Best Kept Carmel
Go Further Into Hidden Galleries and New Art Adventures in Carmel
There are layers to art exploration in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Landmark art galleries showcase renowned artists on the main streets and in prime locations. These are great galleries to explore and experience art that has been polished and perfected, sometimes over decades, by masters of the craft.
But there are also hidden, artist-run galleries and studios tucked far down small passageways where you can catch artists quietly at work. This is an entirely different experience. Emerging painters and sculptors run these intimate galleries and studios, where you can talk to the artist directly and maybe even catch them putting the finishing touches on a canvas.
Experiencing both ends of this art spectrum — and everything in between — is the magic of Carmel-by-the-Sea's art scene.
Hidden Galleries Treasure Hunt
Carmel-by-the-Sea has nearly 100 art galleries. It's such an overwhelming amount of art that you couldn't possibly see it all in one trip. So pace yourself, and explore some of the off-the-beaten-path studios and galleries that will surprise and delight you. Carmel-by-the-Sea is known for hidden passageways, and often taking a turn onto one of these clandestine, European-style walkways will lead you to a surprising art experience. It is here, in the out-of-the-way nooks and crannies where artists run their own galleries and studios. The rent is cheaper and the pace is slower, allowing local artists to carve out their own niche where they can display and create true local masterpieces. These are the spots where you can strike up a fascinating conversation with an oil painter or sculptor and get the feeling of that Bohemian art colony that makes Carmel-by-the-Sea so special.
Experience it: The Carmel Art Walk, held the second Saturday of every month, highlights 14 artist-owned galleries in Carmel-by-the-Sea. But you can also book a private, guided art tour with Carmel Art Tours, or explore lesser known galleries and local artists on your own by turning down a side street or passageway and seeing where it takes you.
Cypress Inspiration
The Monterey Cypress trees that line Carmel-by-the-Sea's coastline are some of the area's most famous subjects of art both past and present. Experiencing these stunning Cypress first-hand connects you to the art history of Carmel-by-the-Sea in surprising ways. Poet and naturalist Robinson Jeffers planted many of the Cypress trees that now line Carmel Beach, and the trees were painted by artists such as block printing and watercolor master William S. Rice (who happens to be the great-grandfather of current Carmel-by-the-Sea folk artist Marie-Clare Treseder Gorham).
A simple walk down Carmel Beach can take you to some of the most famous Cypress trees, many of which acquired their own mystical names like Witch Tree, Ostrich Tree and Ghost Tree.
Monterey Cypress are rare, and admiring their stunning, wind-sculpted beauty is an artistic endeavor that connects you to the heart of the Carmel-by-the-Sea art colony ethos.
Experience It: Monterey Cypress line Carmel Beach, but a good place to start is near the Tor House, Robinson Jeffers' famed stone house built by the poet's own hand. Jeffers was a Cypress lover and planted thousands of Cypress and other trees along this stretch of coast. From the Tor House, meander along Scenic Drive admiring each unique tree shaped by the elements.
Seasons, Twilight and Moonlight
You may consider the perfect Carmel-by-the-Sea weather as clear, sunny skies. And there really is no arguing with that. But what makes Carmel-by-the-Sea such a dynamic landscape to practice art is that the light is always changing. Fog, light filtered through sea air, moon rises over clouds — every shift in light and weather changes the coast in unique and compelling ways.
Some artists in Carmel-by-the-Sea, like Joaquin Turner, still practice painting in plein air under the moonlight. Moonlit nights render the landscape in new and compelling relief, tapping into the mystical, moon-dappled Bohemian feel that relates back to Carmel's early art colony days.
Experience it: Sunrise, sunset and the hours when the fog begins to burn off and let in dappled sunlight are dynamic times to experience Carmel-by-the-Sea's coastline, and perhaps even catch a plein air painter in action. For the adventurous, a moonlight walk along the beach could illuminate the Carmel coast in new ways. To see Carmel-by-the-Sea painted under moonlight, visit the Joaquin Turner Gallery, where Joaquin has moonlit paintings created by himself and other renowned California tonalists.
Breaking Barriers One Brushstroke at a Time
Walk through the galleries of Carmel-by-the-Sea and you may start noticing a theme. From the past to the present, Carmel has remained a bastion of pioneering female art and powerful feminist artistic expression.
One of Carmel's very first artists was Jane Gallatin Powers. In her artist studio — the town's first — she painted portraits and abstract landscapes. As impressive as her art was, her influence also forged the very foundation of the artist colony. She co-founded the influential Carmel Arts and Crafts Club and her studio became a hub for early influential artists, putting Carmel-by-the-Sea on the map.
A steady stream of powerful female artists followed in Powers' footsteps. Author Mary Austin became an integral part of Carmel's flourishing reputation for stage performances. Henrietta Shore pioneered modernism and painted impressive murals here.
Today, that strong legacy is carried on by artists like Ashley Bennett Stoddard who runs Bennett Sculpture, where her paintings and her father's and uncle's sculptures are displayed, and in the gallery of internationally collected abstract artist Jennifer Perlmutter. Elsewhere you will find Mary Titus' bold, abstract paintings, Barbara Krietman's layered, large-format abstract landscapes, and the gallery of Delia Bradford, who grew up on Big Sur's Partington Ridge and can often be seen painting new work in Carmel-by-the-Sea. These gallery owners, studio artists and powerful representatives of Carmel's enduring female art movement continue what artists like Jane Gallatin Powers started.
Experience it: Plan your own walking tour throughout downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea stopping in at these galleries that carry on the tradition of Carmel's female art pioneers. You might even be able to see one of the artists at work, or strike up a conversation about the past and present of Carmel's fearless female artists.
