Santa Cruz County Art, Culture & Media Digest

Through this new program, artists, culture bearers, and California Native American tribes will be eligible to receive funding to create artwork throughout state and local parks.

Written by Center for Biological Diversity scientist Tiffany Yap and illustrated by artist Meital Smith, “Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey” takes the reader through diverse habitats, across busy freeways and inside science labs to learn about one mountain lion’s survival story.

“A Dark and Rising Tide,” the latest novel from former KION-TV news director Debra Castaneda, is directly inspired by Capitola’s experience with the Storm of ’23.

Dust rises from the crowd dancing at the front of the stage. They mimic the dances of Arivu, the main performer of the night, chanting Tamil lyrics along with the performers.

A book being released by UC Santa Cruz graduate yves. features short stories of monsters and suspense but also deeper themes of familial relationships, LGBTQ+ discrimination and the ways society treats those who are different.

Aiming to showcase the “endless” pool of Santa Cruz County arts talent, the group show “Ten” opens Saturday at the Radius Gallery at the Tannery and M.K. Contemporary Art, formerly Curated By the Sea.

Linda Burman-Hall, an ethnomusicologist, musician and longtime UC Santa Cruz professor who brought the annual Baroque Festival to town, died suddenly while traveling in Malaysia. She was 78.

The “Dancing Waters” installation on the downtown River Front Garage is 32 panels of stained glass, documenting Santa Cruz’s relationship with water. It’s ambitious public art, and maybe just the beginning as redevelopment flows along.

Aptosians weigh in on Microsoft’s new default font, which typeface designer Steve Matteson named after the town.

Ritchie Lovejoy wrote a novel more than 80 years ago, and he was able to do it because of John Steinbeck’s faith in his talent. That novel, “Taku Wind,” finally got published last month, albeit in a very limited edition—24 copies.

As Cabrillo College navigates the process of changing its name, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and Cabrillo Stage are keeping an eye on developments.

Park Hall has roots dating back to 1908, but the establishment of a public trust that transferred ownership of the hall to the residents of Ben Lomond in 1923 proved it was here to stay.

Ruth Rosenheim Solomon, born on June 10, 1935, in New York City, passed away this month. She was the founder of the dance program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, which she ran until her retirement in 1995.

KSQD, the community radio station run by Natural Bridges Media, successfully fundraised to purchase two new radio licenses.

Mosaic artists are working on a stained-glass art piece that is expected to be unveiled sometime in June on what is known as the River Front parking garage.

A documentary by a UC Santa Cruz alum about endangered coho salmon and their struggle to survive the CZU Lightning Complex fire will air on PBS this Friday.

The collective of local playwrights under the 36 North banner kicks off a series of staged readings of new plays—a chance to interact with a live audience and get a sense of what works and what doesn’t.

Remove by X, housed at the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, is an exhibition of flyers, newsletters, brochures, and posters archived from UC Santa Cruz’s 1965 inception to 2000. This content chronicles important campus happenings, from anti-war protests to student-run art shows.

With COVID pandemic shutdown woes and costs higher than ever, Santa Cruz’s Jewel Theatre Company announced that the 2023-24 season will be its last, Wallace Baine reports.

Blessed by Beat poet and San Francisco bookseller Lawrence Ferlinghetti, downtown’s Bad Animal—a restaurant and wine bar inside a bookstore—deserves its own attention as an emerging Santa Cruz cultural touchstone.

Actor Pepe Serna is not a household name. Yet he’s appeared in more than 100 films and 300 TV shows—a career chronicled in “Life is Art,” a 2022 documentary featured during the opening event of the Watsonville Film Festival on March 3.

Many know that legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock had a retreat in Scotts Valley. With the city’s new performing arts center providing a worthy setting, locals will celebrate that connection March 10-11.

Kathleen Crocetti and the artists of Community Arts & Empowerment are getting ready for another big public-art project—this time on a parking garage in downtown Santa Cruz.

The 15,000-square-foot building on Panetta Way holds three climate-controlled galleries, a screening room, and event space.

“Bay of Life,” a project from Bonny Doon photographer Frans Lanting and writer Chris Eckstrom, is on display at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History,

After KSCO announced that it was laying off its staff and ending live local programming, Rosemary Chalmers, one of the Santa Cruz radio station’s most high-profile on-air hosts took a deep breath and decided to branch off into a new media entity.

Theodore is smarter than the average bear. But even he has one hell of a time trying to navigate the health care system.

Owner Michael Zwerling is looking for a buyer for KSCO 1080 AM, plus sister station KOMY 1340 and one acre of flat land at 2300 Portola Drive in Santa Cruz, overlooking Corcoran Lagoon.

KSQD's current frequency contour stretches from Santa Cruz to Aptos. The expansion could reach audiences in Watsonville, Hollister, Prunedale, Monterey, Carmel, Salinas and beyond.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom recently joined the California Museum in announcing the 15th class of inductees into the California Hall of Fame. They join 138 Californians previously inducted for embodying the state’s innovative spirit.

Though their diminished numbers hamper local wildfire response, real-life incarcerated firefighters are still on the front lines in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

The 810 frequency on the AM radio dial, where, regional residents tuned in for the news of the day, has begun a new era: coverage of gambling on sports. Station owner Cumulus Media unveiled the new station on Oct. 10, with 810 AM now called “The Spread.”