Carl Cherry Center for the Arts

Bohemian Summer: The Artwork and Life of Jeanne d'Orge
2019-07-19 - 2019-08-03 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Photograph: Picnic in Robinson Canyon, circa 1923. L to R: Alfred Burton, painter William Silva, Jeanne d’Orge, Robinson Jeffers, twins Donnan and Garth Jeffers.

Bohemian Summer: The Artwork and Life of Jeanne d’Orge, an exhibition featuring historical photographs, letters, poems, and artwork by the founder of the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, opens Friday, July 19th, and will run through August 3rd, 2019. The exhibit will also include works by Jo Mora and Ephraim Doner.

About Jeanne d’Orge (Mrs. Carl Cherry)
Born in 1887 in England, Jeanne d’Orge spent her childhood in Edinburgh, London, and Paris. Her book of verse, Voice in the Circle, published in 1955, focuses on her childhood in Europe.
After moving to New York in 1906, d’Orge became associated with “The Others,” a group of iconoclastic poets that included Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams, and Wallace Stevens. Her poetry was included in the anthology The Others and The Poetry Journal. In 1923 Scribner’s Magazine published her award-winning “Lobos” poems.
Jeanne d’Orge died on May 1, 1964, at the age of 87. Although her painting was recognized in her lifetime for its forcefulness and spirit with exhibits at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Park Avenue Galley in New York City, and the De Young Museum in San Francisco, d’Orge insisted that her paintings never be sold, saying only, “I’m just a paintbrush for God.”

Roger Book - "Life is Love" Concert
2019-07-14 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Roger Book returns to the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts following his sold-out “Journey Through Love” concert this past February. Hearts were softened and lives were changed.
This “Life is Love” event will feature another collection of his original songs and enlightening life stories. If you wake up in the morning and see light you should be thankful. That is life and life is love. Come experience how this love can help you overcome whatever life throws at you and make your personal journey a rewarding experience.
One performance only: Sunday, July 14th, at 2PM. Tickets are $25, available on brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491, Light appetizers and beverages are included in the ticket price. All concert proceeds and related donations will go to the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts.

Feleboga
2019-07-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Feleboga will perform a concert of Norwegian and old-time music and dance on Friday, July 12th, at 7:00 pm, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.
Feleboga (fiddle bows) is a band from Norway, composed of family members Mattias Thedens (fiddle, banjo, vocals), Elizabeth Gaver (fiddle, vocals), and Hans-Hinrich Thedens (guitar, banjo, vocals). Tickets are $15.00, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
.For more information about Feleboga, please follow us in Facebook and see our website, feleboga.com.

Celebrating the Cherry - Annual Summer Fundraiser
2019-06-22 16:00 - 19:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Celebrating the Cherry, our annual summer fundraiser, will be held at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts on June 22nd, 2019, from 4:00 to 7:00pm. This year we are honoring Katie Clare Mazzeo and Brian Taylor for their ongoing contributions to the arts.
The evening will feature wine and lite fare, music and entertainment, plus an exhibit in the gallery highlighting the Cherry Center’s history in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Along with reasonable priced art for sale by local artists, a silent auction, and a raffle showcasing a collection of fine wines. Monies raised will help provide quality artistic, educational and cultural programs for the residents of Monterey County. Tickets for the event are $45, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. To make a donation to The Cherry, please use this link.
Meet our Honorees:
Katie Clare Mazzeo has performed in solo and chamber music recitals in Europe and the U.S., including a tour of Iceland in a series of concerts with members of the Boston symphony. She has performed and lectured at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, and at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester as part of an international symposium on the Biology of Music, and has taught piano at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Longy School of Music. Katie Clare was a featured performer on fortepiano at the Schubert Festival at San Francisco State University and has given numerous concerts on both fortepiano and harpsichord with the ensemble Zeitgeist 1800, as well as performances at MusicSources in Berkeley, the Old First Church in San Francisco, and the Colton Hall Candlelight Series in Monterey.
Brian Taylor is known for his innovative explorations of alternative photographic processes including historic 19th Century printing techniques, mixed media, and handmade books. His work has been exhibited nationally and abroad in numerous solo and group shows. Taylor is currently the Executive Director of the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, California. He received his B.A. Degree in Visual Arts from the University of California at San Diego, an M.A. from Stanford University, and his M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico and served as a professor of Photography for over 30 years, and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at San Jose State University.

