Square the Circle
2023-01-13 - 2023-02-18 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Closing Reception: Saturday, February 18th from 3:00 – 5:00p.m.
Square the Circle, an exhibit investigating geometric forms in art and photography, opens Friday, January 13th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. A closing reception for the artists will be held Saturday, February 18th from 3 to 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Curated by Martha Manson, the exhibition includes recent works by Kimm Barnes, Lucas Blok, Mary Buskirk, Annette Corcoran, Ed Corpus, Rick Deragon, Ellen Gust, Mary Hill, Don Hughes, Andrea Johnson, David Ligare, Richard Mayer, Karen Nagano, Joe Aki Ouye, Marcia Perry, Charles Strong , Jerry Takigawa, Pamela Takigawa, Sam Tchakalian, Nina Temple, Amy Thornberry, Irene Tuttle, Jan Wagstaff, Karen Warwick, Chris Winfield, and Robin Winfield.
“The idea of squaring the circle originated, apparently, in Euclidean geometry. It’s a math puzzle, and was also used to symbolize alchemy. It’s also used as a metaphor to indicate attempting an impossible task, and philosophically to see equally in four directions. As a phrase, it covers all the bases,” says Ms. Manson. “Some of the artists here refer directly to geometry in their imagery. Some do not. Regardless, the underlying geometric structure is there. Sculpture seems naturally to make geometric forms visible, sometimes, at least,” she says.
Organized to examine various styles and themes in art and geometry, the exhibit explores the relationship between abstraction and form, the effects of photography on landscapes, and the consideration of materiality in both mediums. The exhibit reflects the complex and ambiguous relationship between humans and math.
Square the Circle can be seen Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment through February 18nd, 2023.
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT
Pictured: “Tomb of Archimedes” – David Ligare

2023 Thinking Out Loud Regional Art Competition
2023-03-04 - 2023-03-25 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is proud to announce Thinking Out Loud 2023, a regional art competition that challenges high school students to create works inspired by their lives. Each year, students from across Monterey County are invited to display their artwork across a wide range of media for exhibition in our gallery.
Thinking Out Loud 2023 will open with a reception for the student artists on Saturday, March 4th from 2:00 – 4:00PM. The event is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment.

Established in 1948, the mission of the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is to enhance the quality and diversity of artistic, educational and cultural programs in Monterey County by encouraging public programs and interactions between artists and the community.
Thinking Out Loud is made possible, in part, through a grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County, and funds from the Hazen Family Foundation, Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary, Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation, Pebble Beach Company Foundation, and the Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store.
Pictured: “Música” – Francesca Postigo, Santa Catalina School
Winner of 2022 Thinking Out Loud Regional Art Competition

Lost and Found: Assemblage Artists of Northern California
2023-04-07 - 2023-05-06 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
“Lost and Found: Assemblage Artists of Northern California” features multiple works from eight of the finest assemblage artists working in California today: Robert Armstrong, Spencer Brewer, Dianne Hoﬀman, Sean O’Donnell, Ray Magsalay, Monty Monty, Nancy Sevier, and Esther Siegel.
From Redwood Valley to San Francisco to the Monterey Peninsula, these artists share a common goal: the desire to find and collect forgotten things, then spend an inordinate amount of time bringing harmony, humor, beauty, new meaning and purpose to these remnants of another era.Meet these time traveling visionaries at an artists’ reception on Friday, April 7th, from 5pm – 7pm at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel. The event is free and open to the public.
“Lost and Found” will run through May 6th, and can be seen during gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4:00 pm or by appointment. The Cherry Center is located on the northwest corner of Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel.
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT
Curator’s Statement:
A chance encounter last summer led Ellen and me into a walk-in cabinet of curiosities housed in a barn. It was filled from floor to ceiling with a cornucopia of piano parts, pipe organ pipes, violins, brass instruments, toys, rivets, bones, eggbeaters, vintage radios, antique electronics, masks, mannequins and much, much more, all neatly organized in bins and boxes on shelves and hanging from hooks on walls. On the floor, there were several workbenches with tools of the trade and just as many worktables, each with multiple sculptures in the process of becoming.
The art barn, home, horse ranch and surrounding folk art follies are the playground of Spencer Brewer and Esther Siegel, a couple of happily working, multi-hyphenate artists, who also (not coincidentally) produced and edited a newly released book, called “Lost and Found: Assemblage Artists of Northern California.”
I was so inspired by Spencer, Esther and the remarkable group of artists featured in their book, I asked Robert Reese if we could bring them to the Cherry, together with three of the most celebrated assemblage artists from the Monterey Peninsula.
The book, “Lost and Found: Assemblage Artists of Northern California,” will be available for purchase in the gallery. Link to the book and artists: https://lostandfound.art/
– Jim Dultz
Pictured: Robert Armstong

The Artists and their Statements:
Robert Armstrong (Carmel Valley) “My intention is to keep the work process and the materials simple, direct, and obvious so that ideas, energies, forms, and associations are exposed, stirred, shifted, and scrambled with a playful approach and a discursive edge.”
Spencer Brewer: (Redwood Valley) “Analogue relics from the 19th century were once envisioned and manufactured to last lifetimes, all made from the finest materials available. Utilizing these materials, I create sculptures that hopefully inspire viewers to think outside the box in their own creative worlds.”
Dianne Hoﬀman: (San Francisco) “I have a tendency to personify inanimate objects and feel genuine compassion for those that are damaged or discarded. I see potential in broken bits and find beauty in rust and erosion. The older an object, the more haunting and alluring its ghost.”
Sean O’Donnell: (San Francisco) “I have always been a tinkerer. My generation of boys grew up building tree forts, customizing our bicycles and demonstrating complete disregard for the assembly instructions needlessly included in our model car kits. My creative process is more about the tunnel than the light at the end of it.”
Monty Monty: (Graton) “I am fascinated with the earliest modes of transportation, gadgetry in all forms and just about everything else from the turn of the century. I admire antiques and things with age on them. These show up in my art, which I refer to as “Vintage Collectible Sculpture and Assemblage.”
Ray Magsalay: (Pacific Grove) “I spent much of my childhood alone, developing a strong connection to fantasy and magic. This shows up in the art I create. All time spent making art guarantees a feeling of peace within me, so I continue to make it.”
Nancy Sevier: (Salinas) “I bring together abandoned parts. Even in their brokenness, these objects hold meaning and conjure a desire for wholeness and harmony. I’m interested in exploring the object and its embedded cultural memory.”
Esther Siegel: (Redwood Valley) “Once I discovered I could “draw and paint” with objects, I was hooked. Just as I have always enjoyed putting together ingredients in the kitchen to bake and cook, I love the alchemy of creating interesting combinations of objects in the studio for their new and ‘perfect home.’”

