Public art powerhouse: Inside Monterey County's scrappy arts movement

"Sand City sits just two miles from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, yet until this month, visitors couldn't spend the night in town. For decades, this half-square-mile town wedged between Costco and Highway 1 has been hiding in plain sight a warehouse district turned open-air art gallery, where murals climb concrete walls and sculptors work in spaces that once stored industrial equipment. Now Sand City has its first hotel, and the timing feels less like coincidence than coronation."

"The West End arts district emerged in the late 1960s and '70s along Ortiz Avenue and Hickory Street, when artists seeking affordable space and the freedom to work at odd hours without complaint began converting warehouses into live-work studios. What started as informal block parties and jam sessions evolved into the West End Celebration, now entering its third decade. Each August, six blocks close to traffic and transform into a pedestrian gallery. Live music fills multiple stages. Over 170 artists and vendors line the streets. Studios that usually operate by appointment throw open their doors."

"The story begins with economics and ends with intention. When commercial businesses fled for cheaper rents in the 1990s, they left behind empty warehouses with high ceilings and loading docks spaces that artists priced out of Carmel, Pacific Grove and Big Sur found irresistible. The city responded with flexible zoning encouraging what officials called creative rehabilitation."

Sand City lies two miles from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and lacked overnight accommodations until this month. The half-square-mile city between Costco and Highway 1 evolved from warehouses into an open-air art gallery, with murals and sculptors occupying former industrial spaces. The West End arts district began in the late 1960s and 1970s as artists converted warehouses into live-work studios and developed into the annual West End Celebration each August, closing six blocks to traffic and featuring live music, over 170 artists and vendors and open studios. Commercial departures in the 1990s left affordable industrial spaces and the city adopted flexible zoning to encourage creative rehabilitation.

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