2021 Thinking Out Loud Regional Art Competition
2021-03-13 - 2021-05-11 | Online Event, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA, 93921, United States
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is proud to announce the 2021 Thinking Out Loud, a regional art competition that challenges high school students to create works inspired by their lives. Students from across Monterey County were invited to digitally display their artwork across a wide range of media. Visit the online exhibit here.

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: “Apple of My Eye” – Claire Giffen

Days of Heaven: Jeanne D'Orge and Brad Schwieger
2021-02-19 - 2021-03-26 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Days of Heaven: Jeanne D’Orge and Brad Schwieger art exhibition opens Friday, February 19, 2021. The exhibit can be seen during regular gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4:00 pm or by appointment.
One of Carmel’s preeminent visual storytellers, Mrs. Carl Cherry (Jeanne D’Orge) employed Modernist forms and muted colors to narrate an internal experience so readily indefinable in her paintings of processions, landscapes, rituals and ceremonies. This month, the Cherry Center unites one of Cherry’s most groundbreaking series—Paintings Under Glass (1947–1954)—with the ceramic work of Brad Schwieger.
Cherry’s use of blues and greens, contrasting with the whites of the figures, grants the work a nocturnal, dreamlike quality. Some critics have questioned the extent to which the piece draws on spiritual principles, suggesting instead that it might depict figures from Mrs. Cherry’s own imaginative pantheon, as its visionary intensity seems to suggest. The work is complemented by Mr. Schwieger’s large, vase-like ceramic sculptures, which suggest and refer to the Mrs. Cherry’s figures.
Brad Schwieger has participated in more than 300 exhibitions including: The Seto Ceramics and Art Glass Center, Seto Japan, 2002; The 2nd Cheongju International Craft Competition, Korea, 2001; American Shino, Babcock Galleries, New York, New York, 2000 Different Stokes: International Wood Fired Ceramics Invitational, at The University of Iowa Museum of Art in Iowa City, among others. He was an Artist in Residence at The Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana and the Watershed Center for Ceramics in Maine, both in 1998. He has conducted more than 50 workshops and lectured across the United States, Europe and Asia. His work has been published and reviewed in American Craft, Ceramics Monthly, and many other periodicals and books.
The exhibit will run in the gallery through March 26, 2021.

The Nine Days of Artmas
2020-12-11 - 2020-12-19 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Nine Days of Artmas — a “pop-up” exhibit and silent auction of 40 paintings, photography and sculptures by artistic friends of the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts — will be held December 11th through December 19th. Artwork can be viewed online and in the Cherry Center during regular gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Be advised masks are required and all times and gallery entrance limited to three visitors at one time to follow social distancing guidelines.
All work will be for sale with proceeds benefitting 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 Eleen Auvil, Dixie Dixon, Robin Sawyer, Jan Wagstaff, Peter Hiller, Robin Winfield, Ginger Chih, Eduardo Fujii, Jim Dultz, Richard Cannon, Mary Liz Houseman and many others.
VISIT ARTMAS ONLINE
Pictured: “Botanical” – Christel Dilbohner (online only)

CALL FOR ARTWORK - Nine Days of Artmas
2020-11-24 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Artists, photographers and sculptors in all media are invited to contribute to the Carl Cherry Center’s annual fundraiser, The Nine Days of Artmas. The event will be held online and in the gallery December 11-19, 2020. During that time, community members, friends and family will be invited to view the artwork and purchase in support of their favorites.
To contribute artwork to The Nine Days of Artmas, please call our office at (831) 624-7491 or email cherry_center@yahoo.com.

Monterey County Gives! 2020
2020-11-12 - 2020-12-31 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
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. Just the knowledge and reassurance the Cherry Center is still here is good for our spiritual health, even if we only set foot through its doors once a year.
The Carl Cherry Center is committed to discovering outstanding new artists, writers and performers from all over the county and presenting programs and exhibits in ways that celebrate their worth. Since 1948, the center has remained an iconic locus of arts and ideas in Monterey County, from its intimate stage to its pristine gallery to its serene gardens.
If you’ve ever encountered something engaging or thoughtful or surprising in our gallery and theater, or realized a new perspective on the world, we hope you will show your support by making a donation to MCGives and the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts. A contribution through the MCGives! program can increase your gift with generous matching funds. Please add to the contributions of 100% of our Board of Directors and make a donation today.
Robert Reese, Executive Director
Cece McCoy, President
DONATE NOW

Art Sparks Online Newsletter
2020-11-07 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Read the current issue of our weekly online newsletter here.

