Arts Habitat will present multi media collage artist Kay Villalobos in a program entitled, "From Heels to Wheels", at Arts in Progress on Tuesday, September 27, at Arts Habitat | Studio Seaside, 840 Broadway Avenue, Suite B3, in Seaside City Center (next to Erik's Deli), from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Carmel artist Kay Villalobos works in collaboration with various personal assistants to create unique, visionary works of art. She began this collaborative phase of her artistic life after an automobile accident in 1997 left her paralyzed. Kay's concepts spring from her unique sense of humor and her deep conviction that out of sorrow and misfortune art can be made, and the creative spirit will find new and ever-evolving ways of expression.

Arts in Progress events occur each 4th Tuesday of the month at Studio | Seaside from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. They are free and open to the public and refreshments are served.

William Faulkner has played harp since 1979. Director of the Mariachi Mixtlan from 1980 through 1998, and solo harpist since 1983, William and his harp have traveled throughout California and the Southwest United States as well as various parts of Mexico. He studied with Arturo Mendoza, former harpist with the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, and has given workshops at festivals in Mexico City, Guadalajara, California, Arizona and New Mexico. He has traveled with his harp as far as Scotland to the Edinburgh Festival, to Tahiti and the Marquesa Islands.  For more information on William Faulkner visit his website by clicking here. 

Arts in Progress events occur each 4th Tuesday of the month at Studio | Seaside from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. They are free and open to the public and complimentary refreshments are served.

Neal and Elaine Whitman will use PowerPoint to demonstrate how to write a haiku poem, and then  combine it with a photograph to form a "haiga". Participants will then have the opportunity to write their own haiku in response to Elaine's photography. AIP events take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., at Studio Seaside. The program is free, complimentary refreshments are served, and the public is invited.

The Whitmans' haiga have been published in several journals, including Syndic Literary Journal, Sound of Poetry Review, Notes from the Gean, and Haiku Pix Review. And you can regularly see their haiga in Pacific Grove's Cedar Street Times. Elaine is an accomplished musician on Native American flute which she plays in accompaniment to Neal's poetry recitals. 

Arts Habitat will present Jean Brenner in a program entitled, "The Face of Islam: Photos from Asia and Africa", at Arts in Progress (AIP) on Tuesday, March 22. The new location for AIP is Arts Habitat: Studio Seaside, 840 Broadway Avenue, Suite B4, in the Seaside City Center Development, at the corner of Broadway and Fremont Streets. There is plenty of parking in the large lot off Fremont behind the Broadway buildings. The event takes place on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. The event is free, complimentary refreshments are served and the public is invited.

Jean Brenner is pictured at right in Tehran, Iran in 2009. She is wearing the mandated attire of a head covering (hejab) and knee length coat (manteau). She is standing between the boots of the Shah of Iran. His statue was cut down at the knees during the 1979 revolution. Ms. Brenner has taken photographs in twenty-seven countries with large Muslim populations, including nine in the Middle East. From the coasts of Africa, through Central Asia to the Far East, she has found many manifestations of Islam. She will present  her work and tell the back stories of each picture in order to present the positive side of Islam and it's proud followers.    

Brenner received her B.A. in history from Stanford University and studied Art History at the Sorbonne in Paris. She has been featured in numerous major exhibitions, and her works are part of the permanent collections of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, the City of Monterey and the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, among others.

Arts Habitat will present Skip Kadish in a program entitled, "Art in the Real World: A Recipe for Creativity", at Arts in Progress on Tuesday, January 25, at the Arts Habitat Seaside Studio, 840 Broadway Avenue, Suite B4, in the Seaside City Center Development, on the corner of Broadway and Fremont. This is a new location from past events.

Mr. Kadish will lead a discussion about acting, teaching, sculpting and the picture framing business. The event is from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M., complimentary refreshments are served and the public is invited.

Skip Kadish has been an artist virtually all his life. He first acted at the age of eight, although his passion for acting was not assuaged until his twenties.

Kadish received his MA in Art History at the University of Michigan and studied sculpture with John Waddell of Arizona. He has taught art history at Monterey Peninsula College for 30 years, and has appeared in more than 45 productions on the Monterey Peninsula since 1978. He owned and operated Spanish Bay Galleries, a picture framing business in Pacific Grove, for 24 years.

Kenny Hill began building guitars in the mid 1970’s, first in Santa Barbara, CA, and then later in the Santa Cruz area. In 1978 he was awarded one of the first California Arts Council grants to an individual artist for his work as a guitar builder and guitarist.

Mr. Hill is also an accomplished and active performing classical guitarist, recording artist, composer, and he regularly writes for several national publications.  He has also taught at UC Santa Cruz, at other schools and colleges, and in the California State Prison System.

In 1993 he was awarded a grant from the California Arts Council to set up a guitar making program in the California State Prison system. From 1993 to 1995 he taught and directed an award winning program at Soledad State Prison.

Currently Kenny Hill is the president of Hill Guitar Company, building fine classical guitars for the world market.

Arts Habitat will present the hip hop, electronica band "Hidden Library", composed of Nathaniel Stevens, Ross McCafferty, and Jake Student a.k.a. Numerous, on Tuesday, July 27, as part of their event series Arts In Progress. Their agent, Maria Matias of Maria Matias Music, Inc., will discuss the behind-the-scenes role of a talent agent. The events take place every fourth Tuesday of the month at the Monterey YMCA, 600 Camino El Estero, at Webster Street, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Refreshments are served and the events are free and open to the public.

Maria Matias has more than 20 years experience in the talent agent business. She helped produce Luciano Pavarotti worldwide in concert, and later worked with Monterey Peninsula Artists/Monterey International for 14 years. She opened Maria Matias Music in 2006, and currently has a roster of 21 acts. She can be contacted via her website, mariamatiasmusic.com.

"Hidden Library" combines elements of hip hop with digital electronica music. The two founding members, Stevens and McCafferty, began making music together at age 12. For the past ten years, they have worked closely together to develop their music making skills and have helped contribute to the evolution of hip hop. In 2009 they formed "Hidden Library." After producing a CD of superbly composed instrumentals entitled "Ending of the Start," "Hidden Library" introduced their rapper, Jake Student, a.k.a. Numerous, into the group. Numerous has been working in the music industry for the past 4 years and has already achieved a significant amount of success with his own group "Vibrant EYEris." Together, these three musicians form the collective collaboration that is known as "Hidden Library."

Arts Habitat will present Paulette Lynch playing and discussing the hammered dulcimer, on Tuesday, May 25, as part of their event series Arts In Progress. The events take place every fourth Tuesday of the month at the Monterey YMCA, 600 Camino El Estero, at Webster Street, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Refreshments are served and the events are free and open to the public.

Ms. Lynch will share what it has been like to play an ancient instrument in our modern world - the endless tuning, the endless questions, the endless joy.

She will gladly answer all your questions - What is a hammered dulcimer? Why would anyone play one now?! How can you learn? Does anyone build them now? Is there anyone else out there that plays?

Paulette has been singing all her life and playing guitar since age 12. But when she saw a hammered dulcimer player on stage one dramatic St. Patrick's night in San Francisco, she was hooked. When her boyfriend bought her one for Christmas later that year - she figured she had better learn to play it! And when many friends and the wonderful Heartstrings Monterey ensemble encouraged her to play with them - she could not resist.....