Making art can be a slow, deliberate process, but hanging it can sometimes be a frantic, last-minute effort. At the art hub The Shop in Monterey on Friday afternoon, Sea Sevilla was busy getting the finishing touches on her one-woman show, The Animal Kingdom, that's about to open imminently—…

With almost a half century of performances under her belt, Patti Smith still commands a stage. Whether she is screaming into a mic, spitting on the floor and forcing the crowd to their feet during her punk rock ballads, or painting a reflective mood as she spills out one of her poems, Smith …

William Giles, born in 1934, was one of the first practitioners of manipulated polaroid—a radical attack on photography as mimesis. He studied and worked with many known photographers including Minor White, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lang and others. His photographs document the civil rights move…

Guess what? It's Car Week. And there will be 20-plus events around town for the next ten days. Here are a few of the Weekly's highlights.

It was a windy afternoon in Sand City so the unveiling of the new ground mural in the Art Park on Thursday, Aug. 5, was purely symbolic. 

Pacific Grove-based writer Alka Joshi released her debut novel, The Henna Artist, in the beginning of 2020, just at the outset of Covid-19. She admits that last year, locked at home, she felt more hopeful and connected than ever because she had a chance to talk to over 6,000 people on Zoom. …

The nonprofit Asian Cultural Experience, aka ACE, was founded in 2007 with the goal of preserving the history of Salinas’ Chinatown. Like many Chinatowns found around the world, this one, sandwiched between East Rossi and East Market streets, was where migrant laborers could find a place to …

A visit of Chicago-based PARA.MAR Dance Theatre successfully marked the first session of the Carmel Dance Festival and felt like an inaugural dance for those who gathered.

To say that the Monterey Jazz Festival was missed during shelter-in-place might be an understatement. Tickets became available for sale to the general public for the 64th MJF on July 16, and four days later, they ran out. Per a press release, they officially sold out Tuesday, July 20. 

After a turbulent few years, changes in leadership and a pandemic closure, things finally start looking good for the Monterey Museum of Arts. 

Ch...ch...ch...changes are happening at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. If you haven't already dropped by, they have a new exhibit that bridges the museum's extensive collection with local history and science of the climate crisis they're calling Changes. The museum is also open…

It's a long and winding journey for the American Tin Cannery building in Pacific Grove to become a hotel, and along the way tenants are leaving. The popular anchor restaurant, First Awakenings, relocated just up the street to David Avenue in Monterey this spring. Next, the ArtWorks @ Pacific…

You can add the Sunset Center to the fast-growing list of venues poised to reopen. On Wednesday, the iconic Carmel concert hall announced a diverse 2021-2022 season of its own Sunset Presents offerings, with music, theater, dance, and comedy all represented in its first season back since the…

Live music is making a full comeback in all kinds of ways. Including alongside a glass of wine. Puma Road's tasting room has several musical acts scheduled including John Vicino playing on June 25 and Linda Arceo on June 26. Performances are from 5-7pm. The Puma Road Tasting Room is located …

The future of an 80,000-plus photo collection that documents local history that was archived by the late Pat Hathaway may have become a little less murky.

Ray Beshoff says he's already done the hard part of getting a pro soccer team to come to Monterey County—getting the United Soccer League to sign off on adding a local team. 

This Saturday is record store day. Celebrate with Recycled Records (504 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey). They're participating on June 12 and July 17 with a new vinyl release each day. Are you really even cool if you don't like vinyl? Visit their Facebook for updates or give them a ring at 375-54…

Fire up the kiln, Monterey GlassWorks is opening their giant garage door to reveal the inner-workings of their glassblowing studio. On June 5 starting at 3pmvisitors can drop by, bring a beer, nosh on some appetizers and watch glass blowers at work, including artists-in-residence Aya Oki and…

California will officially reopen on June 15. But until then, there are still plenty of virtual experiences to enjoy from the comfort of your desk, err, couch. 

Now that your tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the National Steinbeck Center have been booked, here are few more virtual and in-person events to fill your free time. 

No excuses. Whether you’re staying home for the foreseeable future, or ready to stretch your legs and explore the real world again, the world of arts and culture in Monterey County is accessible to all. Here’s just a few events to look forward to this weekend, and beyond. 

Plays? Yes, please. Drive-in movies and an Aquarium reopening? That, too. Tacos and beer and other delicious food offerings from food trucks? Of, course. This weekend and beyond, has a lot in store for Monterey County in the virtual and real world. 

