Arts & Culture

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...

APTOS—Ever since the first shelter-in-place order went into effect in March, Cabrillo College’s art gallery has been working to adapt and keep afloat. This has meant moving all exhibits to virtual formats and focusing on social media outreach while continuing to support students. In early...

For the final concert of the season on Thursday, the city is partnering with the Santa Cruz Symphony and the Pajaro Valley Unified School District for a special performance. “Music for the Heart” invites the community to a free concert featuring members of the symphony along with students from PVUSD schools and dancers from local folklórico group Esperanza Del Valle.

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed across the globe every year in which families honor their deceased relatives with food, drink and various celebrations. For the past few years, the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) has organized a...

PAJARO—Last year, every eighth-grader in Monterey County was given the gift of a lifetime: A chance to see the Tony Award-winning musical “Hamilton: An American Musical” live in San Francisco. Thanks to a generous donation by the Dan and Lillian King Foundation, 9,000 kids from...

Xipetotec Galindo helps his daughter, Coral Gonzalez, 3, apply paint to a large outdoor mural on the walls of La Manzana on West Lake Avenue in Watsonville. Watsonville artist Yermo Aranda, who originally created the mural, has been working with community members in restoring the mural. The...

WATSONVILLE—Hidden Fortress Coffee Roasting has opened a new branch in the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center at 318 Union St.  They started roasting coffee in 2012 and have one location in Watsonville and another in Seaside. Their first store opened three years ago at 125 Hangar...

WATSONVILLE—Local author Jaime Cortez always had nicknames, and now one of them has become his first book. “Gordo,” a paperback collection of stories, is quickly gathering praise after its release by a national publisher in August. And while “Gordo” is Cortez’s first widely distributed work,...

A mural by UC Santa Cruz professor and artist Eduardo Carrillo in 1976 was only on display for three years in Santa Cruz before it was washed away and painted over.

Local artist Kathleen Crocetti says she feels a tremendous weight has been lifted from her shoulders. The first phase of her five-year mosaic project, “Watsonville Brillante,” was installed last week: a 1,200-square-foot section of a large mural on the six-story Civic Plaza parking garage...