Oceans, Flamenco en Vivo Carmel
2019-06-19 20:00 - 21:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Join us for an evening of Spanish Flamenco music and dance featuring dancer Savannah Fuentes, guitarist Pedro Cortes, and singer/percussionist Jose Moreno on Wednesday, June 19th, at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets are $25.00 general admission, $15 for students, available on brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
About Savannah Fuentes
Savannah Fuentes, born in Seattle to parents of Puerto Rican and Irish ancestry, is one of the only touring artists in the Pacific Northwest region with strong links to Flamenco culture. She studies both baile (flamenco dance) and cante (flamenco singing) and has toured throughout the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Idaho and Arizona. She has independently produced over 250 performances and workshops featuring internationally recognized Spanish Flamenco Artists such as Jose Anillo, Saray Munoz, Jesus Montoya, and Juanarito. She has studied with artists such as Guadiana, Joaquin Grilo, Eva Yerbabuena, El Farru, and Isabel Bayon. She attributes her formation as an artist to her most significant mentor, Maestra Sara de Luis. She continues to evolve as an innovator and performance artist. www.savannahf.com
About Pedro Cortes
Pedro Cortes, Comes from a family of Spanish Gypsy guitarists and began his studies with his father and the esteemed Flamenco guitarist Sabicas. Having toured professionally since the age of 17, he is gaining international recognition as a soloist and composer. He has premiered his work En la oscuridad de las minas at the Teatro Albeniz in Madrid, he had works premiered by the Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company at the Joyce Theater in New York. He has two books on Flamenco, El Dron del Faraon and Cruzando el Charco, published by the American Institute of Guitar. Mr. Cortes, was commissioned by the Cohen Brothers to compose music for the film Paris Je TAime .He also wrote music for a childrens program on H B O called Fairy tale for Every Child. He has toured with Jose Greco and Maria Benitez, La Conja and has performed with such artists as Farrucita, La Tati, Merche Esmeralda, Manolete and the late Lola Flores. He has been guest artist with the St. Louis Opera and the New York Grand Opera, and has been commissioned by and performed as Musical Director with the Guthrie Theater In Garcia Lorcas BODAS DE SANGRE. Mr. Cortes is artistic director of his own Flamenco group, and also Musical Director of Palo Seco. Cortes is a third generation Flamenco guitarists and uses the experience passed down to him by his family to maintain the purity of Flamenco while creating new compositions. www.pedrocortes.com
About Jose Moreno
Born into a family of famous flamenco artists Estrella Morena (dancer) and Pepe de Málaga (singer), Jose began his flamenco career during his childhood years. His debut was at the famous Tablao flamenco Costa Vasca. Jose continued his studies with the Great Manolete, Farruquito, and Andres Marin and Cajon Percussion with Manuel Soler. Jose has been invited to perform in various companies around the world, and with distinguished artists such as: The Great Manolete, Joaquin Ruiz, Pastora Galvan, Jose Cortes Pansequito, Jose de Luna, Jose Luis Rodriquez, Roberto Castellon, Pedro Cortes, Jose Valle Chuscales, Basilio Garcia, Paco Heredia, Elena Andujar, Carmen Ledesma, Jesus Montoya, Zorongo Flamenco Dance, La Tania, Miguel Vargas, Nelida Tirado, Antonio Hidalgo, Curro Cueto, Gonzalo Grau, Edwin Aparicio, Amparo Heredia, Antonio Granjero, Angel Muñoz, Charo Espino, Omayra Amaya and many other outstanding performers
In 2001, Jose choreographed and performed a collaborative work with his mother Estrella Morena, and with renowned flamenco singer Carmen Linares with the New World Symphony Orquestra at Lincoln Theater. In 2004 choreographed works and performed with the Boston Flamenco Ballet, In 2007, Jose performed with the internationally known Isabel Pantoja, and with David Bisbal in Premios lo Nuestro. In 2010 performed in the 7th annual Panama Jazz Festival, also that same year at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City, in 2013 in Zorro The Musical at the Alliance Theatre, the BAM theatre in New York City with Flamenco Vivo Dance Company , and most recently in the 2014-2015 season of Carmen at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City and the 2015-2016 season of Carmen at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. for the Washington National Opera. www.josemorenoflamenco.com

The Way We Fell Out of Touch
2019-05-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
An Invitation to see a New Play in Development!
Award-winning screenwriter and author Toni Ann Johnson will perform her new play THE WAY WE FELL OUT OF TOUCH, based on the true story of the relationship between Johnson’s African-American mother and their family’s white maid during the 1970s in Upstate New York. The play is an adaptation of her award-winning short story (Lodestone Fiction Award ~ 2017). This play reading is developed in collaboration with Director, Robin McKee. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy the birthing of a new play. Please come and enjoy and give us feedback in an informal after performance discussion.
Thursday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. The performance is FREE but seating is limited, so please be sure to RSVP to (831) 236-7825 to be on our guest list. We hope you will stay and give feedback after the reading.

