An international initiative linking creatives within their communities kicks off in Monterey.

The very first edition of theCreativeMornings MRY event took place on Friday, Aug. 25 in Monterey, a beginning to a new monthly series with the goal to link and stimulate creative individuals from all over Monterey County – a region that is full of such people, too often unaware of one another. For example, did you know that Catherine Stihler, a former Scottish politician and the CEO of Creative Commons (an organization that fights governments all over the world for public access to data and content generated thanks to taxpayers), lives in Carmel Valley?

“The goal is to lift our creative community,” says Danny Bernstein, the host of CreativeMornings MRY and “a remote professional in the tech industry” who moved to Monterey County in 2022. “I think this is what we all want in one way, shape or form. But it means different things to different people.”

In the brief introduction to the series, Bernstein told the inaugural audience that in countless conversations with local “creatives,” it became clear to him that the immense, restless, ambitious – but somehow not very integrated – creative community of Monterey County is not where it should be. A monthly meeting could help these individuals explore new directions, discuss problems and visions, and meet one another – with coffee and baked goods provided.

After the intro, Stihler took the mic and spoke about how artificial intelligence challenges the world of intellectual ownership and traditional copyright law. Due to Stihler’s love for author Jane Austen, the lecture was titled “Pride and Prejudice”; pride of ownership in the world of fast and easy content was her starting point. The event was filmed by CreativeMornings MRY’s co-host and video producer Mike Buffo.

CreativeMornings began in Brooklyn in 2008; now it’s an international phenomenon with chapters from Tehran to Montevideo. “There are two chapters in Ukraine,” Bernstein adds, as if to motivate Monterey County.

The next speaker will be Eli Woolery, co-host of the Design Better podcast and lecturer at Stanford University (and a Carmel Valley resident). In October, Jeannette Tuitele-Lewis of Big Sur Land Trust speaks, followed by Zach Weston of the Weston Collective in November.

CREATIVEMORNINGS MRY next meets at 9am Friday, Sept. 29. Wave Street Studios, 774 Wave St., Monterey. Free. creativemornings.com/cities/MRY.