Explore Monterey area’s vibrant art scene

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The Monterey Peninsula’s natural beauty has a long history of attracting artists, including Jules Tavernier, a French transplant to San Francisco who became a beacon to other creative spirits upon opening his Monterey studio in 1875.

Nearly 150 years later, visitors can not only find galleries and museums showcasing the art of the region but also enjoy opportunities to interact with today’s Taverniers — and maybe unleash their inner artist as well.

At the Monterey Museum of Art, some 250 events a year include concerts, curator talks and workshops with artists, such as Carmel’s Edi Matsumoto, who will demonstrate how to create a collage vision board on Nov. 16.

In December, the Monterey Museum of Art will invite the public to use chalk and markers to create a “giant” three-wall mural for its three-week “Iluminado: Art Connecting Community,” exhibition, which will be paired with the return of a student art show called “Lumina Lane,” according to Corey Madden, the museum’s executive director.

“We turn the museum into the people’s creative space,” Madden said. “These are the kinds of things that demystify what it is to be an artist, and we meet people where they are. We don’t ask that people come into the museum already venerating and understanding art history — we ask that they come in with their creativity and wonder.”

Madden is proud of the museum’s “content-full” exhibitions, including current shows featuring works by Japanese American and Chinese American artists affected by war and two pairs of celebrated West Coast artists.

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