About the Playwright/Actor:
This is Johnson and McKee’s second collaboration Ms. McKee directed and served as dramaturg on Johnson’s play Gramercy Park is Closed to the Public, which went on to receive productions in Los Angeles by the Fountainhead Theatre Company and in New York, by The New York Stage and Film Company. The play also earned Johnson a fellowship to the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab.
Johnson has won two Humanitas Prizes and a Christopher Award for her TV Movies which include Ruby Bridges (ABC), Crown Heights (Showtime) and The Courage to Love (Lifetime.) Johnson has written numerous YA dance related television and film projects including Step Up 2: The Streets, the second installment in the internationally popular Step Up Franchise. Johnson’s novel Remedy For A Broken Angel earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author in 2015. She won an International Latino Book Award for the novel, as well as a Beverly Hills Book Award, and she was a finalist for the 2014 IndieFab Book of the Year. Johnson’s short fiction and essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Emerson Review, Hunger Mountain, Xavier Review and elsewhere. She teaches screenwriting at The University of Southern California.

Lucky Lindy: A Conversation With Charles Lindbergh
2019-05-17 19:30 - 2019-06-02 14:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
It’s 1974 and Charles Lindbergh is in the spotlight after 35 years of silence. From the world’s flying hero to a hero’s welcome in an evil dictatorship, to a leader of American isolationists and, finally, to a committed naturalist and environmentalist, he is always controversial. Now Lindbergh is read to talk…about everything.
Lucky Lindy: A Conversation with Charles Lindbergh is an original play written and directed by Tom Parks, with Keith Decker as Charles Lindbergh and Lynette Winter. The play opens Friday, May 17th, and runs through Sunday, June 2nd, 2019. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.
Tickets are $25. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30pm; and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit ticketguys.com or call (831) 717-7373.

Color Theory: The Art of Color at the Cherry Center
2019-05-17 16:00 - 2019-06-15 16:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Color Theory, an exhibit exploring the application of color in paintings by Lucas Blok and Mel Prest, opens Friday, May 17th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. A reception for the artists will be held at the center from 4 to 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The exhibition examines the use of color from two separate, but related, perspectives: the large vibrant color fields of Monterey’s Lucas Blok and Mel Prest, a non-objective San Francisco painter whose work focuses on color and perceptual visual relationships.
Color Theory can be seen Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 p.m. and Saturdays noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment through June 15th, 2019.
Pictured, top: “Untitled” – Lucas Blok

Lucas Blok has an established interest in color. His paintings are absorbing experiments in visual perception as he works with vibrant and intensely saturated hues that become a uniquely involved experience for each individual spectator. Mr. Blok was awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant for 2011-2012, which recognizes and generously supports his artistic merit as a professional artist over a significant period of time.

“17 Seconds” – Mel Prest
Mel Prest is an artist, curator and educator living in San Francisco. She received her BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from Mills College in Oakland.
Her work is focused on color and perceptual visual relationships and synaesthetic response. Her work is held in collections at Apple; The Crocker Museum of Art; Kaiser Permanente; The Mills College Art Museum, among others.

Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards
2019-05-04 14:00 - 16:00 | CA
A reading and awards ceremony honoring the student poets will be held 2:00PM on Saturday, May 4th, 2019 at the Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific Street, Monterey. During the event, student poets will receive an anthology featuring their award-winning works; certificate of merit; cash prize; and book of poetry. Family members, teachers, fellow students, and the public are welcome to attend.

The Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards are held each year in conjunction with the Carl Cherry Center’s high school art exhibition, Thinking Out Loud.

Dick Whittington and Friends
2019-04-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Celebrated jazz pianist Dick Whittington will be performing on Saturday, April 27th, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. as part of our ongoing Jazz At The Cherry series. Dick will be joined by Jim Payne on drums and Kenoa Mendenhall on bass.
Tickets are $25, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. Savory fare, champagne and wine are included in the ticket price. Doors open at 2:00pm.

About Dick Whittington:
Whittington, a long-time Big Sur resident, began his career in Los Angeles in the 1950s, playing with such jazz notables as Dexter Gordon, Bobby Hutcherson, and Sonny Criss. After relocating to Berkeley in the 1960s, he performed with Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Art Pepper, James Moody, Anita O’Day, Mel Torme, Bobby McFerrin and many others. He was co-founder of the Berkeley School District Jazz Program which fostered the careers of Joshua Redman, Benny Green and dozens of others.
Over the last five decades, DIck has performed with many jazz greats, including Stan Getz, James Moody, Lee Konitz, Art Pepper, Eddie Harris, and Chet Baker. In 1987, Dick and his wife Marilyn Ross founded the Maybeck Recital Hall, where, for ten years, they lived and produced over five hundred jazz and classical concerts, including the internationally-acclaimed “Live at Maybeck” solo piano series on Concord Records, which features over forty-five of the top pianists in jazz. Since moving to Big Sur, Dick played four years at Bernardus Lodge and has been at Carmel’s Cypress Inn since 2005.

About Kanoa Mendenhall:
Born in Yokohama to a Japanese mother and American father, Kanoa was raised in Monterey, California and grew up listening to jazz, enka, classical, and the music of Brazil. She started playing the cello at age 10 after being introduced to Oscar Pettiford’s music by her father, a jazz pianist. At the age of 12, Kanoa began playing the upright bass, and by age 13 she was regularly performing in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay areas

Kanoa has worked on the faculty of Jazz Camp West and Stanford Jazz Workshop for the past three years. She has performed at venues throughout the United States and Japan, such as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Davies Symphony Hall, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Akasaka B Flat, the Jazz Gallery, and the Monterey Jazz Festival.

About Jim Payne:

Labeled the “Buddy Rich or Billy Cobham of funk drumming” by Jazz Times Magazine, Jim Payne has a long career as a drummer, educator, producer, and collaborator with the best musicians in jazz and funk.
Jim has performed with Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Slickaphonics, the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, and The Jim Payne Band, among many others. His performance venues have included major European and U.S. jazz and blues festivals, including Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, and Paris Jazz Festival.

Hot House: An Exhibit of Botanicals
2019-04-05 17:00 - 2019-05-04 16:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Hot House, an exhibit of botanicals celebrating the abundance of spring, opens April 5th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. A reception for the artists will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited.
“Flora 24” – Stacy Frank
This exhibit is a euphoric visual landscape of flora and fauna, featuring a range of media—works strong in color, eccentric in design, and loaded with enthralling details. Media used to create botanical paintings include watercolor, colored pencil, pen and ink, oil, and graphite. Botanical art is a centuries old art form that has a long and colorful history dating back to the 1400s BCE. With the advent of photography, botanical art was dormant for nearly a century but saw a rebirth in the latter part of the 1900s.
Artists include Kamille Corry, Stacy Frank, Frank Galuszka, Ken Hale, Andrea Johnson, Nancy Lawton, Claire Lerner, Susan Manchester, Stephanie Martin, Michel Medinger, and others.
“Fall Chrysanthemum” – Stephanie Martin

A marriage of art and science, botanical art immortalizes the plant world. After closely observing a plant, the artist discovers amazing details. The subject is carefully measured, drawn, and painted to capture its graceful movement and intriguing personality.
“Floral 21” – Claire Lerner
The most skilled botanical artists are those who understand plants scientifically, but also see and describe their subject with the eye and hand of an artist. Artists for the current exhibit also see botanicals through the lens of expressionism.
While plant paintings can be delicate and painstakingly exact and larger landscape canvases boldly imaginative, both are evidence of an extraordinary life in which sensuous love and religious conviction intertwine with scientific discovery.
Hot House: An Exhibit of Botanicals can be seen through May 4th during regular gallery hours: Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 p.m., Saturday noon to 4 p.m., or by appointment.
Pictured above: “Cascade” – Kenneth Hale

Thinking Out Loud - Monterey County High School Student Art Exhibition
2019-03-02 15:00 - 2019-03-23 16:00 | CA
Thinking Out Loud, our annual Monterey County high school student art exhibition, opens Saturday, March 2nd, with an artist reception from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the Cherry Center’s gallery on Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibit can be seen through March 23rd, 2019, during regular gallery hours: Wednesday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday noon to 4:00 p.m., or by appointment.
This program is made possible in part through grants from the Arts Council for Monterey County, and funding from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Community Foundation for Monterey County, Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation, Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary, Volunteer Services for Monterey County, and Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store.
Photo above: Laura Flores Romero

One hundred area students participated in last year’s exhibit, displaying works across a wide variety of media.
“Well Lived” Raven Cook, Youth Arts Collective
“Til DEATH” Martin Aguirre, Everett Alvarez HIgh School
“Panther Grouper”Matthew Brady, Monterey High School
“Bloom” Jaia Linden Engel, Carmel High School

Roger Book - Journey Through Love
2019-02-23 14:00 - 15:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Local guitarist, pianist, poet, story-teller and singer-songwriter Roger Book will perform a special concert, Journey Through Love, Saturday, February 23, at 2:00pm, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel. Reception will start at 1:15 with light appetizers and wine.
During the performance, Roger will take you through the many sides of love, while sharing personal stories from his life and those around him.
All proceeds benefit the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts and Carmel’s WW1 Memorial Arch restoration project. Tickets are $25, available by calling (831) 624-7491.

Monterey Comedy Improv
2019-02-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Tragedy, comedy, or contemporary culture? It makes no difference to the Monterey Comedy Improv, who perform 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 9th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.
The troupe will take suggestions from the audience on a wide range of subjects to create a series of scenes and skits using whatever props are at hand. Scenes might include star-crossed lovers, sword fights, turkeys, politicians, rhyming couplets, disguises, and asides from the audience.
Monterey Comedy Improv have gained quite a bit of notoriety as the only troupe on the Central Coast to perform short form improvisational theater. The show typically features plenty of audience participation, so be sure to leave your inhibitions at the door!
Tickets are $15, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.