Springtime with The Cherry Trio
2023-04-30 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Cherry Trio, Elizabeth Gaver (baroque violin), Penny Hanna (viola da gamba), and Michael Peterson (harpsichord) will be joined by guest artist Francis Toldi (dulcian) to perform Italian and Spanish music from the seventeenth century – trio sonatas by Dario Castello, Giovani Batista Fontana and Bartolomeo de Selma, arrangements of the French song Doulce Memoire, and a harpsichord solo of Frescobaldi.
Francis Toldi
The dulcian is a double reed woodwind instrument from the Renaissance and predecessor of the modern bassoon. It is a versatile instrument – played quietly, it has a sweet, vocal sound suitable for chamber music, but it can play loudly and join the consort of outside instruments. The concert program includes three trio sonatas with melodic parts for both violin and dulcian. Bartolomeo de Selma was himself a virtuoso performer on the early bassoon.
The Cherry Trio has performed at the Cherry Center annually for over ten years to welcome the New Year. We are happy to be performing our first spring concert at the Cherry Center!
Sunday, April 30th at 3:00PM. Tickets are $25, available on eventbrite.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.

Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards 2023
2023-05-20 14:00 - 16:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards 2023. The program was designed to recognize and promote excellence in high school poets and develop an interest in creative expression through the written word. A reading and ceremony honoring this year’s award-winning student poets will be held 2:00pm on Saturday, May 20th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel.
The program (formerly the Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards) was renamed this year to honor Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts, who provided inspiration and writing instruction to thousands of area high school students.
Cherry Center Poet-in-Schools:
Patrice Vecchione
Our teaching poet this year is Patrice Vecchione, the author of two collections of poetry and three nonfiction books, most recently My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth. Patrice has taught poetry in local schools and elsewhere for many years. patricevecchione.com.
Sponsors:
The Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards are held each year in conjunction with Thinking Out Loud, the Cherry Center’s annual high school art exhibition. Both programs are made possible through funding from:
Arts Council for Monterey County
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Monterey Peninsula Foundation
Monterey Public Library Foundation
Carmel Woman’s Club
Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary
Community Foundation for Monterey County
Gibson Family Foundation
Hazen Family Foundation
Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation
Pebble Beach Company Foundation
Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store

Putin's War
2023-05-26 - 2023-06-24 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
“Putin’s War,” a new exhibit of paintings by Waldek Dynerman exploring the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, opens Friday, May 26th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. A reception for the artist will be held Friday, May 26th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
VISIT ONLINE CATALOGUE
Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air on Feb. 24, 2022, the largest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called its actions “a special military operation,” while Ukraine and the West call the attack a malicious land grab.
Against the backdrop of the successive incursions mounted by Russian forces into Ukrainian state territory since 2014, the works presented in the exhibition – all of which were created within the past fifteen months – provide an evocative, emotional reflection of the drastically transformed life and turbulent spiritual landscape of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT
About the Artist:
Born in Warsaw six years after WWII ended, Mr. Dynerman grew up absorbing the traumatic stories of his parents and developing great empathy for victims of war; conflicts has become one of the stalwarts of his work.
“When making art, these thoughts and feeling are always present, and may be expressed through brutal treatment of materials, fragmentation of the human form, or obfuscation of meaning.” Putin’s unprovoked aggression and the brutality of the Ukrainian war has triggered flashbacks to the many WWII stories he heard as a child” he says.
Mr. Dynerman has exhibited in dozens of group and one-person shows throughout the U.S. and Europe, including exhibitions at the Hawthorn Contemporary in Milwaukee, WI, the Fata Morgana project space, Berlin, Germany, and the Apteka Sztuki Gallery, Wasaw, Poland.
The exhibit can be seen Wednesdays through Saturdays, 12 noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment through June 24th. The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is located on the northwest corner of Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel.
Image: “New World Order” – Waldek Dynerman

"Shared Visions: The Cherry at Seventy-Five" Art Exhibition
2023-07-14 - 2023-09-23 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
This summer, the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts illuminates the connection between the artwork and poetry of Jeanne D’Orge (Mrs. Carl Cherry) and contemporary local artists and poets in celebration of the center’s seventy-fifth year.
Opening Friday, July 14th, Shared Visions: The Cherry Center at Seventy-Five will include paintings, drawings and sculpture by ten area artists displayed alongside select works by Jeanne D’Orge from the Cherry Center’s private collection. Participating artists include Tracey Adams, Robert Armstrong, Rob Barnard, Jennifer Brook-Kothlow, Jamie Dagdigian, Judith Foosaner, Susan Hyde Greene, Ken Hale, Margaret Rinkovsky, and the Temple Sisters. An artists’ reception will be held Friday, July 14th, from 5-7pm. The event is free and open to the public.
Artists featured in this exhibition have created works that reinterpret and remix elements, themes and the palette of Jeanne D’Orge, and highlight ways art inspires across time. Their works speak to the expanding diversity of the stories we want to tell, and illustrate how today’s artists continue to find inspiration in the methods and pictorial traditions from the Cherry Center’s rich history.
The exhibit will close Saturday, September 23rd.

