrates the work of our students during what is known as Student Showcase.

The mission of Student Showcase is to recognize and honor the accomplishments of student artists and scholars. We want to make the Showcase an opportunity to share those accomplishments—and Montserrat’s creative spirit—with our community at large. This annual weekend event includes the enjoyment of visual and literary art forms and social activities involving the entire college, the public, alumni, parents, friends and future students of Montserrat College of Art.

Artist Talk: Astin Jay of Sunny fox Apothecary
2024-04-12 14:00 - 15:00 | Hardie 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States

The Improbable Places Poetry Tour
2024-04-09 18:00 - 20:00 | MA
The Castle Will Have the Monopoly on Poetry on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.
140 Rantoul St, Beverly
The Improbable Places Poetry Tour, hosted by Colleen Michaels of Montserrat College of Art, features game-related poems for a most unique reading event. On April 9th, Beverly’s boardgame restaurant and bar, THE CASTLE, will host a night of poetry and play. Doors open at 6:00 for those who want dinner or game time, and the reading begins at 7:00 The reading is free and open to the public.
Started in 2010, the Improbable Places Poetry Tour has brought poetry to unlikely places like bike shops, Laundromats, tattoo parlors, and a power plant on Boston’s north shore. We will roll the dice on a new season and pack the room Jenga style with players, readers, and poems about the games people play.
2024 Poster by Abbey Phelps
The 2024 Improbable Places Poetry Tour is funded by Montserrat College of Art, Beverly Cultural Council, and Mass Cultural Council.

National Library Week exhibit
2024-04-07 - 2024-04-14 | Library Gallery, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Students in Bernadette Carr’s Using Images class created a poster series celebrating National Library Week (4/7 – 4/13).
Posters created by Deon Agyeman, Jorielle Arlock, Mikayla Bogus, Lilly Caporuscio, Erin Cox, Whitney Farnsworth, Kamille Ryan, Marina Stagliola and Sam Wilkinson.

Artrageous!38
2024-04-06 | MA
As Montserrat’s annual auction fundraiser, Artrageous has become the signature art event on the North Shore
to benefit financial aid awards for deserving Montserrat students.
The night features a live and silent auction including spectacular works by renowned and emerging artists and designers
and the opportunity to watch and experience art being created “in-the-moment” by Montserrat’s accomplished students.
Join us for art, design, music, food, drinks, and most importantly, the ability to make a difference by directly supporting the next generation of creative talent!

2024 Senior Thesis: Graphic Design
2024-04-03 - 2024-04-06 | Montserrat Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Reception: Wednesday, April 4, 5-7 pm
Montserrat Gallery

Gallery statements:
Aesthetic Syntax Alex Pint
Aesthetic Syntax is about the concept that design is art, and this show comprises two aspects: an insult and a vehicle. The insult is that design is lower than art, but poster design is the vehicle to disassemble that narrative.
Emotion Capsules Brianna Brand
“Emotion capsules” can be feelings in the present moment, memories from the past, or fears of the future. They are in the form of posters with attached poetry of experiences.
Golden Standards Cas DaBreo
“Golden Standards” is an album and design identity based on an amalgamation of songs written in order to unleash a monster caged for 21 lifetimes. These tracks demonstrate insecurity, expectations, and seemingly never-ending journeys.
Imperfect Little Guys Misha Huntington
All my life I’ve struggled with fine motor skills. It has been a barrier that has put me behind my peers and requires accommodations. Despite this, I have always had a passion for working with my hands. With sewing, I discovered that what I make is always a little funky and unique, and that uniqueness makes them endearing. Sometimes what makes us imperfect can bring us joy.
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay Grace Perry
“It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” is a children’s poetry book made on the same principle as the title. It’s 46 lines telling the reader in multiple different ways, that it’s okay, they are okay, and everything will be okay.

Taliyah “Starr” Shepard: No Cops, No Creeps, No Phobes
2024-04-01 - 2024-04-06 | Library Gallery, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
In every state, in every town, there’s a culture that is under your nose and your feet. It has a strange aura and it draws you in. The basement culture scene is an ancient practice that holds as much weight as religion. Every week we gather and partake in the wine and other things. We listen to music and lose ourselves in a moment that brings us together. The prophets speak to the feelings of the youth. They usher us into a collective consciousness that is somehow still individual. How do so many youth find peace here amidst the swinging arms of a mosh pit? The darkest corners of the basement? I’ve never felt so alive as water drips from the mysterious source in the ceiling onto my face. I’ve danced with future lawyers, doctors, and musicians. I’ve heard them preach about advancement for all minorities and cultures. They speak with more love and knowledge than our senators and presidents. If you fall to the ground many hands are quick to uplift you. We take acceptance seriously that’s why there are: No Cops, No Creeps, and No Phobes allowed.
This show sheds light on the beauty of basement show culture. Going to college you find “your people,” now put those people in someone’s basement on or off campus. This is my experience with the culture. I started attending these spaces in 2021 and have since been to 20+ shows in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. The culture spans many decades and that’s the recorded ones. One of the things I found the most endearing was the statement “No Cops, No Creeps, No Phobes.” This is a statement that means the safety of those at the show. Even with those regulations, some things slip through the cracks. I’ve been to shows where they called the cops or someone’s actions were questioned. The response in these situations is something I’ve always admired as it comes from a place of love and support. The creeps aren’t tolerated, the (homo)phobes are non-existent, and we all escape the watchful eyes of the cops.
I’ve always had a problem with fitting in; here you don’t have you.
You do need $5 though.

2024 Senior Thesis: Illustration
2024-03-27 - 2024-03-30 | Montserrat Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Trip Across the Universe
It has long been said that when you sneeze, someone is thinking of you. And that when thunder shakes the sky, the gods bowl. Through stories, what is unknown is given form. Humans have told stories for as long as they have been perplexed by the world around them. These stories are a fundamental part of the human condition, and not only allow us to make sense of what we don’t understand but to form complex emotional connections.
The stories that we have chosen to share explore facets of our own experiences as we attempt to not only be understood but to make sense of what we have yet to master. Beneath the layers of fantasy and social commentary housed within our stories is an attempt to tell you what we know, so that you can apply it to your own experience. It is to form a connection between you and me.
Reception: Wednesday, March 27, 5-7 pm
23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA
Open to the Public
Featuring:

Kelly Aquilar
Hiro Alvarez
Sam Bissitt
Allison Codner
Kira Cohen
Ash Cruz
Lucas Francisco
Sarh Ginocchio
Nyk Griffith
Scott Hayden
Junkai Kai
Ben Kingston
Aidan Kitt
Meaghan Lamontagne
Tobey Marroquin
Marisa Perez
Natalie Plourde
Dominic Sepulveda
Anita Sousa
Gisselle Torres
Kelaya Valliere