Monterey County High School Poetry Contest - Accepting Submissions
2019-02-01 - 2019-03-27 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts

The Eclectic Collective Presents: Winter Euphoria Series
2019-01-18 19:30 - 2019-02-16 19:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Imagine and Denuded Reflections
Tales told through the POV of the looking glass. Performances include adult subject matter, strong language:. February 15th and 16th, 7:30PM, $25 General Admission – Purchase tickets here, or by calling (831) 521-0375 or (831) 756-5266. Parts 1 and 2 will be performed each evening. Adult subject matter.
Part 1: Imagine, an original play adapted from a story by Janice Blaze Rocke from her novel consisting of 13 sequential stories. Peek inside the dressing room of The Mitchell Bros Theatre circa 1989 as a disillusioned and drunk stripper contemplates the idea of performing to Imagine by John Lennon for an all-male audience disinterested in world peace.
Written by Janice Rocke and co-directed by Nina Capriola.

Part 2: Denuded Reflections, in which Stephan Sams and Frances Sparks alternately portray a dual-personality talking mirror inside a strippers’ dressing room hell bent on revealing the secrets of the dancers. The mirror is brought to life with CGI effects by Kaya Tominigas and videography by Sam Danielson.
Written by Janice Rocke, Clark Coleman, Nicole Henares, and Eboni Harris.
Other performers include Zoey Kriegmont, Carri Newhouse, Emily McMath, Genevieve Marie, Suzy Nichols, and Jana Jo Williams.

Purchase Janice Blaze Rocke’s book, “Bachelor Party.” Built around the event of a bachelor party, the story is the first of 13 stories in a novel loosely based on the young adult life of its author.
Read an article about Janice Blaze Rocke in The Weekly.

Paper: Pressed, Printed, Sliced and Creased
2019-01-11 17:00 - 2019-02-16 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Paper: Pressed, Printed, Sliced and Creased, an exhibit exploring the range and diversity of artwork on paper, opens Friday, January 11th, with an artists reception from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

This exhibition focuses on works on paper, including prints, illustrated books, and selected drawings that explore and manipulate the materiality of paper itself. Paper is almost always the place where art begins and is the substance that receives the hint of an idea and finds its first outward realization. Yet paper can also support the most complex and layered of processes—watercolor, lithography and print—and be the foundation of the most refined and finished of artistic constructions.

The exhibit can be seen Wednesday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 4:00 p.m., or by appointment, through February 16th. For more information, please call (831) 624-7491.

Featured artists include Tracey Adams, Steven Assael, Martha Alf, Gale Antokal, Ann Artz, Fletcher Benton, Squeak Carnwath, Fred Dalkey, Lisa Esherick, Christian Fagerlund, Deanna Forbes, Nancy Gannon, Nancy Genn, Ken Hale, David Hines, David Ligare, Susan Manchester, Robert Natkin, Jane Rosen, Brian Taylor, Masami Teraoka, James Weeks, and others.

Pictured top: “FOLDED, August 17, 2014” – Tracey Adams

Partita Time! - The Cherry Trio
2019-01-01 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
PARTITA TIME!

The Cherry Trio — Elizabeth Gaver (violin), Penny Hanna (viola da gamba) and Michael Peterson (harpsichord) offers a toast to the new year with “Partita Time” on January 1st, 2019, at 3:00 p.m.
After the fireworks, but before the wine! Featuring some of the finest composers of the Baroque era, this year’s concert also highlights some lesser-knowns, including fire-y Vivaces and Arisoso variations by Buxtehude, a sparkling assortment of French dances by Senaillé, a sizzling sonata by Krieger, The Grape-pickers of Monguichet and the mysterious Le Dalican by Caix d’Herevois, along with the incomparable J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 2
Tickets are $25.00, and can be purchased through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. Be sure to reserve in advance, as this popular event sells out each year.

A Broadway Songbook with Tom Parks
2018-12-21 19:30 - 2018-12-22 19:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Tom Parks returns to the Cherry stage with A Broadway Songbook on December 21st and 22nd, at 7:30 p.m. Join us for a joyful evening of song and remembrance featuring the music of Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and many more. Musical direction by George Peterson.
Tickets for the evening are $25.00, available by calling (831) 717-7373.

Along Came Betty - Jazz at The Cherry
2018-12-16 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
We are pleased to welcome back Along Came Betty to our theater stage for another round of rich, harmonized sax and trumpet, backed by the classic piano, bass, and drums rhythm section.
Along Came Betty (Biff Smith, piano; Brian Stock, trumpet and flugelhorn; Paul Tarantino, saxophone; Steve Uccello, bass; Patrick Tregenza, drums) has performed at many local and national jazz venues, including the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Big Sur Jazz Festival. Since 1998, they have been celebrating the spirit of hard-bop, a seminal movement of 50s and 60s jazz. Pianist and prolific composer Biff Smith’s sophisticated yet highly accessible compositions blend elements of that era with modern sensibilities.
Please join us for some great music, wine, and light fare–all included in the ticket price. Sunday, December 16th, doors open at 2:00pm; performance from 3:00-5:00pm. Tickets are $25, available online at brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.

