The school was established in 1970 as Montserrat School of Visual Arts and was founded by the North Shore Community Arts Foundation, a civic organization that managed the nearby North Shore Music Theatre. Joseph Jeswald, a local artist and former head of the Fine Arts Department at New England School of Art and Design, was chosen to serve as the first president of the school and Stephen Slane, one of the founders of the Arts Foundation along with C. Henry Glovsky and Ruby Newman, was named managing director.[4] The school was accredited as a college and authorized to award a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the mid-1980s, at which time it changed to its name to the Montserrat College of Art. In 1992, the school moved to its present location on Essex Street in the Hardie Building, a renovated nineteenth-century school structure that serves as the campus center.
In early 2015, Montserrat College of Art explored a possible merger with Salem State University, a large public university in neighboring Salem.[5] After some months of research and negotiations, the proposal was found to be not feasible and the plan was dropped in mid-2015.[6]
For one year, William J. Bakrow served as interim president of Montserrat College of Art. In 2018, Kurt T. Steinberg was named the eighth president in school history.[7]
The Montserrat College of Art is located in downtown Beverly. The small campus includes the central Hardie Building on 23 Essex Street, a classroom, gallery, studio, and office space building on 248 Cabot Street, a full equipped sculpture shop & digital fabrication studio at 301 Cabot Street, and apartment-style residence halls. In 2009, the Helena J. Sturnick Student Residence Village was opened. As of 2024, the college campus consists of a total of fourteen academic and residential buildings.