Shared Visions: The Cherry at Seventy-Five Poetry Reading
A poetry reading will be held at the Cherry Center on Friday, July 28th, at 7pm. Poets Jennifer Lagier, George Lober, Anne Mitchell, and Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts will read selections of their poetry alongside the writing of Mrs. Cherry; each offering insight into the other. Reservations required. Tickets are by donation, available on eventbrite.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. The Cherry Center is located on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and Guadalupe Street, Carmel.
Pictured, left: Untitled – Jeanne D’Orge
Pictured, right: “A Spider in the House” – Tracey Adams

About the Artists:
Jeanne D’Orge took up painting at the age of fifty-four at the urging of her husband, Carl Cherry. Although her paintings were recognized in her lifetime for their forcefulness and spirit — with exhibits at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Park Avenue Galley in New York City, and De Young Museum in San Francisco — D’Orge insisted her paintings never be sold, saying, “I’m just a paintbrush for God.”
Tracey Adams has been an exhibiting artist for over 35 years. She has participated in over 175 solo and group exhibitions in the United States and internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Monterey Museum of Art, Fresno Art Museum and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. Adams’ paintings are included in the permanent collections of the Bakersfield Museum of Art, Crocker Museum, Hunterdon Art Museum, Monterey Museum of Art, Fresno Art Museum, Tucson Art Museum and Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
Robert Armstrong grew up in Salinas, California, and attended UC Berkeley as an art major. A mechanical technician by trade, he worked for a geophysical company, a survey group and on a photon accelerator. Armstrong’s interest in geology, physics and engineering informs his art. His exhibitions tend to be large, unique installations, with interesting titles, humor and irony.
Rob Barnard was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1949. He began studying pottery at the University of Kentucky in 1971 after serving in Vietnam with the United States Marine Corps. In 1974 he was admitted to the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen and accepted as a research student at Kyoto University of Fine Arts in Kyoto, Japan where he studied under the late Kazuo Yagi. He has returned to Japan numerous times since 1978 for solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. Besides Japan, Barnard exhibits widely both in the United States and Great Britain.
Jennifer Brook-Kothlow was born and raised in San Francisco. Her training began in the early 1960’s as an undergraduate art major at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and continued with studies in ceramics under Betty Woodman, as well as extension courses at the San Francisco Art Institute under Frank Lobdell. She has dedicated her life to art practice and has continued to produce paintings and mono-prints influenced by the Abstract Expressionist style for the past fifty years.
Jamie Dagdigian is an artist and designer currently living and working on the Monterey Peninsula. He is an instructor and the Art Department Chairman at Monterey Peninsula College and has been creating mixed-media work while teaching both art and design.
Judith Foosaner is a mixed-media artist who incorporates elements of collage and free-hand sketches into her large-scale acrylic works on canvas–dramatic, gestural black and white works where linear elements suggest letters from some unknown alphabet, poetry written in a language we can’t quite translate.
Susan Hyde Greene is an award-winning fine art photographer. She cuts her images apart then stitches them back together in a reflection of relationships and humanity. Susan is an avid traveler whose artwork is created from images around the world.
Kenneth J. Hale (born 1948) received a BA in 1971 from California State University at Long Beach and a MFA from the University of Illinois (Urbana) in 1973. After graduation he moved to Austin, Texas to teach at the University of Texas in the Department of Art and Art History. In addition to the AP/RC, his paintings, prints, and drawings are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY), The National Museum of American Art (Washington, DC), the Achenbach Foundation (San Francisco), the McNay Art Museum (San Antonio, TX), the Chicago Art Institute (IL), the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MA) and the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth (TX).
Susan Hyde Greene is an award-winning fine art photographer. She cuts her images apart to then stitch them back together in a reflection of relationships and humanity. An avid traveler, her artwork is created from images from all over the world. Greene received her BFA in textiles, photography, and art history from the University of Hawaii, Manoa and her MFA from the University of Utah. Her work is in several public and private collections, including Adobe Systems.
Margaret Rinkovsky is a painter currently living in Santa Cruz, California. She received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree from UCLA. She also holds a Masters of Arts degree in Printmaking and a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting, also from UCLA. Ms. Rinkovsky is the recipient of the prestigious SECA Award from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, was a nominee to the American Academy of Arts in New York, and received the Distinguished Artist Award from the Santa Cruz Art League.
The Temple Sisters – Holly and Ashlee Temple – work in mixed media to generate works on paper, canvas and create small assemblages. Each work they devise is meant to engage the viewer in questions about the temporal and fluid nature of image, memory, and the cultural language of expression.

The Spirit is Alive at 75!
2023-09-02 15:00 - 18:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts celebrates seventy-five years of bringing art, music, literature and drama to the Monterey Peninsula on Saturday, September 2nd, from 3-6 pm.

The Carl Cherry Center, originally called the Carl Cherry Foundation, was established in 1948 by Jeanne D’Orge (Mrs. Carl Cherry), to provide arts programing to the Monterey Peninsula and as a testament to the potential of arts in community.
“Our seventy-fifth anniversary provides a chance to reflect on the numerous ways the art center’s exhibitions, classes, events, and school programs have made an impact on thousands of people in our community,” said Robert Reese, the Cherry Center’s executive director. “This landmark anniversary also provides a chance for us to look forward to our future as we continue to provide significant and meaningful arts programs to the community, working towards our vision to make art an essential part of Monterey County.”