The Breakfast Group — A Second Cup of Coffee in Carmel
2020-11-06 - 2020-12-05 | The Carl Cherry Center, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
The Breakfast Group –A Second Cup of Coffee in Carmel art exhibition opens at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts on Friday, November 6th, 2020. The exhibition covers a broad spectrum of visual exploration. The Breakfast Group, a cohort of Berkeley artists who have been meeting weekly for decades, hosted a virtual artists reception on Friday, November 6th – watch the video here. Additionally, a Virtual Breakfast with The Breakfast Group was held on Saturday, November 14th – watch the video here.
The Breakfast Group have been working in their studios, teaching in classrooms, curating in local institutions and then joining every week for discussions of exhibitions they have seen, books they have read, and films they have viewed. They mix the topical of sports with the immediacy of politics and circle back to the ever-present workings of the art world – all with a good cup of coffee in hand.
A Second Cup of Coffee in Carmel will feature works by Donna Fenstermaker, Lin Fischer, John Friedman, Nancy Genn, Katie Hawkinson, Stan Huncilman, Carol Ladewig, P.G. Meier, Loren Rehbock, Robert Simons, Joseph Slusky, Kim Thoman, Sandy Walker, and Jan Wurm.
The exhibit can be seen online here and the Cherry Center’s gallery on Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel, through Saturday, December 5th, 2020. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4:00 pm or by appointment.

Pictured: The Breakfast Group
Pictured, top: “French Potted Plant 2” – Lin Fischer

Exhibit: In the Shadow of Corona
2020-09-04 - 2020-10-16 | Online Event, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA, 93921, United States
Isolation is rapidly re-configuring how we understand shelter, and sense of place. For better and worse, shelter-in-place is defining who we are. Home can be a sanctuary—representing protection from a vague, lethal menace, but can also be something akin to a jail cell. All of us are meeting new uncertainties—social, emotional, spiritual and economic. In this anxious moment, photography can help draw meaning from our experience.
“In the Shadow of Corona,” a group exhibit exploring the social, psychological and imaginative responses to COVID-19 and shelter-in-place, is scheduled to open at the Cherry Center Friday, September 4, 2020. The exhibition explores issues related to isolation, creative adaptation, novel ways to connect and vision for the future. An online version of this exhibition can be viewed here.
ImageMakers participating in the exhibit include Mary Aiu, Janet Beaty, Dixie Dixon, Richard Cannon, Ginger Chih, Matt Connors, Eduardo Fujii, Ruth Grimes, Louis Hembree, Bert Ihlenfeld, Roger Lundblad, Jeanne Marino, Carolyn Moore, Rick Murai, Robert Nielsen, Mark Overgaard, Peter Paluzzi, Ken Parker, Jacqui Turner, Steve Zmak, and Victor Klinger.
The exhibit has been extended through Friday, October 16, 2020 during gallery hours: Wednesday through Friday, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm, or by appointment. In observance of social distancing guidelines, the gallery will be limited to two guests at one time. Masks are required.
Pictured: “Four Granite Boulders, Bald Rock, Berry Creek, California” – Kenneth Parker

Online Poetry Reading: In the Shadow of Corona
2020-08-30 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online Event, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA, 93921, United States
In the Shadow of Corona, a poetry reading exploring the Covid-19 Pandemic, will be held Sunday, August 30th at 3 p.m. on Zoom. Monterey County poets Jennifer Lagier Fellguth, George Lober, Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts and Patrice Vecchione will read recent poems drawn from the pandemic and shelter-in-place.
As we are coming to terms with the pandemic in Monterey County, many of us are pivoting to literature as a way of understanding and confronting the virus and its challenges. Poetry can help us meet and digest something that may seem too large and formidable to process. At the same time, the best poetry grasps moments of our ordinary lives in difficult times and renders them extraordinary.
$15 suggested donation. For login and password, please write cherry_center@yahoo.com. For questions regarding this program, use this email address or call (831) 624-7491.

