Feature Archives

From now until July 15, the work of Miguel Zafra will be on display at Alma Gifts and Culture in Santa Cruz. Zafra is a gifted artist who works in black and white and hand-colored black and white. He has also mastered infrared film. Zafra is of Mixtec background from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. He says he picked up a camera for the first time at the age of 20, but began dreaming in black and white as a child.

On March 18th, Shannen and Patricia of the group DobaDoza performed in San Francisco at the International ANSWER rally and demonstration to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Both Shannen and Patricia are members of the Watsonville Autonomous Chapter of the Brown Berets. They were joined by a young member of the Berets, a middle school student who also DJ's, raps and sings for fun in his free time.

Rico writes: Sarah, who I met in Boston, an artist with old found stuff right up my alley, told me that if you don't document art, any newcomer in town is not going to know that Santa Cruz has a vibrant art community that exists largely outside of the gallery grind. Document, she said, and the artists in town, new and old, will have a sense of momentum -- a sense, that in spite of the lack of art galleries, art buyers, art patrons, art grants, art money, that this town has a lively habit of blurring the boundary between art and life.

The Santa Cruz Art Conspiracy (SCART) is an attempt to share and document some of the creative efforts of artists in Santa Cruz, California working to blur the lines between art and life, and between the personal and the political. The focus is on the cathartic process of creating art, collaboration and community, conceptional art and performance. Non-commercial, non-institutional, SCART believes in the importance of DIY (do-it-yourself). Read More

see also: Fight tyranny! Resist oppression! Join Trash Orchestra!

The Circus of (Im)Migration is touring the west coast from April 30th through May 13th. The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA) made their first stop in the Bay Area on May 7th at UC Berkeley. The trip continued on May 8th with a San Francisco evening show at Station 40, before a workshop and performance in Santa Cruz on May 9th and 10th.

On April 22nd, Berkeley celebrated the 28th anniversary of the founding of People's Park. There was music, poetry, speakers, a Food Not Bombs lunch, and much more. Among those speaking and tabling were activists focusing on the Berkeley oaks tree-sit, resistance to UC's sellout to BP, and anti-war organizing.

In the frigid Copenhagen morning of December 14, hundreds of squatters stand unflinchingly beneath visible wisps of breath. Europe’s “The Final Countdown” resonates within the historic walls of the brick building at 69 Jagtvej. Masked activists shoot fireworks from the roof as the Danish media ogle from the street below. Twenty-four years after its inception, Ungdomshuset has officially become an illegal squat.

On January 21st, Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz hosted a benefit show for the Oakland-based hip hop group The Coup. It was an all star line up of musicians and MC's with a common cause of helping The Coup after their tragic bus accident. Listen to the live recording. Audio