Santa Cruz County Local News: Art, Culture & Media

At Joe’s Bar in Boulder Creek, bartop dancing is strictly prohibited. That is, for everyone but musician Sharon Allen, who, with her band The Dusty Blues, will play a benefit concert on Dec. 14 to raise money for the nonprofit Valley Churches United.

As Christmas approaches, the San Lorenzo Valley comes alive with celebrations of all kinds. From Santa roaming the neighborhoods in Felton via fire truck to the Boulder Creek Tree Lighting, children of all ages can find a way to ring in the holidays.

Mark Twain declared that A Christmas Carol had no heart, to which Charles Pasternak, Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s artistic director, says, “Bah, Humbug!” Pasternak has adapted Charles Dickens’ beloved novella and will direct the production that opens next week.

Emerging from the Appalachian mist for three moonlit performances, In Some Dark Valley: The Testimony of Reverend Brand is coming to the Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre this month with a haunting solo performance by Robert Bailey.

On April Fools Day, 1984, not-yet-a-denizen Thom Zajac was driving over Highway 17 toward Santa Cruz, when he had an epiphany.

The two-room building at the corner of Highway 9 and San Lorenzo Avenue that currently houses the Bigfoot Discovery Museum is for sale. Located near Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, the 390 square foot single family residence was built in 1949 on a 3,398 square foot lot that includes a fenced side yard. According to the listing, the “Bigfoot business is not for sale unless otherwise negotiated.” Price for the dwelling: $449,000.

One of Santa Cruz’s signature outposts, the Bigfoot Discovery Museum is set to close pending the sale of land at 5497 Highway 9 in Felton. Owner and museum curator Michael Rugg listed the property for sale Oct. 18, and expects to sell most of the exhibits and memorabilia in the near future.

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez is part of a large crowd that showed up Saturday to celebrate the completion of the massive Watsonville Brillante mosaic mural project on the parking structure on Rodriguez and West Beach streets.

LOCAL ART Waverly Liu works on a watercolor painting of the Stockton Bridge in Capitola Wednesday morning. She joined 40 area artists as part of the annual Capitola Plein Air; Artists Paint the Town.

For years, Watsonville Public Library’s Main Street location has drawn community members young and old to find their next great book, perform research or to simply sit and read in silence.

The annual Mi Casa es Tu Casa exhibit opened Thursday at Pajaro Valley Arts on Sudden Street.

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.