“To advance the knowledge of and interest in art and to create a spirit of cooperation and fellowship between artists and the public.”
CAA's historic home needs healing. The "beating heart of the Artist Colony” still dwells within its original 1914 Murphy cottage. For decades CAA was a prudent steward of local artists and their gallery. In 2018 CAA completed a five-year renovation to highest standards. Despite conscientious intentions, our artistic heart suffered an undeserved attack due to multiple failures and unsound decisions made at The Pit. Blatant disregard for best practices when excavating an enormous hole in Carmel’s highest sand dune resulted in the violent shaking of our building, shifting of our new roof, cracks in floors, walls and ceilings, and a sunken north wall.
Everyone at fault denies responsibility. Verbal promises to make CAA whole again have been forgotten. But the damage must be repaired before it’s too late. With a more neighborly new developer and community donations to fund the second capital campaign in our history, CAA shall endure.
CAA is Carmel's oldest, continuously-operating gallery, featuring work by local, professional artists with established reputations. Over the past 98 years CAA has supported over 850 Artist Members who, in turn, have produced nearly 70% of California's most distinguished art history. In 2023 CAA founded The Historic Collection to market artworks by "late" CAA Artists, thus providing a valuable service for younger collectors seeking to discover Carmel's artistic legacy. CAA sponsors an annual, County-wide high school exhibition junior and senior artists to exhibit at CAA and enjoy a "professional artist" experience. All year long CAA serves local Peninsula residents plus some 20,000 visitors with outstanding exhibitions, art-related events, and educational opportunities, elevating the gallery's reach throughout and far beyond the boundaries of Monterey County. Day-to-day CAA warmly welcomes loyal fans who resonate with both the aesthetics inherited from the bohemian-era Artists Colony as well as today's vibrant contemporary creatives.
As a professional art researcher, I have utilized Carmel Art Association's archive and publications for several decades. I am acutely aware of how rare it is for a nonprofit arts organization to celebrate its tenth anniversary, much less to be closing in on its centennial! Carmel Art Association remains the oldest continuously-operating visual arts gallery on the West Coast. Simultaneously, it keeps fulfilling its original mission from 1927: To support local artists while educating, enlightening and entertaining visitors and collectors alike. Long Live the Carmel Art Association...and its beautifully-restored historic garden, too! CAA is now vibrant and flourishing year-round, inside and out.
- Stephanie Boris, Berkeley, California
