Several years ago, Montserrat College of Art in Beverly opened its Digital Fabrication Studio, an incredible, hands-on space that not only teaches students how to use technologies like 3D scanning and printing, laser cutting and engraving, vinyl cutting, and CNC machining, but also gives them skills that extend far beyond the art world.
“A lot of students might be using those 3D printers and laser cutters for specific art projects, but on the way, they’re also getting a really incredibly valuable job skill,” says Brian Pellinen, president of Montserrat. “The programs you’re using to create an action figure for a game prototype is the same technology one can use to build an artificial heart valve. Once students understand how to use those printers, there’s all sorts of career paths that open up.”
When most people think of an art school, they think of drawing, painting, sculpture, and pottery, and that certainly happens at Montserrat. Yet Pellinen notes 75 to 80 percent of Montserrat students are actually studying things like animation; illustration; graphic design; writing and visual narratives; and games, toys, and play.
“Our students, by and large, are designers, are animators. They’re using the same technology as engineers,” he says.
For 55 years, people from around the world have come to study art at Montserrat. But what that looks like has changed a lot over the decades, and now, with Pellinen at the helm, the college is more focused than ever on helping students shape their passions and curiosities into careers.
“It’s this balance of giving them the freedom to explore the things they want to explore and also giving them the skills that have a very practical value outside of here,” he says. “How do we help them turn that passion into a career?”
Answering that question has been central to Pellinen’s work at Montserrat. He stepped into the role of president in March 2024 after serving as interim president for a year and as dean of academic affairs before that. In that time, the college has continued to expand opportunities for experiential learning and real-world job experience, embracing technology and adding new programs of study.
In addition to growing its mentorship program to connect seniors and recent graduates with professionals in their chosen fields, Montserrat also received a $2.1 million grant from the Department of Education to create more campus-based jobs for students.
Pellinen also wants to expand the college’s internship opportunities. Starting in the late 2000s, Montserrat became one of the first—and perhaps the first—art college in the United States to require an internship.
“Now we have to put even more emphasis on experiential learning. Maybe one internship’s not enough,” Pellinen says. “Maybe we have to offer two or three internships.”
It’s all about offering students the chance to learn beyond Montserrat’s walls, through experiential learning opportunities like travel abroad programs, internships, or taking classes at another art institute.
“I think in my ideal academic vision, the students are earning somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of their credits off campus,” Pellinen says. “It just brings another way to think about diversity of people and ideas and places.”
In fact, embracing diversity has always been a core value at Montserrat, which welcomes and embraces people of all backgrounds, including members of the LBTQT+ community, people of color, the disabled, and others.
“We believe that diversity makes us stronger, and that’s not changing,” Pellinen says. “In fact, I think we’re trying to do even more.”
Now, Pellinen is looking ahead with a future vision dubbed “Montserrat 2035.” It asks what the world and the college will look like in a decade and how it can prepare, from changes in technology and the social landscape, to the college’s physical campus, to ensuring that students leave school with even more marketable skills and experience. “These are the things we’re going to focus on,” Pellinen says. “If we’re making decisions about now, you also have to know where you’re going.”