BIOS
Kelaya Valliere
Kelaya Valliere is a pet illustrator from southern Maine. For her thesis, Kelaya painted stylized animal portraits focusing on adopting pets from rescues. To do so Kelaya reached out to several organizations and painted many kinds of animals from each. By choosing to paint on unorthodox wooden rounds she hopes that people choose to keep an open mind while considering a new furry or feathery companion to a household.
Marisa Perez
Marisa “Mari” Leyla Francisca Perez, is a Mexican-American non-binary, queer illustrator. Their work mainly focuses on creating mythical and otherworldly concept art with engaging character designs that strive to capture the beauty of the Fantasy and Sci-fi genre. Mari’s thesis project, “The Luminaries,” is a series of visual development illustrations based on the characters and world of a current DND campaign. Mari’s goal was to create a visual representation of how they see the world and characters while allowing the illustrations to tell their story without it being written.
Nyk Griffith
Nyk Griffith is a tattoo artist, primarily inspired by horror and metal music, with other inspirations sprinkled within his art. To begin learning how to tattoo, Nyk used his thesis project to design tattoos that stem from aspects of his interests and past life experiences and tattoo them onto synthetic/practice skin. These tattoos all vary in terms of what part of the human body they are designed for and, alongside help from his internship at Salem Ink Tattoo and Art Gallery, kickstart Nyk’s journey down the road to becoming a professional tattoo artist.
Benjamin Kingston
Benjamin Kingston is an illustrator and concept artist from Billerica, Massachusetts. His process includes a blend of both traditional and digital mediums utilized together. Benjamin’s thesis project is creating various props under two distinct themes. Themes are fantasy dwarves life and grandmas of the post-apocalyptic world. His goal with these two themes is to create wild, outlandish designs and have fun with them while still having their structure grounded in reality.
Aidan Kitt
Aidan Kitt is a Beverly-based illustrator specializing in the digital medium who uses bold colors and sharp linework to create new worlds and unique, character-based storytelling. His comic, Caspin, is a retro-futuristic science fiction space opera following the titular character as he is hunted and chased throughout the galaxy.
Anita Sousa
Anita Sousa is a New England-based illustrator and creative writer. Her work focuses on the fantastical and whimsical, specializing in character and creature-based illustrations. Passionate about world-building and storytelling, Tracks of the Taraxippus is a Tabletop Roleplaying Game module following two adventurers, Callahan and Talieson, as they search for the titular Taraxippus. Along the way, they discover a plethora of enchanted artifacts and curious creatures.
Junkai Kai
I’m a trans, queer, first-generation Cambodian-American digital illustrator and concept artist from Lowell, Massachusetts. Human emotions are difficult to understand. There are some in this world much more in touch with their own emotions, and some much more understanding of others. However, in my case, it was neither. As a result, the intent that goes into different aspects of a character or scene fascinates me and has helped me to understand others around me. People are a product of nurture and nature, and this affects how they present themselves to others… In a similar way, deep sea creatures tend to have a bad reputation simply because they look a certain way, but they have evolved as a result of their circumstances. So, based on deep sea creatures and my own observations as a first-generation Cambodian American, I created character designs for a pixel-simulation game called Tartha.
Hiro Alvarez
Hiro Alvarez is a Puerto Rican, queer, non-binary illustrator focusing mostly on fantasy horror-based world-building and concept design. Their pieces are created digitally, using a mixture of bold lines and watercolor-inspired texture. Their thesis project, “The Decay of Eurocin”, combines these elements, creating a uniquely whimsical yet horrifying narrative with a fresh take on the classic theme of infection and cosmic horror.
Kira Cohen
Kira Cohen is an illustrator who specializes in blending traditional and digital work in her art, with a focus on fantasy and horror. Kira’s thesis project had her creating dust jackets for various books, focusing on bringing out the unique ideas from each book.
Scott Hayden
Scott Hayden is a New England-based illustrator and writer who utilizes narrative to make sense of a world that can otherwise be enormous and terrifying. Scott believes that stories are not only how humans have communicated with one another for centuries, but how we have come to share our individual experiences and empathize with those around us. Their comic, MECHANICA: Displaced, exercises this philosophy by interpreting the universal experience of change in an attempt to better understand it.
Allison Codner
Allison Codner is a New England-based illustrator who uses acrylic paint, graphite, and watercolor to create moments of fantastical narrative. Magic dwells within the sea, sky, and world beyond reality, and is where she draws her inspiration from and where her illustrations play within. Where the organic world meets its more whimsical counterpart is where her work truly shines, with saturation and luminous qualities. Her collection of work “Celestial Commentary”, communicates and highlights the lesser-known constellations as they were storytellers and storybooks to those long before us.
Tobey Marroquin
Tobey is an internet-dwelling comic artist in love with the concept of space, spaceships, weird planets, corporations, bureaucracies, black suit-and-tie-clad secret agents, and the horror of having a body. He is currently making an example of himself, hoping to embody the dangers of allowing yourself to be led by the madness of the narrative.
He isn’t here right now, so please don’t confuse him with Norman.
Sam Bissitt
Sam Bissitt is an illustrator and fine artist based in New England. He takes inspiration from the natural world around him and creates visually appealing illustrations with pleasing environments and unique animal-based characters. Sam’s thesis project is a picture book about a frog and a turtle, promoting the idea that different kinds of animals can coexist together and be friends.