Monterey Comedy Improv
2018-12-15 19:30 - 21:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Tragedy, comedy, or contemporary culture? It makes no difference to the Monterey Comedy Improv, who perform 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 15th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.
The troupe will take suggestions from the audience on a wide range of subjects to create a series of scenes and skits using whatever props are at hand. Scenes might include star-crossed lovers, sword fights, turkeys, politicians, rhyming couplets, disguises, and asides from the audience.
Monterey Comedy Improv have gained quite a bit of notoriety as the only troupe on the Central Coast to perform short form improvisational theater. The show typically features plenty of audience participation, so be sure to leave your inhibitions at the door!
Tickets are $15, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.

Make Merry at The Cherry Celebration - pop-up art sale
2018-12-14 17:00 - 20:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts invites you to their annual ‘pop-up’ art fundraiser and holiday celebration, Make Merry at the Cherry, on Friday, December 14th, from 5-8 pm in the gallery on Fourth Avenue and Guadalupe Street, Carmel.
Photograph by Ken Parker
Catch the holiday spirit as you mix and mingle with friends old and new. The event will feature reasonably-priced art by Robin Winfield, Jan Wagstaff, Peter Hiller, Mary Hill, Dixie Dixon, Ken Parker, Richard Cannon, Mary Liz Houseman, Jim Castelle, Diane Cailliet, Chris Sawyer and many others; as well as select seasonal items and a raffle that includes a collection of fine wines.

Proceeds will support The Cherry’s ongoing contribution to the arts community of Monterey County. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information about this event, please call (831) 624-7491

Pictured above: “MIghty Tomato” – Robin Winfield

Still life by Erin Gafill
Landscape by Sara Healy

Bruce Forman's "The Red Guitar" SOLD OUT
2018-12-09 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Imagine receiving an invitation to a gala featuring John Coltrane, Sigmund Freud, and Faust. Bruce Forman’s “The Red Guitar” is all that and more. This show draws on Forman’s decades of experience as a formidable jazz guitarist and his considerable skill as a storyteller and teacher, producing a work that is greater than the sum of its dazzling parts.
A story in and about jazz, “The Red Guitar “ showcases Forman’s genre-breaking inventiveness and his ability to improvise and create within a classical form. Enlisting the full power of the jazz idiom and integrating it with seasoned and provocative story-telling, he confronts the dilemma of artistic obsession face-to-face by creating a work of art that simultaneously explores and demonstrates the hold that music has over its most ardent followers… the hold that poses itself as a life-or-death, must-be-solved-question to Forman and his ilk. Come hear Bruce’s answers to the question: “The Red Guitar”- do you play it…or does it play you? The Red Guitar is serious one-man theater, incorporating great musical virtuosity and storytelling skills to explore the obsessive demands that music places on its truest followers
World-class guitarist, Bruce Forman, has been making positive waves in jazz circles for over thirty years. His life and musical journey provide an American saga that is still in full swing. His Texas origins, his early career in San Francisco and New York, and his years on the road all contribute to the unique and highly personal vision that he demonstrates today.
Please join us for some great music, wine, and light fare–all included in the ticket price. Sunday, December 9th, doors open at 2:00pm; performance from 3:00-5:00pm. Tickets are $20, available at brownpapertickets.com. or by calling (831) 624-7491.

An Evening with Devaji - Live in a Universe of Love
2018-12-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Live in a Universe of Love
Join us for an evening with Devaji and discover this Truth in yourself. Saturday, December 8th at 6:30 pm at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel. $15 suggested donation at the door.
Devaji’s teachings, which are rooted in the nondual tradition of Ramana Maharshi and the devotional path of Ramakrishna, invite us to use life’s reflection to discover the passion, beauty and love of pure Being. He has been guiding those committed to a spiritual path for nearly 20 years.
A retreat at the Center for Spiritual Awakening in Pacific Grove, California, follows, December 9-15, 2018. For more information, please visit our website, www.devaji.org.

Almost Like Being in Love
2018-11-16 19:00 - 2018-11-17 19:00 | CA
KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler reunite to celebrate the Alan Jay Lerner centenary with their new show, Almost Like Being In Love, on Friday, November 16th and Saturday, November 17th, at 7:00PM. The talented duo, described by Stephen Holden of the New York Times as,”ferociously entertaining,” will include songs like “If Ever I Would Leave You,” “Gigi,” “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and other Lerner masterpieces. When the show was performed in England, it received 5 out of 5 stars by The London Times.
Tickets are $30.00 ($35.00 at the door cash/check), available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (646) 298-4772.
About the performers:
KT Sullivan was named artistic director of The Mabel Mercer Foundation in 2012. She starred in the Broadway revival of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and headlined for almost two decades in The Oak Room of The Algonquin Hotel. . She guest starred on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” recorded six albums on the DRG Label, was the star vocalist on two tours of China with The Manhattan Symphonie, and was twice named one of “The Top 100 Irish Americans” by Irish America Magazine.
Mark Nadler is an internationally acclaimed singer, pianist, tap-dancer and comedian. He is the recipient of the 2015 Broadway World Editor’s Choice Award for Entertainer of the Year. His off-Broadway hit, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, has been honored with the 2013 Nightlife Award and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and two Broadway World Awards. Mr. Nadler has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra and has been a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Oregon Symphony, National Arts Centre Symphony in Ottawa and others. Mark is the recipient eight awards from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets, three Backstage Bistro Awards, two New York Nightlife Awards and two Bay Area Outer Critics’ Circle Awards. Broadway credits include Dame Edna: The Royal Tour and The Sheik Of Avenue ‘B’. At Lincoln Center, Mark cowrote, directed and starred in Schnozzola, a tribute to Jimmy Durante for the “Reel to Real” series.

