Arts and Culture
Downtown Santa Cruz: Makers Market
Downtown Santa Cruz Makers Market Pacific Ave and Lincoln St, Santa CruzVisit the Downtown Santa Cruz Makers Market featuring 40+ local makers & artists in beautiful Downtown Santa Cruz! Located on the 1100 block of Pacific Ave. between Cathcart and Lincoln Streets, this monthly market hosts a wide range of locally handmade goods! *In the event of rain, the market will be held on the following Sunday
Tannery Arts Center Winter Art Market 2023
Tannery Arts Center 1070 River Street, Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesA Festive Celebration of Local Art and Culture The Tannery Arts Center welcomes you to experience the world of local artistry and creativity at the 11th annual Winter Art Market. This heartwarming celebration is not just an event; it's an immersive creative experience. Discover local artistry, engage with our vibrant community, and support the creative entrepreneurs who make our town flourish. New Highlights This Year: Join Josefina Rocha and youth students from the Arts Council Mariposa teaching artist program, for a free and fun craft activity alongside a youth art exhibit. Enjoy an exciting lineup of musicians curated by Everyone’s Music School. Experience the offerings of Kintsugi, a new culinary community center and cafe, and pop-up space in studio 112 in the courtyard, serving food, beverages, and coffee all day from sprohaus. Admission: Free Event Produced By: Arts Council Santa Cruz County Tannery Arts Center
Annieglass: Holiday Ornament Making Workshop
Annieglass 310 Harvest Drive, Watsonville, CA, United StatesMake your holidays extra special with DIY Christmas ornaments! Decorate 4 frosted glass holiday-shaped ornaments with gold & silver decorations. Take them home with you that day! Finished ornaments make great gifts for friends and family. There will be stencils for tracing directly onto the glass and inspiration for decorating the ornaments. *This workshop is not appropriate for children under 10.
Annieglass: Holiday Ornament Making Workshop
Annieglass 310 Harvest Drive, Watsonville, CA, United StatesMake your holidays extra special with DIY Christmas ornaments! Decorate 4 frosted glass holiday-shaped ornaments with gold & silver decorations. Take them home with you that day! Finished ornaments make great gifts for friends and family. There will be stencils for tracing directly onto the glass and inspiration for decorating the ornaments. *This workshop is not appropriate for children under 10.
Santa Cruz Art League: Curious Narratives Exhibition
Santa Cruz Art League 526 Broadway, Santa CruzThis exhibition will feature creations by Santa Cruz County artists Wendy Aikin, Judy Stabile, and Jean Sheckler Beebe. Curious Narratives is an expansion of Wendy Aikin’s installation The Curator’s Office which was part of The Museum of Curious Perceptions exhibition at Pajaro Valley Arts in 2018. Collaborating for the first time, Aikin, Beebe and Stabile are expanding on selected themed boxes with their interpretations of the characters depicted in Aikin’s assemblages. Through their media choices of sculpture, collage, assemblage, painting, found objects and fiber arts the artists are expanding upon these fictional characters and creating environments for their imagined lives. While their modalities of execution are widely varied, their creative electricity lights them up.
First Friday Santa Cruz
Multiple locations throughout Santa Cruz County Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesOn the first Friday evening of every month, Santa Cruz galleries, shops, and cultural venues open their doors to showcase the works of Santa Cruz County artists. With a block party-like vibe, the multi-venue event provides an opportunity to discover local creative talent in a fun and festive setting. Many venues entice attendees with yummy cheese-and-wine-filled spreads, while others have food trucks joining in on the fun.
Downtown Santa Cruz: Makers Market
Downtown Santa Cruz Makers Market Pacific Ave and Lincoln St, Santa CruzVisit the Downtown Santa Cruz Makers Market featuring 40+ local makers & artists in beautiful Downtown Santa Cruz! Located on the 1100 block of Pacific Ave. between Cathcart and Lincoln Streets, this monthly market hosts a wide range of locally handmade goods! *In the event of rain, the market will be held on the following Sunday
Sesnon Salons – Film and Digital Media
Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, United StatesFree and open to the public with light refreshments as available. Check out the UC Santa Cruz Arts division at this salon-style gathering presenting the work of UCSC’s Film and Digital Media Department. – Jan 18: Digital Arts and New Media Department – Feb 15: Film and Digital Media Department – April 18: Department of Performance, Play & Design – May 16: Music Department PARKING – Lot 124 & 125 are the closest parking lot to the event. – Parking is by permit. – Click here for more visitor parking information.
