ART 26 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 3-9, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com The house is blue. Its colorful rock garden is baking under the sun. But what sets the home apart is a banner attached to the side of the garage door: The 19th Annual Seaside Artists Tour. Inside glass artist Jill Casty’s house, there’s art in every room except the bathroom. Almost all the pieces—from those inspired by Mexican folk art to lighted sculptures and a new series she is working on—are for sale. Bursting with delicious colors of fresh green, bright red, sunny yellow and cornflower blue, her pieces are not cheap, but can easily transform a space with their steady, radiant joy. Casty also works and sells her art in Luca, Italy. Before devoting herself to glass, she created public art. Before that, she designed book covers. “There is a rhythm and the energy in a series,” she says, explaining the impulse behind her newest set of four glass panels, “Portal for My Dreams.” “A series creates its own energy. It’s like a book. One page won’t do anything. It’s about all of them together.” Ahead of the popular Open Studios Art Tour—the two weekends in September when artists all over Monterey County open their doors to the public—Seaside hosts its own artist tour. There are reasons why the Seaside Artists Association organizes its own event, which its president and the tour organizer, Carol Setinek, finds herself reiterating year after year. Open Studios are $300 for an artist to participate; Seaside charges $25. This year the city allowed the artists to put up banners a month ahead of time, in front of each home studio venue. “Many people are retiring and finally picking up art; others are just starting,” Setinek says about the nonprofit’s role of promoting Seaside artists. “They don’t know much about the business of selling art yet. The tour helps both groups to ease into this life, learn from other artists.” It may also help to meet their neighbors—Joan Costello presenting her textile art on Allston Street, Michael Garnero with his “fierce fish” metal sculptures and adorable copper outdoor ornaments up on Metz Street—so that the next time they need a piece for their living room or their garden, they know who to commission for the job. Among the artists is Sandra Gray, an original co-founder of the Seaside Artists Association in 2012, whose impact on Seaside arts cannot be overstated. Gray has done it all as an artist; no medium is a stranger to her and none pins her down. Her photography, paintings and other projects, from conceptual sculpture to line drawing, which is her current favorite, are equally praised. “The division between Carmel, Pacific Grove and Seaside still holds,” she says of the state of arts now and when she arrived in Seaside in her 20s to teach at an elementary school. “But Seaside is a melting pot,” she adds, glancing at her “Seaside Melting Pot 2023” line drawing piece that shows an actual melting pot at the backdrop of the coast. “It has always been this way.” Teaching art to young children and training others how to teach art became Gray’s calling. With time, she became a gallery owner, the longtime art director and curator for the City of Seaside Art Program and exhibit coordinator at Walter Lee Avery Gallery at Seaside City Hall and later for the Oldemeyer Center, where she has been displaying her works for the occasion of the Seaside Artist Tour. She is exhibiting pieces in various media, from various years. Gray is also the founder of the relatively young art hub, Open Ground Studios, a shared artists’ workshop and studio space in Seaside. She also continues to be involved with the community (for example, with the Fort Ord Dunes restoration project). She attempts to devote each Monday just to arts. Noting the long history of the city’s support for arts, Gray says, “Remember that the Seaside City Hall was built as a gallery.” The weekend of art tours can serve as a reminder of that. “The tour has been growing,” Gray adds. “I think when we started we had 15 artists and now we have almost 30. Plus, Seaside has the best view in the Peninsula.” If you want to meet Gray, Casty and dozens other working Seaside artists, consider spending part of your weekend with them. The main gallery is the Oldemeyer Center, with six artists exhibiting there. Add to it nine home venues where as many as six artists show their work under one roof. 19th Annual Seaside Artists Tour 11am-4pm Saturday, Sept. 5 and Sunday, Sept. 6. Various locations. Free. facebook.com/SeasideArtistsAssociation. Color Wheels Seaside artists put their work on display during the 19th annual Artists Tour. By Agata Popęda “Seaside is a melting pot. It’s always been this way.” Sandra Gray is an institution when it comes to the arts in Seaside. Above, Gray in front of Sweet Elena’s Bakery and Cafe in Sand City with some of her pieces. DANIEL DREIFUSS SANDRA GRAY Left: Jill Casty at work in her home studio in Seaside. She is part of both the Seaside Artist Tour and the countywide Open Studios Art Tour on following weekends. Casty’s artistic process is long and requires time, from the first sketches of the piece to its hard, heavy form. DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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