Wine and light fare start off the event, with special entertainment that includes a reading by award-winning writer Jane Smiley, Dylan and Dylan preview, and prose and poetry reading by Patrice Vecchione. The celebration will also include performances by several music groups, and a silent auction. “Shared Visions,” a far-reaching exhibition showcasing artists with an affiliation to the artwork of Jeanne D’Orge, will also be on display.Tickets for the event are $65, available on Eventbrite.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. The Cherry is located on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and Guadalupe, Carmel.
About Us:
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is your place to discover art. Established in 1948 by Mrs. Carl Cherry in her husband’s name, the center provides an accessible and welcoming place to engage with art. We serve approximately 10,000 people every year through a diverse range of programs. The Carl Cherry Center is funded, in part, through grants from the Arts Council for Monterey County, the Community Foundation for the Monterey County, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the Mitchell Foundation, and private donations.

Special Guests:
Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and the Last Hundred Years Trilogy: Some Luck, Early Warning, and Golden Age. She is the author as well of several works of nonfiction and books for young adults.

The Monterey Peninsula’s celebrated bard and biographical dramatist Taelen Thomas collaborates with artists Steve Mortensen, Laura Burian, and Dixie Dixon for a beguiling excursion into the lives, minds and works of two passionate and unpredictable literary geniuses who share a name: Dylan Thomas and Bob Dylan.

For many years, Patrice Vecchione has taught poetry and creative writing to young people through her program, The Heart of the Word: Poetry and the Imagination. She is currently Poet-In-Schools for the Cherry Center’s high school poetry program, and judge of the Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards.

Monterey County Artists Studio Tour
2023-09-30 - 2023-10-08 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts will host 12 artists participating in this year’s Artists Studio Tour. Tour hours will be 11:00am to 5 :00pm on Saturday, September 30 and Saturday, October 7th, 12:00pm – 5:00pm Sunday, October 1st and 8th. The event is free and open to the public.
Artists Showing at The Cherry
September 30 & October 1:
Micheal Armstrong- Impressionist landscape painting Linda Elling- Oil painting
Alan Estrada- Mixed media painting
Katie Mackin- Plein air watercolor
Holly Rose- Fine art lampshades
Jean Vengua- Drawing, painting & collage
Artists Showing October 7 & 8:
Celine Picus- Acrylic & oil paintings
Shaelah Perales- Fine art
Willamina Strupat- Fine art paintings
Gloria Shaw- Fine art monoprints
Kate Warthen- Oil & watercolor paintings
Christine Watten- Painting, multimedia & ceramics Elizabeth A Wrightman- Acrylic, collage & mixed media
Pictured: Mission Basilica – Micheal Armstrong

Toward Abstraction: Paintings by Anne Marchand and Lesley Anne Spowart
2023-10-20 - 2023-11-25 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Toward Abstraction: Paintings by Anne Marchand and Lesley Anne Spowart opens Friday, October 20th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. A reception for the artists will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The exhibition features individual works by Anne Marchand and Lesley Anne Spowart, reflecting their interests in figuration and abstraction and serial processes across a range of media. The exhibit explores issues related to isolation, creative adaptation, novel ways to connect and a vision for the future. Taken together, these paintings straddle the line between representation and abstraction, revealing how ordinary objects often serve as a point of departure for an artist’s abstract vision, or, alternatively, how an artist’s abstract forms may subtly suggest recognizable elements.
The exhibit will run through Saturday, November 25th. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4:00 p.m.
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT

About the Artists:
Lesley Anne Spowart was born and raised in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, receiving her B.A. in Art History in 1979. During her time there, she assisted in installing the work of Richard Fleishner, Sol Lewitt and Larry Bell. Relocating to Davis, Ca., shortly thereafter, she began her graduate studies in Art History at UC Davis, continuing graduate work at UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton, where she went on to install works by Beatrice Wood, Viola Frey and John Buck. Her education in Art History, Exhibition Design and Museum Studies has strongly motivated her to create and display her own work.
Lesley has shown her work in galleries on the Monterey Peninsula in solo and group shows. Among these are Gallery Mar, Carmel; American Art Gallery, Carmel; Marjorie Evans Gallery, Carmel. Her work is found in corporate and private collections both here and abroad.
Anne Marchand was born in New Orleans. She majored in art at Auburn University, graduating with a BA, and then earned an MFA from the University of Georgia. Her early artistic focus was the figure, and she was especially drawn to the work of Francis Bacon for his expressive paintings of the human body. Marchand’s other early influences include 20th century modernist painters, the Abstract Expressionists, and the work of Carl Jung, with his reflections on dream imagery and psychological states. She credits her upbringing in New Orleans for her sensitivity to, “a sense of awe at the power and majesty of nature.”
In 2005, Marchand’s Ellipsis paintings, with their arcing lines and vivid color, expressed her desire to create “cosmoscapes”, inspired by deep space. Mystical themes came to the fore in the paintings, stimulated by readings by Garcia Lorca, Kandinsky, and Rumi. Travel to India brought a range of new color palettes and fabrics that she incorporated into her work.
Beginning in 2010, Marchand began experimenting in paintings with acrylic mediums and interference and pearlescent pigments. With these materials, qualities of radiance and light became active metaphors reflecting an inner state of being. Images of planets from the Hubble telescope inspired the painter to introduce circular imagery into her work. The nebulas and galaxies suggested biological structures, and Marchand realized the connection between space and the body as manifestations
Pictured: “Blue Squared” – Lesley Anne Spowart

Make Merry at The Cherry Art Sale
2023-12-08 16:00 - 2023-12-16 16:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Make Merry at The Cherry, our annual pop-up art sale, is open now through Saturday, December 16th, during gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4pm or by appointment.
Proceeds will support the Cherry’s ongoing contribution to the arts community of Monterey County. For more information about this event, please call (831) 624-7491.
Image, top: Untitled – Peter Hiller

The Cherry Trio and Friends
2024-01-01 15:00 - 16:30 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
PERFORMANCE SOLD OUT
The Cherry Trio — Elizabeth Gaver (baroque violin), Penny Hanna (viola da gamba) and Michael Peterson (harpsichord) — return to The Cherry for their annual New Year’s performance on Monday, January 1st, at 3:00pm. Tickets are $30, available on eventbrite.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
The trio, with David Wilson (baroque violin) and Francis Toldi (dulcian), will perform Italian and English music from the seventeenth century – sonatas by Dario Castello, Giovani Batista Fontana and Antonio Bertali, a canzona by Girolamo Frescobaldi, harpsichord solos, and descriptive pieces for viola da gamba by Tobias Hume.
Francis Toldi – Dulcian

David Wilson – Baroque Violin
The dulcian is a double reed woodwind instrument from the Renaissance and predecessor of the modern bassoon. It is a versatile instrument – played quietly, it has a sweet, vocal sound suitable for chamber music, but it can play loudly and join the consort of outside instruments. The concert program includes three trio sonatas with melodic parts for two violins and dulcian.
Please join us after the concert for a reception.

