Carl Cherry Center for the Arts

Exhibition: The Fire in the Wood
2018-05-18 17:00 - 2018-06-16 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Fire in the Wood, an exhibit exploring the life and art of the legendary Big Sur sculptor Edmund Kara, opens Friday, May 18th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts with a reception from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Considered one of Big Sur’s most illustrious and secretive artists, Edmund Kara started his career in the wardrobe and costume departments of Universal and Paramount Studios during the 1950s, later becoming a clothing designer for Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, and others. During this time, Kara extended his artistic endeavors to include sculpture, painting, and drawing. In 1962, he left the fashion industry for good to establish a studio in Big Sur, California. Two of his better-known pieces include a sculpture of Elizabeth Taylor for the film, “The Sandpiper,” and “The Phoenix” on the deck of Nepenthe, Big Sur. Kara’s body of work is arresting; with smooth finishes and curvy wood masks, biblical figures and mythological creatures, large and imposingly heavy looking, confrontational, dark with emotion.
The Fire in the Wood, a play about the life of Edmund Kara, opens in the Cherry Hall Theater on Friday, June 1st, for a six performance run. For more information, click here.
The exhibition will run through June 16, 2018.
Pictured: “Yin Yang” – Edmund Kara, 1975

Robert Campbell High School Poetry Contest 2018
2018-04-28 14:00 - 16:00 | CA
25TH ANNUAL ROBERT CAMPBELL HIGH SCHOOL POETRY AWARDS
Robert Campbell High School Poetry Awards Ceremony

The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the 25th Annual Robert Campbell Monterey High School Poetry Awards. The contest is presented in conjunction with Thinking Out Loud, a series of programs devoted to high school arts and poetry. An awards ceremony honoring the student poets will be held at 2:00p.m. on Saturday, April 28th, 2018, at the Monterey Public Library on Pacific Street in Monterey.
High school students in Monterey County are invited to submit up to three poems to the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, P.O. Box 863, Carmel, California 93921, or info@carlcherrycenter.org. All submissions must be received no later than March 29th, 2018. Award recipients will receive a certificate of merit, cash award, and a book containing this year’s prize winning poems.
The Monterey County High School Poetry Awards were established in 1993 to recognize and promote excellence in high school poets, and to develop an interest in creative expression through the written word. The awards acknowledge two fundamental insights: the redemptive power poetry can play in the lives of students, and the importance of sustaining poetry as a legitimate art form in today’s digitally driven culture.

My Mother's Keeper
2018-04-27 19:30 - 2018-05-27 14:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
My Mother’s Keeper, a play written by Jane Press and directed by Robin McKee, moves fluidly back and forth between 1914 and the present. Taking place within the memories of four generations of women in a show business family. Looking through the lens of the mother-daughter relationship dynamic. My Mother’s Keeper is an examination of our matriarchal inheritance, with all its inherent – and inherited – blessings and curses. It is a moving, sometimes very funny, sometimes disturbing, ultimately healing work.
My Mother’s Keeper opens at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, on April 27th, and will run May 27th, 2018. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30PM, and Sundays at 2:00PM, There will be two performances on Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 18th), at 2:00PM and 7:30PM. Tickets are $20, $18 for groups of ten or more, and are available online at ticketguys.com or by calling (831) 233-1941.

About the Playwright
Jane Press is an actress with fifty years experience on stage. She comes from a show business family in New York and Los Angeles. She originally produced My Mother’s Keeper at the Cherry Center in 2012 for a sold out five week run, and in L.A. at the Electric Lodge Theater in 2013 with a critically acclaimed five week run. She will be hosting a Go Fund Me campaign during this current production to help underwrite the costs of a New York production in 2019.
About the Director
Robin McKee is well respected for her work with new play development in California and Colorado, through programs such as L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum New Works Festival and Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s New Works Project. She was the founder and producing artistic director for Carmel Performing Arts Festival, developed Telluride Repertory Theater Company’s seasonal productions for 15 years as guest artist and artistic director, and has worked as a freelance director around the country for 20 years. Robin loves combining new and seasoned performers and artists in the development of new plays. One of her favorite venues in California is the Carl Cherry Center for the Performing Arts, where she first collaborated with the venue for the development of Karen Black’s one-woman show in 1992.

