Montserrat Alum Visits White House

BEVERLY, MA – Last spring, Kayla Whelan designed the winning entry for the 2016 White House Christmas ornament. Last Friday, she went to the White House to celebrate that design.

Whelan, a 2016 graduate of Montserrat College of Art, designed a vintage fire truck ornament to commemorate the 1929 Christmas Eve four-alarm fire of the West Wing when Herbert Hoover was president. The contest was the first-ever national art school design competition by the White House Historical Association.

The Association will create 1,000,000 ornaments with Whelan's design. She received $5,000 cash prize, and Montserrat College of Art got a $50,000 scholarship from the White House Historical Association.

"The Montserrat community is ecstatic that another student has won such prestigious national recognition," said Montserrat President Steve Immerman. "We are so proud of Kayla Whelan for the hard work she has done to reach this level of professionalism."

President Hoover was hosting his staff and their children at a Christmas party in the East Wing when a fire broke out in the executive office in 1929. One hundred and thirty firefighters from 19 engine companies and four truck companies responded to the fire, which destroyed the West Wing.

"The 2016 ornament honors a significant moment in White House history that is an often forgotten moment of Hoover’s presidency," said White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin. "We wanted to create an ornament that continues the beautiful aesthetic tradition of the past thirty six years and also honors the hundreds of firefighters that heroically fought the Christmas Eve blaze."

Proceeds from sales of the ornament, which is made in America and is the 36th official ornament offered by the Association, will support the Association's mission to preserve and provide public access to the White House.

The ornament is on sale at the Association’s retail stores in Washington, D.C., online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.org for $20.95, and will be available at the upcoming Montserrat College of Art three-day art sale, Nov. 18 through Nov. 20, at 23 Essex St., Beverly.

Photos courtesy of Mel Powsner, Montserrat College of Art Class of 2017