ILLUMINADO
MONTEREY MUSEUM OF ART MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 1 - 22, 2023
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Studio View: Sacred Grove in Moonlight (Diptych) Oil on Canvas 80"x130"
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Sacred Grove in Moonlight (Diptych) Oil on Canvas 80"x130"
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MONTEREY MUSEUM OF ART Monterey, California
ILLUMINADO, Featuring Elizabeth Murray
Exhibition Dates: December 1 - 22, 2023
Opening Reception: Friday, December 1, 2023, 5-8pm The Artists will be in Attendance
Free Family Fun Day! Saturday, December 2, 11am-3pm Elizabeth Murray in Attendance Engaging with Youth through the Fairy Mailbox!
Elizabeth Murray, Storytelling "Magical Secrets from the Trees": Sunday, December 10, 2pm Children Welcome!
Winter Solstice and Closing Celebration: Friday, December 22, 5:30-7:30pm
As the year draws to a close and we celebrate the grand finale of our exhibition season, the Monterey Museum of Art (MMA) proudly presents Iluminado—an invitation to become part of a living and growing art installation.
Central to Iluminado is a mesmerizing series of artful trees created by local artists: Edi Matsumoto, Elizabeth Murray, Mark Schlegel, JP Frary, and Sea Sevilla and Avelino Sanher of La Neta Murals. More than mere installations, these trees serve as dynamic canvases, capturing the diverse voices of our community. Within Iluminado, visitors are not simply spectators. You are collaborators invited to help shape the exhibition through engaging art prompts that nurture creativity, reflection, and connection. With every visitor's addition, the trees evolve in stature and meaning, contributing to the shared memories and aspirations of the community.
But the engagement doesn't end there. MMA is set to launch a series of programs for adults, students, and families. Whether it's our Free Family Fun Day, school tours, a Winter Art Market, or the Winter Solstice Party, December promises to be a vibrant month at MMA.
Iluminado marks not just a new chapter for MMA but signifies a transformative view of art and its role in space and community. Join us in this seasonal celebration of unity, creativity, and wonder.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Edi Matsumoto, a graduate in anthropology from Tsukuba University, Japan, traveled extensively in Southeast Asia and volunteered in Calcutta before settling in the U.S. She later pursued nursing and served as an RN for 30 years. Transitioning to the arts, she obtained a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, in 2018. Matsumoto's acclaimed artworks have graced galleries and museums globally, earning features in top art magazines. She holds distinctions as an A.R.C. Living Artist™ and an American Women Artists Member.
Elizabeth Murray is a painter, photographer, bestselling author, and storyteller in Monterey, California. She is known for her great love of the natural world — especially trees. Her passion has led her around the world, working in the Amazon to cultivating Monet's gardens in Giverny, France, and writing seven award-winning books.
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The Artist in her Monterey, California Studio Pictured with: Alchemy of Light (Triptych) Oil on Canvas 72"x138"
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Born in 1948 in Palo Alto, California, Mark Schlegel's life has been deeply intertwined with redwoods. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture from San Jose State University and began crafting redwood tables with driftwood from Carmel and Big Sur. While Mark pursued a successful landscaping business in Carmel Valley, he maintained his passion for redwood artistry. Intrigued by the rare "ripplewood" grain, he painstakingly collected it over three decades, evolving into a master craftsman of ripplewood tables and sculptures. Now, nearing retirement, Mark dedicates more time to sharing his exquisite redwood creations with the world.
JP Frary has been making things in the SF Bay Area since 1991. He has specialized in using recycled materials to create functional and artistic furniture and sculptures inspired by nature. He is also a storyteller who has won 8 Moth StorySlams and can be heard on KQED's BayCurious and The California Report. Frary has been a featured performer at Stage Werx, Beyond Borders, StorySlam Oakland, The Brava Theater, and The Naked Truth.
Avelino Sanher-Hernandez is a local, Bay Area artist. Born and raised in Mexico City, Avelino grew up influenced by artists in his community and began creating art at a very young age. His work is inspired by "life's moments." Having lived half of his life in Mexico and half in the United States, his bicultural perspective produces bold, energetic, and colorful pieces. He has many artworks on display in Silicon Valley, including the Chicano Center at Stanford University, popular fine dining restaurants, and casual taquerias, exemplifying his philosophy that art should be accessible to all. Avelino uses different techniques and has never attended art school.
