• ART »
• MUSEUMS »
• HISTORICAL SITES »
• THEATER »
• MUSIC »
Salinas Art Walk
100-300 Blocks Main Street and Oldtown Salinas, Salinas
(831) 758-9126
Celebrate the art of the Salinas community the first Friday of every month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., when galleries and businesses display art and host receptions. The talents of local artists are showcased while arts and culture are promoted in Oldtown Salinas. Stroll through the historic downtown area and enjoy fine art, light refreshments, wine tasting, and live music.
• MUSEUMS
California Rodeo Heritage Museum
1034 N. Main Street, Salinas
(800) 771-8807, ext. 102
Yes, it really is pronounced, “ro-day-oh.” Celebrating the history of the California Rodeo, from it’s roots in Spain to the present day sporting event, this museum features a Wells Fargo stagecoach as well as vintage cowboy attire, Miss California Rodeo regalia, and interactive exhibits. Open during the California Rodeo Salinas, July 17-20, 2008 and by appointment.
Henry Miller Library
Highway One, Big Sur
(831) 667-2574
Not your conventional library. This place is the true reflection of a man who was an author, painter, and social activist. The library is a thriving center for the arts as well. Upon his death, Miller had his ashes scattered off the coast of Big Sur.
Monterey Maritime & History Museum
5 Custom House Plaza, Monterey
(831) 372-2608
This treasure trove of artifacts, photographs, relics and paintings encompasses the rich maritime history of the area. The 580 glass prisms of the behemoth Fresnel lens from the Point Sur Lightstation illuminate the museum and its exhibit areas. Open daily, except Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monterey Museum of Art
• 559 Pacific Street, Monterey
• 720 Via Mirada, Monterey
(831) 372-5477
The museum has two locations in Monterey’s oldest neighborhood, but the primary location is in an old adobe, which itself is worth seeing. Permanent collections contain works by Armin Hansen, William F. Ritschel, and Gottardo Piazonni, along with photographers Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. MMA’s Asian art collection is predominately modern in scope and includes textiles, woodblock prints, and ceramics. Its collection of Japanese netsuke (miniature sculptures from the Edo period) is impressive, as well as its of Chinese objects from the 17th through 20th centuries.
MY Museum
601 Wave Street, Monterey
(831) 649-6444
Monterey County Youth Museum is a place where children and adults play and learn together through hands-on activities. The Bubble Machine Exhibit is open and ready to unleash your “inner child.” Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 12 to 5 p.m., closed Wednesdays. Children must be supervised by an adult. MY Museum moves to a new facility on Washington Street in Monterey, May 2008.
The National Steinbeck Center
One Main Street, Salinas
(831) 796-3833
He was vilified in the Salinas community for writing East of Eden and the Grapes of Wrath, and predicted, “Only when I am in a pine box will I be safe.” This Nobel and Pulitzer winning authors’ life is exceptionally well chronicled at the John Steinbeck Exhibition Hall. Exhibits of manuscripts, letters, photographs, and memorabilia give a visitor a keen look into the author’s complicated life. Afterward, you’ll vow to dust off your copy of Cannery Row and give it another read. Located in the same building is the not-to-be-missed Valley of the World Agricultural History and Education Center. Located in Oldtown Salinas, it’s a scenic 17-mile drive from the Monterey Bay that will take you through the country Steinbeck lived in and wrote about.
Pacific Grove Museum
Corner of Forest and Central avenues, Pacific Grove
(831) 648-5716
Native plants, animals, geology, and aboriginal populations of Monterey County steal the show, but exhibits featuring California history also captivate. Temporary exhibits include the annual Wildflower Show. Information on Pacific Grove sites, such as Point Pinos Lighthouse and the Monarch Grove Sanctuary, is available. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Presidio of Monterey Museum
Corporal Ewing Road, Bldg. 113, Presidio of Monterey
(831) 646-3456
Trace Monterey’s military development from the indigenous period, highlighting the early native populations through the Spanish and Mexican periods and up to present day. Most of the museum is dedicated to the development of the Presidio as a vital military training base. Open Monday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.
Whalers Cabin Museum
Point Lobos State Reserve, Highway One, Big Sur
(831) 625-3672
Built by Chinese fishermen in the early 1850s, it of the oldest wood-frame structures of Chinese origin remaining in Monterey County. Now a museum, it displays artifacts, such as harpoons and whaling tools, along with antique photographs of whaling ships. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable docents will answer any questions during your self-guided tour. Just outside the cabin lie some bones of whales killed during that era. Note: Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities who need assistance should call the Point Lobos State Reserve at: (831) 624-4909.