Top (L to R): Patrice Vecchione, George Lober
Bottom (L to R): Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts, Jennifer Lagier Fellguth

About the Poets:
George Lober is the author of “The Bridge to There,” and “Shift of Light.” Lober is a recipient of the nationally awarded Ruth Cable Memorial Prize for Poetry. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and journals.
Jennifer Lagier Fellguth is an Italian American writer, poet, and retired college librarian/instructor. Her scholarly essays on digital resources and online education have been published in peer-reviewed journals; her poetry has appeared in many literary magazines and blogs. She is the author of seventeen books of poetry
Patrice Vecchione is the author of “Writing and the Spiritual Life,” as well as two books of poetry. She has taught creative writing and collage workshops at universities, libraries, in community and spiritual centers, including Esalen Institute, and privately for over thirty years.
Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts is the author of two chapbooks of poetry, To Mary (after eight and The Sweet Taste; 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. White Fire, a collection of his poems, was published in 2017.

Imagining Carmel
2020-06-26 - 2020-08-29 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Northwest Corner, 4th and Guadalupe, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, 93921, United States
The Cherry Center gallery is temporarily closed to observe state COVID-19 mandates.
Imagining Carmel, an exhibit focusing on the main turning points in the cultural history of the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, opens Friday, June 26th, during new gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm.
The exhibition will feature poetry and artwork by Jeanne d’Orge, founder of Cherry Center, and other Carmel artists of the era. Over thirty paintings, drawings and photographs from the center’s collection will be on display, as well as historical photographs and memorabilia of the center and Carmel-by-the-Sea.
To practice safe social distancing, we will limit the number of visitors in the gallery at one time, and follow all mandatory state and local COVID-19 regulations. For any questions before your visit, please call (831) 624-7491.
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.”

POSTPONED Rick Forschino Trio - Jazz at The Cherry
2020-03-21 15:00 - 17:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Northwest Corner, 4th and Guadalupe, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, 93921, United States
This program is postponed. A new date will be posted shortly.
Jazz at The Cherry is proud to present the Rick Forschino Trio. Together, they will cover the work of renowned jazz artist, Michel Petrucciani. During his brief thirty-six year life, Petrucciani stunned the jazz world with his expansive compositions and stylistic renditions. His unbounded approach to the medium inspired Monterey Jazz Festival icon, Charles Lloyd, to come out of retirement in 1982 and begin touring with him.
Rick Forschino’s arrangements artfully capture the musical spirit and essence of Petrucciani’s work. This wonderful program will also include a few compositions by master Italian jazz pianist, Enrico Pieranunzi. Joining Rick will be bassist, Bill DeLap, and drummer, Greg Janusz.
Please join us for some great music, wine, and light fare–all included in the ticket price. Saturday, March 21st, 2020. 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.

Thinking Out Loud - Monterey County High School Art Exhibition
2020-03-07 - 2020-03-28 | 4th and Guadalupe, Carmel, CA, 93921, United States
Thinking Out Loud, our annual Monterey County high school student art exhibition, opens Saturday, March 7th, 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 28th, 2020, 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: Caitlin Sullivan, Santa Catalina

Janka
2020-01-24 19:00 - 2020-01-26 14:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Janka Project and the Fresno Arts Council in conjunction with the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts present Janka, an eyewitness account of the Holocaust journey of Janka Festinger. This powerful performance will put you into the middle of Hitler’s Final Solution. The play was written by Janka’s son, Oscar Speace, and stars Janice Noga in the title role.
Janka’s courageous journey of survival and hope, through two of history’s most notorious death camps – Auschwitz and Dachau, to the shores of the United States and the embrace of the American Dream, is adapted from a sixty page hand-written letter describing the events following the Nazis’ internment of Romanian Jews in 1944.
Performances are Friday and Saturday, January 24 & 25 at 7:00pm and Sunday, January 26 at 2:00pm. The Cherry Hall Theater is located at Guadalupe & 4th, Carmel. Tickets are $25, available on brownpapertickets.com.
About the Cast:
Janice Noga
Janice has performed her concerts at theaters in Central California and clubs in New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and London. She was a founding partner with Jeanette Bryon of Valley Women’s Theater.
For more information about JANKA, go to JankaProject.com.

SOLD OUT Comedy Variety Showcase
2020-01-18 19:30 - 21:30 | CA
Attention Comedy Lovers: Come watch some of the best local comedic acts performing various styles of comedy such as stand up, sketch, improv, stories and more. We can all use a good laugh these days! Celebrate with us after the show with cake and sparkling beverage! For more information, visit comedyvarietyshowcase.com
Tickets are $15 general admission, available on brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. Saturday, January 18th at 7:30pm. Carl Cherry Theatre for the Arts.
Program Note: Some material may not be suitable for children.

