The work of artist Jo Mora finds its home at the Monterey History and Art Association.

The archive of one of the Peninsula’s most iconic artists, Joseph “Jo” Jacinto Mora, has found a new home with the Monterey History and Art Association. The Jo Mora Archive (which comprises both ephemera like letters and journals and also artwork – sketches, paintings, bronzes – by the prolific Carmel artist) sold on Feb. 4 for an undisclosed amount.

The archive has thus far been kept as part of a family trust, but this arrangement could not continue forever. As such, Peter Hiller, curator of the Jo Mora Trust Collection, was on the lookout for an institution interested in acquiring it. He says MHAA is a natural fit, if one that took a while to become obvious. A nonprofit founded in 1931, MHAA is dedicated to preserving Monterey’s cultural heritage. As such it already has a relationship with the Mora family through Jo’s daughter Patti (she was a member) and already possesses a large collection of Mora’s work (on display at the organization’s Casa Serrano property in downtown Monterey). MHAA was interested in acquiring more.

“I’ve always thought that its truest and deepest value is in the entire archive staying together as a whole,” Hiller says. He found that organizations he approached were, in general, interested in either the papers or the artwork – but MHAA wanted both. “I wondered why I didn’t think of them sooner,” he says.

With the sale, the Jo Mora Archive is now part of MHAA’s collection. “It’s just a once-in-a-lifetime acquisition for an association like ours, to find a local artist whose works are for sale more or less all at once,” MHAA President Gary Spradlin says. MHAA also sees the value in keeping the art and ephemera together – one illuminates the other, he says.

The nonprofit will now focus on archiving its new acquisition – they have raised some money for this purpose and will likely seek more. “We will make it available to the public over time for researchers,” Spradlin says.

According to required public reporting, the nonprofit has continuously lost money for over a decade operating three Monterey properties, including the Salvador Dalí Exhibition inside the Stanton Center at Custom House Plaza.

The component Hiller is most excited about is the future of public access to the collection.

“My ultimate goal has always been to bring Jo Mora’s career to the attention of the largest public audience possible,” Hiller says. The sale gives the archives “a sort of a public presence that it didn’t have while it was in the family trust. Even though the Monterey History and Art Association is a membership organization, I look at them as being a public institution in that the public has access to their collections if they’re interested.”

Spradlin is “not quite sure” where the new artwork will be displayed, but expects it will primarily join the work already at Casa Serrano.