Artists and Culture in Santa Cruz County


During the summer months, Santa Cruz County is filled with free outdoor concerts and theatrical productions, but the area’s culture and art scene goes much deeper than these fun events primarily held for tourists. Santa Cruz County is home to some of California’s best artists. Inspired by the natural beauty of the area, Davenport is a tiny artist community that produces spectacular work. Santa Cruz, Ben Lomond, Capitola, Aptos and Watsonville also house some impressive galleries. The theatre scene in Santa Cruz County is largely shaped by the area’s university theatre arts departments, but is filled out by the professional Shakespeare Santa Crus repertory theatre.

The Santa Cruz County Symphony and local bands that regularly play in the area’s bars add depth and variety to the music played during the county’s summertime free concerts and festivals. The skill and perseverance of the Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre and Santa Cruz Dance keep community members attending dance shows and festivals.
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Santa Cruz Art League


Location : Santa Cruz CA
Phone: 831-426-5787
Description : The Santa Cruz Art League is an art gallery, theater, classroom, and gift shop. The gallery exhibits are free to the public. The Santa Cruz Art League encourages and supports a wide range of visual and performing artists, professional and recreational alike, in a welcoming environment which celebrates the arts and makes them accessible to the community.

Actors' Theatre


Location : Santa Cruz CA
Phone: 831-425-1003
Description : Founded in 1985, Actors’ Theatre has established itself as a vital part of the greater Santa Cruz area’s theatre community; known for its productions of classical, contemporary, and new plays, and home base for several highly popular Improv groups. Our intimate 88-seat black box theatre draws artists from around the area to work on our season, or offers a perfect setting upon which other productions can be presented. Our outreach efforts target middle school to college level students to provide opportunities to acquire real-world experience and to practice their craft. We support emerging playwrights from around the country and beyond with possibilities to show their new works.

Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center


Location : Ben Lomond CA
Phone: 831-336-3513
Description : The Santa Cruz Mountains Arts Center supports and encourages the arts through education, exhibition and cultural activities, reflecting the unique and diverse environment of the mountain communities. In 1987 the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center started as a committee of the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County. In November of 1997, the organization became its own non-profit 501 (C) (3) corporation registered with Federal and State governments.





Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium


Location : Santa Cruz CA
Phone: 831-420-5240
Description : Welcome to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium Dedicated in 1940 in downtown Santa Cruz, the Civic Auditorium is classic California. Arched granite pillars cover the brick entryway and warm pastel colors fill the hallways to create an inviting, slightly deco atmosphere. The Civic has hosted Ray Charles, Smashing Pumpkins, Dalai Lama, Bob Dylan and Ani Difranco. The building is home to the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and the Santa Cruz County Symphony. Sporting events include the Santa Cruz Derby Girls, Dad's Club and the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament. Visit our event archives on the Past Events page.

The 418


Location : Santa Cruz CA
Phone: 831-466-9770
Description : As a life long lover of arts and culture, Ana has worked on nearly every aspect of production for music, dance, theater, festivals, and multi-media performances. A producer of community celebrations, including the Calabash Awards (Honoring excellence in the SC ethnic arts community for 6 years), she has worked with many of the performers who teach at The 418 Project and who call The 418 home. It seems only natural that she came to find herself part of the group that ensures that artists have a place to teach and share their love for their art. The 418 embraces the diversity of what Santa Cruz strives to be and it is an honor for her to serve so many and to provide support for up and coming artists and producers in our community.

Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery


Location : Santa Cruz CA
Phone: 831-459-3606
Description : The Sesnon Gallery encourages interdisciplinary discourse through the lens of the arts. An energetic laboratory on the UC Santa Cruz campus, the gallery brings the direct experience of contemporary art to a broad cross-section of the public, representing a range of methods, media and cultures. The gallery is wheelchair accessible. The Sesnon Gallery operates a museum oriented program for educational purposes. The gallery organizes an annual schedule of exhibitions that represents a broad range of methods, media and cultures, in a local, regional, and national context, with a focus on contemporary practice. The Sesnon Gallery works to integrate these programs and exhibitions into the lives of a broader community.

Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County


Location : Santa Cruz CA
Phone: 831-475-9600
Description : The Cultural Council's Strategic Plan is what guides our efforts in how best to serve our community, Santa Cruz County, in keeping the arts vital. The Cultural Council's Strategic Plan is designed to ensure we are abreast of the needs of our constituents in an ever-changing economic climate. Our goal is to help local arts organizations, artists, and local governments continue to keep the arts alive in our community. The Strategic Plan is what guides us in our pursuit of this goal.

Cabrillo Stage


Location : Aptos CA
Phone: 831-479-6154
Description : Over the years Cabrillo Stage has earned the reputation for the best, splashiest musical theatre event in the Monterey Bay. However, it has been original Producing Artistic Director Lile Cruse’s vision and dedication to bringing first-rate Broadway productions to our county that has made Cabrillo Stage what it is today. Cabrillo Stage was born out of Cabrillo College’s Summer Rep program of the 1970s. It was a demanding season of three plays and one main stage musical featuring veteran Hollywood and stage actors. Visiting talent included the likes of Vivian Vance starring in Everyone Loves Opal, John Carradine in The Man Who Came To Dinner, Sylvia Sydney in Arsenic And Old Lace and Jim Hutton in Harvey. By the late 1970s the infamous Proposition 13, the Jarvis-Gann Amendment, took its toll locally by eliminating most of the tax revenue that helped fund Cabrillo College’s Summer Rep program.

Cabrillo College Gallery


Location : Aptos CA
Phone: 831-479-6308
Description : The Cabrillo College Gallery is recognized throughout the state as one of the finest Community College exhibition spaces. As one of the largest college galleries in the Monterey Bay Area the Cabrillo Gallery hosts 6 exhibitions annually. With a focus on national and international artists the gallery also hosts a very popular annual student exhibition. The Cabrillo Gallery is situated in the midst of the Cabrillo College campus (Directions to Cabrillo College), located beneath the Library in room 1002 (Campus Map). The gallery is open during the Spring and Fall semesters from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and Monday and Tuesday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. If you are interested in exhibiting in the Cabrillo Gallery please view the proposal to exhibit, the gallery interior and floor plan.

Pajaro Valley Arts Council & Gallery


Location : Watsonville CA
Phone: 831-722-3062
Description : The Pajaro Valley Arts Council, known as PVAC, was founded as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in 1984 in Watsonville, California, to promote and foster cultural events in the Pajaro Valley and south Santa Cruz County. We strive to nourish the artistic resources found in our rich local cultural diversity, historical heritage, and the natural beauty of the Central Coast. We work collaboratively to develop and promote opportunities for public participation in and appreciation for the arts.

Henry J. Mello Center for Performing Arts


Location : Watsonville CA
Phone: 831-763-4047
Description : The mission of the Pajaro Valley Performing Arts Association is to create a welcome environment for the performing arts in the Pajaro Valley. We accomplish this goal by: - managing and maintaining the Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts for community users and others; - providing technical support to all who use the Mello Center; - promoting all public events at the Mello Center to the general public of the Pajaro Valley; - supporting public performances by regional artists at the Mello Center; and - coordinating and promoting educational opportunities for area youth in the performing arts.


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