About the Director:
Maria Dawson was born and raised on the Monterey Peninsula. She started acting and directing at Monterey Peninsula College. Maria began her teaching career as an intern under the late Marcia Hovick, and Marianne Rousseau at Children’s Experimental Theatre in Carmel, and mentorship with actor/director John Farmanesh-Boca, before receiving a MAE, with an emphasis in theatre from CSUMB.
Maria has been teaching theatre arts to all ages for over 20 years. Her résumé includes the Magic Circle Theatre in Carmel Valley for the late Elsa Con and the School of Dramatic Arts in Carmel. Maria has also been performing live, improvisational theatre for the same amount of time. She was a founding member of Monterey Playback Theatre, Women of Whimsy (WOW), the Mirth O’ Matics (MOM), and is a current member of Monterey Comedy Improv. She is now setting her sights on a new adventure of bringing together different genres of local comedic performers to showcase their talents with Comedy Variety Showcase.

Natural Histories
2020-01-17 17:00 - 2020-02-22 16:00 | CA
Natural Histories, an exhibit celebrating western landscape in painting and photography, opens Friday, January 17th, with an artists reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition will include recent paintings by Paul Roehl and photography by Claire Lerner.
Organized to explore various styles and themes in landscape painting and photography, Natural Histories investigates the relationship between abstraction and landscape painting, the effects of photography on landscapes, and the consideration of the materiality in both mediums. The exhibit reflects the complex and ambiguous relationship between humans and the environment—a relationship of particular importance here in the West.
The exhibit can be seen Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 p.m., Saturdays, 12 noon to 4 p.m. or by appointment through February 22nd, 2020.
Pictured above: “Carmel” – Paul Roehl

Sphere of Mortal Life Series # 7 – Claire Lerner
About the Artists:
Claire Lerner was born and raised in New York, New York. She received her MFA and BFA in Fine Art from both the State University of New York at Buffalo and the State University College at Buffalo. After graduate school Claire moved to California where she was a member of the photography faculty at Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, California for ten years. In 2000 she began teaching black and white darkroom photography, alternative photographic processes, studio art, and digital arts at the Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California. Her work has been collected by a broad range of private and public institutions, including the Monterey Museum of Art, Visa Corporation, Redwood City, CA, Cowell College, UCSC, PMI, Corporate Headquarters, Walnut Creek, CA, Kaiser Permanente, and the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA.
Paul Roehl was raised in California, primarily in the South Bay Area. He received an MA in painting and an MFA in pictorial arts from San Jose State University. He has taught college level painting, printmaking and drawing as well as art history and art appreciation for over twenty years. His work has been shown at the San Jose Art Museum, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Monterey Museum of Art and the Berkeley Art Center. Though his primary interest is in contemporary non-objective or abstract imagery, he enjoys sketching plein-air and accurately recreating the techniques and style of late 19th and early 20th century landscape painters. He also turns to earlier Barbizon school painters for inspiration as well as American tonalist painters such as George Innes and William Keith. He finds the visual poetry of these artists’ subtle, fresh and inspiring

Open Auditions - Comedy Variety Showcase
2020-01-06 17:30 - 18:30 | CA
“Our mission is to inspire, create, and deliver entertaining comedy experiences in an intimate theatre setting.”

Open Auditions: 5:30-6:30pm on Monday, December 23rd, 30th, and January 6th. Carl Cherry Theatre, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel.
Comedy Variety Showcase will feature comedic acts and embrace every style of comedy performance such as stand-up, sketch, improv, storytelling, impressions and more. No experience required. Anyone ages 16 and up who can make us laugh will have the chance to perform. The live show will take place at The Cherry on Saturday, January 18, 2020.
For more information, please contact Maria Dawson at 831-646-1188, email comedyvarietyshowcase@gmail.com, or visit their website: comedyvarietyshowcase.com.

About the Director:
Maria Dawson was born and raised on the Monterey Peninsula. She started acting and directing at Monterey Peninsula College. Maria began her teaching career as an intern under the late Marcia Hovick, and Marianne Rousseau at Children’s Experimental Theatre in Carmel, and mentorship with actor/director John Farmanesh-Boca, before receiving a MAE, with an emphasis in theatre from CSUMB.
Maria has been teaching theatre arts to all ages for over 20 years. Her résumé includes the Magic Circle Theatre in Carmel Valley for the late Elsa Con and the School of Dramatic Arts in Carmel. Maria has also been performing live, improvisational theatre for the same amount of time. She was a founding member of Monterey Playback Theatre, Women of Whimsy (WOW), the Mirth O’ Matics (MOM), and is a current member of Monterey Comedy Improv. She is now setting her sights on a new adventure of bringing together different genres of local comedic performers to showcase their talents with Comedy Variety Showcase.

