20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 22-28, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com JO MORA WAS A SCULPTOR, ILLUSTRATOR, WRITER AND MAPMAKER whose work can be found at the Carmel Mission and the Monterey County Superior Courthouse in Salinas. Yet the Uruguayan-born artist, who spent his later years on the Monterey Peninsula and died in 1947, remains relatively unknown. Peter Hiller, who has studied Mora for more than 25 years, says he’s never met anyone who learned about the artist and didn’t want to know more. Mora’s 150th birthday offers a chance to introduce him to a wider audience through three exhibitions in Salinas and Monterey. Hiller also helped secure a home for the Jo Mora Archive when it faced the possibility of being divided. The Monterey History and Art Association acquired the collection in 2022, preserving Mora’s professional work alongside family photographs, journals and correspondence. That decision gives the three exhibitions something special: the chance to see Mora’s work in ways that might have been lost had the collection been divided. At the John Steinbeck Library, for example, visitors can see his original drawing of a horseman beside Californios, the book featuring that same illustration on its cover. It’s one thing to admire a finished work; it’s another to see where it began. MHAA archivist Tanya von Giese was invited to curate her first exhibition for One Main Street in Salinas, where she explores Mora’s versatility in Like an Octopus: Eight Segments of Jo Mora’s Life and Career, highlighting his roles as photographer, sculptor, commercial artist, illustrator, mapmaker, writer, traveler and father. Although best known for his pictorial maps, von Giese points out that Mora was much more than that. “His greatest artworks aren’t even what he’s well known for,” she says. First and foremost, Mora was a father, and his affection for his family shines through in the elaborately illustrated birthday greetings he called “bologneys.” Part birthday card, part family chronicle, they captured the events of the preceding year in playful verse, mixing household happenings with observations about the wider world. In one dated June 27, 1944, the artist surrounded his handwritten account with colorful illustrations: a woman balancing two automobiles, miniature scenes of family activities tucked into curling vines and a procession of figures across the top. “Dad made a sketch of Sam in clay; although with seeds he’d rather play,” reads one couplet. It’s a passing family joke, but for von Giese, it also offers a clue. Mora kept a planting diary documenting the vegetables and flowers he grew, along with journals and other records of his daily life. By comparing JO MORA Jo Mora was drawn to Carmel because of its bohemian reputation. Five years after he arrived in Monterey County, the growing village built its first schoolhouse, which became Sunset Center. A road race took place through the pines of Pebble Beach in 1950. Organizers of that event decided that a car show—a Concours d’Elegance—would be a nice addition. A person, a place and a thing. Each one has become a Monterey County institution. Of course, the status can become an issue. Officials removed an oak statue of Father Junipero Serra carved by Mora in 2020 during a national wave of protests over symbols of colonialism and racism. Over the past few years, social media influencers and sideshow events have created unwelcome problems during Car Week. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Mora’s birth, the 100th anniversary of what is now the Sunset Center and the 75th anniversary of Concours d’Elegance, the event that expanded into Car Week (there was no Concours in 1960 due to muddy fields). In this issue, we take a look at each institution. Mora’s life and work will be celebrated in three local exhibits. His work continues to resonate, but contributing writer Tonia Eaton gives us a glimpse of the artist as a family man. Sunset Center has invited the community to an upcoming party. Staff Writer Agata Popęda tells how the facility grew to be a performing arts destination. While Car Week is past, a new book discusses its current state. I spoke with the author about change. We can describe the past, but these institutions exist for us in the present. Our interaction with each will have an influence on what they become in the future. —Dave Faries Something Mora Monterey County celebrates 150 years of the pioneering artist Jo Mora. By Tonia Eaton A look at three important fixtures of Monterey County in an anniversary year. Long before Budgee Budgee Cottontail was published as a book in 1995, Mora’s rabbit character was already a cherished part of his family’s birthday greetings.
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