Dominic Sepulveda
Dominic Sepulveda is a New England-based concept artist with a passion for fantasy who works digitally, designing wondrous characters and creatures chock-full of personality and charm, and intricately crafting the worlds they inhabit. Dominic’s project explores the process it takes to create a fantasy world that feels unique, considered, lived-in, and engaging. Showing off every stage of development from ideation to completion, Dominic’s work will introduce you to a cast of characters that inhabit a world that fuses ancient and futuristic.
Lucas Francisco
Lucas Francisco is an illustrator and comic artist from South Coast Massachusetts. Inspired by superheroes and manga, Lucas seeks to create Sci-Fi Fantasy stories filled with lovable characters and breathtaking action. His thesis work gives you a small glimpse into just one of his worlds. Don’t worry though, he has plenty more on the way!
Gisselle Torres
Gisselle Torres is a Non-Binary Mexican-American Illustrator, focusing on realism and semi-realism portraits. Their thesis is based on their culture and the topic surrounding immigration and its effects on their family. Each piece represents their interpretation of some of the most important and influential people in their life, their grandparents. Gisselle wishes to tell the story of their family and background to potentially connect with others like themselves and become a voice for many and speak for their people.
Kelly Aguilar
Kelly Aguilar is a first-generation Mexican American artist whose artistic journey is a celebration of color, texture, and cultural fusion. Her thesis project, “Papel Cultural”, is a statement of her passion for representation and connectivity through her love of stationery items. Each piece within this collection is imbued with the essence of her heritage and aims to inspire others to embrace their roots, finding beauty in the simplicity of everyday life.
Ash Cruz
Ash Cruz is a Black and Puerto Rican illustrator. The work they create emphasizes imaginative concept design, blending natural elements of the real world with aspects that exist purely in fantasy. Their thesis project centers around the fear of the unknown, creating atmospheric concept environments and more than what meets the eye. The aim of these works is to create environments with character and ambiguity that others can immerse themselves in. Each person is a storyteller, whether they are aware of it or not. This project is meant to drive others to begin making their own narratives and become a part of the creative process.
Meaghan Lamontagne
Meaghan Lamontagne is an illustrator and comic artist who delves into the absurd with a unique style of dark, referential humor inspiring many of her creations. She works to inject her art with a delicate elegance while still embracing its Kafkaesque qualities. For her senior thesis project, she created the 26-page comic, Our Faire End, an urban fantasy comic about a human girl living in a crime-riddled city who gets roped into joining two mercenaries on a dangerous mission.
Natalie Plourde
Natalie Plourde is an American artist and illustrator from central Massachusetts. She utilizes soft colors along with subtle lines and edges in order to convey delicateness and sentimentality. Her work tends to focus on femininity and invokes a sense of nostalgia for a simpler but ultimately imaginary time. She creates an idealized world that is inhabited by doll-like women— it’s as if you could reach through the page, pull them out, and hold them in your hands.
Sarah Ginocchio
Sarah Ginocchio is an Illustrator and comic artist based in Massachusetts. She captivates storytelling through traditional graphic novels, but also through a visual array of color, expression, and surrealism. Her thesis project “Burnout” is the visual story of her experiences, and her thoughts during the Covid 19 pandemic, and how it impacted her as an Art student at the time. Burnout narrates the looming melancholy, nostalgia, and the effect on mental health throughout a series of pages and illustrations.

Faculty in Conversation with Funlola Coker
2024-03-20 14:50 - 15:30 | Hardie 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA
Open to the Public
The Life of One Working Artist After Grad School
“In the final semester of any graduating degree, you might hear the age-old dreaded question – “what next?” Come find out about my what-next-journey after school and how I navigate multiple paths in our beloved art field. My story involves carving fake waterfowl and turkeys, sculpting miniature food, craft fairs, and a full 360 to my first loves in craft.”

Visiting Artist Talk: Alyona Snegirova
2024-03-20 11:00 - 12:00 | Hardie 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Ukrainian Artist Alyona Snegirova
Wednesday, March 20th, 11-12PM
Virtual Screening in H101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA
Open to the public
Alyona Snegirova has been engaged in Petrykivka painting for more than 22 years and has been teaching for over 13 years. She has earned the title of Folk Master of Ukraine and has won multiple prizes in Ukrainian national art competitions.
Alyona was born and lives in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, which is in the southeast part of the country. Since 2015 she has maintained a studio in her hometown, where she has taught Petrykivka painting to people of all ages. During those years Alyona organized five exhibitions of her students’ artworks, which were well-reviewed in the local press and media. Alyona has been teaching online since Covid.
Since the start of the war in 2022 Alyona has been decorating decommissioned weaponry with Petrykivka painting to raise money for the Ukrainian army as a volunteer. The city museum has acquired one of these artworks for its permanent collection.
Alyona has just received one of the scholarships for young artists awarded by the president of Ukraine.