Dick Whittington - Jazz At The Cherry
2018-04-08 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Celebrated jazz pianist, Dick Whittington, will be performing in our gallery on Sunday, April 8th, from 3:00-5:00pm, as part of our ongoing Jazz At The Cherry series. 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. Since arriving on the Monterey Peninsula, he has played at most of the major jazz venues and also performed as house pianist at Carmel’s Cypress Inn and Bernardus Lodge.
Bob Basa
Joining Dick will be guitar master Bob Basa. A Brazilian music specialist, Basa has been in high demand in the Monterey area and has played continuously at Spanish Bay for over ten years. His past performances also include the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Tickets, $15, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling(831) 624-7491. Savory fare, champagne and wine are included in the ticket price.

"Jeanne's Kitchen" Art Meets Food at the Cherry Center
2018-04-06 17:00 - 2018-05-05 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Jeanne’s Kitchen, an exhibit devoted to food and cuisine, will be served-up April 6th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. The show will open with an artists’ reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The exhibit will feature painting, sculpture and photography that examines our multifaceted relationship with food. While eating is generally a mundane daily routine, the exhibition considers how we find our food, with whom we consume it, and what meaning is created through these experiences.
Artists include David Ligare, Gina Taro, Michelle Magdalena Maddox, Barbara Spring, Viktor Klinger, Gerald Wasserman, Hanna Hannah, Robynn Smith, Susan Manchester, Malcolm Weintraub, Peter Charles, Rob Barnard, Sharron Antholt, Jan Wurm and Tom Nakashima, among others.
Through May 5th, 2018

Pictured: Onions, After Mu Chi
Tracy Valleau
Pigment ink giclee
8″ x 16″

The Meaning of Life & Other Stuff
2018-03-09 19:30 - 2018-03-25 14:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Meaning of Life & Other Stuff, a new play about life, love and laughter written and directed by Tom Parks, opens March 9th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.
Four seasoned actors will play 12 different roles; finding humor and pathos in this crazy, mixed up world.
The Meaning of Life opens March 9th, and will run through March 25th, 2018. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30PM; Sunday matinees at 2:00PM. Tickets are $25. For tickets and more information. please call (831) 717-7373, or visit ticketguys.com.

"Thinking Out Loud" High School Student Art Exhibition
2018-03-03 14:00 - 2018-03-24 16:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Pictured above, “Self Portrait” Jordan Goodwin, York School.

Thinking Out Loud, an exhibition of Monterey County high school student art, will be displayed in our gallery through March 24th, 2018. This year, over 100 students participated in our event. Below are photos of student artists with their work, taken at the show’s opening on March 3rd.
We would like to thank Allegro Pizza in the Barnyard and Il Fornaio in downtown Carmel for helping make our student artists’ open house a success.

“Well Lived” Raven Cook, Youth Arts Collective

“Til DEATH” Martin Aguirre, Everett Alvarez HIgh School
“Bloom” Jaia Linden Engel, Carmel High School

“Panther Grouper”Matthew Brady, Monterey High School

Thinking Out Loud 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 the Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 4:00 p.m.

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
2018-02-14 19:30 - 2018-03-04 14:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is the touching and human story of a formidable retired woman, Lily Harrison, who hires an acerbic dance instructor, Michael Minetti, to give her private dance lessons —one per week for six weeks— in her gulf-front condo in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. What begins as an antagonistic relationship blossoms into an intimate friendship as these two people from very different backgrounds reveal their secrets, fears, and joys while dancing the Swing, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, and Contemporary Dance. A comedy with music and dance, the play also addresses the serious issues of ageism and intolerance.
Since its Los Angeles premiere in 2001 and its Broadway opening in 2003, Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks has been translated into 14 languages and has enjoyed tremendous success both nationally and internationally. Directed by Deanna Ross and starring talented local actors Rosemary Luke and Lewis Rhames, this production marks the play’s Monterey Peninsula debut.
Tickets are $20, available through brownpapertickets.com, or call 831-644-9613 for reservations.
Preview: Wednesday, February 14th at 7:30PM – 2 for 1 ticket price.
Friday and Saturday, February 16 & 17, 23 & 24, and March 2 & 3 – Evening performances begin at 7:30PM.
Sunday, February 18, 25, and March 4 – Matinee performances begin at 2:00PM.

Monterey Comedy Improv
2018-01-26 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 will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 26th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts in Carmel.
The troupe take suggestions from the audience from a 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. As usual, the show will feature 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.