Sea Sevilla, a dynamic Mexican American and queer multimedia artist, hails from Seaside. An alumna of Humboldt State University, she majored in Art Education and Art Studio, honing her skills in Sculpture and Photography. After graduation, Sea relocated to the Monterey Peninsula to delve into sculpture. At the Monterey Sculpture Center, she collaborated with global artists, notably assisting Steven Whyte on San Francisco's "Comfort Women Memorial." Over recent years, her artistic journey steered towards painting.
JOIN US! MONTEREY MUSEUM OF ART 559 Pacific Street Monterey, CA 93940 +1 831 / 372 5477
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Mother Tree (Cascade Head, Oregon) Oil on Wood Panel 22"x30"
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ABOUT ELIZABETH MURRAY
Elizabeth Murray is a painter, as well as a photographer, author, gardening expert and creativity workshop teacher. She works in Monterey, California, out of her historic artist estate “Peter’s Gate,” which she personally restored. For over 50 years her passion for nature and spirit has inspired her dedication to cultivating beauty through her creative work and by contributing to diverse preservation projects around the world - from Monet’s Gardens in France to remote African villages to the Amazon rain forest. She is well known for her work helping to cultivate Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France and photographing them for 35 years.
Her photographic series Giverny Now: Photographs by Elizabeth Murray traveled to museums concurrent with the hailed multi-year Monet exhibition Monet - Late Paintings of Giverny From the Musee Marmottan, shown at the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana; de Young Museum / Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo, New York; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon; and Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, Arizona. The Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago, Illinois featured her photomurals interpreting Monet the Garden Artist to compliment a Monet retrospective at the Chicago Art Institute. New York Botanical Garden featured her photography of Monet’s gardens. Her show of paintings and photographs, Cultivating Sacred Space, exhibited in California at the Monterey Museum of Art, Pacific Grove Art Center and Hayward Center for the Arts.
Her watercolor and oil paintings have been in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and are in many private and corporate collections. Murray’s recent and upcoming exhibitions include the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, California; International Art Museum of America, San Francisco, California; Marjorie Evans Gallery, Carmel, California; Studio Fogline, Carmel, California; Luna Gallery, San Juan Bautista, California; and Winfield Gallery, Carmel, California. Murray curated and exhibited in Forests for Mutual Thriving, a traveling exhibit on preservation vs. development of historical property showcasing Fort Ord National Monument, Monterey, California; coverage included PBS; Weekly Paper; Seaside City Hall Gallery; and the Monterey Education Department.
Murray has written award winning books that include the bestseller Monet’s Passion: Ideas, Inspiration & Insights from the Painter’s Gardens; Painterly Photography: Awakening the Artist Within; Cultivating Sacred Space: Gardening for the Soul; Living Life in Full Bloom / 120 Daily Practices to Deepen Your Passion; and Essential Annuals - The 100 Best for Design and Cultivation. She co-authored Home Landscaping: Ideas, Styles, and Designs for Creative Outdoor Spaces, Elizabeth Murray and Derek Fell and
Monet: Late Paintings of Giverny from the Musee Marmottan, Lynn Federle Orr, Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet and Elizabeth Murray.
Upcoming press includes a major feature article in LandEscape Art Review, London.
A popular keynote speaker, Murray has lectured and led workshops at museums, botanic gardens, corporate events, the gardens of Giverny and on The World cruise ship. She recently gave a talk entitled “Spiritual Teaching From the Trees“ at the Center for Spiritual Awakening, Pacific Grove, California. Employing the beauty of her photographic images, personal stories, garden metaphors and humor, she inspires the imagination of her audience to connect with what has heart and meaning for them, and to express their own creativity in their work.
Her garden design consulting includes commissions for a Monet-inspired garden, New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx, New York; Monet-inspired gardens Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada - 12 changing theme gardens; Monet-inspired garden for proposed Samurai Glass Museum, Japan; 12 theme gardens, Del Monte Shopping Center, Monterey, California; and private commissions in the United States and abroad.
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The Artist in Glendalough Valley, Wicklow Mountains National Park (Monastic Sites and Sacred Woodland), Ireland
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