Artist Talk: Alyssa Coffin
2024-03-19 14:50 - 15:30 | Library Gallery, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Artist Talk with Montserrat Alumn Alyssa Coffin
Tuesday, March 19, 2:50pm
Montserrat Library, 23 Essex Street, Beverly

Open to the public

Alyssa Coffin is an interdisciplinary artist from New England, USA currently based in Helsinki, Finland. She graduated from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, with studies in visual art as well as creative writing. She has traveled widely, including a formative period in Ireland, focusing on environmental interventions and performances. She recently completed her master’s in Time and Space Arts at Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts.

Visibility
2024-03-18 - 2024-03-30 | Bare Gallery, 275 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Visibility Exhibition Opening – Bare Gallery
Tuesday, March 19, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Join us in celebration of Disability Awareness Month

2024 Congressional High School Art Competition and Exhibition
2024-03-14 - 2024-03-16 | Montserrat Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
The 6th District Congressional Art Show, sponsored by Congressman Seth Moulton and hosted at Montserrat College of Art, will be held this year March 14-16 in Montserrat’s main gallery at 23 Essex St., Beverly.

Artist Talk: Karmimadeebora McMillan with Charla Jones
2024-03-06 11:00 - 12:00 | Hardie 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Artist Conversation between Karmimadeebora McMillan and Charla Jones
Open to the public.
Karmimadeebora McMillan Montserrat Gallery Exhibit Info

Faculty Conversation with Ethan Berry
2024-02-29 11:10 - 12:00 | MA
Berry’s new installation in the Bare Gallery, entitled “Sometimes,” is a partial response to W. B. Sebald’s book “A Natural History of Destruction” and is a reflection of the writer’s experience reading and viewing the German national response to the devastation of cities and culture during World War II. His observations on the literature from this time reveal a pattern of displacement and erasure of the reality of the destruction. Berry’s project includes images and projections created during his recent sabbatical. Also included are texts that reference, or are reactive to this state of upheaval and transformation which provide the potential for interpretation in visual form.
Read Ethan’s bio here.

Artist Talk: Hong Hong
2024-02-28 14:50 - 15:30 | MA
Artist talk with Beverly-based visual artist,
Hong Hong
Wednesday, February 28th, 2:50pm
Underground

Each summer and fall, Hong Hong (b. 1989, Hefei, Anhui, China) travels to faraway and distinct locations to make paper. The environmental, site-specific investigations map relationships between landscape, time, and the body through cartographic, symbolic, and material languages. During the winter and spring, she forms paintings directly on the floor of her studio. These schematics combine intergenerational story-telling, collaborative texts, and image-making to document states of interiority and subjectivity.
248 Cabot Street, The Underground (basement level)

In•Animate Objects
2024-02-28 - 2024-05-31 | MA
Opening Reception
Friday, April 19, 4-6 pm
Founders Gallery

