Visuals 09.28.23

NANCY OLAETA

October’s featured artist at the Venture Gallery by the Portola Hotel in Monterey is Nancy Olaeta, who will have her new works on display throughout the month. Olaeta’s works are inspired by walks around the Monterey Peninsula and on the Big Sur coast. Towering, majestic redwoods, fields of valley lupines and rocky coastlines teeming with coastal flora are among the scenes that have received Olaeta’s distinctive artistic interpretations in oils. The above painting is titled “Springtime, Pt. Lobos.” An opening reception for the exhibit happens from 3-6pm on Saturday, Oct. 7. Olaeta grew up on the Monterey Peninsula with a father who was a professional artist. She paints at home using oils on canvas; she is also a fused glass artist. [AP]

HANIF WONDIR

This mural by Hanif Panni (who goes by the artist name Hanif Wondir) celebrates the Asian American and Pacific Islander community’s history on the Monterey Peninsula. It includes a young Chinese railroad worker overlooking a set of tracks, weary from the day’s work but remaining optimistic as he envisions the future. At center is a representation of the Point Alones (Pacific Grove) Chinese fishing village, which burned down on May 16, 1906. In the bottom right-hand corner is a depiction of Gerry Low-Sabado, who was born in Monterey and was a fifth-generation descendant of one of the original Chinese families to settle in the Monterey area. Low-Sabado was an activist who dedicated her life to honoring, documenting, and telling the story of Chinese history and their contributions to the local community. Find this mural behind the Catalyst Dispensary, 3100 Del Monte Blvd., Marina. [AP]