Annual sculpture exhibit returns for 16th year
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...
Photo: Local student filmmakers get the spotlight
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...
Esperanza del Valle returns to Watsonville
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...
Watsonville Brillante to host community celebration
WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Brillante, an ongoing mosaic mural project in downtown Watsonville, has officially reached its halfway point. Organizer and artist Kathleen Crocetti says that volunteers recently finished the six thousandth of 12,000 square feet of mosaic.
In celebration, Crocetti’s organization, Community Arts & Empowerment, will be...
Student’s photograph garners national attention
APTOS—An Aptos High School junior inspired by her father’s hard work in local agricultural fields has won this year’s 20th Congressional Art Competition, and will see her photograph hang in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Michelle Lopez-Rubio, 17, says she was working with...
Mariachi Women’s Foundation to host concert in Watsonville
Dr. Leonor Xóchitl Pérez was 12 years old when she first played mariachi.
It was 1973, and her school in Southern California had just created the first school-based mariachi program in the state’s history.
The music stuck with Perez. When she was 18, she was accepted...
City Council solidifies new development fee for public art
The Watsonville City Council at its Tuesday night meeting solidified its decision to implement a new fee on development projects that would fund the arts in Watsonville.
Soon, developers seeking to create commercial and residential projects will have to pay 0.75% of their project’s valuation,...
Cabrillo Watsonville Center celebrates second edition of literary arts journal
WATSONVILLE—The second edition of a literature and arts journal created by Cabrillo College English students will soon be published, and the public is invited to celebrate with students and contributors this Friday.
Xinachtli Journal, or Journal X, features poetry, short stories, essays and art. It...
KSQD to broadcast jazz festival from New Orleans
SANTA CRUZ—Santa Cruz community radio station KSQD 90.7 FM will broadcast and stream three days of the internationally-acclaimed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival this weekend.
The broadcast and stream will begin Friday 11am-4pm, continue on Saturday noon-5pm and end Sunday 11am-5pm. Artists include Chris...
Photo: Watsonville Brillante moves ahead
Sam Ruiz (left) and Jose Ruelas team up with Emanuel Garcia (not shown) of Rinaldi Tile & Marble to install a mosaic tile sheet to the exterior wall of the parking structure at Rodriguez and Second streets Monday.
Watsonville Brillante, a multiphase mosaic outdoor project...
County remembers people who died while homeless
The number of people who died while homeless this year saw a sizable decline from last year, when Santa Cruz County honored 121 people...
