Arts & Culture

Since I was born in Columbia in the Sierra foothills, I’ve returned there a number of times to soak in some of the history and get a deeper understanding of California’s Mother Lode. Heading east of Modesto along Highway 49 my interest spikes as the...

In celebration of National Native American Heritage Month, a new art exhibit has gone up on the walls of  the Aptos Branch Library.Aptos artist Becky Olvera Schultz, who is part of the Kickapoo/Shawnee tribe, is sharing the exhibit with fellow artist Karen Whitaker. The...

Community Bridges has chosen Hijos del Sol of Salinas to design and create a new mural in the heart of Pajaro on a wall on the 400 block of Salinas Road.  Community bridges stated in a press release that the work will portray “a lasting...

Watsonville Poet Laureate, Victoria Bañales will read from her new book of poetry on Oct. 2 alongside four other local poets.  “The Sun Will Not Harm You by Day, Nor the Moon by Night,” is a 143-page softbound book of 54 poems by Bañales who...

Four local high school students were brought into the spotlight Saturday for 14 mosaic artwork installations they created, which tnow adorn the exterior walls of Watsonville’s Muzzio Mosaic Arts Center. Lizbeth Martínez-Meza, Jason Garcia Menera and Janet Rocha-Fernandez from Watsonville High School and Vividiana Bonilla...

This is the third and final installment of travel writer Tarmo Hannula's account of his trip to Petaluma. Click here for part 1 and here for part 2. As we steered south from Cotati and rolled back through  Petaluma, my wife, Sarah, and I still...

On the second day of an overnight journey to Petaluma at the top of the north San Francisco Bay Area, the Best Western Motel helped start our day with a waffle breakfast, good coffee and OJ.  Wandering through the older part of downtown Petaluma the...

It’s refreshing and sometimes surprising how much you can fit into an overnight road trip.  That was certainly the case when my wife Sarah and I drove to Petaluma for the night last month. Just going through San Francisco—as long as you're not in a...

TEEN TALENT Josefina Rocha welcomes of crowd of around 50 people Wednesday to the PV Arts Porter Building where a large indoor mural—created by teens in the Teen Artés program—was unveiled. Artist Melissa Marzan coached a dozen local teens in the once-a-week gathering to...

These senior classmates deliver a tune during an open house at Watsonville Union High School on April 27, 1955. (Sam Vestal/Pajaronian file)