26 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY February 2-8, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Feb. 3 TGIFF We’ve been cooped up for too long through a soggy January. Now is the time to get out and about and see what’s bumping downtown. First Friday events occurring each month are a prime opportunity to mix and mingle, enjoy live music and art while doing a little shopping, noshing and imbibing. Downtown Pacific Grove is launching its 2023 season of First Fridays, with live music up and down Lighthouse Avenue, along with artists, a gallery night at the P.G. Art Center and a chance to catch a free glimpse of the P.G. Museum of Natural History’s latest exhibit, Wonder. Or head over to Sand City for the 831 Night Market, a high-energy gathering featuring artisans, food booths, activities for families and a live band—this month it’s the reggae fusion band Sensory TRiBE. In Salinas, downtown transforms into a living art gallery for First Fridays Art Walk, with live music, art openings, kid art activities and more. For a quieter time among beautiful works of art, visit the Monterey Museum of Art, which opens its doors for free the first Friday of every month. [PM] Friday, Feb. 3 and future first Fridays of the month. Pacific Grove: 6-9pm, Lighthouse Avenue and side streets; Sand City: 5-9pm, Sand City Art Park, 525 Ortiz Ave.; Salinas: 5-9pm, Main Street between San Luis Street and Central Avenue; Monterey Museum of Art, 5-7pm, 559 Pacific St., Monterey. Free. Start Me Up Startup Monterey Bay is back with its latest Startup Factory workshop for all you future unicorn founders out there (or people who want to hear about the next crop of big ideas). The weekend-long affair at CSU Monterey Bay is open to ventures of all stages and sizes; there will be ample food and networking opportunities, not to mention coaching and pitch practice, and it all culminates with team presentations and awards to the most promising presenters on hand. Show all those Silicon Valley blowhards up the road just what Monterey County has to offer. [RM] 5pm Friday, Feb. 3 to 6pm Sunday, Feb. 5. CSUMB Business & Information Technology Building, 3052 Divarty St., Seaside. $129; $79/students; free/students enrolled at CSUMB, Hartnell College or Cabrillo College. eventbrite.com. Ernie Luppi One new exhibit in the Pacific Grove Art Center is “Bella Italia” by San Francisco photographer Ernie Luppi, whose work is in the Annand Gallery until Feb. 23. Luppi has been visiting Italy since 1981 when he spent six months photographing his ancestors’ past and everyday Italian life. Luppi’s photography is devoted largely to the beauty of Italy, from regular people on the street to Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City or Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, one of the islands of Venice. (Luppi also photographs in Pacific Grove, including at Lovers Point.) He first picked up a camera—a Christmas present he’d gotten for his mother, then borrowed—when he was in college. The experience made him switch majors to photography. “His retrospective exhibition highlights four decades of documentary photography and his commitment to film photography and darkroom printing,” PGAC reports. [AP] 2-8 February HOT PICKS To see more local events, and add your own, visit calendar.montereycountyweekly.com VISUALS Lori Howell The public is invited to the show titled In an Artist’s Mind now on display in Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula’s headquarters, known as the Sally Griffin Senior Center in Pacific Grove. The exhibit features Central Coast Art Association members Kathryn Hannay, Lori Howell and Valentina Milaychev. Howell is a painter, book illustrator, author and an owner of her own gallery in San Jose. She likes “painting landscapes, seascapes, nature, and creating murder scenes within a painting,” according to her website. The oil piece above is titled “Wildlife in the Bear.” A reception takes place 3-5pm on Friday, Feb. 3. Otherwise, the exhibit can be viewed during open hours at MoW until March 3. [AP] King City’s Sol Treasures is teaming up with the Blue Zones Project to offer a purpose workshop—an opportunity to find or reinforce the gifts and talents you already possess. c/o SOL TREASURES What does the future of photography hold? Join a discussion with the Weston Collective’s Zach Weston, and some students, to hear from the next generation. Zach Weston Ernie Luppi c/o Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==