Monterey County Gives 2018 - Donate Today!
2018-11-08 08:00 - 2018-12-31 23:30 | CA
WHAT’S THE ‘BIG IDEA?’
As an institution, the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is an enormous idea. For seventy years we’ve presented art exhibitions, plays, workshops and readings that support creative expression on the Central Coast. Even if you only walk in once a year, just the knowledge and reassurance the Cherry Center is still here raises one’s spirits. Next year is no different. We are brimming over with “big ideas.” Our first is The Cherry in Motion — the Cherry Center’s smart phone film festival. Created to encourage residents to share their lives through short films created on smart phones and tablets, the festival will include workshops with film industry professionals, a competition open to all residents of Monterey County, and an awards presentation where winning shorts will be shared with the community.
Together with 100% Board of Directors participation, MCGives! will match your contribution at montereycountygives.com. We can make 2019 a year filled with Big Ideas! Thank you for your continued support of the Cherry Center, and we’ll see you at the movies—your movies!

Inside Out
2018-10-26 19:30 - 2018-10-27 19:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Writers talk to their demons about the vulnerability of being a creative person. Actors, dancers, and musicians bring these conversations to life. Featuring an all star locals cast including Monique Rose of No Existo, Carri Newhouse, Genevieve Marie, OoLa Habib Rahall, Mario Mario, and Rachel Corvese of the Hip Nautic Flowers, Callie Lyn of the Carmel Delights, and Jess Juarez of the Paper Wing Theatre Co. Writers include Liz MacDonald, Marie Boucher, Nicole Henares, Heidi Machem, Marc Zegans, Victoria Lobitas, Ryandake, and Janice Blaze Rocke. Nelson Basden will be our light designer. Directed and produced by Janice Blaze Rocke and The Erotic Eclectic.

Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th, at 7:30PM. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel. Tickets are $20, available at the door or through this link.

Monterey Comedy Improv
2018-10-20 19:30 - 21:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Tragedy, comedy, or contemporary culture? It makes no difference to the Monterey Comedy Improv, who perform 7:30p.m., Saturday, October 20th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.
The troupe will take suggestions from the audience on a wide range of subjects to create a series of scenes and skits using whatever props are at hand. Scenes might include star-crossed lovers, sword fights, turkeys, politicians, rhyming couplets, disguises, and asides from the audience.
Monterey Comedy Improv have gained quite a bit of notoriety as the only troupe on the Central Coast to perform short form improvisational theater. The show typically features plenty of audience participation, so be sure to leave your inhibitions at the door!
Tickets are $15, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.

"A Doll's House" Reading and Panel Discussion
2018-10-20 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Northwest Corner, 4th and Guadalupe, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, 93921, United States
Actors Lawrence Hecht and Ashlee Temple will read excerpts from Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” on Saturday, October 20th at 3:00pm. Suggested donation for tickets is $15.00 at the door.
The reading will be followed by a discussion with the audience to explore the play’s relevance in light of both the nineteenth century and today’s social/political climate.
When Ibsen”s “A Doll’s House” premiered in Denmark in 1879 , it created a cry of outrage around the world, as well as a rallying point for early feminists. The play examines the moral and ethical milieu of a world in which women have few choices and opportunities. Most importantly, Ibsen was interested in exploring the consequences of such a world and its impact on women, men, family, and society as a whole. This powerful play continues to evoke strong personal and political reactions among audiences.

Lawrence Hecht
Lawrence Hecht
Mr. Hecht most recently appeared as Gus in Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures at Curious Theatre Company in Denver, Colorado, Lawrence began his professional career in the San Francisco Bay Area over four decades ago. He acted, taught and directed with the American Conservatory Theatre for 25 years. He has also appeared with Berkeley Rep, the Marin Theatre Company, the Magic Theatre, San Jose Rep, the Livermore Shakespeare Festival and more. Beyond the Bay, he’s worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Arizona Theatre Company and the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts. At the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, he served as Head of Acting for the renowned National Theatre Conservatory. Mr. Hecht is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and the ACT Advanced Training Program. His ventures into film include the role of Neal Prescott in Wes Craven’s Scream Trilogy. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG/AFTRA and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
Ashlee Temple
Ashlee Temple
Is an actor, director, teacher and artist. She has appeared on stage in New York City as well as regionally at the Two River Theatre Company, The Barter Theatre, Yale Repertory and Marin Theatre Company. She has directed here in California as well as at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, University of Colorado at Denver, University of Denver, Denver School of the Arts, GALSCO, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, SHO in Denver, and SisTryst Theatre Company. Ashlee received her BFA from New York University and her MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama. Ms. Temple is currently an Associate Professor of Drama at San Joaquin Delta College.

