Ramsey County History – Spring 1989: “Minnesota’ First Art School: St. Agatha’s Conservatory and the Pursuit of Excellence”

Minnesota’ First Art School: St. Agatha’s Conservatory and the Pursuit of Excellence
Author: Sister Ann Thomasine Sampson

Five pieces by the same author tell the story of St. Agatha’s Conservatory. Cousins Mother Seraphine and Mother Celestine of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet were major figures. St. Agatha convent was a community of teachers at the conservatory downtown, which opened in 1884. The convent got no financial help from the Archdiocese of St. Paul; so it marketed classes. The conservatory’s peak years were from mid-1880s to the late 1920s. The sisters taught voice, piano, organ, instruments, music theory, painting, and drawing. The Great Depression ended the conservatory’s prosperity, and the later decline of downtown residency brought an end to the conservatory in 1962.

PDF of Sampson article