www.montereycountynow.com november 14-20, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 21 under the conviction that art changes lives and whole communities, building neighborhood safety and connections between all parts of our large, economically and racially diverse county. Many of the current staff at arts nonprofits formed this belief based on their own personal journeys. They experienced the transformation firsthand, like Ortiz, who can’t imagine what his life would be without drawing. Arts make young people busy with the joy of being an animal who can consciously create beauty, mimicking nature that is beautiful, but is not aware of itself. Beauty can make humans less angry and provide a channel for self-expression other than violence and depression. It can build a space where loners can make friends and newcomers can integrate into the community, even if they come from very different cultures. It’s a lot to achieve. Above this ever-hungry nonprofit artscape watches the Arts Council for Monterey County (Arts4MC), which receives its funds not just from private donations, but also the County of Monterey and the California Arts Council, its mirror institution on the state level. Arts4MC distributes funds directly to local artists and arts organizations. Each arts organization also fundraises to support its mission, including 41 that are included—alongside 206 local nonprofits working in a variety of fields in Monterey County—in Monterey County Gives!, an initiative of Monterey County Weekly in partnership with the Community Foundation for Monterey County and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. (MCGives! launches Nov. 14 and runs through Dec. 31.) Each of these organizations has stories to tell about changing lives, and just three examples follow below: Palenke Arts in Seaside, Hijos Del Sol and Sol Treasures in King City, which casts the light of arts around a vast South Monterey County, to borrow the metaphor from its Executive Director Jeff Hinderscheid. In the names of two of these nonprofits, sun is invoked. Even if some of their physical spaces are tucked away, in a physical sense, or their front doors are in the back of unassuming buildings, they are shining a light. But those buildings become magically spacious once you are inside, like hobbit holes, opening to a labyrinth of small, medium and big rooms. Child artists raise their eyes from above their projects and stare at new people coming in, proud that they can run through those labyrinths with no problem. Their faces are covered with paint and their hands are covered with clay. So many pencils in so many colors. All of them sharpened and ready to use. The mind is filling with juices of imagination, troubles are gone and a sense of hope is awakened. That’s what one sees and feels when walking through Sol Treasures on King City’s Broadway Street. The pencils have company in plenty of multi-colored paper, scissors and paintbrushes. In the Salinas Valley, it seems all artistic paths cross through Sol Treasures. At the front of the building there is a gallery that hosts ever-changing exhibits. It is home for local artists, such as landscape painter Katrina Pura, who lives 30 minutes south, in San Ardo. Moving on, one can hear a piano lesson in progress or see a couple of kids with their grandmother, all three busy with crayons. A room might be occupied by a visiting artist who runs a class, for example multimedia artist Paul Richmond, who teaches bold, colorful painting. You can leave for a couple of hours while your toddler is busy working with cotton balls. The backyard belongs to Sol Treasures, too. That’s where a backyard music series takes place from May to October. Under the stars, one can listen to regional bands, such as Paradise Road, a band hailing from northern San Luis Obispo. “It was meant to be,” says artist Sonia Chapa, one of the founders of Sol Treasures in 2008, next to textile artist Barbara Pekema and artist Bruce Graham. They formed a board, started a gallery and a gift shop. In 2010, Pekema recruited actor Jeff Hinderscheid, a King City native, to the organization. He’s been executive director since 2021. Hinderscheid added theater arts to the pile, working with King City High School’s Robert Stanton Theater, a beautiful art deco building with an impressive auditorium. Hinderscheid’s most exquisite show to date was Fiddler on the Roof in May 2024. They just started auditions for Something Rotten. Schools come to Sol Treasures for visual art exhibits and to the Stanton Center for performances. In fact, the Sol Treasures’ buildHijos Del Sol is one of multiple nonprofits focused on visual arts. Many young artists here start with sketching or drawing, and then decide on the next steps. At right, 12-year-old Kevin Valencia works on a sketch. “Arts have been misunderstood for many years. It is as important as sports. We also need a field to play.” Daniel Dreifuss Daniel Dreifuss
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