Monterey Museum of Art

The museum houses a beautiful and thoughtfully curated collection of artwork. The building itself is equally impressive—its sleek, modern atmosphere is complemented by striking architectural elements that feel both historic and timeless. It’s a wonderful space to explore, and you could easily spend a few hours wandering through the galleries.

We had a great time at the museum. There was easy parking on the street. The sculptures in the park on the side were very pleasing. We were greeted and oriented to the museum by Kaliya who was wonderful even during our visit by making sure we were enjoying our time. I loved the free clipboard at the front to take while we wandered. The exhibits were phenomenal and well curated.

Great local art museum. It is not big, you can probably spend 1-1.5 hours here. They show 3-4 exhibitions at any given time. The permanent collection is big, but only some of it is on display usually as a part of some exhibit. The exhibits change every 3-4 months, so you can visit it every 3 months and see new art.

The museum itself is great - 5 stars. Minus 3 stars for the staff who left me hanging TWICE about a art collection donation. Unprofessional and a complete waste of time. I'm sure another museum would be happy to have the works. As a cultural center for the Monterey Peninsula, you should do better.

This place is a GEM! We have really enjoyed every visit and now we are members. Everything they have in their current exhibits is wonderful, fascinating, and inspirational. I keep thinking back on what I saw.

This was such a fun little museum. The pictures are absolutely amazing (some very talented people showcased here) and the ambiance is great.

Well, I did want to see The Jane Kim exhibit. It was small, interactive and interesting. But the staff hovering was a bit much. If we have to wear masks and socially distance (per signage) they should do the same. At $15 each ticket not exactly a bargain to spend an hour. If you go, stop here first, so if you are disappointed you can be cheered up by the very large, very FREE ocean and flora and birds! I saw a Peta sticker on a car outside. I mention this because in the CA exhibit was a mission on whalebone--ouch. I thought the flora fauna exhibit was very dull. Penelope Gottlieb's piece puzzling. To me showcasing Audubon as reference misses the mark. However, the pottery with butterfly the best piece in that exhibit. So my adventure ended very sadly because Colton Hall too was closed. It is across the street.

The Big Sur exhibit was very educational and, besides the beauty of it, had so much historical value! Also. the docent was marvelous!

This is a cool museum and a wonderful diversion from some of the more touristy spots in the area. We came for the Biennial California exhibit. A photo of mine was on display. It is truly humbling to see your work displayed alongside other fantastic artists. It is a wonderful space. The staff is extremely friendly. My exhibit is over, but check out their next exhibition.

We loved this art museum, first time visiting & we really enjoyed it. The staff were so friendly & informative. There was so much to see in this small building. They have a permanent collection upstairs and the rest of the space they change it every few months so there's always something new to see. I love that they support local amateur artists. They had a contest & the winners got to display their work in the gallery. Downstairs they even have artwork made by high school students. We will definitely visit again the next time we're in the area. They are closed Mon-Wed, open Thurs-Sunday. There's free street parking & free admission for kids under 18 & students with ID.

A museum visit is the perfect activity for a rainy afternoon, and we were lucky enough to get a parking place right across from the entrance to this small museum. I always love seeing the landscape paintings of the Monterey area in this small museum. Nature plays a big role in the beauty of the Monterey peninsula, and these artists really capture that special light and color that makes it so magical. These might be the first artist paintings that I remember since I moved to the area when I was just four years old, and even though I moved away, I have remained a semi-native ever since, with lots of first memories formed here. A show called "Monterey Collects California" presented a nice potpourri of styles from around the area, both modern and historical. There were enough works to create a lively variety of styles and genres to keep us interested in what we might discover around the next corner of this gem of a museum. I particularly liked the ecological themed work on the first floor, which included Blue Footed Booby Bird shoes, and I will be looking for a pair of my own. I became a lifelong bird watcher after being lucky enough to spend a couple of formative years on Midway Island (habitat of the BFBB birds, as well as thousands of Gooney Birds)! The pencil drawings of birds displayed as a kind of fitted mosaic also appealed to me, and made me appreciate the variety of wildlife anew. The stately collection of Monterey Bay area paintings on the second floor is the real magnet that keeps me coming back, and I never get tired of seeing them. I will return to see what other art they display!

