Santa Cruz County Art, Culture & Media Articles

In which we examine the current state of online news and information discovery and distribution platforms, and how we hope to chart a path forward in 2025.

Hard to think about this town without his omnipresence, the inimitable Bruce Bratton, who left us just days ago. Santa Cruz fixture and perennial gadfly Bratton was hired and fired by every publication in town more than once.

There’s a little pain in Santa Cruz hearts for longtime Santa Cruz media icon and commentator Bruce Bratton, who passed away this week.

Sharon Allen will play an annual benefit show at Joe’s Bar in Boulder Creek on Dec. 14. (Sheila Lee Prader)
Sharon Allen & The Dusty Blues – Joe’s Bar Annual Christmas Party

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 …

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.

Felton Roadside Attraction to Evolve

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 …

WRAP UP 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. From Oct. 21-26 artists fan out …

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.

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 …

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 …

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