Private Showing

December 28, 2014

Destination: Monterey Museum of Art–La Mirada

Cost: Gas only

Another episode from the road:

After seeing the film National Gallery, I was jonesing for a visit to an art museum. On my way back to L.A. from the Bay Area, I decided to detour off the 101 and cruise the coast highway from Pacifica to Monterey. The Monterey Museum of Art’s main gallery downtown was closed for renovations, but the La Mirada outpost next to Monterey Peninsula College was open, so off I went. Even better, due to a special fundraising exhibit at the gallery, they were waiving the entrance fee.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning during the holiday vacation break, and I was surprised that there were no cars in the parking lot. Since I arrived a little ahead of the 11:00 a.m. opening time, I spent a few minutes strolling the small, but well tended hillside rhododendron garden. I thought perhaps the gallery was closed, since no other cars arrived, but I ventured to the entrance and was greeted warmly.

I've never had a whole art gallery to myself, and it was a luxurious experience. I could spend as long or as little time as I wanted at any painting, without worrying about blocking someone’s view. The peace and quiet were very conducive to absorbing the works, with the hope of gleaning the artist’s intent.

There was a lot worth seeing. The large front room of this former adobe (dating back to the early 1800’s) housed a collection of California landscapes, better than many I had seen. I was thrilled with the Warren Chang exhibit due to his realistic, light-infused style, inspired by Vermeer. Finally, I spent some time in the fundraising gallery looking at “Miniatures.” Local artists had donated very small works in a variety of media - oil, watercolor, collage, sculpture and shadowboxes. This exhibit was a raffle - one could purchase tickets for $5.00 and deposit them in a box beneath the artwork of choice, then a drawing would be held at the conclusion of the exhibit. These tiny works ranged from brilliant to boring - but what a clever fundraising idea.

Back outside, I lingered in the sunbathed rose garden, imagining what it must have been like to live in this lovely Spanish casita before it was turned into a public space. Then, I left this tranquil outpost and ventured to Cannery Row, packed with hundreds of tourists visiting trinket shops and slurping ice cream cones. They’d missed a wonderful experience. I'm so grateful we don’t all like the same thing.