CJ Karch, Liz Nofziger, Ruth Bauer, and Blyth Hazen each make objects and then they move them; or move lenses around them; or something else moves and then they move; or a switch is triggered; or…
Sometimes this all happens very very slowly and tediously a frame at a time, sometimes a little faster at the edge of chaos and emergence.
But in all cases what was once just a still object becomes something else entirely… it is not really that the artists breathe life into the objects but more they give us a way to see or imagine the life within.
Blyth Hazen’s creative and teaching practice often involves making things that move. Sometimes they appear to do this on their own – on a screen. While other times they need more human engagement to be activated – like a puppet, robot or an automata. Blyth first came to Montserrat College of Art in the late 1990’s to help integrate digital tools into the curriculum. Blyth is currently the Coordinator of the Games Toys Play Program where she is inspired every day by the characters and the worlds her students create.
In 2019 Blyth and her collaborator the artist Ruth Bauer completed the stopmotion animation, The War Dept. available on Vimeo.
Blyth and Ruth are now working together on a multi-year stop-motion project with the working title Big Sky. This animated short is a coming-of-age story about a young artist living in Texas in the 1960s. Both Ruth and Blyth grew up in Texas, and both left as young adults. But Texas never left them. The characters and the stories in Big Sky are amalgamation of their own childhood experiences dealing with religion, race, beauty, the landscape and horned toads.
Various forms of narrative have always been part of Ruth Bauer’s art practice, which is multidisciplinary in that she paints, makes collages, writes, has co-created two theater pieces, and is now working on a second stop motion animation project with her collaborator, Blyth Hazen. Their first stop motion animation is a short video of The War Dept. and is available on Vimeo. Blyth and Ruth are currently working on a new stop motion project titled Big Sky. Big Sky is fictionalized memoir and an amalgamation of both of their childhood experiences in Texas dealing with gender roles, beauty standards, religion, race, the expansive landscape, and horned toads.
Ruth is a proponent of slow art, and for a number of years has been writing and illustrating a fictional journal of a nineteenth century woman naturalist who has traveled to the mythical isle of Kokovoko (the home of the charismatic cannibal Queequeg in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick) to document the flora and fauna there. Information about and images of Ruth’s other artwork and projects can be found here www.ruthbauer.com
Liz Nofziger was born in Indianapolis in 1974 and grew up in a small Mennonite community in southern Indiana. Her site-specific installation work examines relationships to space within the physical, architectural, political, and pop-cultural landscape. Employing a broad range of media including sculptural elements, video, light, audio, and text, viewer investigation completes her work.
Nofziger currently has a small site-specific sculpture and audio piece tucked away in Beverly, MA on Powder House Lane, and is part of Alpha-60, a sci-fi inspired augmented reality exhibition that’s animating the Emerald Necklace from Franklin Park to the Fenway. She has had solo exhibitions at Galéria Ateneo (Medellin, Colombia), the Glass Curtain Gallery at Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL), Vox Populi (Philadelphia, PA), Kult 41 (Bonn, Germany), the Contemporary Artists Center (North Adams, MA), and Montserrat College of Art (Beverly, MA), among others.
Nofziger earned her MFA at Massachusetts College of Art, where she taught for many years. She currently teaches at Montserrat College of Art. Since 2018, she has been living, working, and finding community on the North Shore. www.nofzilla.com
CJ Karch is an artist and photographer living in Salem, Massachusetts. He studied Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Massachusetts and photography at the Hallmark Institute of Photography. His love of story telling and passion for all creative forms have lead him to create his own unique brand of photographic art.
Blyth Hazen and Ruth Bauer, Big Sky, Animation Still
Liz Nofziger, Pile, 2024 Paper animation, video, wooden crate

Liz Nofziger: Flail
2024-02-26 - 2024-05-03 | Frame 301 Gallery, 301 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
A site-responsive work for Frame 301 as part of In•Animate Objects by Liz Nofziger concurrently on view in the Founders Gallery at 248 Cabot Street.
Resurrected on the half hour, the contained Air Dancers® frantically seek both connection and escape while serving as an absurd timepiece. The tragi-comic efforts of these yellow beacons are partnered with the constant flutter of their common partner pennant flags, encompassing the facade in a desperate cry for attention, advertising nothing but the act of looking.

Liz Nofziger was born in Indianapolis in 1974 and grew up in a small Mennonite community in southern Indiana. Her site-specific installation work examines relationships to space within the physical, architectural, political, and pop-cultural landscape. Employing a broad range of media including sculptural elements, video, light, audio, and text, viewer investigation completes her work.
Nofziger currently has a small site-specific sculpture and audio piece tucked away in Beverly, MA on Powder House Lane, and is part of Alpha-60, a sci-fi inspired augmented reality exhibition that’s animating the Emerald Necklace from Franklin Park to the Fenway. She has had solo exhibitions at Galéria Ateneo (Medellin, Colombia), the Glass Curtain Gallery at Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL), Vox Populi (Philadelphia, PA), Kult 41 (Bonn, Germany), the Contemporary Artists Center (North Adams, MA), and Montserrat College of Art (Beverly, MA), among others.
Nofziger earned her MFA at Massachusetts College of Art, where she taught for many years. She currently teaches at Montserrat College of Art. Since 2018, she has been living, working, and finding community on the North Shore.

