On April 15th, the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts collaborated with Tor House in side-by-side booths for the Monterey Museum of Art’s Inaugural Block Party. The event was a huge success, with over 3,000 people visiting and enjoying a day filled with music, art, poetry and dance.

The Cherry offered four manual typewriters to anyone wishing to sit down and write a poem or haiku, with accomplished poets and volunteers ready to help. Over the four hour event, typewriters never ceased clicking and dinging – mostly in use by kids who were fascinated by this old-fashioned technology! Three young poets who entered the Cherry Center’s Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards program shared their contest submissions on the main stage. Beautifully run, we congratulate the MMA for their wonderful event and look forward to participating again next year!

“Sisterhood” – Maddie Gill, York School

FIRST PLACE
Maddie Gill – “Sisterhood”
Instructor: Gerard Martin, York School

SECOND PLACE
Wanzhi Li -“Reverie”
Program Director: Marissa Serna, Youth Arts Collective

THIRD PLACE
Iris Walker Lee – “Shadows and Angles” 
Program Director: Marissa Serna, Youth Arts Collective

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Isaac Barnett – Untitled 
Instructor: Mandee Scorpiniti, Seaside High School

Lauro Borquez – “Pearls” 
Instructor: Martha Tonkin, Monterey High School

Ines Larrauri Robinson Bours – “ABCs” 
Instructor: Jaime Ball, Santa Catalina School

Ky Dahle – “Waiting” 
Instructor: Steven Russell Carmel High School

Sascha Horn – “Aria” 
Instructor: Martha Tonkin, Monterey High School

Lorenza Marquard – “Stag”
Instructor: Jaime Ball, Santa Catalina School

Savannah Totaan – “The Mask” 
Instructor: Nena Prakash, Chartwell School

A big thank you to all who donated to the Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards through Monterey County Gives! Your generous donations will help hundreds of area high school students participate in this year’s Poet-in-Schools program, led by Patrice Vecchione.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Cherry on Saturday, May 20th, at 2:00PM. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about the awards or the Poet-in-Schools program, please contact our office at (831) 624-7491.

Monterey County Gives! Donors 2022

Tracey and John Adams
Mary Aiu
Robert Armstrong
Laura Arnow
Arts Council for Monterey County
Kimm Barnes and Ryotaro Umegaki
Joan Beller
Cherry Center’s Board of Directors
Lorna Claerbout
Michael Clark
Edward Corpus

Dion and Judy Dow
Nancy Farrell and Kent Marshall
Jennifer and Oliver Fellguth
Hugo and Karen Ferlito
Alisa Fineman and Kimball Hurd
Darcie Fohrman and Donald Hughes
Barbara Furbush
Frances Gaver
Priscilla Gilbertson
Alice Ann Glenn
Anne Gosch and Joseph Braun
Marie Hardy and Sam Buttrey

Leni Hazlett and Tim Bresnahan
Mary Hill
Michael and Lorena Houston
Patricia Jacobs
Karin Strasser Kauffman
Marion Keyworth
Dennis King and Lee Ure
Susan Kingsley
Francyne Laney
Laela Leavy
David Ligare and Gary Smith

Marsha Lubow
Chris Mack
Cece McCoy
Nicki and Mick McMahan
Barbara Moore
Constance Murray and David Buckingham
Elizabeth Murray
Linda-Lee Myers
Roberta Myers
Janna L. Ottman
Melissa Pickford and John Kern

Mary Pommerich
Vivian Price and Susanne Davis
Susan Randall
Thomas Rebold
Martha Renault
Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts
Mary Ellen Ryan
Mary Ann Schicketanz
David Smiley and MaryAnn Vasconcellos
Richard Stanley

Dina Stansbury
Nicholas Sturch
Cath Tendler
Frederick Terman & Nan Borreson
Tim and Cammy Torgenrud
Patrice Vecchione and Michael Stark
Chris and Karen Wagner
Jan Wagstaff
Malcolm Weintraub
Rhonda Williams
Roberta Wright and Andrew Wright

The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the creation of a new challenge grant in support of its Bestow the Studio Capital Campaign. The project includes the restoration of the Cherry Center’s adjoining shed, a 430-square-foot building to provide a second venue for art studio space and secure an endowment to support future programming and operations.

Two anonymous donors have committed to match, dollar for dollar, every donation to Bestow the Studio up to a maximum of $20,000. The campaign goal is $60,000 and is expected to better serve the community, expand our programing space and provide an additional income stream for the center. The building’s first full renovation, the project will honor the structure’s history while improving its interior spaces and exterior envelope.

As part of an ongoing effort of building renovation, these critical updates and enhancements to our arts spaces reflect the Cherry Center’s deep commitment to the role of the arts on the Monterey Peninsula and beyond.

Please join us by making a contribution to the Cherry Center’s Bestow the Studio Capital Campaign Fund. Every gift made will help us revitalize the center and create a needed income source for the center. To donate via PayPal, use the button below. Checks made out to the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts can be mailed to P.O. Box 863, Carmel, California 93921.

We are excited for the future of the Carl Cherry Center, and we are grateful for your support. If you have any questions regarding the campaign, please contact the office at (831) 624-7491.