Monterey Peninsula Art Foundation

I had one of the worst experience I have ever encountered as a customer. The woman, Cheryl who is a potter was working at the store not sure if she’s an owner or what. My BF had to use the restroom and I’m a huge local art fan and when I saw the sign I figured he could use the restroom there and I could take a quick look around and maybe get some new art! I was super excited. I also love when I meet the artist and hear their story behind the piece and it means so much more to me. It’s a huge hobby of mine and I’ve been collecting local art from around the world since I was a young. I was a tourist in the town and ready to purchase.
When I went in I didn’t particularly see anything that stood out to me. The woman working there was kind of grumpy and weird but I still kept looking. I decided to ask her if she had any art for sale and she didn’t and I asked to see a picture of her art, being friendly and making conversation. She told me she wasn’t a painter– but a potter. I saw her pieces and they were hand painted and I complimented her letting her know I liked her painting, even though she’s first a potter. I’m not sure why this comment bothered her so much but she rolled her eyes and got up and walked away. I brushed it off I figured she was maybe having a bad day or something.
She then asked me where «that guy» went. I said «Oh! He’s in the restroom.» And she became almost scary angry. She started yelling saying ‚“THATS NOT A PUBLIC RESTROOM, DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO ASK? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Literally psycho. I said, «oh I’m so sorry we had no idea» the bathroom was wide open and there was a curtain which was also open. I figured it was public. There was also no signage. Even though we made a mistake and didn’t realize the restroom wasn’t public and clearly let her know it was accidental, for her to continue to behave this way was actually shocking. My jaw dropped. She walked over to me and aggressively grabbed the pictures of her art out of my hand and said «gimme that,» and snatched them. I have never witnessed an adult throw such a temper tantrum like this, let alone to a customer. I was actually flabbergasted and a little scared as she grew so crazy so quickly. We then left the store after she told us to get out and passive aggressively pointed out the actual public restrooms. Which clearly if we knew we would have used. We genuinely thought this restroom was public and when a door is wide open with no signs in a store I didn’t know we needed to ask. I don’t know how she retains customers– complete wacko nut job
Here’s a tip to anyone who passes by as a customer– DO NOT ENTER. The woman was completely dreadful. The little store may seem cute and charming on the outside and some of the art is nice but it’s not worth it. If I could give this place zero stars I would.
I would question having my art here if I were an artist as well, even if I decided to get something or wanted an art piece from here I didn’t get it nor would I ever step foot back in there. As an artist I would think twice before having this woman represent you. You may end up losing customers being associated with someone like her.
I think this is the same place but not 100% if not please tell me and I’ll remove

Incredible selection of local art — best around and outside the mosh of tourists too. None of the pretense found elsewhere in the area when looking for art.

MPAF is an assemblage of art by local artists.
Everyone there is SO friendly. When I say SO friendly, I really mean SO friendly. From what I gather, they’re mostly older people (40+) and are the warmest, smiley-​est people I’ve ever encountered in public.
The art is reasonably priced and everything looks very professional. There are watercolor paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other miscellaneous forms of art. The gallery is in a little cottage house, so that gives it a nice warm feeling, too.
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I think I went on an Open House-​type day (July 17^th, 2010) so I don’t think they do this every time, but they also had food and snacks, and I think there were more local artists there than usual.