What a great Museum. I am a member of NARM and check out the local museums where ever I got. I know most will pass this up and hit the Wharf or Cannery Row. I am so glad we took the time to make this stop. Prior to going I went to their website and saw what shows were current. They really caught my interest. The shows rotate and upstairs they have a permanent collection. Outside is a sculpture garden and they are across from City Hall. We parked on the street for free. I believe 2 hour parking. You can walk to the Wharf from here, but it will be a long walk and you will have parking issues. No one wants a ticket. The gal at the front desk was a wealth of knowledge of the building, previously it was a mortuary, fun history. A very historic building with a beautiful wood ceiling. She also gave a historic plan of where to go next and a map. What great information. We really needed this to plan our short stay in Monterey. I think this is a must stop when you visit Monterey and you love museums. I LOVE Museums and visit them often.

Monterey Museum of Art is located across from historic Colton Hall on Pacific Street. MMA features galleries devoted to exhibitions of American and early California painting, photography and contemporary art. There is a museum store on premises. There is free two-hour street parking available, as well as several downtown parking facilities within short walking distance of the Museum. They are open daily 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, however they are closed on Wednesdays. Handicapped access is available from the sculpture park entrance on the side of the building. When we were here, the following special exhibitions were/are featured: David Hockney's photography of Yosemite National Park is on exhibit between April 25 - August 4, 2019. This exhibition features his iPad drawings made during visits to Yosemite National Park in 2010 and 2011.   The 2019 Weston Scholarship Exhibition is from May 10 - July 7, 2019. This is an exhibition of black & white fine art photography of Monterey County high school & college students studying fine art photography. There is another branch of Monterey Museum of Art on Via Mirada that is only open for special museum events & programs.

A wonderful Museum to explore. Amazing exhibits Of paintings in their permanent collection and from those on loan. They also exhibit photography from photographers who are world renowned.

Nice museum with a good collection of paintings depicting local scenes and local artists. It feels very clean and open. I was very put off that they did not feel the need to give change for admission. As far as I'm concerned, the $15 admission is a donation, and paying with a $20 but being expected to donate the change was a rude assumption. I'm having a hard time getting past that.

We returned to the museum today to see an exhibit of porcelain works by Coille Hooven. This time I checked the museum's hours and learned that it is closed on Wednesdays, so we didn't try to visit yesterday. I had known Coille in the mid 70s. We were in a women's group together and I have several pieces of her work, both quirky and functional. Her show runs until February 18, 2019. It's divided into two rooms. To enter the first room you walk through a photography exhibit by Chloe Wilson, moody, twilight pictures of streets and houses in Pacific Grove and elsewhere nearby. They are compelling and lovely. The exhibit runs until December 23, so there's still time to see it. The first room of Coille's work is full of the kind of work I am familiar w/: elephant shaped teapots and fanciful cups and other objects in white porcelain, most w/ ethereal blue accents. There were wall clocks w/ quirky creatures which reminded me of two adorable little human ornaments, one male, the other female, that I had attached to a shallow square woven basket and affixed to a bathroom wall. The entire assemblage was knocked down and broken by a long ago cleaning lady. I was very sad, because I loved those figures and seeing the first of those clocks touched me. The second room contained work that was less familiar to me, shoes and finger puppets recognizable as her work, quirky and lovely. Each told a story and I enjoyed wandering through, "hearing" them. Highly recommended.

My two friends (all three of us art artists) LOVED this museum. The exhibit on Monterey Collects California was terrific. The staff and docents were great too.

