Arts & Culture

In celebration of Juneteenth, local arts organizations will come together for Murals / Art / Activism, a multimedia project highlighting the importance of public art in activism. Juneteenth is the oldest national celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. The holiday has seen...

WATSONVILLE—When Alicia Martinez first took on the position of Interim Library Director for the Watsonville Public Library, bringing a Poet Laureate Program to the city was one of her goals.  On Tuesday those plans got underway: the library launched a nomination period, which will close...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—When Ed Delfin moved from the Philippines to the U.S. as a teenager, he was faced with more than just the usual challenges of a new immigrant. Settling in Watsonville, Delfin noticed immediately the underlying issues with gang violence and its effect...

For 20 years the Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) has been celebrating bicycles through art, film and music. Originating in New York, it has popped up in 100 cities across the globe, from Paris and Tokyo to Istanbul and Mexico City. And now the festival is...

WATSONVILLE—Since 2017, Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) has partnered with nonprofit El Sistema Santa Cruz/Pajaro Valley to bring music education and performance to local students. During the pandemic, El Sistema has continued its work both virtually and in-person, with small cohorts of students signed...

WATSONVILLE—The third phase of Watsonville Brillante, the massive mosaic project in downtown Watsonville, is taking shape. Splashed across the exterior walls of the six-story Civic Plaza parking garage at Rodriguez and Second streets, the new phase will come in two halves five months apart. Last...

A new series of murals has been installed at Pinto Lake County Park, with the goal of encouraging more visitors to the park and showcasing local art.  The murals are part of the Art Hike Challenge, organized by County Parks Friends (CPF). Guests can download...

WATSONVILLE—On May 22 the Watsonville Buddhist Temple will virtually present Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s two-act play “The Betrayed.”  “The Betrayed” centers around a couple living at the Japanese-American concentration camp near Tule Lake, California in the 1940s. They become at odds when the controversial Loyalty Oath is...

WATSONVILLE—Author Tony Di Leonardo was visiting the Watsonville Square shopping center when he first noticed Kelly’s Books. Walking into the small independent bookstore, he started chatting with owner Kelly Pleskunas about his debut novel, “Death by Drive-By,” which had just been released in December...

In celebration of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History’s (MAH) 25th anniversary, the RedBall Project, a global art installation that has been to over 30 cities since 2001, is coming to Santa Cruz County. And now, after a countywide search by MAH staff...