Frame of Mind - Photographs by The ImageMakers
2024-01-12 17:00 - 2024-02-17 16:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
“Frame of Mind,” an exhibit of photographs by the ImageMakers, will open with a reception on Friday, January 12th, from 5-7 pm. The event is free and open to the public. A second opportunity to meet the ImageMakers will be held Saturday, January 27th, from 2-4pm. The exhibit will run in the gallery through Saturday, February 17th. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4pm or by appointment.
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT
“A Moment in Time” – David J. Gubernick
Participating Artists:
Debra Achen , Mary Aiu, James Atherton, Richard Cannon, Ginger Chih, David Clarkson, Matt Connors, Rita Costa-Hollmann, Annelies de Kater, Dixie M. Dixon, Eduardo Fujii, David J. Gubernick, Tom Hierl, Oliver Klink, Gary Lopez, Craig Lovell, Jeanne Marino, James Mickelson, Carolyn Moore, Rick Murai, Robert Nielsen, Kevin Osborn, Mark Overgaard, Peter Paluzzi, Kenneth Parker, Maria Prince, Robin Robinson, Bob Sadler, Dennis Segers, Jacqui Turner, Greg Weeks, Gary Wilson, Steve Zmak
“Dance of The Lusitano” – Mary Aiu
About The ImageMakers:
The ImageMakers, formed in 1996, is a local group of professional and serious amateur photographers, brought together monthly for the past 26 years by our love and passion for photography, and a willingness to share and explore new directions and perspectives. The founders created a venue where they could exchange ideas about the rapidly evolving world of contemporary photography, as well as review and discuss new work in progress by their fellow artists. ImageMakers meets monthly to share work, accepting and encouraging all approaches to producing fine-art photographs. The goal of the ImageMakers is to ensure that photography, as a vital art form, will continue and thrive on the Monterey Peninsula.
We are a diverse group with varied interests ranging from, but not limited to, traditional black-and-white photography and printmaking, infrared, alternative processes and multimedia, hand-colored digital prints, and digital imaging. We value our diversity and support each other’s growth as photographers, through our monthly meetings, mini-workshops, tutorials, and group shoots.
ImageMakers currently consists of 66 members representing the best of the West Coast and the Monterey Peninsula’s tradition of photography, as well as new and alternate approaches to image making. Many of our members have had individual exhibitions in various galleries, museums, and art centers, and have their work in numerous national and international private and public collections. At least ten members have had one or more books published of their photography, fifteen members teach photography classes and workshops, and many have had their work published in various venues. As a group, we have had exhibits in and around Monterey County including the Center for Photographic Art, Carmel; Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel; Harvey Milk Photo Center, Carmel; Maritime Museum, Monterey; Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove; Alvarado Gallery, Monterey; Spectrum Gallery in Fresno.

Pictured: “Cruising” – Bob Sadler

2024 Thinking Out Loud Regional Art Competition
2024-03-02 - 2024-03-30 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is proud to announce Thinking Out Loud 2024, a regional art competition that challenges high school students to create works inspired by their lives. Each year, students from across Monterey County are invited to display their artwork across a wide range of media for exhibition in our gallery.
VIEW WINNING ENTRIES
Thinking Out Loud will open with a reception for the student artists on Saturday, March 2nd from 2:00 – 4:00PM. The event is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment. The exhibit will close Saturday, March 30th.

Established in 1948, the mission of the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is to enhance the quality and diversity of artistic, educational and cultural programs in Monterey County by encouraging public programs and interactions between artists and the community.
Thinking Out Loud is made possible, in part, through a grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County, Monterey County Board of Supervisors, and funds from:
Carmel Woman’s Club
Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary
Community Foundation for Monterey County
Gibson Family Foundation
Monterey Peninsula Foundation
Pebble Beach Company Foundation
Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store

Pictured: “Self Portrait” – Kayla Green, Monterey High School
Thinking Out Loud Regional Art Competition 2024

RE/Aligned: A Visual Journey in Collage
2024-04-12 17:00 - 2024-05-11 17:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
RE/Aligned, an exhibition of collage spanning a range of themes and media, opens Friday, April 12th at the Cherry Center with a reception for the artists from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Artists in this multi-media exhibit include: Tracey Adams, Lisa Hochstein, Claire Lerner, Will Marino, Julia Nelson-Gal, Catie O’Leary and Robynn Smith.
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT
Bridging a range of materials and mediums, the breadth of the Cherry exhibition documents how collage’s use of bits and pieces of applied materials is unique in its ability to capture physical moments of time and place. The exhibit includes the created or found materials of the Central Coast of California, its colors, forms and ephemera. Collage has the ability to bring a tactile, physical experience of human history into the presence of the viewer. As an artistic tool, this wide-ranging medium mixes high and popular references and offers a vibrant, innovative connection to cultural context.
The exhibit can be seen Wednesday through Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m., or by appointment through May 11th. The Carl Cherry Center is located at the corner of 4th and Guadalupe, Carmel.
Pictured: “Gone Fishing” – Julia Nelson-Gal