"Through Beginners Eyes" - Contemplative Photography
2018-01-12 17:00 - 2018-02-17 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Through Beginner’s Eyes, an exhibit exploring contemplative photography, opens Friday, January 12th with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.
Contemplative photography is a method of seeing and photographing the world in ways that reveal a richness and beauty that is often hidden from view. Instead of emphasizing subject matter or the technical aspects of photography, contemplative camera-work accentuates images based upon fresh perception. At turns abstract and abstruse or descriptive and precise, these images endeavor to describe the world in subtle and unexpected ways. Photographers featured in the exhibition range in style, intention, and time period, but all of their works share an evocation of the poetic.
Photographers for the exhibit include Blaine Ellis, Chester Ng, William Giles, Brad Cole, Jeff Nixon, Viktor Klinger, Richard Murai, and Roger Vail, among others. The exhibit can be seen Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 p.m. or by appointment through February 17th, 2018.
Image (above): Blaine Ellis

Image (below): Tower in Crete – William Giles

"A Few of Our Favorite Things" with the Cherry Trio
2017-12-30 15:00 - 16:30 | CA
The Cherry Trio will close our musical programs for 2017 with a performance of baroque and chamber music on Saturday, December 30th at 3:00 p.m.
The trio – Elizabeth Gaver, Penny Hanna, and Katie Clare Mazzeo – will explore the different expressions and approaches of European and American composers as they traveled on their musical journeys. The concept of a tonal center gave grounding and direction to the melodies and inner voices surrounding those excursions. Featured music will include works by LeClair, Buxtehude, Krieger, Fischer, and Rogers and Hammerstein, among others.

Tickets for the afternoon’s performance are $25.00, available online at brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. Last year’s program sold old quickly, so be sure to reserve your tickets today!

Director's Cut
2017-12-11 08:00 - 2017-12-16 17:00 | CA
Director’s Cut: Purchase Holiday Presents!

Director’s Cut, a three-day “pop-up” exhibit of recent paintings, photography and ceramic sculpture by board members and artistic friends of the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, will be held December 14th through December 16th. A reception will be held Friday, December 15th from 5 to 7 p.m. in the gallery. The event is free and open to the public.
All work will be for sale with proceeds benefiting the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. The exhibit offers a wide range of artistic styles, imagery and influences, including a variety of mediums ranging from traditional paintings and drawings to pieces created with elements of photography, collage and sculpture.
Artists and photographers include Dixie Dixon, Jan Wagstaff, Peter Hiller, Ellen Auvil, Robin Winfield, Mary Hill, Richard Cannon, Mary Liz Houseman and Jeffrey Houseman, among others. The exhibit will also include the “Over the Top and On the Tree” ornament show. This year’s themes include: Traditional Holiday, Sea Life and Beach; Celebrations Around the World; Multicultural, Judaica, Spiritual, Bohemia, Angels, Gadgets and Occupations, among others.

As well, carol singing, good cheer and joyfulness will ensue for the entire family!

A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Carl Cherry Center. The event is free and open to the public. Cherry Center for the Arts, 4th and Guadalupe, Carmel. Friday, December 18th, 5 to 7 p.m. (831) 624-7491; info@carlcherrycenter.org. www. Carlcherrycenter. org.

Along Came Betty - Jazz at The Cherry
2017-12-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Fresh off of a stellar performance at the 60th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, Along Came Betty returns to Jazz At The Cherry 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) have performed at many local and national jazz venues, including this year’s 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.
Wine, light fare, and incidentally — holiday cheer– all included in the ticket price. Tickets are $25, available online at brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
This event is sponsored in part by Morgan Winery.

Pictured (top row): Brian Stock, trumpet and flugelhorn; Paul Tarantino, saxophone; Biff Smith, piano
(bottom row) Heath Proskin, bass; Patrick Tregenza, drums

A Very Cherry Christmas
2017-12-01 07:30 - 2017-12-10 19:00 | CA
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts in Carmel will light up with the spirit of Christmas during the first two weekends in December when it presents Mark Shilstone-Laurent’s A Very Cherry Christmas. The first act consists of a performance of David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries featuring Mark Shilstone-Laurent in a hilarious one-man show chronicling the life of an elf in Macy’s Santaland. Act Two showcases a series of Christmas readings performed by local favorites MaryAnn Schaupp-Rousseau, John Newkirk and Julie Hughett.
The show plays December 1,2,3 & 8,9,10, with a 7:30 curtain Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday the 3rd is a 2pm matinee, Sunday the 10th starts at 7pm. Tickets are $20. For reservations call (831) 676-0148, or visit brownpapertickets.com. Proceeds will benefit the Sparrow Collaborative, an advocacy group for the homeless.
Of Sedaris, critics say, “With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that Sedaris is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.” Turn that talent loose on a story about a hired elf undergoing countless humiliations dealing with psychotic shoppers, stranger-than-fiction Santas and over-sexed co-workers, and you end up with a pretty dang Merry Christmas. Shilstone-Laurent plays the elf, Crumpet, and his son Tyler directs.
The second act of A Very Cherry Christmas features some of the area’s finest actors performing a number of classic (and not so classic) Christmas themed readings. Pieces from the works of Truman Capote and O’Henry provide the comfy sentimentality Christmas traditions call for, but a reading about a doomed Christmas pageant from Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle goes straight for the funny bone. Poems of the season round out the evening.

