Santa Cruz County Art, Culture & Media Articles

Festival Executive Director Ellen Primack, poet-in-residence Farnaz Fatemi, and composer Kevin Puts join host Suki Wessling for a discussion of the return of the annual Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, a local gem with an international lustre. This long-running festival …

Local high schoolers paint murals for Watsonville City Hall

Filmmaker and Watsonville High School alumnus Gabriel Medina already has several independent Hollywood-level movies on his resume, with various roles including writer, producer and director. He recently earned his MFA from University of Southern California’s famed Peter Stark Producing Program, …

If you think the concert promotion company called (((folkYEAH!!!))) brings in a lot of aging hippies with acoustic guitars and banjos…you know, folk music…forget it. The independent company brings in some of the biggest known and best unknown but soon …

By Julie Horner KBCZ 89.3 FM, the Santa Cruz Mountains’ own community radio station, highlights the art of craft brewing on The Pintly Perspective, airing Fridays from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. Husband and wife team, Brian and Erin Valdivia host …

According to “Our Old English Fairs” by R. W. Muncey, the internal trade of England once depended heavily on fairs that sprang up in the Anglo-Saxon period, welcoming merchants from Hamburg, Bruges, Strasbourg, Rouen and Bordeaux, among other far-flung locales. …

“Sculpture IS: In the Garden 2023,” an outdoor exhibit of more than 90 sculptures, has just opened at Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens in Watsonville. In its 17th year, the annual exhibit, produced by Pajaro Valley Arts (PVA), features artists …

“Emergence,” the latest exhibition at Pajaro Valley Arts, has opened at the Pajaro Valley Gallery, 37 Sudden St. The exhibit showcases 33 artists with more than 100 works in a wealth of mediums. Based on the definition of emergence—“coming into …

The third annual Nerdville Watsonville will take place June 25. The event is described as a “fun and family friendly day of anime, cosplay, collectables and more,” by the hosts, Friends of Watsonville Parks and Community Services Department. “This year, …

Nick has spent every Sunday having dinner with his loving, infuriating grandparents in their Hoboken, New Jersey home. Every Sunday! But this Sunday, in the late 1980s, he has to tell them that he's been offered an exciting career advancement …

Thousands descend on downtown Santa Cruz for the 48th annual Santa Cruz Pride parade

A new executive director who’s been alive as long as his predecessor’s tenure will bring fresh energy to one of Santa Cruz County’s signature music festivals. Composer, performing pianist and arts executive D. Riley Nicholson is returning to California to …

The community is invited to an opening reception for “Emergence” on June 4 from 2-4pm at Pajaro Valley Art’s (PVA) Sudden Street Gallery. This multimedia exhibit celebrates artists emerging onto the art scene, exploring new media, presenting new bodies of …

A new outdoor mural was unveiled at Cesar Chavez Middle School May 25, a joint effort between Watsonville artist Yermo Aranda, area students, instructors and others. The four-panel mural, roughly 25-by-40-feet, depicts scenes from indigenous people and a multistage chronology …

Felton Singer-Songwriter Elisabeth Carlisle Launches US Tour By Julie Horner How many times have we said throughout the course of our lives, why am I doing this? For Felton-born singer-songwriter and music education advocate Elisabeth Carlisle, it was never a …

Dozens of Pajaro Valley Unified School District students walked the red carpet at the Edward James Olmos’ Latino Film Institute's Youth Cinema Project’s Oscar Awards ceremony.

Within a decade, the trio went from unknown college rockers to internationally known

The Santa Cruz journalist, poet, editor, translator and rabble-rouser has been at it for over 50 years—and is far from finished.

The Pulitzer Prize-winner talks Anthropocene, how science reporting usually includes a socioeconomic component and New Journalism

Classes from Gavilan and Cabrillo colleges have joined forces to present a ceramics exhibit at the Gilroy Center for the Arts. The exhibit runs through May at 7341 Monterey St. in downtown Gilroy, with a reception on May 19 from …