Artist Talk + 3D Collage Workshop: Loretta Park
2024-02-23 15:00 - 17:00 | Montserrat Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Artist Talk + 3D Collage Workshop with Loretta Park
Open the public
Loretta Park Exhibition Information

Faculty in Conversation: Martha Buskirk
2024-02-21 11:00 - 12:00 | Hardie 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Art historian Martha Buskirk will discuss growing up surrounded by the work of her mother, fiber artist Mary Balzer Buskirk, as well as the ongoing process of responding to her legacy. After taking up weaving during graduate studies at Cranbrook, Mary Balzer Buskirk maintained an active studio and exhibition practice integrated into the rhythms of family life via a studio adjacent to the living room. Martha wrote the catalog essay for a 2001 retrospective of her mother’s textile work at the Monterey Museum of Art, and since then she has been engaged in various efforts to find appropriate homes for pieces that remained in the family collection. As part of the talk, Martha will bring in examples of her mother’s work.
Hardie Room 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly

Artist Talk: Lindsey Mason
2024-02-16 13:00 - 14:00 | MA
Join us for a public artist talk from Montserrat alumna Lindsey Mason (’11).
Lindsey Mason has designed products and packaging for brands as large as Target, Walmart, and Jo-Ann’s Fabrics. She will be talking about her work, her professional journey, and what to think about when designing packaging.
Google Meet: meet.google.com/trr-jiev-pne

Loretta Park: About to Thaw
2024-02-05 - 2024-03-16 | Carol Schlosberg Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Loretta Park incorporates weaving and fiber-art techniques with an array of everyday objects to create colorful and tactile sculptures. From colorful nylon rope, plastic ice-cube trays, plates, and cups to scraps of cloth and paper, Park transforms commonplace materials and classic techniques into newly imagined color blocks of form and texture.
An interdisciplinary artist, Park’s artworks evoke aspects of painting, assemblage, and fiber-arts, while adhering resolutely to neither medium. As an integral part of her practice, Park continuously adapts and modifies her structures through intuitive responses to color, texture, shape, and material. One element builds on the other until the final work is achieved. The process of adding and subtracting materials becomes a marker of time, labor, and an experiential response to her particular moment.
An earlier version of the exhibition, entitled, Sea Glass is Diamond, was on view at the Trustman Art Gallery at Simmons University this fall curated by Gallery Director, Helen Popinchalk.
Loretta Park holds an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a BA from Bowdoin College. Her work has been exhibited at The Station in the Fenway, Boston, MA (2023); Brookline Arts Center, Boston, MA (2023); Brandeis Kniznick Gallery, Waltham, MA (2023); Praise Shadows Art Gallery, Boston, MA (2022); Dimensions Variable, Miami, FL (2021-22); The Umbrella Arts Center, Concord, MA (2021); Shelter In Place Gallery, Boston, MA (2020); New System Exhibitions, Portland, ME (2019); Ray Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2018); Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA (2017); and Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME (2017). Park’s work has appeared in Art New England, The Boston Globe, and Korean Daily. Loretta currently works in the Boston area and serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor and Compass Faculty Mentor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
For more information about the artist, visit her website.
Related Events:
Artist Reception + Community Meal: Wednesday, February 7, 5–7 pm
Artist Talk + 3D Collage Workshop: Friday, February 23, 3–5 pm, Montserrat Gallery

I Am More
2024-02-05 - 2024-02-29 | Library Gallery, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Portraits and essays addressing how we are more than our mental illness, health diagnosis, disability or life situation.
The traveling exhibit I Am More will be on display at Montserrat College of Art in February. This exhibit features pastel and colored pencil portraits by artist Amy Kerr, accompanied by essays written by individuals describing how they are more than their life challenges. The portraits address mental illness and addiction recovery, coping with medical diagnoses, and surviving trauma. Despite the challenging topics, the message is one of hope and resilience, and sometimes even humor and joy.
By definition, giving up hope makes it seem like finding hope will be much harder than it often is. I learned that there is always a path forward, there is always a new beginning, and that there truly is more out there than you may be expecting. -Aiden
Since 2018 I Am More exhibits have been seen in universities, shopping malls, hospitals, libraries and government buildings around the northeast as a reminder that despite our challenges we all have gifts, loves and triumphs to celebrate.
The exhibit includes mental health resources and emergency number cards.
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 8
Related event: “I am more than” – Open Art Making with Meg and Elisabeth on Thursday, February 15 at 11 am in the Library

About the Artist
Artist Amy Kerr founded I Am More as a way of reminding others that she is more than her depression recovery and invited those dealing with their own challenges to share their stories. Each subject is asked to choose a location where they are most comfortable, so locations have included a crowded theater, a cafe, a photographer’s studio, the ocean, a dance studio, a Crossfit gym, and a church. Amy draws in her studio and home in the coastal community of Gloucester, Massachusetts while coaching the subjects on their writing. She has a BFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College.