Literally so many paintings and artwork to admire here. Singled out my favorite because they caught my eye and inspired me. William F. Ritschel was a California impressionist painter, born in Nuremberg, Germany on July 11, 1864. During his youth he worked as a sailor and began sketching seascapes. William spent his first summer, Carmel by the Sea in 1911 and seven years later purchased a studio-residence in the Carmel Highlands. Edward J. Holslag, born in Buffalo, NY in 1870. He painted murals in the Congressional Library and painted a series of murals in banks and hotels around the nation. His 1917 mural in the Congress Hotel in Chicago measured two and a half miles long and adorned eleven corridors. Whoa! An itinerant artist, Holslag wandered all over the world in search of subject matter. He made many trips to California where he painted several coastal scenes.

I had the best time at this museum. There were so many great exhibits to look at and so many gorgeous artworks on display. I thoroughly enjoyed the Illuminado exhibit which had lots of beautiful trees and activities, making it perfect for kids. I was sad to see I missed the Free Family Fun Day, but was told by staff they have these throughout the year -- can't wait to go back for this and to see the new set of exhibits next year!

Honestly, I didn't even know this place existed until this past weekend... Thanks S.O. for discovering this spot! Since it was a Sunday... they opened at 1 pm. We were there as soon as they opened. Friendly guard and cashier guy. It is a small gallery but it was still wide enough to accommodate larger paintings and still allow artworks to breathe. My favorite out of the exhibit was the etching from a wide range of artist. In general... I love seeing etching since they're very detailed and tiny and just seeing the strokes from each pen is truly an art piece itself! Second favorites were the painting of the waves (see pictures that I'll attach to these review...) because of their detailed coloring and composition. Overall, definitely worth checking out if you ever get tired of the tourist scene in downtown and just want a mellow day. Did I mention that it was just $5!

The firing of Exec director Stuart Chase after years of complaints is too little too late. This museum is dying and can't expect to survive over the long term without a better board. One can hope. There's been so much potential for this to be the place for young talented inspirational artists. But alas the hinderances are still so large.

Likely the best museum in town. The focus is on local artists and art depicting Monterey. I visited during the annual Weston scholarship exhibition. There was some very impressive photography with Edward Weston influences. There were some Weston photos from the permanent collection on display to compare and contrast. Well worth the visit as Monterey has had some very impressive artists in it's history. Staff was nice and helpful.

If you like art and art museums, don't miss this gem. A variety of good works well presented in a beautiful building that is well maintained. On our visit we saw modern abstract works, social-commentary works, California impressionist works, historical photos, and the outdoor sculpture garden.

We had a great time here on our visit this weekend. It's a small, you can probably get through it in about an hour if you don't linger too much. But the art was bright and pretty, and the layout of the gallery is nice. Don't miss the cute sculpture garden and beautiful lawn!

Like the Tao of Monterey, the MMA (Pacific Street) represents the Yin while Colton Hall across the grass is the Yang. They balance the park. Situated on a bluff overlooking the beautiful Monterey Bay, the Monterey Museum of Art lies at the foot of the historic Colton Hall to the east and the bay to the west. This small museum houses a permanent collection of California and regional artists and hosts temporary displays focusing on contemporary and international art. We caught the "miniatures" which featured over 300 works by California artists and enjoyed seeing renditions in the teeny-weeny. We did not have a chance to visit the La Mirada portion of the museum but did stroll up the bluff to Colton Hall to learn about California history from the spot where its Constitution was drafted and signed. Erected "of the slender proceeds of town lots, the labor of the convicts, taxes on liquor shops, and fines on gamblers.", I gave pause to ponder. Hmm, if we legalized pot and taxed it, I bet we could do a lot of good things, too. Like rebuild some of our roads and infrastructure. But I'm just guessing. Anyway, it's a free visit to see some local art and learn about the Constitutional Convention and California history. The Tao of Monterey...Yin the art, Yang the politics.