On the morning of Saturday, April 24, a gloomy overcast morning finally made way for a sunny day and messages calling for unity during a rally to protest the recent rise attacks and racism against Asians. The rally took place at the Colton Hall lawn and over 100 people gathered on the grass,…

Welcome to the Orange Tier, Monterey County. As restaurants, movie theaters and other entertainment venues make some adjustments and prepare for a big transition, here are few virtual and non-virtual events to put on you calendars.

Welcome to the Red Tier, Monterey County. So far it looks like we're staying put. As restaurants, movie theaters and other entertainment venues make some adjustments and prepare for a big transition, here are few virtual and non-virtual events and contests to put on you calendars.

National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's recital of her poem "The Hill We Climb" is having a ripple effect on the local level. It helped usher in Salinas' search for its very own youth poet laureate, and may have even inspired the competitors who participated in the Poetry Out Loud Compe…

Welcome to the Red Tier, Monterey County. As restaurants, movie theaters and other entertainment venues make some adjustments and prepare for a big transition, here are few virtual and non-virtual events and contests to put on you calendars. 

Though it is located in Carmel, the 100-plus year-old outdoor Forest Theater is an important stage, not only in the city but the surrounding communities as well. The theater company Pac Rep recruits local actors from all over the county, while all it's users, including the Forest Theater Gui…

Remember going out to the movies? That hasn't been a thing since March of 2020, but some theaters in Monterey County are reopening their doors today, March 19. 

There is a distant glimmer of normalcy in the arts and entertainment world, as restaurants open back up for outdoor dining and entertainment (and indoor dining at limited capacity, expected as early as Wednesday, March 17—just in time for St. Patrick's Day), performance venues and gallery ge…

Following National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's performance of "The Hill We Climb" on Inauguration day, there was a renewed sense of the power of poetry. The effects even rippled all the way to Salinas, where former city council candidate and community organizer Andrew Sandoval began …

The city of Soledad celebrates its centennial today, Tuesday, March 9 with some creative Covid-safe festivities. There’s a cake contest at 2pm (streamed live via Facebook), a community desert grab n’ go at 3pm, and at 5pm a car parade down Front Street, ending at City Hall, followed by firew…

"The house is art in itself," says Kim Stemler, a board member of the newly formed Emile Norman Arts Foundation. Stemler is aptly commenting on the recently purchased house of Emile Norman, the Big Sur artist known for his mosaics, sculptures and woodwork. And his house, located on Pfeiffer …

Since 2012, when Andrew Hurchalla was working at nonprofit Sunset Cultural Center or organizations that hosted events at the Sunset Center, like the Carmel Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA) or the Carmel Bach Festival, he believed he received more than just push back when advocating for his …

There is a distant glimmer of normalcy in the arts and entertainment world, as restaurants open back up for outdoor dining (and entertainment) and performance venues and gallery get creative in the virtual world. Here are a few events to look forward to in the near future.

Venues may have gone dark due to the pandemic, but like any Greek tragedy, the drama happens off stage. In 2017, Carmel handed over the running of the 100-plus year-old Forest Theater, a property the city owns, to Sunset Cultural Center Inc., the nonprofit which also runs the Sunset Center—t…

There is a distant glimmer of normalcy in the arts and entertainment world, as restaurants open back up for outdoor dining (and entertainment) and performance venues and gallery get creative in the virtual world. Here are a few events to look forward to in the near future.

Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, two CIA agents and former lovers are reunited years after a traumatic hostage situation in Vienna, Austria. Together, they mull over whether or not their agent had been compromised. This, in short, is the premise of American author Olen Steinhauer's spy fiction All …

Film classes are not usually a compulsory course in school, but that doesn't mean that there are a lack of aspiring local filmmakers out there. The Monterey County Film Commission is now accepting applications for the Richard Tyler Film Student Scholarship Award Program through April, 7, 2021. 

If there was one person that was going to innovate what a virtual event would look like, musician and innovator Philip Glass would be a great bet. And innovate he has. The 2021 Days and Nights Festival has yet to be scheduled but until then the team behind the festival has curated a series o…

The world of jazz just became a little quieter. On Feb. 9, the Armando Anthony Corea, better known as Chick Corea, passed away from a rare form of cancer that was diagnosed in its final stages. The announcement of his death was made on Corea's Instagram page on Thursday, Feb. 11.

Six schools were represented this Saturday in the countywide Poetry Out Loud Competition. Hosted by the Arts Council of Monterey, the competition welcomed  teenaged contestants from Alisal, Pacific Grove, Rancho San Juan, Soledad, Gonzales high schools and York School to the (virtual) stage …