Santa Cruz County Local News: Art, Culture & Media

Gary Griggs, UCSC Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences tells us about his new book, California Catastrophes: The Natural Disaster History of the Golden State, about the history of disasters in our state and what we can expect in the future.

The 39th annual Open Studios Art Tour is on deck to invite the public into the studios of local artists Oct. 5-20.

Work is underway to complete the 10th and final phase of the five-year Watsonville Brillante mosaic downtown art project that is splashed across the otherwise dull concrete walls of the six-floor parking garage on Rodriguez Street.

“I can personally say it’s really difficult to convince people to listen to marginalized music,” Rip Florence says before taking a sip of water. “But there is an opportunity in Santa Cruz for people to embrace more idiosyncratic and niche music.”

On Talk of the Bay, host Suki Wessling welcomes Ann Osterman, outgoing producer of Santa Cruz County's acclaimed Open Studios Art Tour, collage artist Bree Karpavage, past artist and incoming producer, and painter Jason Cohen, first time presenter in the art tour. Open Studios takes place the first three weekends in October and is free to the public. Visit the website to learn more!

The third annual Scotts Valley Multicultural Fair once again provided a venue where people of all ages could learn about different cultures last Saturday.

A new outdoor mural was unveiled Aug.16 at Callaghan Park. The work is a project by Teen Artes, a group project under the umbrella of the Pajaro Valley Arts.

In the world of theater where name recognition is everything for a performance company, Renegade Theater is firmly stamping its signature on the Santa Cruz theater scene.

Independent station KCPR, known as Pirate Cat Radio, is back in Santa Cruz for the first time in more than a year, when the station moved to Los Gatos. Pirate Cat recently added KMRP 101.9 FM to its list of frequencies, allowing Santa Cruz listeners to once again tune into everything Pirate Cat has to offer.

In a word: riveting. The Santa Cruz Shakespeare production of Hamlet is everything one could hope it would be. Director Susan Dalian has updated the setting of this 425-year-old masterwork to the late 1960s, piping in vintage rock ’n’ roll plus radio broadcasts about the Vietnam War and various presidential assassinations during scene changes.

How does the 5th largest economy in the world … work?

Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond has been cranking out stage-based entertainment since 1982, and the assortment of plays and musicals produced in the past 42 years is a testament to the quality and talent of the group.

A community project helped spruce up Hazelwood Park Mural on July 27 as part of the ongoing Watsonville Community Mural Paint Day.

The town of Boulder Creek knows how to keep their populace and surrounding areas engaged with events. Whether it’s the 4th of July Parade down Central Avenue, trick-or-treating with local businesses or lighting the Christmas tree in the middle of town, the feel-good celebrations put the town on the map each year.

At dawn, at Roaring Camp, up yonder in the mountains of Felton, the foggy mist swirls around the wooden railroad tracks and vintage trains. The fabricated Old West town arises like a ghost, catching glints of a new day, making it appear as if it is the late 1800s.