Minor Swing - New Year's Day with The Cherry Trio
2020-01-01 15:00 - 17:00 | CA
What do Hot Club de France violinist Stéphane Grapelli and baroque organist Dietrich Buxtehude have in common? Both knew how to write a jaunty ditty in a minor key! Please join Elizabeth Gaver (baroque violin), Penny Hanna (viola da gamba), and Michael Peterson (harpsichord) for the start of the new year as we switch our ears to the relative minor, listening to some major (and minor) composers like J.S.Bach, J.P. Krieger, and Marin Marais, performed on baroque era instruments.

One performance only: January 1, 2020, at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $25.00, purchased through brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491. Be sure to reserve in advance, as this popular event sells out each year.

Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards: Read Winning Poems 2020
2020-01-01 - 2020-06-19 | CA
For twenty-six years, the Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards program has provided hundreds of students an opportunity to learn the craft of poetry. A reading and awards ceremony honoring this year’s student poets was held Saturday, May 16th, on Zoom. Thank you to all the students, teachers, family and friends who joined us on the call.
The poetry awards were made possible by grants from the Arts Council for Monterey County, Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Community Foundation for Monterey County, Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation, Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Volunteer Services for Monterey County, Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary, and Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store.
Please click the document link below to read the award winning poems for 2020. For a printed copy, contact the office via email at cherry_center@yahoo.com or send $10 to Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, P.O. Box 863, Carmel, California 93921.
2020 Award Winners (PDF)

Pictured above: “Essence of Life” – Jose Marquez, Carmel High School

Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards
2020-01-01 - 2020-05-16 | CA
Winners of this year’s Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards will be honored during an online ceremony and poetry reading on Saturday, May 16th at 2:00 pm. To receive access to this Zoom event, please contact our office at cherry_center@yahoo.com. For twenty-six years, our annual program provides students an opportunity to master public speaking skills and build self-confidence as they learn the craft of poetry.
The poetry awards were made possible by grants from the Arts Council for Monterey County, Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Community Foundation for Monterey County, Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation, Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Volunteer Services for Monterey County, Carmel-by-the-Sea Rotary, and Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store.
Pictured above: “Essence of Life” – Jose Marquez, Carmel High School

Finding Our Way
On Saturday, March 14, I presented the last of my poetry writing workshops to the students at Wellington Smith School in Salinas. I had, since February 6, been visiting high schools throughout Monterey County, from Carmel to Gonzales, from Pacific Grove to Rancho San Juan, from Marina to North Salinas, as well as Rancho Cielo Community School and Silver Star Center, both located in Salinas.
The day before, Monterey County had made a local emergency proclamation as a precautionary measure “to help the County mobilize and coordinate resources should the [corona]virus be detected here.” That day, the Monterey County Free Libraries closed all its branches. On the 17th, the first confirmed cases of the coronavirus were reported. On the following day, the first Shelter in Place order was issued by the Monterey County Health Department. By the 20th, there were five confirmed cases.
From what we know now, the coronavirus had been spreading while I had been visiting the various high schools. I feel so grateful that neither, as far as I know, the teachers, students and staff nor I contracted the virus as the result of our contact with each other. I like to think that we were protected by the poetry that we shared, even though I know that is a romantic illusion.
What is not a romantic illusion is the power of poetry to transform, to empower, to solace, to delight. Which is why, after more than twenty years, I still visit the high schools in Monterey County to provide an introduction to the writing of poetry and to encourage students to submit their poems to the Monterey County High School Poetry Awards. This year we had over 400 students submitting more than 700 poems.
Whether telling us where they are from or how lonely it is sitting in a cell, whether avowing one’s faith in God or pleading in defense of nature, whether describing how the death of a parent has torn a home apart or sending a letter to absent fathers, whether comparing themselves to peanut butter or extolling the wonders of the sweet potato—the poems in this collection of award winners are instruments through which the young poets are finding their voices. It is an important part of their transformation from teenagers to adults.
In the process, they find empowerment—to assert one’s worth and value in the face of adversity and tragedy; they find joy in discovering and affirming who they are; they find solace in language, its ability to give expression to what they are feeling and thinking.
What better gift than poetry in these disconcerting and stressful times! Both the writing of poetry and the reading of poetry. The poems that follow were written before schools were closed, before Shelter in Place Orders put stress on all of us socially, economically and emotionally. They arrived only because the incredible teachers we are fortunate to have in the various school districts of our County either gathered and mailed the poems after the schools were closed or encouraged their students to do so. I have always valued our high school teachers for their dedication, commitment and caring; now, I value them even more. They deserve enormous recognition, gratitude and thanks.
I hope reading these poems will, in this time of the coronavirus epidemic, transform, empower, solace and delight you as well. This is the power of poetry. Poetry will serve us well as we listen to the voices of our young adults. We will find our way.
Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts, Poet-in-the-Schools, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts

Monterey County High School Poetry Awards
2020-01-01 - 2020-04-01 | CA
Over the past twenty-six years, the Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards have inspired hundreds of students to discover classic and contemporary poetry. The program provides students with an opportunity to master public speaking skills and build self-confidence as they learn the craft of poetry.
A reading and awards ceremony honoring the student poets will be held 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 2nd, at the Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific Street, Monterey. During the ceremony, a certificate of merit, cash award, books of poetry and Cherry Center-published anthology celebrating the students’ work will be presented. The event is open to the public and free of charge.
The Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards are held each year in conjunction with Thinking Out Loud, the Carl Cherry Center’s annual high school art exhibition.

Students: Get Creative!
The world around you is a place of endless fascination and fun. Through classroom workshops, the Robert Campbell Monterey County High School Poetry Awards will inspire you to explore your neighborhood, parks, schoolyard, backyard and wild spaces to initiate and promote a poetic connection between place and imagination, landscape and language. For more information, please call (831) 624-7491.
Rules:
1. Submissions must be original poetry in English, Spanish, or a combination of both.
2. The author must be presently enrolled in a Monterey County high school.
3. No more than three poems allowed per author, and no poem may be more than 40 lines in length.
4. There are no restrictions as to content, style, form or metrical device.
5. All entries must be typed. Student’s name, address and phone number must be printed on each poem. Poets should also retain a copy of their poem.
Please send entries to Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, P.O. Box 863, Carmel, CA 93921 or online to cherry_center@yahoo.com. All entries must be postmarked no later than April 1, 2020.

This program is made possible, in part, through grants from the Arts Council for Monterey County and through funding from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Community Foundation for Monterey County, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Carmel-by-the Sea Rotary, Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation, Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Hazen Family Foundation, Volunteer Services for Monterey County and the Yellow Brick Road Benefit Store.

Along Came Betty - Jazz at The Cherry
2019-12-15 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 15th., 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.

Make Merry at The Cherry - pop up art sale
2019-12-13 16:00 - 2019-12-15 16:00 | CA
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 13th, from 4-7 pm. 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 Tracey Adams, Ann Artz, Eleen Auvil, Richard Cannon, Jim Dultz, Jay Fitzgerald, Nancy Genn, Ken Hale, Mary Hill, Susan Hyde Greene, Robin Winfield, Jan Wurm, and many more! We will also raffle a large collection of fine wines and other seasonal goodies. Artwork will also be available for purchase on Saturday, December 14th from 12-4 pm, and Sunday, December 15th from 12 – 3 pm in the gallery on Fourth Avenue and Guadalupe Street, Carmel.

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.
Eleen Auvil
Robin Winfield
Tracey Adams

MCGives 2019
2019-11-07 08:00 - 2019-12-31 17:00 | CA
What’s this year’s ‘Big Idea?’
As an institution, the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is an enormous idea. Just the knowledge and reassurance the Cherry Center is still here is good for our spiritual health, even if we only set foot through its doors once a year.
It has been nearly thirteen years since the Cherry Hall Theater received significant renovation.Improvements will enable the center to offer more shows, more performances and more varied programs.
A contribution through the MCGives! program can increase your gift with generous matching funds. Please add to the contributions of 100% of our Board of Directors and make a contribution by visiting montereycountygives.com now through December 31, 2019.

