Newsroom

Five New Exhibits to Open at the Pacific Grove Art Center on display from January 9, 2026 through February 26, 2026.

Join Us in Celebrating Art and Community!

December 22, 2026. Pacific Grove, CA.  Pacific Grove Art Center, located at 568 Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove, is pleased to announce the opening of four new exhibits, on display from Friday, January 9, 2026 through February 26, 2026.

Please stop by on Friday, January 9, 2026, from 6-8 pm for all new exhibits. The musical guest is Glenn Leon-Guerrero on keyboards and vocals.

Admission to the PGAC is made possible through community donations. Please give generously!

Hidden Worlds – Effie Benjamin, Carolyn Moore, Dennis Segers and Jacqui Turner, Gill Gallery

There are worlds within worlds—quiet, intricate realms that exist just beyond ordinary sight. Hidden Worlds invites the viewer to enter these secret landscapes.

In this collection, four visionary photographers, Effie Benjamin, Carolyn Moore, Dennis Segers, and Jacqui Turner, express a shared reverence for nature's complexity and its hidden depths.

You Can See It from Here – Cynthia Rand-Thompson, Susan Costes, Willamina Strupat and William Thompson, Dyke Gallery

As individuals, we respond directly and intuitively to our subjects. Each of us came to painting from other disciplines. Our diverse backgrounds include physics, nursing, sculpture and painting, and yet, our work forms a sort of continuum, from figure-centered to figures and landscape to landscapes and flowers to only flowers. As a group, we blend, we don't match--it adds spice.

PAINTING FROM LIFE Studies from the Wednesday Night Painting Group, Annand Gallery

The Wednesday night drawing and painting group is now entering its 16th year at the Pacific Grove Art Center. This exhibit represents some of the portrait and figure studies completed by participating artists throughout the years.

Where Light Falls – Donald Neff, Boyer Gallery

Donald Neff paints the places he loves to be. Whether on location or in the studio, he captures

nature's timeless vitality…crystal streams, thundering falls, and granite peaks rising above still

lakes, as well as the quiet beauty of ordinary moments. This exhibition invites you to journey

through landscapes from around the world, of wonder, solitude, and renewal, seen through

Neff's eyes.

Through Our Lens –MHS Digital Arts/AMP Academy, Small Halls

Two Monterey High School Art-Media-Performance Academy seniors share stories imagined through the lenses of their cameras.  Logan Marchese captures a fantasy world that he meticulously creates using miniature figurines and life-like world environments. Amber Kane pictures "what it feels like to be a teenager today" by sharing intimate photos of close friends doing things they love.

About the Pacific Grove Art Center

As a community-based nonprofit, the Pacific Grove Art Center (PGAC) has been cultivating the arts through creative experiences that inspire, engage, and enrich lives since it was founded in 1969. For more than five decades, PGAC has remained committed to keeping art accessible to all by offering low-cost classes, free exhibitions, and affordable artist studios, ensuring creativity is within reach for the entire community.

The Art Center presents a dynamic schedule of rotating exhibitions that change regularly, with each new show launched during a First Friday New Exhibit Opening. PGAC features four distinctive galleries—the Nadine Annand Gallery, David Henry Gill Gallery, Elmarie Dyke Gallery, and Louise Cardeiro Boyer Gallery—showcasing a wide range of artistic disciplines including painting, photography, sculpture, encaustic, fabric arts, mixed media, and more. Both emerging and established artists are professionally exhibited, with group shows often serving as a valuable launching point for new creative voices.

PGAC is also home to seventeen professional artist studios, providing dedicated creative spaces for local artists. Its robust education program includes art and movement classes for adults, as well as after-school, weekend, summer, and year-round programs for children and teens ages 8 to 17. Scholarships are available to ensure these opportunities remain open and accessible to all young artists.

More than a gallery, PGAC serves as a vibrant hub for community and culture, regularly hosting music performances, cultural events, and special gatherings that bring together art, food, and live entertainment. The Center is also proud to be the home of the Peninsula Ballet Center. In addition, PGAC's historic galleries are available for rental, offering a unique and artistic backdrop for private events and special occasions.

The continued success of PGAC depends on generous donations, grants, and the dedication of volunteers, making community support especially vital. Becoming a PGAC member is a wonderful way to give back while receiving the PGAC newsletter, which shares updates on exhibits, programs, and special events. Free admission to the Art Center is made possible through donations—your generosity truly sustains the arts in our community.

The Pacific Grove Art Center is located at 568 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove. It is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12 PM to 5 PM and Sunday from 12 PM to 4 PM. For more information, call 831-375-2208, email generalinfopgac@gmail.com, or visit www.pgartcenter.org