Writing to Discover Inner Strength
2024-04-21 13:00 - 15:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Writing to Discover Inner Strength
with Nina Solomita, MFA
The act of writing leads to discovery. Many people are not fully aware of their thoughts until they write them down. This class continues our exploration of the imagination as our greatest ally connecting us both to our deepest selves and to others. In these challenging times, it’s easy to lose track of this powerful companion and to become subject to outward distractions that sap our strength.
The writing exercises are designed to encourage a reconnection with your source of power in a gentle, relaxed, even playful way. Allow yourself the time to reach inward toward your own hidden resources and invite the imagination to speak, surprise you, and reveal its treasures.
All are welcome, although class is limited in size. If interested, please email Nina as soon as possible at ninasolomita@gmail.com.
Date: Sunday, April 21, 2024
Time: 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Place: Carl Cherry Center, 4th and Guadalupe, 4th Ave, Carmel-By-The-Sea
Fee: $40.00 (If fee is a hardship, discounts available. Inquire in email.)
Nina Solomita, MFA is a writer, editor, and coach. She has assisted writers in a variety of
projects for over 25 years. For more information, go to ninasolomita.com.

Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards 2024
2024-05-18 14:00 - 16:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards 2024. The program was designed to recognize and promote excellence in high school poets and develop an interest in creative expression through the written word.
A reading and ceremony honoring this year’s award-winning student poets will be held 2:00pm on Saturday, May 18th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel.
The program (formerly the Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards) was renamed last year to honor Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts, who provided inspiration and writing instruction to thousands of area high school students.
Cherry Center Poet-in-Schools:
Patrice Vecchione
Our teaching poet this year is Patrice Vecchione, the author of two collections of poetry and three nonfiction books, most recently My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth. Patrice has taught poetry in local schools and elsewhere for many years. patricevecchione.com.
Sponsors:
The Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Monterey County High School Poetry Awards are held each year in conjunction with Thinking Out Loud, the Cherry Center’s annual high school art exhibition. Both programs are made possible through funding from:
Arts Council for Monterey County
Carmel Woman’s Club
Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary
Community Foundation for Monterey County
Friends of Patrice Vecchione
Gibson Family Foundation
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Monterey Peninsula Foundation
Pebble Beach Company Foundation
Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store

Reimagined Realism
2024-05-24 - 2024-06-22 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Reimagined Realism, an exhibition exploring three unexpected approaches to defining contemporary realism, opens Friday, May 24th with a reception from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public. Artists’ Walk-through, free and open to the public, will be held Saturday, June 8th, 2:00-4:00 pm.
Curated by Darcie Fohrman, the three distinct artistic perspectives utilize fine art’s established traditions to fissure and reconstitute social narratives. The individual artists adapt and layer popular subject matter into contemporary social narratives that both celebrate and critique our assumptions about natural forces and cultural environments. The integration of past and present, the inclusion of extraordinary objects and the juxtaposition of unlike elements, are just a few of the ways the three Monterey County painters conjure the mysteriousness of everyday reality. Often using exquisite detail and unusual perspective, the artists convey the wonder of observable reality.
The exhibit can be seen Monday through Friday, from noon to 4 pm. or by appointment through June 22nd.
Exhibition sponsored by Chris and Robin Sawyer
About the Artists:
Kirstine Reiner Hansen’s work focuses on the growing dysconnectivity in contemporary life. She describes it as follows: “The ceaseless barrage of stimuli and our struggle to process life lived between tangible and digital worlds is undermining our sense of self. The fragmented universe of figures and spaces featured in my paintings is a contemplation on this conundrum.”
Don Hughes’ work incorporates narratives about our dystopian world also being helplessly ironic and humorous. Our politics, climate, religion, morality and anything remotely sexual have been fertile ground for the social commentary, symbolism, and humor of his two- and three-dimensional artworks.
Chris Leib continues his “examination of our precarious evolving pathway, which started long ago, through an ever-growing cast of wise, tolerant Bonobos and rambunctious astronaut children.” While seemingly whimsical, his paintings are laden with hidden meaning and explore themes of heroism, Western folklore, and the schism of instinct and control.

Many Colored Silken Threads: Jeanne D’Orge and Friends
2024-07-12 - 2024-08-17 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Many Colored Silken Threads, an exhibit exploring the artwork of Jeanne D’Orge with contemporary artists and photographers, opens Friday, July 12th, with an artists’ reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The photographers and artists featured in this exhibition have created works that reinterpret and remix elements, themes and the palette of Jeanne D’Orge (Mrs, Carl Cherry), emphasizing the many ways art inspires across time. Their works speak to the expanding diversity of the stories we want to tell and illustrate how today’s artists continue to find inspiration in the methods and pictorial traditions from the Cherry Center’s rich history.
The exhibit will include photographs, paintings, drawings and sculpture by ten area artists displayed alongside select works by Jeanne D’Orge from the Cherry Center’s private collection. Participating artists include Robert Armstrong, Rob Barnard, Jennifer Brook-Kothlow, Tom Davies, Judith Foosaner, Ruth Mayerson Gilbert, William Giles, Richard Murai, Kenneth Parker and Robertson Parkman.
Many Colored Silken Threads can be seen Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment through August 17th.
Pictured, left: “Buddha of Compassion,, Angkor Thom, Cambodia”- Richard Murai
Pictured, right: Untitled – Jeanne D’Orge

Reigning Cats and Dogs - Accepting Submissions Through July 15, 2024
2024-07-15 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Reigning Cats and Dogs is a love-of-life, all medium juried exhibition of original and unique 2D and 3D artworks celebrating dogs and cats! Work must include either a dog or cat to be considered. Works can comprise other subject matters, but the principal theme should be dogs or cats — or both. All artwork styles and mediums are welcome. Photography will not be included in the exhibit.
The $40 entry fee covers up to three submissions. Artwork submitted does not guarantee inclusion in the exhibit. Reigning Cats and Dogs will be included in this year’s Arts Council for Monterey County’s Open Studios Art Tour on October 12 and 13.
Read full prospectus here.
For complete rules and to submit artwork, visit ShowSubmit.com.
Important Dates:
Call Dates: April 7 – July 15, 2024
Jury Period: July 16 – July 31, 2024
Notification by: August 7, 2024
Exhibition Dates: September 6 – October 13, 2024
Reception: September 6, 5 – 7 p.m.