Top (l to r): Mark Shilstone-Laurent and Julie Hughett
Bottom: MaryAnn Schaupp-Rousseau and John Newkirk.

26 High Street: A Jack the Ripper Mystery
2017-11-17 19:30 - 2017-11-19 14:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Robert Colter, Thomas Burks, Sara Mar Don and Keith Decker star in two plays of mystery ideal for the Halloween season: Rob Foster’s “26 High Street: A Jack the Ripper Mystery,” in which retired London detective Frederick Abberline reveals the identity of the Ripper to an intrepid news reporter, and Poe’s classic “Masque of the Red Death,” of a Royal Prince waiting out the passing of The Plague with his cabal of revelers, all locked in his high castle, only to discover at the last, that the Reaper has gained entrance. An evening of fanciful terror, period music, and great performances by favorite local Central Coast talent. Directed by Carey Crockett
Tickets are $20 general admission, and $15 for seniors, students, and military, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 601-7460.
Friday and Saturday at 7:30PM: November 17th and 18th
Sunday matinee at 2:00PM: November 19

The Merging of Difference and Unity - Three Artists Approaching Abstraction
2017-11-17 17:00 - 2017-12-10 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Wave – Kim Campbell, brass screen, patina, 18 x 18
The Merging of Difference and Unity, a three-person exhibit exploring varied approaches toward non-objective painting, opens Friday, November 17th, with an artists reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
This exhibition explores the diverse methods and attitudes towards non-objective art from three varied perspectives. From the forceful brushwork of Yari Ostovany to the contemplative canvases of Jeanne D’Orge (Mrs. Carl Cherry) and the enigmatic spatial forms of Kim Campbell. The variety of materials and techniques included in this presentation testifies to abstraction’s enduring potential as a form of artistic expression.
The exhibit can be seen Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 p.m.; Saturdays, 12 to 4 p.m. or by appointment through December 10th.
The Oracle II – Yari Ostovany, oil on canvas, 36 x 42

Golden Ratio X
2017-11-10 19:30 - 2017-11-11 19:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Golden Ratio X, a multimedia literary event of divine proportion, will be performed Friday, November 10th, and Saturday, November 11th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel.
The story of Golden Ratio X takes place in the mind of Blaze, a stripper who must rectify her own identity and sense of purpose at the Mitchell Brothers’ O’Farrell Theatre, San Francisco, circa 1986. In dressing room scenes, dancers discuss issues of spirituality versus the universal truths of the Golden Ratio. Other scenes take place in the theatre audience, where Blaze navigates the complicated nuances of lap dancing. Dancers will perform in the style of 1980’s striptease in between acted scenes. The story deals with mature subject matter, but is not X-rated.
Two performances only: Friday, November 10th, and Saturday, November 11th, at 7:30PM. Tickets are $23.00, available on brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
The Cast:
Janice Blaze Rocke (writer, director, producer, narrator) is a graduate of CSUMB where she studied Creative Writing/Social Action while single-parenting two children. She’s produced theme-based variety shows; filmed and edited videos; written short stories, plays and screenplays; and created a vast array of art. Her novel, Resurrections in the Dark, is loosely based on her life. She has also written for Polygon online magazine. She produces multi-media literary-based events on the peninsula with other enthusiastic writers, artists, dancers, actors, videographers, and technical wizards.
Deena Welch (Blaze) has been living in Monterey for ten years. Locally, she’s performed in The Exonerated and Deathtrap at The Magic Circle Theatre, Bug at Paper Wing, several Storybook shows at MPC, and Alice in Wonderland at The Outdoor Forest Theatre. Before moving to Monterey, she participated in local theatre in San Diego.
Carrie Collier (Vanessa, the wise “older” stripper) studied acting at PCPA in Santa Maria, CA, Hartnell College, and at CSU Chico, and improvisation at The Groundlings and Second City, both in Hollywood, CA. She played several leads in the short-lived Fox television series Totally Hidden Video and on Making Yourself at Home on PBS. Carrie has appeared in multiple plays in San Francisco, most notably Martha in Bar None, which ran for four years. She played the title role in Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander at the Western Stage, Elizabeth in Laundry and Bourbon, and Lizzie in The Rainmaker.
Thomas Burks (as “the other kind of man”) was born on a small farm outside of a small town in West Texas. He began writing music in his early twenties, and acting in his early thirties. Burks has written several monologues and a play, A Farmboy Mantra. He is currently working on Atticus and Matilda, a second installment of Farmboy based on two mentally challenged siblings in rural Texas.
Carri Newhouse (Raja) is a Pacific Grove native who dances beneath the fireworks at the Feast of Lanterns Pageant, and onstage with the M.P.C. Dance Department. Fulfilling a childhood dream of waking this sleepy town, Newhouse promotes flow arts with Monterey Fire & Flow, a group who cultivate juggling and dancing with fire. She is also co-creator of the dance tribe HipNautic Flowers, in which both her daughters perform.
Rachel Corvese (Trina, a young stripper) has always loved dance! She has performed with a competitive Hip Hop team for five years, and trained recreationally in jazz for nine years. Currently, Corvese performs with the Monterey Fire and Flow community. She hopes to continue to expand her horizons in dance and the arts for many more years to come.

