Monterey Museum of Art and government agencies partner in a vision to expand an art footprint downtown.

California State Parks, the Monterey Museum of Art and the City of Monterey are working together to bring a concept they call The Island of Adobes to downtown Monterey, turning the historic district into a hub for arts and culture. The State Parks-owned Casa Gutierrez Adobe, at 590 Calle Principal in Monterey, is set to become an art gallery in 2025. The building is adjacent to the Miller Adobe, which MMA purchased in July, after making a decision to stay on Pacific Street in downtown Monterey, its home since 1969.

State Parks will start work on Casa Gutierrez as early as January 2024. The building has not been open on any consistent basis in recent years, according to Interpretive Program Manager Lisa Maldonado Bradford from the Monterey District of California State Parks. Bradford wanted to change this, and applied for an Arts in State Parks grant, and was awarded the $120,000 needed for an update.

“Things are moving quicker than expected,” Bradford says. Soon, Casa Gutierrez will be updated in preparation to showcase artwork (with new lighting and more). The space will be available to use for free for exhibits by various nonprofit groups, changing a few times each year.

After almost a decade of indecision, nonprofit MMA announced it will be staying downtown. The Island of Adobes project helped with that decision. This community transformation of downtown Monterey also includes partnerships with Monterey Public Library and Youth Arts Collective, according to MMA’s director of marketing and communications, Candace Christiansen.

The Miller Adobe, purchased by MMA for $1.28 million from Raven’s Path LLC, will be used for administrative offices rather than as exhibit space. That will free up space in the museum (at 559 Pacific St.) for “more mission-oriented purposes,” Christiansen adds.

Remaining on Pacific Street, in the property leased from the City of Monterey, will necessitate a major renovation; MMA anticipates developing a phased approach to fundraising and construction. It also wants to make sure the streetscape connecting MMA Pacific Street and Miller Adobe is inspiring and accessible.

There’s also resolution for MMA as to what to do with its La Mirada location, as well as an adjacent parcel of land on Perry Lane, that the museum purchased in 2020 with the possibility of constructing an entirely new facility there. But consultants Lord Cultural Resources and HMC Architects, hired by the museum to conduct a facilities study, advised them to keep Pacific Street as a homebase, turning La Mirada location into an Institute for California Art, where the museum’s permanent collection and archives can be researched and studied. Long-term plans for La Mirada include offering adult art instruction, seasonal public programming, community partnerships and site rentals. The other property on Perry Lane will be sold.

Casa Gutierrez was completed in 1846, before California became part of the United States, for Joaquin Gutierrez from Mexico, a soldier who settled down in Monterey and married a daughter of the old Escobar family; they needed space for their 15 children. Son-in-law John W. Miller built the Miller Adobe next door, at 580 Calle Principal, in 1874.