Pictured: “Jungle Boogie” – Lesley Anne Spowart

Cherry Jam in the Garden
2024-07-21 15:00 - 18:00 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Join us Sunday, July 21st, from 3-6pm as we honor neighbors Denny and Nance Hoeft, who have worked tirelessly to transform the Cherry grounds. The event will feature live music by Bob Phillips and Friends, wine poured by Scheid Vineyards, beer, light fare, and good friendship. Tickets are $50, available on Eventbrite.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. All proceeds will go toward the Cherry Center’s general fund.

Reigning Cats and Dogs Juried Exhibit
2024-09-06 - 2024-10-13 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Reigning Cats and Dogs is a love-of-life, all medium juried exhibition of 50 original and unique 2D and 3D artworks celebrating dogs and cats. Congratulations to the following award winners:
First Place: “Aria’s Gaze” – Chiachen Wang (pictured above)
Second Place:”Basking” – Roberto Zavala
Third Place: “Olive Side Eye”- Anna Chambers
Honorable Mention: “Come On…Throw the Ball!” – Erlinda Montano-Hiscock|
Honorable Mention: “The Ratter” – Stephanie Langley
Honorable Mention: “Hare of the dog with a dane chaser…” – Will Bullas
Honorable Mention: “A Dog for All Seasons” – Kenneth W. Newman
Honorable Mention: “Modern Bastet with Ancient Cell Phone Necklace and Earbuds” – Polly Osborne

VIEW ONLINE EXHIBIT

Learn the Healing Art of Japanese Reiki
2024-09-25 - 2024-10-16 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
In this course, you will learn and be attuned to level one of Usui Shiki Ryôhô which focuses on self care as well as healing for friends and family. You will leave the course having a concrete understanding of the application of the Reiki healing system to begin your practice. This course is over four Wednesday evenings.Benefits of reiki practice include: Relief from anxiety and stress, enhanced sleep facilitated healing of physical and emotional issues heightened awareness and presence, increased focus and clarity, grounding and expanded creativity.
LEARN THE HEALING ART OF JAPANESE REIKI
SHODEN LEVEL ONE | $425
WEDNESDAYS | 6–9 PM
OCTOBER 2 | OCTOBER 9 | OCTOBER 16 | OCTOBER 23
Reserve your spot visit emptyspacereiki.com or
email info@emptyspacereiki.com

2024 Open Studios Art Tour
2024-10-12 - 2024-10-20 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts will again participate in the Open Studios Art Tour. The Arts Council for Monterey County (Arts4MC) will be taking over the tour previously run by Arts Habitat. For more information about the event, please follow this LINK.
Week One: October 12th & 13th – “Reigning Cats and Dogs” exhibit featuring 50 works from across the nation. Artwork available for purchase. Hours: Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm
Week Two: October 19th & 20th – Open house featuring works by Ruth Carroll, Linda Elling, Suzanne Elliot, Guna Hebbar, Katie Mackin, and Willamina Strupat. All artwork available for purchase. Hours: Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm.

Salon Jane Celebrates Ten Years: Photography Reimagined
2024-11-01 - 2024-11-30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Salon Jane is honored to present its ten-year celebration exhibit at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, an important part of Carmel’s artistic history and culture, set in a vital region of photography. The exhibit opens Friday, November 1st, with a reception from 5-7pm. In addition, a walk through with the artists will be offered from 2-3pm on Saturday, November 9th.
The exhibit and events are free and open to the public.
Salon Jane is a six-member artist collective formed in Monterey, California, in 2014. The photographer members are Martha Casanave, Susan Hyde Greene, Jane Olin, Anna Rheim, Robin V. Robinson, and Robin Ward.
Over the past 10 years, the members of Salon Jane have created an intimate bond, facilitating a safe and inspiring environment for their artistic risk-taking and creative evolution. At their regular meetings, they share feedback about their work through hours of in-depth discussion and hold space for art-related life challenges.
The Monterey Peninsula has a long tradition of straight photography set forth by Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and others. However, the artists of Salon Jane inhabit an island of innovation that pushes against these strict boundaries. Each member artist nods to photography but expands on it in diverse and unexpected ways.
From aerial to underwater, abstract to representational, digital to darkroom, wall art to books, the work produced by these artists is wide ranging. In content and process, each artist’s work transcends the ordinary and taps into mystery. While they have evolved beyond formal straight photography, the members are equally concerned with artistic and photographic excellence and are grounded in historical processes. salonjane.com
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT
Pictured: Salon Jane by Martha Casanave

Make Merry at The Cherry Holiday Open House
2024-12-13 16:00 - 18:30 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts invites you to our annual art fundraiser and holiday celebration, Make Merry at the Cherry, on Friday, December 13th, from 4:00-6:30pm. Catch the holiday spirit as you mix and mingle with friends old and new. The event will feature reasonably-priced art by noted local artists, raffle prizes that include a large collection of fine wines, gift certificates to local restaurants, and other seasonal goodies.
Artists participating in this year’s fundraiser include Pam Carroll, Carol Chapman, Jim Dultz, Mary Liz Houseman, Barbara Johnson, Andrea Johnson, Ken Parker, Kris Swanson, Jan Wagstaff, Robin Winfield, Rodney Winfield, and many more. Following the open house, art will be for sale through Saturday, December 21st, during gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday from noon until 4:00pm or by appointment.
Proceeds will support The Cherry’s ongoing contribution to the arts community of Monterey County. The event is free and open to the public. Wine donated by Scheid Vineyards. For more information, please call (831) 624-7491.
Pictured: “Bowl of Persimmons and Squash” – Pam Carroll