Now Accepting Submissions for Our Annual Ornament Show and Silent Auction
2017-11-03 17:00 - 2017-12-12 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Artists, sculptors, ceramicists and crafters, start your imaginations!
The Carl Cherry Center is looking for unique, high quality, handmade ornaments for our second annual “Over the Top and On the Tree” ornament show and silent auction. The public will be able to view and bid on ornaments during our holiday show, Director’s Cut, which runs December 14th through the 16th, 2017.
Here is your chance to create original handcrafted ornaments to be displayed for sale throughout the show. We are offering a 60/40 consignment split (60% to the artist, 40% to the Cherry’s general fund).
Please send pictures of your ornament sample to yblnwj7965@sbcglobal.net — or drop one off at our gallery office, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel — with your name, contact information, price point, and quantity you are willing to make. Ornament submissions must be received no later than December 12th at 5:00PM.
This year’s themes are used as guidelines to inspire creativity, however, we are willing to consider any ornament presented.

Traditional Holiday – White X-mas, Glamour, & Rustic

Carmel Holiday– Sea Life & Beach

Celebrations Around the World – Multicultural, Judaica, Spiritual, Angels, Zen

Goodies, Gadgets, and Occupations – Ex: Foodies, Techies, Teachers, Fishermen, Musicians, etc.

Kids

Birds, Birdhouses, and Woodland Creatures

Cherry-themed/Bohemia

Jazz At The Cherry - Monterey Jazz Festival High School All-Star Alumni - "Blue Clay"
2017-10-29 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Blue Clay, the best of young jazz in Monterey County, will be appearing in the Cherry Hall Theater on Sunday, October 29th, at 3:00PM. The trio – Aaron Georis (bass), Davíd Sanchez (keyboards), Felix Diaz-Contreras (trombone) – is composed of members from the Monterey Jazz Festival High School All-Star Alumni band.
Tickets for the event are $20, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831 624-7491. The ticket price includes refreshments and light fare.
Meet the trio:
Aaron Georis is a junior at Carmel High School. Aaron has been playing bass for about five years and has been a participant in MJF Summer Jazz Camp for five years. Aaron’s interest in Jazz began in middle school when the MJF Traveling Clinicians program conducted workshops for the students. Aaron plays on his school water polo team and is currently in the Monterey County High School All Star Band.
Davíd Sanchez attends school at Monterey High School. Davíd has been playing piano for 11 years, and jazz for six. He became interested in jazz when he heard his older brother practicing his trumpet charts from the Monterey County All-Star Band. He has participated in the traveling clinicians program as a member of the Pacific Grove Jazz Club and currently plays with the Monterey County All-Star Band.
Felix Diaz-Contreras is a senior at Pacific Grove High School. Felix has been playing trombone since sixth grade. When you ask Felix why he became interested in Jazz, his answer is – “It’s very spontaneous and I love the connection and community of it in which everyone isn’t getting mad together and actually making music together. It’s swingin’ man!” Felix was a young ambitious trombone player in 6th grade when he entered his middle school jazz program and met the traveling clinicians. He then went to jazz camp. “I love MJF and I wouldn’t be where I am with all my great friends and amazing teachers without it.” Felix is also a member of the SF Jazz All Stars.

