Jo Mora

This year, we are celebrating the 150th birthday of Jo Mora, an Uruguayan-born American artist who put his artistic mark all over Monterey County. His illustrations, paintings, murals and sculptures are a celebration of the American West. An exhibit titled Jo Mora & Family Through the Lens of Lewis Josselyn is on display starting Saturday, Sept. 26 through the end of the year at the Monterey History and Art Association at Stanton Center, 5 Custom House Plaza in downtown Monterey. In addition, there is a small exhibit of Mora’s work pertaining to his life as an author at the John Steinbeck Library in Salinas now through at least October. Another show, Like an Octopus: Eight Segments of Jo Mora’s Life and Career, opens (5-7:30pm opening reception) Friday, Sept. 25 at the National Steinbeck Center at One Main Street in Salinas, focusing on Mora’s immense versatility across mediums (as a sculptor, cartoonist, painter and cartographer).