The Cherry Trio Plus One
2025-01-01 15:00 - 16:30 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Join The Cherry Trio — Elizabeth Gaver (baroque violin), Penny Hanna (viola da gamba), Michael Peterson (harpsichord) and guest David Wilson (baroque violin) — to ring in the New Year with music from seventeenth century France, Germany and England. The performance will be held Wednesday, January 1st, at 3:00pm. Tickets are $35, available on eventbrite.com.
The ensemble will perform “D’Apotheose de Lully,” by François Couperin – a suite of short pieces with French texts depicting Lully’s meeting with Apollo and ascension to Parnassus where he meets Corelli. Two musicians play the same melody accompanied by the other in turn – Lully in the French style, Corelli in the Italian. In the spirit of reconciliation, Apollo convinces them that the joining of both styles represents perfection in music, and they close with a trio sonata “The Peace of Parnassus.” The concert will also include a trio sonata by Purcell, pieces by Abel for solo viol, and preludes by Couperin for harpsichord.
David Wilson – Baroque Violin
Please join us after the concert for a reception.

Brush and Chisel
2025-01-10 - 2025-02-15 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Brush and Chisel, an exhibition of painting and sculpture by Robin and Chris Sawyer, opens Friday, January 10th, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The exhibit pairs artworks from the Sawyers in unexpected ways, sometimes crossing boundaries and exploring the two mediums through the investigations of color, surface, and optical perception. Robin Sawyer’s paintings, conversely, engage with her husband’s sculptural concerns by taking up ideas long associated with three-dimensional art, such as balance, composition and context. By combining elements of painting and sculpture, these works exist beyond well-known restrictions of what art can do and upset the balance of previous ideas of what art can be.
Brush and Chisel can be seen through February 15th during gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4pm or by appointment.
About the Artists:
Robin Sawyer’s abstracted figures and landscapes seem to present themselves with an inherent mystery that begs the viewer to look further. In all her work, she is primarily interested in gestural expressiveness and dynamic color juxtapositions. Robin’s paintings have been widely exhibited in California, and both nationally and internationally collected. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the Monterey Museum of Art, the Triton Museum of Art, various corporate collections, and the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Robin was juried into the Carmel Art Association in 2021.
Artist Chris Sawyer enjoyed two successful careers in functional three-dimensional works of art—furniture design and fine home building—before devoting himself full time to sculpture as fine art. Chris began working with clay as a young boy. His high school education provided excellent background in the mechanical and industrial arts. He later took studio courses in sculpture at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. In his retirement he is now free to explore stone cutting, woodcarving, fabricated steel and cast bronze full time. He derives his abstract imagery from animals, the human figure, and geometric forms. He was juried into the Carmel Art Association in 2013.

2025 Thinking Out Loud Regional Art Competition
2025-03-01 - 2025-03-22 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is proud to announce Thinking Out Loud 2025, a regional art competition that challenges high school students to create works inspired by their lives. Each year, students from across Monterey County are invited to display their artwork across a wide range of media for exhibition in our gallery.
Thinking Out Loud will open with a reception for the student artists on Saturday, March 1st, from 2-4pm. The event is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 pm or by appointment. The exhibit will close Saturday, March 22nd.

Established in 1948, the mission of the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is to enhance the quality and diversity of artistic, educational and cultural programs in Monterey County by encouraging public programs and interactions between artists and the community.
Thinking Out Loud is made possible, in part, through a grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County, Monterey County Board of Supervisors, and funds from:
Carmel Woman’s Club
Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary
Community Foundation for Monterey County
Dion and Judith Dow
Gibson Family Foundation
Mitchell Family Charitable Fund
Pebble Beach Company Foundation
Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store

Pictured: “Cereal” – 3D artwork by Sawyer Vogel, Santa Catalina School
First Place, 2024 Thinking Out Loud Art Competition

Witness: The Expanding Worlds of Manuello Paganelli
2025-04-04 - 2025-04-26 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Witness: The Expanding Worlds of Manuello Paganelli, opens Friday, April 4th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts with a reception from 5-7 pm. A photographer’s walkthrough will be held Saturday, April 12th, from 2-3pm. Both events are free and open to the public.
This dynamic installation provides new perspectives into Mr. Paganelli’s expansive body of work by exploring six distinct geographic regions, bringing together narratives of influence, innovation and humanity from 40 years of his work.
VISIT ONLINE EXHIBIT
Manuello Paganelli grew up in Santo Domingo, Italy and Puerto Rico. After a mentorship with Ansel Adams, he worked as a photojournalist at the Chattanooga Times. In 1989, he began to explore Cuba, its land, its people, and its complex relationship with the United States. In 1995, he had the first solo photo show of his work on Cuba, and that same year earned him a fellowship grant.
The Washington Post wrote, “Manuello Paganelli’s Cuban photographs are a brilliant window on a land and people too long hidden from North American eyes. Working in the tradition of Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank, Paganelli brings an artist’s eyes and a native son’s sensibility to his superb photographs.” In the early 1990s, Paganelli started work on his Black Cowboys series with a selection being featured at the Annenberg Space for Photography. In the summer of 2012, this same series was selected for the Photo Vernissage at the Manage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Paganelli’s award-winning work has graced the covers and pages of many well-known magazines including Bloomberg Business Week, Forbes, LIFE, Newsweek, Men’s Journal, People, Time, Reader’s Digest, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and many more. He was Ansel Adams last student before death in 1984.
Paganelli’s fine arts work is represented by the iconic Weston Gallery in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Obscura Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He lives in Carmel and in Los Angeles.
Pictured: “Hands of Freedom #3” – Manuello Paganelli
