Arts & Culture

For the past 16 years, Pajaro Valley Arts (PVA) has partnered with Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens for an annual art exhibit. Artists install sculptures throughout Sierra Azul’s two-acre demonstration garden, creating an open-air gallery surrounded by native trees and plants. For this year’s Sculpture...

The artwork of women over 60 years old has been collected into a new exhibit at the R. Blitzer Gallery on the west side of Santa Cruz.

WATSONVILLE—A year’s worth of work came to fruition on Oct. 1 as the third and largest mosaic that is part of the ongoing Watsonville Brillante project was installed at the Civic Plaza Parking Garage. The piece, “Hermanita,” was designed by Juan Fuentes, a graduate of...

WATSONVILLE—For the first time in 10 years, Watsonville’s Esperanza del Valle (EDV) will be returning to the Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts for a weekend of dancing, music and cultural celebration. The nonprofit folklórico dance group was founded in Watsonville in 1980...

Hollywood actor Edward James Olmos poses with Michelle Rodriguez (right), Superintendent of Pajaro Valley Unified School District and Brenda Avila of the Watsonville Film Festival Friday in front of the Mello Center in Watsonville. Olmos, founder of the Latino Film Institute, made the special...

WATSONVILLE—A large gathering of people celebrated the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe the Virgin Mary Sunday at Pinto Lake County Park. Based on Catholic tradition, the virgin appeared to a young boy, Juan Diego, in Mexico in 1531. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe...

Two years ago Amy Thomas, principal at Watsonville Charter School of the Arts, noticed that her students were getting a bit restless during and in between classes. She and staff began searching for something both educational and physical to engage the kids during the...

WATSONVILLE—The musical group Rosa Azul is set to perform Sunday at Studio Judy G on Main Street.  The quartet, which describes itself as “a new ensemble of professional musicians that perform some of the best Mexican music with a polished flare,” will perform in the...

For the past two years the Dan & Lillian King Foundation, which aims to advance the learning of the U.S. Constitution, has sent scores of eighth-graders from Monterey County schools to see live productions of the Tony Award-winning show, “Hamilton: An American Musical.” Hundreds of...

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville High School community last year was shaken when a beloved three-decades old mural on the wall of the school’s cafeteria was painted over during a construction project. The move, directed by site administration and the district facilities department, outraged the artists involved in...