"You'd Be Prettier If You Smiled" - Identity, Gender and Dissonance
2018-10-19 17:00 - 2018-11-30 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Carl Cherry Center’s next exhibition, You’d Be Prettier if You Smiled: Identity, Gender and Dissonance, opens Friday, October 19th, with an artists’ reception from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
For this exhibit, Gail Enns selected works by the Temple Sisters, Susan Abbott Martin, and Maria Porges that open an important conversation about the enduring struggle women face in contemporary society.
You’d Be Prettier if You Smiled, Identity, Gender and Dissonance furthers the dialog begun with The New Domestics, Finding Beauty in the Mundane, mounted recently at The Monterey Museum of Art.
“I believe that Jeanne d’Orge, founder of The Cherry Center for the Arts, would embrace both shows as continuing the spirit of the Feminists and their fight for the long sought recognition of women’s art as a viable part of the contemporary art world,” says Enns.
The exhibition will run in the gallery through November 30th, 2018.
Pictured, above: “You’d Be Prettier if You Smiled” – The Temple Sisters, mixed media on canvas, 40″x 60″

Curator Statement:
You’d Be Prettier if You Smiled: Identity, Gender and Dissonance provides insight into the tension between genders and the relative place of women in contemporary culture.
This show questions our culturally accepted norms of feminine expression by calling attention to the idea that stereotypes pervade our culture not only with words — such as chauvinistic labels like “hysterical” and “shrill” — but also with images and objects — such as lace on one hand, or saw blades on the other — that connote stereotypical ideas of feminine and masculine.
Marie Porges’ destroys and then reconstructs ancient Gothic books into tools, such as saw handles. Susan Abbot Martin creates hand-made doilies on saw blades; the friction between these two materials highlights the tension between genders. The Temple Sisters, Holly and Ashlee, deconstruct images of young women beaming with energy, but constricted by torn paper, notes and ephemera. However one chooses to interpret these works, it is clear that each artist skillfully grapples with the distillation and presentation of female stereotypes.
This exhibition continues the dialog begun recently at The Monterey Museum of Art with The New Domestics, Finding Beauty in the Mundane.
Jeanne d’Orge, Cherry Center founder, would embrace this show as continuing the feminist spirit of artists such as Miriam Schapiro, Jenny Holzer, Eva Hesse and Louise Bougeois who have all contributed to the long fought recognition of women’s art as a critical contribution to contemporary art.
– Gail Enns

About the Artists:
The Temple Sisters work in mixed media and generate large and small works on canvas and paper, as well as smaller three-dimensional assemblages. Their work reflects their fascination with the effects of time and memory upon iconography – personal, spiritual and cultural. Each piece created is meant to engage the viewer in questions of the temporal nature of the image(s), personal memory and the hidden stories that are re-imagined through age and displacement.
Holly Temple studied art and art history at the San Francisco Academy Art, San Francisco State University and at C.S.U. in Florence, Italy. She worked in New York for many years as an Art Director at Avon, Christian Dior, Estee Lauder, David Yurman, among others and currently runs her own freelance graphic design company in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
Ashlee Temple studied theatre at N.Y.U. and received her M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama. She continues to work in theatre as a director and teacher in Stockton, CA.

Susan Abbott Martin received her MFA in 1981 from the California College of Arts and Crafts. Martin has exhibited at the Oakland Museum at City Center; Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artist Gallery; and Dennos Museum at Northwestern Michigan State, Traverse City.
“Not Your Grandmother’s Crocheted Coverlet #3” – Susan Abbott Martin
Her work has been reviewed in Art Forum, the SF Chronicle, Artweek, and the World Herald in Omaha, Nebraska. Martin has received numerous grants, awards and residencies, including two grants from the Pollock Krasner Foundation; the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest International Artists Program at Monet’s garden in Giverny, France; the Bemis Foundation in Omaha, Nebraska; and Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York. She currently lives and works in Oakland, California.

Maria Porges is an artist and writer whose work has been exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions since the late 1980s. She received a SECA award from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and has been in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts twice.
“Celestial Blue” (2016) Maria Porges
A finalist for the Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Art Writer’s Grant in 2014, her critical writing has appeared in many publications, including Artforum, Art in America, Sculpture, American Ceramics, Glass, New York Times Book Review, and a host of other now-defunct art magazines. She has also authored essays for over 100 exhibition catalogues and dozens of scripts for museum audio tours. Porges is an Associate Professor at California College of the Arts.
