Past Exhibitions

A World Apart: Big Sur in the Mid-century delves into Big Sur as both a paradise of majestic beauty and a utopia for the creative counterculture movement of the mid-twentieth century. The escape from mainstream American society provided a space for artists to freely explore and innovate, inspired by the landscape and ethos of Big Sur. The exhibition explores the impact of Highway 1, the environment, and spirituality on the art and artists of Big Sur.

The exhibition's accompanying catalog includes a foreword by MMA Executive Director Corey Madden and offers a deeper understanding of the reality of Big Sur as an 'artist colony' based on Wendy Good's own deep knowledge and investigative instincts. The full-color catalog will be available for purchase beginning in September and distributed to partner museums and schools across California.

About the Curator

Wendy Van Wyck Good is a curator, author, librarian, and archivist with a special interest in women's history and the history of California's central coast. Originally from Upstate New York, she held positions at the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia and at the Women's Museum in Dallas before moving to the Monterey Peninsula in 2005. Good studied the region's fascinating history while working as a reference librarian in the local history department of the Carmel Public Library and as an archivist at Monterey Peninsula College.

Good's recent work is focused on mid-century art history of California's central coast, in particular local women artists. In 2021, she authored Sisters in Art—the first biography of Monterey artists Margaret, Esther, and Helen Bruton—and curated an exhibition of their work. A frequent visitor to Big Sur over the past twenty years, her latest project is the study of mid-century artists from the region.

Support for the Mid-century Big Sur Season provided by Emile Norman Charitable Trust, Bill and Jeanne Landreth, Post Ranch Inn, and Bob and Kathleen Seibel.

Barbara Spring (1916–2011), Kids, c. 1984, wood, 36.5 x 31 in. Courtesy of Hawthorne Gallery.