Carmel Arts and Crafts Club

Early Carmel art club

Carmel Arts and Crafts Club

Carmel Arts & Crafts Hall, 1907

Location of Carmel-by-the-Sea in Monterey County, California

Successor| Carmel Art Association
Formation| 1905; 119 years ago (1905)
Founder| Elsie Allen
Founded at| Carmel-by-the-Sea
Dissolved| 1927
Type| Art Gallery, Club
Purpose| To attract artists to Carmel
Location|

* Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States

Coordinates| 36°33′19″N 121°55′24″W﻿ / ﻿36.55528°N 121.92333°W﻿ / 36.55528; -121.92333

Region served

| Monterey County, California
Services| Performances, poetry readings, lectures, and summer school

The Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was an art gallery, theatre and clubhouse founded in 1905, by Elsie Allen, a former art instructor for Wellesley College.

## History

[edit]

In 1906, the Carmel Development Company provided the club with their first building on Ocean Avenue. Their first art exhibit was held in this temporary building.[1] Foster formed a committee to raise money to build a permanent site for the clubhouse. It raised money by holding a "Dutch Market" with booths to sell goods and food at the park across the Hotel Carmelo. Those in charge of the booths were: George Sterling's wife, Sydney J. Yard's wife, Michael J. Murphy's wife, and others. Sinclair Lewis acted as master of ceremonies. By July 1907, a lot and the clubhouse building costing $2,500 was completed on Monte Verde Street south of Eighth Avenue.[2][3]

Every summer Jennie V. Cannon travelled to the Monterey Peninsula, and in 1907 purchased real estate in Carmel, where she joined the local art colony, participated in its birth and development, and exhibited at the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club.[4]

Harold Sutton Palmer spoke at the club in March 1907 as well as musical selections by Mabel Gray Lachmund, Peral Tuttle, Sallie Ehrmann, and a reading by Fanny M. Yard, wife of watercolor artist Sydney J. Yard.[5] Other early events included the Café-chantant and bazar to raise funds to pay for an art exhibition held at the clubhouse;[6] entertainment for the Manzanita Club, which included music and dancing followed by dinner and speeches.[7]

On July 16, 1908, the first annual breakfast of the club was held at the clubhouse. George Sterling was toastmaster for thirty-two members of the club. Mary E. Hand was introduced as president of the club,[8] which she held for sixteen years.

Cypress Trees by Mary DeNeale Morgan.

On September 24, 1911, the Club put on the play The Land of Heart's Desire, produced by Herbert Heron, at the Forest Theater amphitheater in Carmel.[9] From July 4-5th 1916, the Club presented The Piper, by Josephine Preston Peabody at the Forest Theater.[10] Four Carmel artists acted and painted scenery: Arthur Honywood Vachell, Mary DeNeale Morgan, William F. Ritschel, and Laura W. Maxwell.[11]

### Carmel Summer School Of Art

[edit]

Carmel Summer School Of Art.

From July through September 1914 William Merritt Chase taught his last summer class, his largest with over one hundred pupils, at the Summer School Of Art.[3]

By September 1927, the Carmel Art Association replaced the Carmel Summer School Of Art and became the center of the art community on the Monterey Peninsula.[12][13]

### Golden Bough Playhouse

[edit]

In 1928, the Abalone League, a local amateur baseball club and active thespian group, bought the Carmel Arts and Crafts Hall and renamed it the Abalone Theatre. The proceeds were used to pay off the Forest Theater debts.[14][15][16][2]

In 1929, after returning from is European trip, Edward G. Kuster was approached by the Abalone League who, beset by financial trouble, offered to sell Kuster its entire theatre operation, including both the Monte Verde and Casanova Street buildings - an offer that Kuster readily accepted. Kuster remodeled the facility and renamed it the Studio Theatre of the Golden Bough.[17][18]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "When the Carmel 'Boheminas' met The Ladies of the Arts & Crafts Club". he Californian. Salinas, California. 24 Dec 2005. p. 51. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
2. ^ a b Hale, Sharron Lee (1941). A Tribute to Yesterday: The history of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros. Santa Cruz, Calif.: Valley Publishers. pp. 30–31. ISBN 9780913548738. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
3. ^ a b Gray, Eunice T. (Feb 1915). "The Chase School Of Art At Carmel-By-The-Sea, California". Art and Progress. 6 (4): 118–120. JSTOR 20561363.
4. ^ Kovinick, Phil; et al. (1999). An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 9780292790636.
5. ^ "Society Gossip". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. 10 Mar 1907. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
6. ^ "Café Cantan At Carmel Will Be Free". Monterey Daily Cypress and Monterey American. Monterey, California. 21 Jun 1907. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
7. ^ "News From Carmel". Monterey Daily Cypress and Monterey American. Monterey, California. 10 Mar 1908. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
8. ^ "News From Carmel. Arts and Crafts Club Serves a Swell Breakfast". Monterey Daily Cypress and Monterey American. Monterey, California. 17 Jul 1908. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
9. ^ "Fairy Play In Forest Theater. The Land of Heart's Desire Is Given by the Carmel Club". The San Francisco Call. San Francisco, California. 24 Sep 1911. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
10. ^ "Finish Rehearsals For Carmel Plays". Monterey Daily Cypress and Monterey American. Monterey, California. 28 Jun 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
11. ^ "Two Plays to Have Premier at Fair Carmel-by-the-Sea". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. 25 Jun 1916. p. 21. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
12. ^ "Theater For Children At Carmel Plan. Arts and Crafts Club to Turn Over Auditorium for Youngsters' Benefit". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. 15 Sep 1927. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
13. ^ Edwards, Robert W. (2012). Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies, Vol. 1 (PDF). Oakland, Calif.: East Bay Heritage Project. p. 39\. ISBN 9781467545679.
14. ^ Hal Garrott (1928-12-14). "A Profane History Of Carmel". Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
15. ^ Temple, Sydney (1987). Carmel By-The-Sea: From Aborigines to Coastal Commission. Angel Press. pp. 137–154. ISBN 0-912216-32-8.
16. ^ "real Estate Transfers". The Californian. Salinas, California. 14 Apr 1928. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
17. ^ "Back Again, Intriguing history of Carmel's Golden Bough Theatre", Alta Vista Magazine/Monterey County Herald, August 28, 1994
18. ^ "Golden Bough Theatre (290 Seats)". Pacific Repertory Theatre. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Retrieved 2023-07-16.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carmel Arts and Crafts Club.

* Carmel Art Association website
* Traditional Find Arts Organization and CAA