Thursday-Sunday, May 11-14 Country Twang Every spring, the small South County community of Parkfield swells from population 18 to thousands for a bluegrass extravaganza weekend. The 23rd annual Parkfield Bluegrass Festival brings acts like Missy Raines & Allegheny, the Eli West Trio and the John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project to the stage. Wear your cowboy boots (for the barn dances, Friday and Saturday night) and bring your instrument; there are workshops for banjo, fiddle, voice and more, and also on music appreciation and how to listen. [SR] 1:30pm Thursday, May 11-6pm Sunday, May 14. V6 Ranch, 1st and Oak, Parkfield. $115/four-day pass and camping; $25- $50/single-day pass. (805) 994-0929, parkfieldbluegrass.org. Friday, May 12 Cultural Carnival Tucked away in the Presidio, behind guarded gates, is perhaps the world’s premier language academy. And for one day each year it opens to the public and its students put on a show. Because students at the Defense Language Institute don’t just become fluent in whatever language they’re studying—they learn the history, culture and customs of a language’s native land. Starting at 10am and wrapping at 3pm— err, 1500 hours—students and their teachers put on cultural performances like Iranian Kurdish dance, Korean fan dance, Pangalay and Karatong dance and many, many more. The Army’s 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Horse Detachment will kick off the event with a horse riding show, and all throughout the day, guests can sample international dishes from a selection of more than 20 food vendors. No registration is required; the event happens at Soldier Field, and guests can park at the Presidio of Monterey Museum, where a shuttle will take visitors to the event. [DS] 10am-3pm Friday, May 12. Parking at Presidio of Monterey Museum, Corporal Ewing Road, Monterey. Free. dliflc.edu/ languageday. Lessons Learned Former professional softball player and Salinas native Monica Abbott has only been retired from the game for a few months, but she’s already spending 28 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY may 11-17, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com René Romero Schuler The idea of bringing a group of amazing women together to support important local causes was the brainchild of artist René Romero Schuler, who is now inviting the audience for an art-meetssocial-justice event titled Women for Women (3pm Saturday, May 13) at her studio (559 Tyler St., Monterey). The event will benefit nonprofit Gathering for Women. “With a collaborative spirit, there is nothing we can’t accomplish,” Schuler wrote in an artist statement. Participating artists include: Monica Johnson, Nicole Cromwell, Miranda Register, Jennifer Perlmutter and Marzena Bukowska. Having experienced homelessness as a young teen on the streets of Chicago, Schuler has persevered and become a force for advocacy. The Gathering for Women is a Monterey-based organization that embodies compassion by helping women to break out of situations of need and homelessness by providing an array of services and necessities that help empower them to succeed. Free to attend; art available for sale. [AP] 11-17 may HOT PICKS To see more local events, and add your own, visit calendar.montereycountyweekly.com Courtesy of Carmel Art Association VISUALS Benjamin Anderson Benjamin Anderson‘s new oil painting series is now on display at the Carmel Art Association in Carmel. It captures the golden hour in the evening and the afterglow of dawn along the coast of the Monterey Peninsula. As a lifelong jazz musician, Anderson employs improvisation and a musical sensitivity to capture the variable moods of his landscape paintings. Years of plein air studies and artistic improvisation have led to Anderson’s unique body of work, which captures the shifting lighting and offers a range of perspectives, resulting in compositions that are refined yet raw, soft yet hard, and both lyrical and energetic. The above painting is titled “Tidal Decrescendo” (oil on linen). In addition to painting, Anderson is a printmaker, sculptor, author and arts educator. [AP] The annual Walk of Remembrance honors the Chinese fishing village that once called Point Alones in Pacific Grove home. The one-mile walk begins at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History with a lion dance. daniel dreifuss Monica Abbott is a Salinas native and former professional softball player. Now that she has retired, she’s giving back—through a scholarship fund and now a memoir. Monica Abbott David Potigian
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