Montserrat College of Art (Montserrat) housed the Department of Illustration. Within the department is an Illustration BFA program that begins with the Foundation Studio Base (FSB). Required FSB courses include Studio I & II; Observation I & II; and Color: Material and Light. Upon successful completion of the FSB, students will move on to the Studio Core, electives, and Liberal Arts requirements.
Course examples include Illustration I: Drawing for Communication; Perspectives in Anatomy; Illustration II: Media & Methods; Art History: Modern Developments; Illustration III; Digital Process; Reading & Critical Thinking; Illustration IV: Applications; Painting I: Painting, Color, Light; Advanced Drawing; Research & Rhetoric; Graphic Design; and Senior Illustration Business Practices.
In addition to a variety of in-demand courses, the Illustration BFA program at Montserrat College of Art features individual and team-based projects; critiques; museum and gallery visits; research assignments; workshops and seminars; collaborative studios; and internship opportunities.
Students will also have opportunities to travel to places such as Niigata, Japan; Mallorca, Spain; and Santa Fe New Mexico to study, create, and explore.
In the final year of the Montserrat Illustration BFA program, students will complete the Senior Illustration Thesis. Students will work in teams during this final year to curate a series of week-long public shows hosted at on-campus exhibition spaces, and local galleries. Work created by every graduating senior will be displayed at the Graduation Exhibition in the main Montserrat Gallery. The event takes place in May.
Graduates are prepared to pursue positions across industries. Montserrat College of Art alumni have worked with studios, companies, and museums such as Nickelodeon, Disney, Sesame Street, Hasbro, Boston Center for the Arts, Puma, Martha Stewart, FableVision, Currier Museum of Art, and Peabody Essex Museum (PEM.
Founded in 1970, Montserrat College of Art opened as Montserrat School of Visual Arts with just one diploma program. Today, the school provides 12 programs, including BFA degrees, to nearly 400 students. Montserrat College of Art is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and the New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE).