Summer 2004

 


Summer 2004


ESSAYS
MONTEREY BEAT MUSEUM GOES ON THE ROAD


Jerry Cimino of "The Beat Museum" in California has taken his act 'On The Road' for the first time this past April.

Cimino, accompanied by John Cassady (son of Neal Cassady) and others, took the museum - housed in a motorhome - to Los Angeles for nine days, from its stationery location in Monterey, for the premiere of the film Beat Angel. "We shook out the Beatmobile, at a thing called Method Fest" said Cimino. "Nine days in Burbank"

The excursion was a way for Cimino to dry-run his concept of having a kind of "Beat Museum On Wheels," as a way to spread the message of the Beat Generation to America without Americans having to come to his location in Monterey.

"I envision the Beat Museum on Wheels as a way of continuing to spread the message of the Beat Generation to America’s youth and the population at large," notes Cimino, who opened www.kerouac.com's Beat Museum in Monterey in 2003. "I can see the Museum turning up at High Schools and Colleges as well as Poetry Events, Festivals and other appearances across the country."

Cimino says his museum has entertained thousands of visitors this first year - but while he has enjoyed the quiet coastal life, "we want to do more to allow the many thousands of people who aren’t able to make a trip to California’s Central Coast to see our collection and learn more about the story of the Beat Generation."

The idea for taking his show “On The Road” came about after he received numerous emails from people who live all over the country expressing their support of what the Beat Museum is doing and their desire to visit - “someday.”

The Beat Museum is located at 211 W. Franklin Street Monterey, CA. To get it on wheels, Cimino acquired a classic Airstream motorhome. "The Airstream 345, with it’s beautiful streamlined retro look, is the perfect vehicle to showcase the spirit of the 50’s and the Beat Generation," he says. "This beautiful machine is a real head-turner and will undoubtedly encourage interest in and study of the Beats as the Museum travels around the country." Next on the agenda was acquiring and customizing a trailer to house the Beat Museum on Wheels.

Now that he's back from his trip to LA, Cimino is contemplating his next move, and anticipates that in the next few months, he'll be concentrating on tours of California.

"The concept is going well," he said. "There are some things to work out, but people like it. I can envision the Museum as a catalyst for readings, discussion groups at bookstores, coffeehouses, and other locales, encouraging the study of various Beat themes and what it all meant (and still means) to America and the world."

To hear more about Jerry Cimino's vision for The Beat Museum, you can hear an NPR radio interview that ran in late 2003 by going to www.kerouac.com and clicking on the link that is 2/3’s down the homepage. That's the address to click, too, if you want to help Cimino out in any of a number of organizational ways - or just write to him at jerry@kerouac.com and include the words MUSEUM VOLUNTEER in the subject line.

 
 

 

 

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