(See article: "Creatures of the Deep")
• HISTORICAL SITES
Carmel Mission Basilica
3080 Rio Rd., Carmel
(831) 621-1271
Discover how life was in the days of the California Missions. Established in 1771, the mission features period artifacts, including church vestments. The first library in the state of California is within its walls. Take a self-guided tour of the museum and mission or call (831) 624-1271, ext. 213 for a docent-led tour schedule (tours are $7).
Colton Hall Museum
Pacific Street, Monterey
(831) 646-5640
Built in the 1840s, it has served as Monterey’s City Hall, a public school, the county court house, sheriff’s office, and police headquarters. Realizing its great historical importance to Monterey and to the state of California, the city of Monterey restored it in 1959.
Custom House Plaza
Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey
(831) 649-7119
This seven-acre Monterey State Historic Park shows the architectural history of California. Custom House is the oldest government building in California. Pacific House, Larkin House, Stevenson House, California’s First Theater, and the Cooper-Molera Adobe are open to visitors.
Robinson Jeffers’ Tor House and Hawk Tower
26304 Ocean View Avenue, Carmel
(831) 372-2608, (831) 624-1813
In 1914, when they first saw the beauty of the coast south of the Monterey Peninsula, poet Robinson Jeffers and his wife, Una, knew they had found their “inevitable place.” Over the next decade Jeffers built Tor House and Hawk Tower as a family home. Most of Jeffers’ writing was done here. Docent-led tours can be reserved on Fridays and Saturdays from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• THEATER
Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Fourth Avenue and Guadalupe Street, Carmel
(831) 624-7491
This intimate venue was established in 1949 to support experimental fine arts and sciences. Visiting exhibits, speakers, and an array of theater productions are timely and engaging, with an objective of casting light on contemporary aesthetic and intellectual issues.
Children’s Experimental Theater (CET) and Staff Players Repertory Company
The Indoor Forest Theater
Mountain View Avenue and Santa Rita Steet, Carmel
(831) 624-1531
Artistic director Marcia Gambrell Hovick founded CET in 1960 to encourage students in grades kindergarten through 12 to develop creative confidence through theater. Staff Players Repertory Company was founded in 1969 to provide financial support to CET. It is the oldest continually producing theater company in Carmel. Most on-site activities take place at the historical Indoor Forest Theatre in Carmel-by-the-Sea. This cozy 60-seat theater is perfect for presentation of great theater with a personal touch.
Forest Theater Guild
Mountain View Avenue and Santa Rita Steet, Carmel
(831) 626-1681
Mary Austin, author of The Arrowmaker, founded the guild in 1910. She, along with poet/dramatist Herbert Heron and author Michael Williams, shared a vision of an open-air theater where plays could be produced entirely by locals. To this day, local groups produce and perform plays throughout the summer at this beautiful site in the forest of pines and cypress, the oldest outdoor theater west of the Rockies. Come early, bring your own picnic dinner, and dress warmly.
Magic Circle Center for the Arts
8 El Caminito, Carmel Valley
(831) 659-1108
This performing arts center provides accessible, ongoing, high quality, live entertainment. It presents three comedies, two dramas, and a music concert series annually.
New Wharf Theatre
1 Wharf #2 (at the far end of the wharf), Monterey
(831) 649-2332
This 30-year-old small-venue theater, once dubbed by Greer Garson as “the best little theater in the country,” presents two family musicals each year.
Pacific Repertory Theatre
P.O. Box 222035
Monte Verde Street and Eighth Avenue, Carmel
(831) 622-0100
PacRep Theatre produces bold and daring interpretations of the great plays from the world stage — plays that engage, excite, and inspire. These dramatic productions are presented at locations around the peninsula, including the Golden Bough Playhouse and the Outdoor Forest Theater in Carmel.
Western Stage
156 Homestead Avenue, Salinas
(831) 375-2111, (831) 755-6816
Western Stage presents a season of plays and musicals, diverse community outreach, projects for youth and new works of literature. The productions are presented at the Main Stage and Studio Theatre at Hartnell College, the Cabaret in Oldtown Salinas, and The Sunset Cultural Center in Carmel.
• MUSIC
Carmel Music Society
Carmel
(831) 625-9938
This legendary group brings renowned artists such as Leontyne Price, Marilyn Horne, Pinchas Zukerman, Emanuel Axe, Itzhak Perlman, and Yo-Yo Ma to perform in Carmel at various venues.
Chamber Music Monterey Bay
Carmel
(831) 625-2212
Top chamber ensembles such as the Cleveland, Tokyo, and Juilliard string quartets perform in this series. Performances are at Carmel’s Sunset Cultural Center.
Monterey County Symphony
Carmel
(831) 624-8511
The season includes 18 subscription series concerts, chamber/ensemble concerts, recitals, and a free community concert. Performances held at Sunset Cultural Center in Carmel or Sherwood Hall, Salinas. Guest artists have included Christopher Parkening, Oxana Yablonskaya, and Wolfgang Basch.