Monterey Plays with San Francisco
2019-11-01 19:30 - 2019-11-16 19:30 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Monterey Plays, an Arts Council for Monterey County sponsored festival of short and one act plays written by Monterey playwrights. Tickets are $25 for Friday/Saturday performances (7:30 p.m. curtain); and $20 for Sunday matinee performance (2:00 p.m. curtain). Tickets are available on brownpapertickets.com.
Friday, Nov. 1/Saturday, Nov. 2: Euterpe by David Norum; Daylight Savings, by Erik Roycraft; Bank Street Blues, by Nina Solomita; He Fell In, But I Did Not, by Nina Solomita; Conversation, by Joe Nance; The Cats by David Norum; And Still I love This City by Nicole Henares; a monologue from My Name Is by David Norum; Blaze by Janice Blaze Rocke
Friday, Nov. 8/Saturday, Nov. 9: He Fell In, But I Did Not, by Nina Solomita; Daylight Savings, by Erik Roycraft; Euterpe, by David Norum; Brick House by Janice Blaze Rocke
Sunday, Nov. 10: La Petenera and the Flamenco Time Machine by Nicole Henares and Aideed Medina; The Story of No Existo, by Monique Rose; Conversation by Joe Nance; Euterpe, by David Norum; He Fell In, But I Did Not, by Nina Solomita
Friday, Nov 15/Saturday, Nov. 16: He Fell In, But I Did Not, by Nina Solomita; Daylight Savings, by Erik Roycraft; Euterpe, by David Norum; Brick House by Janice Blaze Rocke.
The Playwrights:
Nina Solomita, MFA, is a playwright, actor, workshop and writing instructor, and professional editor committed to writing roles for women that show them in all their humanity. She was last seen at the Cherry in 2018 as Seal in My Mother’s Keeper by Jane Press.
Erik Roycraft lives in Salinas. As a Monterey County Theatre Alliance board member, he designs the organization’s newsletter. His play “Euphoria” appeared at the Cherry earlier this year, and his literary sci-fi novel “Crooked Corners Elegiac” is on Amazon.
Joe Nance graduated from San Jose State with a degree in English and Radio and Film Arts. He is deeply interested in writing, acting, music, and visual art.
David Norum became a cop after graduating with a music degree. After retiring from the force, he became a musician, actor, and writer. He has had two full-length plays “Mozambique” and My Name Is” produced in Monterey and beyond.
Janice Blaze Rocke is the creative director of the local performance arts group, The Eclectic Collective. She has written, performed in, and produced events at Carl Cherry Theatre, Henry Miller Library, The Lab, Dali Expo, Paper Wing Theatre, The Pacific Grove Art Center, and The Lost Church in San Francisco.
Nicole Henares is a poet, writer, performer, and educator who is interested in how Lorca’s duende is a cross cultural spirit.
Aideed Medina is a poet and spoken word artist who creates and performs poetry in English or Spanish as dictated by the inspiration of each individual piece.
Monique Rose is a local musician, painter, actor, and poet. She received her MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and studies art and dance at MPC. She continuously strives to refine herself, sifting through material of everyday life for possible avenues into the sublime.
The Plays:
Euterpe by David Norum: A short musical cabaret based on an existential concept by Suzy Newman and Kitten Blankenship.
Daylight Savings, by Erik Roycraft: A woman with an alert mind comes to realize she’s unable to communicate with her husband or caretakers.
He Fell In, But I Did Not, by Nina Solomita: Sharon approaches Nadine at a restaurant with in an unconventional remark that could be interpreted as a little crazy. During their unusual interaction, however, common ground is reached.
Bank Street Blues (a monologue) by Nina Solomita: A mentally ill woman speaks to her mother on the phone about wanting to go home for Christmas.
Brick House by Janice Blaze Rocke: A young woman’s subconscious speaks to her in the form of fairy tale characters as she attempts to deflect the “big bad wolf.” A window into the future reveals how she eventually flips the script.
La Petenera and the Flamenco Time Machine by Nicole Henares and Aideed Medina: a dialogue reflective of the connection between Flamenco and historic and present political struggles.
The Cats, by David Norum: a 42 year-old jazz musician calls his mom to give her some good news but she can’t let go of the past.
And Still I Love This City by Nicole Henares: a love letter to a San Francisco seen between the cracks of gentrification.
My Name Is (monologue), by David Norum: an excerpt from a play about a woman who suffered years of abuse from her partner as it was related in court.
Blaze, by Janice Blaze Rocke: a conversation with a demon priest who haunts the main character that ends in triumph.
Conversation by Joe Nance, a conversation with self.

