Arts & Culture

SANTA CRUZ—Gabriela Cruz has been named executive director of Santa Cruz-based nonprofit Senderos, making her the first hired staff member after 20 years of being an all-volunteer-based organization.  Senderos, founded in 2001 by indigenous Oaxacan sisters Fe Silva-Robles and Dr. Nereida Robles Vasquez, was an...

WATSONVILLE—Seven murals that line the historic Taylor’s Alley, a pedestrian conduit between Main and Union streets in downtown Watsonville, have been given new life thanks to the efforts of local volunteers. Judy Gittelsohn, owner of nearby Studio Judy G, and her sales director Emily Reynolds...

APTOS—Cabrillo Gallery will open its first in-person exhibition of 2022 on Monday, with a show exploring the ways in which human beings see and express their own identities.  “Who We Are: Portraying Identity” will feature 27 artworks, from paintings and photography to mixed media and...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Author Buzz Anderson always dreamed of writing the great American novel. Born in San Jose and then moving with his family to Capitola, Anderson has remained in Santa Cruz County for most of his life, attending local public schools, Cabrillo College and UC...

Pierre Riche’s artistic journey has been anything but dull. Born in New York City in 1966, Riche has lived in nine different U.S. states, moving more than 14 times and exploring various pathways.  He studied at the School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago, lived in...

SANTA CRUZ—For years, KUSP was Santa Cruz’s non-university-affliated public radio station, offering local news and extensive music and talk programming, and acting as a regional affiliate for National Public Radio.  The station went dark in 2016, but it wasn’t long before a group of citizens...

WATSONVILLE—A musical duo who also teaches in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District has been selected by an international competition to perform at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City. Amalia Diaz and Camilo Ortiz have been playing together as “Camilo y Amalia” for...

WATSONVILLE—This Sunday the Tobera Project, a local initiative aiming to preserve and celebrate Watsonville’s Filipino history, will host a virtual film screening in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1930 Anti-Filipino Watsonville Race Riots. “A Dollar a Day, Ten Cents a Dance” is a portrait...

WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Arts’ (PVA) gallery on Sudden Street came alive Wednesday as the organization’s 9th annual fundraising exhibit opened to the public. “Take Aways: Art to Go!” features a variety of work by 73 artists, most of them locals from Watsonville and surrounding areas. Everything...

APTOS—Last fall, Cabrillo Gallery opened its doors to the public for the first time in 17 months. The annual “12x12: An Open Invitational” exhibit was a return to in-person viewing after a string of virtual shows. But with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 surging and...