Celebrating the Cherry
2017-10-14 16:00 - 19:00 | CA
“Celebrating the Cherry,” our annual fall fundraiser, will take place in our gallery on Saturday, October 14th, from 4:00 to 7:00PM The event will honor our executive director, Robert Reese, for his ongoing commitment to fostering non-commercial, contemporary artistic expression in Monterey County.
We’ve put together a guaranteed showstopper, with a magician, music, tarot reader, silent auction, and stellar food and wine.
Please be sure to join us for this festive event! Tickets are $45, available through BrownPaperTickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.

Pictured: Carl Cherry Center for the Arts’ founder Jeanne D’Orge. Photo by Wynn Bullock

POSTPONED - Barbara Brussell in "This Moment"
2017-10-06 19:00 - 2017-10-07 19:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Barbara Brussell’s October 6th and 7th performances have been postponed due to illness. We will post new dates and times when available.
Cabaret-by the-Sea presents award-winning cabaret singer Barbara Brussell returning to The Cherry with an original new show, “This Moment.” Two nights only: Friday, October 6th and Saturday, October 7th at 7:00PM. Ms. Brussell will be accompanied by musical director George Peterson.
In This Moment, Barbara explores her impressions and passions past and present, selecting “any song that tells my story, from the Great American Songbook, Broadway, or contemporary songwriters known and un-known.” The show honors singers and songwriting friends, including the show’s title song written by John Wallowitch. Other tributes will include singer-actresses Julie Wilson and Claiborne Cary; lyricist Ron Miller; composer Michael “Mickey” Leonard; and a nod of recognition to Mary Martin, Mary Cleere Haran and the late-great Barbara Cook.
Tickets are $25 at BrownPaperTickets.com, or $30 at the door. For more information, please call (646) 298-4772.

"chatter"
2017-10-06 17:00 - 2017-11-03 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
“chatter,” an exhibition by George Raggett and Pilar Conde, opens October 6th, 2017 with an artists’ reception from 5:00 – 7:00pm. The event is free and open to the public.
For this exhibition, Raggett and Conde’s work examines – literally – the structural devices of discourse. The works illuminate, privilege, and fetishize formal elements of our current communication systems. Unlike email, texting, and twitter feeds, the artworks lack actual words, phrases, sentences, or questions, instead remaining open to interpretation. Under the influence of minimalism, they slow down today’s hectic pace of chatter. Different materials, textures and colors, create different moods; expanding the emotional range of the exhibition. From rendering texting as “solids,” to the punctuation of a Spanish language question framing a “gateway,” the often harsh politics of today’s twitter rants and anti-immigrant rhetoric hover provocatively in the background of each piece.
The exhibition will run through November 3rd, 2017.
About the Artists:
Married in 2001, Raggett and Conde currently reside in Brooklyn, New York. This is their second joint exhibition, the first for Welsh/Beck Gallery (former Richard Neutra offices) in the Silver Lake region of Los Angeles.
George Raggett received his BA from UC Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies, and MFA from Bard College. He has exhibited widely, including the Hammer Museum, Happy Lion Gallery, Cirrus Gallery and ACME in Los Angeles; and La Mama, Triple Candie, White Columns in New York CIty.
Pilar Conde received her BA from Virginia Commonwealth University, MFA from Columbia University, and attended the Skowhegan Residency program. She has exhibited widely, including Claremont University, Cirrus Gallery, and Kristi Engle Gallery in Los Angeles; and PS1 MOMA, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Soloway in New York City.
Pictured: “Awkward Conversation 2” – George Raggett

