Arts & Culture

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...

A countywide celebration of visual and performing arts is set to run April 16–26. The Ripple Effect Santa Cruz County Arts Festival is the County’s effort to highlight the creative community during California’s Arts, Culture and Creativity Month.  Organizers said the event brings together local...

WATSONVILLE—A buggy that once transported people along the streets of San Jose in the 1880s and ‘90s is now on display at the Agricultural History Project, restored and with a fresh coat of paint. Hassan Zamani, who has volunteered with the AHP for two years,...

Apple season has started, and Pajaro Valley apple trees are bending under the weight of the fruit.

After arriving in San Diego in 1969, my family moved into a  small house in Pacific Beach (PB) and I and my three siblings signed up in public schools.  Having lived the past two years on Guam—a 32-by-6 mile island in the South Pacific—taking on...

Trips to Haworth, Oxford become literary pilgrimages  Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a series about England, Germany and the Netherlands. In England, literary history is everywhere—from London to the smallest of villages. While in the country recently I visited many places where authors...

In a barn tucked away in a corner of the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, volunteers from the Agricultural History Project are hard at work restoring a piece of the past.

With most people staying close to home during the pandemic, looking for things to do and ways to stay safe, local nurseries have seen an uptick in customers. Stay-at-home orders have prompted many to find new hobbies—and gardening has been a popular choice. Sierra Azul...

Eighteen artworks by Watsonville artist Sefla Joseph are now on exhibit at the Aptos Public Library, along with a show by Aptos artist Diane Levin. Spread around the facility, Joseph’s works include abstract portraits done with charcoal, chalk, and ink and paintings in  acrylic/mixed media...

Farm tools, toys and kitchen equipment from the early 1900s are on display at the Aptos Public Library.  The display, in several glass cabinets sprinkled around the library, are from the Aptos History Museum’s collection of the Silva Farm in Day Valley. John Hibble of the...