Ekphrastic Poetry: Writing Workshop with Jodie Hollander
2019-10-20 13:00 - 16:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
Experience art at a new level and use it to inspire your writing. Internationally-known poet Jodie Hollander teaches this workshop in which participants respond poetically to the Cherry Center’s current exhibit. Study examples of celebrated poems that respond to, or were inspired by, art. You will then be led through a variety of writing activities inspired by the art, ultimately leading to a draft of an original poem. The afternoon will include a discussion of poetic techniques such as the use of vivid imagery, the importance of sonics, how to shape a poetic line as well as techniques for drafting and revision. No experience necessary.
The one-day workshop will be held at the Cherry Center on Sunday, October 20th, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Tickets are $60, available on brownpapertickets.com or by calling (831) 624-7491.
Jodie Hollander was raised in a family of classical musicians. She studied poetry in England, and her work has been published in journals such as The Poetry Review, The Yale Review, PN Review, The Dark Horse, The Rialto, Verse Daily, The New Criterion, Australia’s Best Poems of 2011, and Australia’s Best Poems of 2015. Her debut full-length collection, My Dark Horses, is published with Liverpool University Press in the UK and Oxford University Press in the US. Hollander is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in South Africa, a Hawthornden Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant in Italy, and a MacDowell Colony Fellowship. She currently lives in Colorado.

Literary Reading Exploring Gun Violence and its Aftermath
2019-10-18 19:30 - 21:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
A literary reading exploring gun violence and its aftermath will be held Friday, October 18th at 7:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
Produced in conjunction with the exhibit, Our Thoughts and Prayers Are with You, a multimedia group exhibit organized by the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, the reading examines issues related to gun violence from a range of perspectives. Celebrated novelist Jane Smiley will be joined by poets Jennifer Lagier, George Lober, Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts and Jodie Hollander.
“Our Thoughts and Prayers Are with You” explores a range of perspectives on the image and impact of guns in contemporary culture, though none endorse them as a means to an end. Works by artists and writers from throughout California address an array of issues surrounding access to, and use of, firearms across demographic groups. The programs examines the roles that guns continue to play in our national myths, suicide rates, individual and mass murder, domestic violence, and the militarization of civilian life.

"The sound of water " - The Art of Catching the Moment: A Haiku Writing Workshop
2019-10-12 10:30 - 16:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
“The sound of water”—The Art of Catching the Moment, a haiku workshop with poet Elliot Ruchowitz Roberts, will be held at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts on October 12th, 2019, from 10:30 AM – 4:00 PM. The program is open to readers and writers of all levels of experience with haiku. Price for the one-day event is $60. Scholarships are available. For more information or to reserve a ticket, please call (831) 624-7491 or (831) 920-0383.
The workshop will begin with brief accounts of the history of haiku, of its form, and of some of its practitioners (from Basho and Chiyo-ni to Richard Wright and Mitsu Suzuki). It will then focus on writing haiku using various writing exercises that provide starting points for exploring the art of catching the moment.

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. White Fire, a collection of his poems, was published in May 2017 by The Ping-Pong Free Press of the Henry Miller Memorial Library.
Poet-in-the-Schools for the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Ruchowitz-Roberts presents poetry writing workshops in high schools throughout Monterey County and coordinates the annual Monterey County High School Poetry Awards.
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.

Our Thoughts and Prayers Are with You
2019-10-04 17:00 - 2019-11-16 16:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
“Stick Up” – Cate White

Our Thoughts and Prayers Are with You, a multimedia group exhibit exploring gun violence, continues through Saturday, November 16th. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Sponsored, in part, by the Monterey Bay Zen Center, the Quakers and the Arts Council for Monterey County, the exhibit includes Bren Ahearn, Adrian Burrell, Enrique Chagoya, Marc D’Estout, Al Farrow, Mildred Howard, Diana Krevsky, John Moore, Jennie Ottinger, Maria Porges, Juan Carlos Quintana, Cate White and Jan Wurm, among others.

“Gun Control” Marc D’Estout

Literary Programs at The Cherry
2019-10-01 - 2019-10-31 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts

Smart Shorts Celebration of Film
2019-09-14 12:00 - 15:00 | Carl Cherry Center for the Arts
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts will be screening the Smart Shorts Celebration of Film on Saturday, September 14th, from noon to 3:00 p.m. in the center’s theater in Carmel. The afternoon will feature thirteen original short films submitted from around the globe for entry in the event.
Smart Shorts was developed to encourage filmmakers ages 12 and older to create, express and share their lives and perspectives through films shot exclusively on smartphones and tablets.
Sponsored, in part, through donations from MCGives and the Arts Council for Monterey County, Smart Shorts desires to excite and promote filmmakers from Monterey County, the United States and around the world to produce a groundbreaking short film — 1 to 5 minutes in length — on this easily accessible digital medium.
The event is sold out. For more information, please call (831) 624-7491.