Karmimadeebora McMillan: Wandering stars...for whom it is reserved...the blackness...the darkness...forever
2024-01-30 - 2024-03-06 | Montserrat Gallery, 23 Essex St, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
The Boston-based artist, Karmimadeebora McMillan, mines Black material culture and historical archives to reimagine Black histories through diverse media. In her first major solo exhibition in the region, McMillan creates an immersive installation featuring animation, painting, and sound. Wandering stars…for whom it is reserved…the blackness…the darkness…forever is a kaleidoscopic journey through time that draws inspiration from sci-fi, speculative fiction, and Afrofuturism.
Wandering Stars debuts two animations, one representing the Black historical past and the other, a future for Black people and the building of a new world. Suspended throughout the gallery space are vibrantly painted cut-out figures. One such figure, which McMillan refers to as Ms. Merri Mack, is seen in multiple variations, some solid in color while others are rendered in colorful detail. Based on a vintage doll portraying a black caricature, and whose name is taken from a character in a nursery rhyme sung by enslaved children, Ms. Merri Mack is a means for McMillan to reclaim and subvert racial stereotypes. As the central protagonist in McMillan’s futuristic narrative, Ms. Merri Mack represents a catalyst for change, leading the viewer through portals in time and toward a hopeful future.
McMillan’s work is rooted in references to Black culture across time. Allusions to the graphic boldness of the revolutionary Black art collective, AfriCOBRA and images taken from the Black Panther Coloring Book, a propaganda piece disseminated by the US government in the 1960s, appear throughout McMillan’s paintings and animations. Wandering stars…for whom it is reserved…the blackness…the darkness…forever, the title taken from a song by the British band, Portishead, re-envisions the past, present, and future to explore the power of memory and how Black histories are held and carried.
Presented in collaboration with bkprojects, Watertown, MA.
Wandering Stars among Boston Art Review’s Top Winter ’24 Exhibitions to See.

Karmimadeebora McMillan is an interdisciplinary artist working in painting, printmaking, sculpture, animation, installation, and public art based in Cambridge, MA. She received her Associate of Fine Arts degree from Peace College and MFA and Post Baccalaureate Certificate from SMFA at Tufts. She received her BA from her hometown in Fayetteville, NC, HBCU, Fayetteville State University.
McMillan has shown extensively on the east coast and in 2021 received the Now + There public artists grant and is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. She has performed with her mentor Magdalena Campos-Pons at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Queens Museum in New York, and the Havana, Cuba Biennale 15. Karmimadeebora is also the Director of the Post Baccalaureate Program at SMFA at Tufts. She is currently pursuing an Interdisciplinary PhD through Tufts University focusing on Black Women of Power.

Related Events:
Artist Reception + Community Meal: Wednesday, February 7th, 5-7PM
Artist Conversation between Karmimadeebora McMillan and Charla Jones: Wednesday, March 6, 11 AM–12 PM, H101

Image:
Karmimadeebora McMillan
Generations (detail), 2023
Acrylic and Collage on Canvas
74×86 inches

North Shore Game Jam 2024
2024-01-25 - 2024-01-29 | Hardie 101, 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Montserrat presents North Shore Game Jam 2024!
Don’t miss our Keynote speaker, Matt Boehm, Senior Animator at Blizzard Entertainment on Thursday, Jan 25 at 7 pm. Matt will talk about his path into game development and show some of his work.
Then the 3-day game creation event kicks off on Friday, Jan 26 at 5 pm. Work alone or join a team to create tabletop games or video games. Novice or experienced, all are welcome!
All events are held at 23 Essex Street, Hardie 101, Beverly. Open to the public!
Sign up at here or email brandon.troelstrup@montserrat.edu for more info.
