Arts & Culture

WATSONVILLE—How can art be exhibited in the time of Covid-19? Ask Watsonville artist Monica Galvan. Take it outdoors is her simple reply.  That’s part of the mission of Arte del Corazón, a Watsonville-based organization that has been staging open-air art shows around the city to...

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...

Do you have a recent photograph you’d like to share? Send it to us for consideration by emailing it to [email protected] or mailing it to 21 Brennan St., Suite 14, Watsonville, CA 95076. Please include a brief description of the photo as well as the name...

WATSONVILLE—Watsonville Brillante, the ongoing community mosaic project spearheaded by Community Arts Empowerment (CAE), has extended its deadline for art submissions to Feb. 10. Organizers are looking for local artists’ work to be featured on the six-story parking garage on Rodriguez Street, which is attached...

A series of First Friday art shows will kick off in Seascape Village this summer thanks to Stable Life Services (SLS), a nonprofit aiming to support individuals with special needs and their caregivers. First Friday is a monthly art tour featuring local artists in venues...

When the pandemic first hit, many retail stores across the globe were forced to shut down their brick-and-mortar locations and transitioned to online shopping, using virtual platforms to display and sell items. For Sindy Hernandez, designer and owner of Queen’s Shoes & More in Watsonville,...

Every year, tens of thousands of people from across the globe gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for Burning Man, an experimental festival focused on art, self-expression and community.  The week-long event has participants arrive with their own shelter, food and water, and supplies to...

WATSONVILLE—Lizz Weihrauch knows firsthand the transformative power of music. Twenty-three years ago, Weihrauch was a single mother looking for a way to introduce her son, who was born with Down syndrome, to music. They tried out a number of programs and classes, searching for the...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—On March 10, 2020, the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz held a live performance, complete with a large audience, full band, and an open kitchen and bar. What staff, musicians and patrons didn’t know at the time was that the concert would...

WATSONVILLE—“The Apple King,” a novel inspired by Watsonville’s Croatian community and its historic role in the region’s apple industry, recently won the Connecticut Author Project Award and will be featured in an issue of the national Library Journal publication. Author Barbara Anne King was born...