Story Road
2017-10-04 19:30 - 21:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Story Road, a collaboration between four of America’s premier Irish traditional musicians, will perform at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts on Wednesday, October 4th at 7:30 p.m. Ticket are $20.00, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
Each member of the band – John Weed, Stuart Mason, Colleen Raney and Ryan Davidson – is individually unparalleled, and together blend the best of their talents to create a musical experience rooted in tradition, yet lively, vibrant, and diverse. A Story Road performance is a master class in the story, heart, and music from both sides of the Atlantic. With tour dates throughout California from September 29th through October 8th, audiences from Redding to Los Angeles have the opportunity to see Story Road in concert. You won’t want to miss it!
About the band:
Colleen Raney has toured extensively both at home and abroad, and has recently been touring as a guest vocalist for the internationally recognized Irish band, Solas. Highlights have included The KVMR Grass Valley Celtic Festival, Winston-Salem Celtic Festival, Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts, and Seattle’s respected Northwest Folklife Festival, where she was a regular performer from 1980 – 2012. Her music can be heard on radio from Italy, to Ireland, to New York, to Hawaii, to Japan and all parts in between.
John Weed and Stuart Mason are members of Molly’s Revenge, a dynamic, acoustic Celtic band known for its unique and infectious enthusiasm. Molly’s Revenge has performed at many of the top folk festivals and performing arts events in the USA, and prestigious events in Australia, Scotland, and China. They have released 11 albums and appeared on stage with John Doyle, Liz Carroll, Aaron Jones, and other top Celtic artists. “There is an engaging freshness and yet an impressive maturity in their playing,” said National Heritage Award recipient Mick Moloney.
An accomplished fiddler across genres, John Weed has lived in Ireland and immersed himself in the traditional styles of Clare and Donegal. The result is an old-time Irish fiddling style that compliments his forays into bluegrass, swing, and other American music. Stuart Mason has been collecting and performing traditional music for over 30 years. He has appeared on stage from Ireland to China performing Celtic, old time bluegrass, and his original compositions, which have won awards from the West Coast Songwriters Association.
Talented multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist, Ryan Davidson has been performing across genres in the US and Europe for the last 2 decades. After years spent in Ireland; graduating the University of Limerick; studying jazz at the Bob Cole Conservatory, and performing with countless traditional, folk, rock and blues artists, he has developed a dynamic, diverse, and complimentary style that has lent him to collaborate on over 20 albums with prominent performers in a variety of genres.
Complete tour information, including dates and locations can be found at storyroadband.com.

Red Oak Duo
2017-10-01 15:00 - 16:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Red Oak Duo, featuring Storm Nilson (guitar) and Adam Benjamin (piano), will perform Sunday, October 1st, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel. The duo will debut music from their newly-released second full-length album,”Seven American Monuments” (Orenda Records). Their music captures the aesthetic of rural America in a rich palette of acoustic, electric and electronic sounds.

One performance only: Sunday, October 1st, at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $20.00, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
About the duo:
Storm Nilson has recorded, taught, and played music throughout the US and Canada for the past thirteen years. He performed with some of the world’s top jazz musicians, including Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Steve Cardenas, and longtime friend and mentor Bruce Forman. Nilson was guest artist and traveling clinician for the Monterey Jazz Festival and JazzMasters Workshops, and has toured extensively on both coasts and all points in between.
Adam Benjamin is a Grammy-nominated and critically acclaimed pianist, keyboardist, composer and educator based in Reno, Nevada. Recognized as a “Rising Star in Jazz” by DownBeat Magazine’s critics poll and readers poll for eight years running, Benjamin’s unmistakable sound crosses stylistic boundaries and challenges traditional notions of jazz.

Monterey County Artists Open Studio Tour
2017-09-23 11:00 - 2017-09-24 11:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts will be participating in the 2017 Monterey County Artists Open Studio Tour, an annual self-guided tour of artist studios and exhibition spaces, on September 23rd and 24th from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This year, the exhibit will include sculptures, mosaics, paintings ceramics, and etchings by local artists Vivienne Riggio, Carole Pavlo, and Christine Watten. The event is free, and open to the public.
Riggio’s contributions to the exhibit include a distinctive body of work influenced by the Italian Renaissance, Charles James, and what she describes as “outpourings from the ocean and nature’s leftovers.” Her signature shapes are torsos and bustiers, given form through three media: sculptures, mosaics, and two-dimensional acrylics.
Among the selected works to be featured by Pavlo are “twin” bronze sculptures expressing grief and sorrow at their most primal levels. Also on display will be her moving black and white etching of the Madonna and child, abstract oils and acrylics, and landscape art, revealing the range and depth of this artist’s works.
Watten’s paintings reflect her fascination with the contrast of forms, shadow, and light ever present in the California landscape. The inspiration for her other art forms, glass and clay, comes from her work with plants as a landscaper, and her love of folk art and abstract design. Watten’s work completes what promises to be an inspirational and enriching exhibit.
The Center, located at Guadalupe and Fourth Streets in Carmel, will welcome the public to view these works at no charge from 11am to 5pm on Saturday, September 23rd and Sunday September 24th. Make sure to stop in to see this display of distinctive original art as a part of your weekend activities.

A Farmboy Mantra
2017-09-22 19:30 - 2017-09-30 19:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Local singer/songwriter Thomas Burks is joined by favorite local actors to present “A Farm Boy Mantra” at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts for four performance only: September 22, 23, 29th & 30th at 7:30 p.m.
Funny, poignant, and at times, gritty, Thomas portrays life growing up in West Texas through story, song and film. He shines a spotlight on the role redemption plays in his characters’ lives and appreciation for little gifts often overlooked. Jill Jackson, Christopher Graham, Mary Spence, Leslie Lancaster, and Sara Marden round out the cast. Directed by Nina Capriola
Tickets are $20 general admission, and $10 for students, military, and seniors, available through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.

Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts Poetry Reading
2017-09-08 19:30 - 21:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts will be reading selections from his latest book, White Fire, at 7:30PM on Friday, September 8th, at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel. The collection of poems was published in May of this year by The Ping-Pong Free Press of the Henry Miller Memorial Library.
Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts is the author of two chapbooks of poetry, To Mary (after eight) and The Sweet Taste; co-editor of the college text Bridges; co-editor/co-translator of two works from the Telugu, Sudha (Nectar) by Chalam and The Selected Verses of Vemana, both of which have been accepted into UNESCO’s Collection of Representative works: Indian Series; and co-author of Bowing to Receive the Mountain: Essays by Lin Jensen and Poetry by Elliot Roberts. His poetry has appeared in various journals and anthologies.
Professor Emeritus at Monterey Peninsula College where he taught composition, literature, public speaking and humanities for 32 years, Ruchowitz-Roberts serves as Vice President of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation in Carmel, California. He also coordinates the Foundation’s annual Prize for Poetry and its annual reading series, and serves as a tour docent. He coordinated the National Endowment for the Arts “The Big Read: The Poetry of Robinson Jeffers,” during which he read and performed Jeffers’s poetry at venues throughout Monterey County, including local libraries, high schools and colleges.
Suggested donation for the event is $15.00.

Barbara Brussell in "This Moment"
2017-08-26 08:00 - 17:00 | CA
“Cabaret by the Sea” presents award-winning cabaret singer Barbara Brussell returning to The Cherry with an original new show, “This Moment.” Two nights only: 7:00PM on Friday, October 6th and Saturday, October 7th. Ms. Brussell will be accompanied by musical director George Peterson.
In This Moment, Barbara explores her impressions and passions, past and present, selecting “any song that tells my story, from the Great American Songbook, Broadway, or contemporary songwriters known and un-known.” The show honors singers and songwriting friends of Brussell’s, including the title song written by John Wallowitch. Other tributes will include singer-actresses Julie Wilson and Claiborne Cary, lyricist Ron Miller, composer Michael “Mickey” Leonard, and a nod of recognition to Mary Martin, Mary Cleere Haran and the recently late-great Barbara Cook.
Tickets are $25 at BrownPaperTickets.com, or $30 at the door. For more information, please call (646) 298-4772.

Monterey at 60! A Visual Feast
2017-08-18 17:00 - 2017-09-15 16:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Monterey at 60! A Visual Feast, an exhibit exploring 60 years of Monterey Jazz Festival posters, opens Friday, August 18th at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, August 18th. The event is free and open to the public.
Showcasing six decades of Monterey Jazz Festival images, Monterey at 60! tells the story of the festival through its graphic imagery and photographic moments, capturing the experience through posters, program covers dating back to 1958.
Alongside sixty years of some of the greatest jazz in the United States, the exhibit will showcase posters which embody the spirit of the Festival as a whole: posters which represent all the great music and the complementary “scene” that exists just outside the venues hosting that music.
The Monterey Jazz Festival posters were created by graphic artists, such as Earl Newman, throughout the Festival’s history and have become an iconic and fitting symbol of 60 years of great music and food, folklore, and human fellowship. The posters have come to herald each year’s musical fare–unveiled annually when the artists to appear were first announced. Collaboration on the part of graphic artists established a unique Festival brand, one of its icons a trumpet stationed on a chair, often with a sylvan ocean setting in the background. This feast of posters reflects the beauty and abundance of music that graced Monterey Jazz Festival stages, and the multitude of fans who have embraced the music.
The exhibit can be seen through September 15th during gallery hours: Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 p.m.; Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m.

Composers at The Cherry
2017-07-22 13:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Sit back and let some of Monterey County’s most eloquent composers guide you through the glories and mysteries of their creative process. Join us as acclaimed local composers Alan Silvestri, Mark Mancina, John Wineglass, and Nico Georis share the backstories, insights and highlights of their musical careers. Gaston Georis will be the afternoon’s moderator.
$80 per person. available through Brown Paper Tickets. Ticket price includes wine and light fare. All proceeds benefit the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts.
Information: (831) 624-7491.
This event is sponsored by Pescadero Mexican Restaurant, Carmel.
