[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN HONOR OF THE MONTEREY MUSEUM OF ART

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                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 2009

  Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Monterey Museum of 
Art for their fifty years of service dedicated to the stewardship and 
celebration of the artistic legacy of the Monterey Peninsula. On behalf 
of the whole House, I am honored to extend to the Monterey Museum of 
Art the gratitude of the Congress and the American people for their 
past and future service.
  Monterey County, in Central California, is a region that has inspired 
artists since the late 1800s. Artists flocked to the area, which was 
then and still is a region of pristine beauty. They brought with them 
the tradition of plein air painting, still in evidence today with 
artists painting the land and seascapes of ``the greatest meeting of 
land and sea.''
  The Monterey Museum of Art was founded in 1959 in Carmel as a Chapter 
of the American Federation of the Arts by a group of civic minded 
individuals who sought to create an arts space for that seminal arts 
colony. In addition to celebrating pioneers of early California art 
such as Armin Hansen, the museum collects and exhibits contemporary 
photography by such renowned artists as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and 
Imogen Cunningham, contemporary artists working locally, in California 
and nationally.
  Now comprising two locations, after the bequest of an historic adobe 
in the early 1980's by Frank Work, the museum serves nearly 40,000 
visitors annually from around the world, including thousands of local 
schoolchildren. The museum is reaching out to families and children 
with new activities and programs geared to inspire a passion for the 
visual arts in accordance with their mission.
  The mission of the Monterey Museum of Art is to collect, preserve, 
and interpret the art of California from the nineteenth century to the 
present day, within a national and international context. In this way, 
they expand the appreciation of their evolving artistic legacy and 
inspire a passion for the visual arts. We look forward to the next 
fifty years of their endeavors in this area.
  Madam Speaker, I want to hold up the Monterey Museum of Art as a 
model museum and cultural institution, an expression of what makes our 
nation a worldwide leader in arts unique to our land. May their 
continued success inspire many more generations to celebrate our 
nation's artistic heritage and participate in its future.

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