Arts & Culture

CAPITOLA — A new art exhibit at the Jade Street Community Center in Capitola is serving as an appetizer for the upcoming fifth annual Capitola Plein Air Art Festival. Four artists have two works in the show that were winners from previous Plein Air events, said...

SANTA CRUZ—This Saturday, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History will host a special launch event for Watsonville is in the Heart's digital history archive. The new archive features oral history recordings, original documents and family artifacts that capture the rich history of Filipino...

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—Wherever he is touring in the world, Santana lead singer Andy Vargas makes sure to let everyone know about his hometown of Watsonville. “I’ve always been proud to be from Watsonville,” Vargas said.  “I tell people that they’ve probably ate our berries or drank our...

WATSONVILLE—For the first time ever, the city of Watsonville has its very own poet laureate. Longtime resident Robert Gómez will for the next two years be working to advance the literary arts throughout the Pajaro Valley.  A poet laureate is appointed by a government or...

Searching for joy in the ongoing pandemic calls for a certain focus amidst the cascade of negative numbers such as death tolls, cases and recoveries.  Such is the case for Watsonville artist Sefla Joseph, who has had to reinvent her studio art classes and take...

Pajaro Valley Arts’ 14th annual “Sculpture Is: In the Garden” exhibit will return to Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens on July 1. It will be the organization’s first in-person exhibit since the countywide shelter-in-place order prompted the closure of its indoor gallery on Sudden Street...

Hundreds of visitors flocked to the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) on April 9 to celebrate the launch of a new digital history archive. The Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) Digital Archive aims to preserve the histories and contributions of Filipino-Americans...

Almost as long as Germans themselves have been in Santa Cruz, so has the German-American Club of Santa Cruz.

Pajaro Valley Pride’s annual celebration returned in a different capacity this year—with a brand new location and more activities. The Watsonville YWCA invited the non-profit to use its facility on East Beach Street, prompting the organization to move the event from downtown.