From the Executive Director

As I write this, our five-person Collections and Exhibitions team is hard at work “turning over” the Museum’s galleries in preparation for the upcoming Winter Season which officially opens on Friday, January 20, 2023. Between now and then, much like the arrival of our seasonal rains, the Museum will undergo a complete transformation.

MMA’s popular fall season, a celebration of diversity of medium in California’s creative community, showcased Chris Johnson’s explorations in photography, Michelle Yi Martin’s ephemeral fiber weavings, and the varied printmaking styles of artists like Kerry James Marshall and the Gee’s Bend Quilters from the Paulson Fontaine Press. It was gratifying to see so many Museum Members and their guests attend these exhibitions and participate in associated public programs.

As each fall exhibition closes, our installation team will carefully remove the artworks and pack them to be shipped back to lenders or returned to museum storage. At the same time, our registrar will complete condition reports as they track everything coming in and going out. Once the galleries are empty, our preparator will patch and paint the walls, working closely with our Collections and Exhibitions Director, featured artists, and guest curators to hang and light the incoming art. Final touches will include placement of labels and didactics and a thorough cleaning of the space. Although Members rarely see this process, it’s vital to your enjoyment of our Museum—and an important part of what your generous donations help to support.

I hope you will plan to visit our winter season (and bring all your friends) which celebrates the beauty of nature as expressed by generations of regional artists. The thematically linked exhibitions will present 19th – 21st century paintings, drawings, photographs, ceramics, sculpture, illustration, and even furniture inspired by nature, while also revealing the dazzling range of artistry that this region cultivates.

I am so pleased that the Museum is exhibiting the extraordinary work of five women—Elizabeth Barlow, Susan Hyde Greene, Jane Kim, Susan Manchester, and Diane Pierce. Each brings their own bold and singular artistic vision to the season.

It is my belief that these exhibitions will inspire you even more deeply to preserve and protect Nature and Art in our region—fragile ecosystems that have been placed under intense stress and require conscious and caring stewardship.

Corey Madden Executive Director, Monterey Museum of Art