A great little museum--always something new of interest, plus the more permanent collection of objects like Ansel Adams & Weston photos. Some great woodcut prints on exhibit right now. Nice views of Old Monterey, Colton Hall, etc. Nice little library downstairs. Just the right size for a 60-90 minute visit--without having to go to "the City."

It's a small museum. We have membership at the DeYoung and this is one of the museums with reciprocity. It's only 2 floors. A tiny gift shop is located at the front of the museum. We liked the photography by Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. There are a few bronze scuptures, donated long term by Louise Davis. One looked vaguely familiar as if I've seen it during my childhood years at the old DeYoung Museum. The museum is located across the street from the Monterey City Hall.

Beautiful museum, beautiful surroundings. The street across has a really nice grass area where you can relax and take pictures. Back to the museum - I really liked this place, felt really cozy and welcoming. I used a free ticket for two w/ my gf and we had a blast. I'd recommend this place for anyone who love museums and art.

Clean.beautiful. Good pieces of old and new. Nice people working there. Will go again.

I had a few hours to spare on a Saturday morning in Monterey and I discovered the Monterey Museum of Art. I was only one of about five people in the whole museum when I visited. If you are a student and have your I.D. handy, definitely use it and you can waive the $10 adult admission fee. Despite the size of this place, it feels worldly, with exhibits from artists who come from all over the globe. The exhibit of textile portraits by Malin Lager was amazing to see. If you stood back far enough, you would swear they were oil paintings. They also had a large exhibit of paintings and illustrations by French artist Jules Tavernier, and because I basically had the museum to myself, I was able to go back and forth to explore pieces over and over again. I gained extra insight from talking to the museum staff before I left, and they added even more to my experience. If you need something to do in Monterey, check out this hidden gem of a museum. You won't be sorry.

I enjoyed the exhibits they featured! One of the local artists, Kevin Miller had his exhibit showing, and had done a specialty on-site piece for the museum. It was unbelievably intricate and complex-absolutely loved it. I'd go back!

This location has the bulk of the collection. I really enjoyed the contemporary mixed media pieces they recently had up. Nice quiet place, moderately sized, I was able to see everything in under an hour. For $5 you can go over to their other location too.

Very nice and quiet museum. A ldocent lady was so nice and informative about art. It was very inspiring. We became members right away!!!

Great little museum! Every town should have one. I especially appreciate their support of living local arts/artists.

The majority of the art on display is inferior. Only about a dozen works of art on display are by classic 19th- and 20th-century Monterey-area artists. The rest is by local residents who are dabbling in art and photography. This is not a museum run by people who know anything about art.

I really enjoy all of my visits to the MMA. They have had some really great exhibits, I especially liked the Kevin Miller exhib. Granted, its a bit small, but I think its really great considering the size of Monterey. It's usually quite empty, so I find it a great place to come and relax, think, and sketch sometimes. I have brought friends here before, and I would recommend it in the future.

Nicely done. Tastefully laid out. Excellent subject matter. Staff was excellent.

Went to both sites on Sunday! Not a huge collection displayed but so tastefully done. Loved the outside piano and the gardens. The tile work on the site near MPC is beautiful.

Great museum! Staff is super nice and helpful. There was a great exhibit of photography when we visited.

This is a small museum that exhibits contemporary work from local artists. The shows can be hit or miss, but generally worth a visit if one is in the area. It's a sweet museum. Cozy library downstairs--great way to catch up on the latest in the art world. Their annual Miniature Exhibit/Fundraiser is always worth a visit.

I love this Museum! I'm so glad that I had time to check out this museum for the first time. Definitely a must see if you are in Monterey. Great artwork. I loved the black and white photo exhibit. The rose garden is goregous as well. I hope to come back on my next visit to Monterey.

Return to the Sea exhibit is unique and the complimentary educational video is excellent. The museum is otherwise small but a worthwhile place to visit in town.

a gem of a local museum featuring local artists of the past (remember Carmel was an artists' colony)