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, Santa Cruz, March 1, 2 & 3, 2024
Rio Theatre 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesJoin UCSC Adventure Rec and the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz on March 1, 2 and 3, 2024. Each of the three nights will feature completely different films. Tickets are on sale starting December 18. The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world! Hot on the heels of the Festival that is held every fall in beautiful Banff, Alberta, the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour hits the road. With stops planned in over 600 communities and more than 40 countries across the globe, the Banff World Tour celebrates amazing achievements in outdoor storytelling and filmmaking worldwide. From the over 400 entries submitted into the Festival each year, award-winners and audience favorites are among the films that are carefully selected to play in theaters around the world. Traveling to remote vistas, analyzing topical environmental issues, and bringing audiences up-close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports the 2023/2024 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world. This event is a fundraiser for Adventure Rec, reducing UCSC students' trip costs by up to 50%, increasing financial accessibility to life-changing outdoor adventures. Last year, over $20,000 was raised and applied to lowering costs for hundreds of students. For more information contact Adventure Rec ([email protected]; 831-459-2806).
Alternative Family Education Prospective Family Meeting
Alternative Family Education School 185 Benito Ave., Santa CruzJoin us for a 2024 Perspective Families Meeting to learn about how you can create an individualized learning experience with your child in this inclusive community! We are a vibrant homeschool community that includes teacher-led classes in core subjects, community-led learning/field trips/events/clubs, and an abundant resource center with a staffed resource specialist. We provide enrichment offerings such as arts, theater, sports and more. Our program includes school district support services and allows for concurrent enrollment in other schools and colleges. *Childcare provided When: Tuesday, February 6 or Monday, March 11 , 6:30pm – 7:30pm Where: 185 Benito Ave. Email us at: [email protected] Or visit our website: https://www.bssc.sccs.net/afe
Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1-Mile Run & Student Art Contest FUNdraiser
The 3rd annual Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1-Mile Run and Student Art Contest FUNdraiser will take place on Sunday, April 14th, at Shoreline Middle School on 17th Avenue in Santa Cruz, CA. Opening ceremonies begin at 8:00 AM. Registration for the 1-mile races on the USATF-certified track are open to the public online at: http://tinyurl.com/LOJR2024 The first wave of runners takes off at 9:00 AM and races continue every 15 minutes through 11:45 AM. Race registration fee is $10 per runner with the funds raised going to support the art program for the Live Oak School District students. All are invited to join this community fun run for the 1-mile challenge as a solo runner or as part of a relay team, view student art on display and cast your vote for your favorites, browse the merchant marketplace, enjoy food, entertainment and community partner booths. For more information about the event sponsor, the Live Oak Education Foundation non-profit group, visit their website at: www.LiveOakEdFoundation.org
Vive Oaxaca Guelaguetza
Branciforte Small Schools 840 N. Branciforte Ave., Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesThe Vive Oaxaca Guelaguetza is an authentic cultural festival with food, music, dance, and crafts presented each spring by Senderos. This local festival is like the traditional fiestas celebrated each summer in Oaxaca, Mexico. Guelaguetza is a Zapotec word that means “a commitment of sharing and cooperation.” Guelaguetza is a celebration that honors the gods for sufficient rainfall and a bountiful harvest.
Francisco Jiménez’s La Mariposa and Breaking Through
Mexican Heritage Plaza 1700 Alum Rock Ave., San JoseTeatro Visión presents Francisco Jiménez’s La Mariposa and Breaking Through, adapted for the stage by Leo Cortez. Jiménez’s memoirs have resonated across generations, in their message of love, determination, and the importance of one’s mentors. In La Mariposa, a young Panchito arrives in the U.S. with his family, and finds his way amid a life of constant moving and in a school where he doesn’t understand a word his teacher says. As he watches his classroom caterpillar transform into a butterfly, he too begins to learn to spread his wings. Breaking Through follows him to his teenage years, where Panchito comes to love school and reading. A dream to become a teacher awakens in him. But when his responsibility to his family clashes against his own desires, he must navigate the competing priorities that face him. The novels are presented as two one-act plays performed together—La Mariposa in Spanish and Breaking Through in English. Both plays include projected supertitles in English and in Spanish.