Page 187 - California Diving and Surfing

uch painters as Arthur Frank Mathews, Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was formed times including the Abalone Theatre, the
to support and produce artistic works. Filmarte, the Carmel Playhouse and, finally,
S Armin Hansen, Xavier Martinez, Rowena the Studio Theatre of the Golden Bough.
Meeks Abdy and Percy Gray lived or visited After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake The original clubhouse, along with the
adjoining theatre, burned down in 1949.
to pursue painting in the style of either En the village was inundated with musicians, The facilities were rebuilt as a two-theatre
complex, opening in 1952 as the Golden
plein air or Tonalism. In addition to paint- writers, painters other artists turning to Bough Playhouse.

ers many noted authors through the years the established artist colony after the bay In the late 19th century the fishing indus-
try became the area’s most profitable and
have also lived in and around the Monte- city was destroyed. The new residents were important economic sector. Started by
mostly Italian immigrants in Monterey and
rey area such as John Steinbeck, Robinson offered home lots - ten dollars down, little Chinese immigrants in Pacific Grove, the
fishing industry flourished. By the 1930s
Jeffers, Robert A. Heinlein, Henry Miller, Ed or no interest, and whatever they could canneries lined the northern shore of the
Peninsula. These canneries were the set-
Ricketts, and Robert Louis Stevenson. More pay on a monthly basis. In 1907 the town’s ting for the novels Cannery Row and Sweet
Thursday by local author John Steinbeck.
recently, Monterey has been recognized for first cultural center and theatre, the Carmel By the early 1940s, however, the fishing
industry was dealt a devastating blow when
its significant involvement in post-second- Arts and Crafts Clubhouse, was built. Poets the heavily overfished waters did not yield
the amounts of fish needed to keep the
ary learning of languages other than Eng- Austin and Sterling performed their “private canneries profitable. The end of big busi-
ness fishing on the Monterey Bay was the
lish and its major role in delivering trans- theatricals” there. In 1911, the town’s rich beginning of several conservation efforts
which eventually led to the creation of the
lation and interpretation services around Shakespearean tradition began with a pro- Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

the world. In November 1995, California duction of Twelfth Night. By 1914, the club

Governor Pete Wilson proclaimed Monterey had achieved national recognition.

as “The Language Capital of the World”. I n 1913, The Arts and Crafts Club began
organizing lessons for aspiring painters,
I n 1902 James Frank Devendorf and Frank actors & craftsmen. Some of the most prom-
Powers, on behalf of the Carmel Develop-
ment Company, filed a new subdivision map inent painters in the United States, such

of the core village that became Carmel-by- as William Merritt Chase, Xavier Martinez,

the-Sea. The Carmel post office opened the Mary DeNeale Morgan and C. Chapel Jud-

same year. In 1910, the Carnegie Institution son offered six weeks of instruction for $15.

established the Coastal Laboratory, and a In 1924, the Arts and Crafts Hall was built

number of scientists moved to the area. on a site adjacent to the original clubhouse.

Carmel incorporated in 1916. In 1905 the This new facility was renamed numerous