This weekend in Santa Cruz County

Join Thrill the World Santa Cruz for free community dance classes and spooky Halloween performances! Learn Michael Jackson’s iconic “Thriller” choreography—no dance experience required—and join us for the official worldwide Thrill the World dance on October 24 at 3 PM in Downtown Santa Cruz.

Call to register or if you have questions: 457-2273 Location will vary so call for details The facilitator will bring photos. You are responsible for purchasing materials (see below). Discover your Wisdom with SoulCollage® Let's explore our inner selves. Using images, imagination and intuition, you will begin to create your own personal deck of collaged cards. Part art project, part spiritual practice, SoulCollage® allows you to deepen your understanding of yourself and tap into your inner wisdom that can guide you on important life decisions. In a fun, creative, and relaxed environment, you will create cards that will reveal parts of your personality, your archetypes, and other guides, allies, and challengers. We will talk about the ways you can use your personal deck of collaged cards to tap into your inner wisdom. No art experience necessary. Anyone can create SoulCollage® cards! We use scissors, glue, and images cut from magazines to create our cards. You’ll take home several finished cards—and no doubt a love for this creative process! Please bring with you : * Scissors * Glue stick (best kind is Pioneer glue stick) * 8 x 5 mat board * Pen & Notebook

Calling all Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, and Seniors—this exciting overnight adventure is just for you! Includes: • Camping Under the Stars on the Boardwalk • Exclusive Free Play in the Arcade • Dinner & Breakfast • Outdoor Movie • Exclusive time on the Looff Carousel & Pirate Ship Friday night • Sand Sculpture Competition • Event Patch • Ride Wristband for Saturday • Discounted Parking Package Price: $99.95 per person Deadline September 27, 2026, or until full. Register today! bit.ly/Fall-Girl-Scout-Overnight

We will be hosting the Open Studios Preview Exhibition, showcasing the work of all the 330+ Santa Cruz County Open Studios Artists who are participating in the program

“Ni de aquí, ni de allá” (“neither from here, nor there”), is a phrase commonly used by bilingual, bicultural communities. In the exhibition the phrase becomes a bold declaration of dual belonging against a violent notion of nationalism and identity. Through paintings, immersive installations, sculptural works, and a curated soundscape, Marka27 invites gallery goers into a vibrant, layered world where street culture meets Indigenous tradition, and personal memory collides with collective truth and activism. Curated by internationally recognized curator Kate Fowle, this exhibition is organized in partnership with The Center for Art & Advocacy and as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to contribute to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining underway to create a future free of prisons.

Carlos Motta’s When Time Stands Still features new and recent installations, videos, and sculptures highlighting the artist’s preoccupation with the historical and aesthetic productions of difference and marginalization that shape the present. The selection of artworks in the exhibition explore the unsettling experience of living in a time that seems violently stuck on repeat. Archetypal figures from art history (a fool, a siren, a witness, a victim) reappear in the current moment as containers of time, bringing the past of imperialism, colonization, and displacement into a present marked by the rise of anti-immigration politics, climate injustice, and other forms of disposability. Some works challenge this violent repetition of time. The clock moves, if gruelingly, in an endurance-based video performance, No One, 2025. For forty-six minutes, the artist undertakes to keep his eyes open, witnessing, withstanding, confronting, and resisting the bombardment of images, both historical and otherwise, that normalize harm. In another video work, Gravity, 2024, performers enact rescue carries, supporting each other until they can’t bear the weight. Together, the artworks act as a proposal about how to rethink time—how to slow time—with a poetic and aesthetic cadence that might counter the numbing reverberations of living in the present. When Time Stands Still is organized as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to create a future free of prisons. About the Artist Carlos Motta (b. 1978, Colombia) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice documents the social conditions and political struggles of sexual, gender, and ethnic communities, challenging normative discourses through acts of self-representation. His work has been the focus of several survey exhibitions.

“Ni de aquí, ni de allá” (“neither from here, nor there”), is a phrase commonly used by bilingual, bicultural communities. In the exhibition the phrase becomes a bold declaration of dual belonging against a violent notion of nationalism and identity. Through paintings, immersive installations, sculptural works, and a curated soundscape, Marka27 invites gallery goers into a vibrant, layered world where street culture meets Indigenous tradition, and personal memory collides with collective truth and activism. Curated by internationally recognized curator Kate Fowle, this exhibition is organized in partnership with The Center for Art & Advocacy and as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to contribute to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining underway to create a future free of prisons. ABOUT THE ARTIST: Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez is a renowned visual artist working at the intersections of contemporary art, graffiti, vinyl toys, fashion and design, and art activism.

Local author Kimberly Gomes will share her new book, A Road of Her Own. In this work of Autofiction, meet Mira. She writes about the dead. Now she’s ready to finally live. At twenty-nine, Mira is stuck writing obituaries, caring for a once-wild, now-blind mother, and living in a fish-scented apartment that smells like failure—until a last chance artist fellowship offers a shot at something more. With a camera in her hand and nothing left to lose, she hits the road alone, crossing America’s national parks, skydiving, unraveling, and meeting women who remind her what it means to want, to risk, and to live. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. Light refreshments will be served. Registration is recommended, and walk-ins are welcome. Register at https://santacruzpl.libnet.info/event/16461290. KIMBERLY GOMES is a writer, songslinger, and creativity coach. She’s the author of the poetry collection Love Notes to the Body (Dancing Girl Press, 2019). Her debut novel, A Road of Her Own, was a semi-finalist for the 2022 Black Lawrence Press Prose Book Award. Her work has been named a top personal essay of 2021 by Entropy Magazine, and has been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle and Sunset Magazine. When she’s not creating, you can find Kimberly hiking mountains, plotting her next passport stamp, and swing dancing with people she loves. ___ The views and opinions expressed by presenters in Santa Cruz Public Libraries programs are their own and do not constitute an endorsement by Santa Cruz Public Libraries or its member jurisdictions. Los puntos de vista y opiniones expresadas por los presentadores de programas en las Bibliotecas Públicas de Santa Cruz son propias y no constituyen en un respaldo o reflejo de la postura de las Bibliotecas Públicas de Santa Cruz ni de sus jurisdicciones miembro.

There’s a thin line between love and hate and sometimes, it’s the barrier between balconies. That’s the premise of Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Two divorced lovers find themselves spending their new honeymoons next door to one another at the same hotel. Both are egotistical, passionate, and selfish, so how are they going to manage to live next to each other at a hotel? Better yet, how are they going to live without each other? This laugh-out-loud comedy is rich, witty and as sharp as Cupid’s arrow. See the play on Friday, September 4th for a matinee preview or check out one of the multiple showings through October 4th. -Mat Weir; Good Times Santa Cruz

Come celebrate the launch of REFUGE: Voices of Courage & Resilience for Our Fractured World at the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz. This anthology brings together more than 100 writers and artists responding to the emotional, political, and spiritual challenges of our time—including 22 writer and artists from Santa Cruz County. We’ll spend the afternoon bringing the pages of REFUGE to life, sharing a selection of writing and art that reflects the heart and breadth of the collection. REFUGE combines essays, poetry, photography, painting, drawing, fiber art, sculpture, and other visual work. Its contributors explore grief and uncertainty, resistance and creativity, beauty and wonder, and the ways people continue to find meaning and hope in these difficult times.

The SLV Theatre Department is proud to present The Outsiders, a dramatic coming-of-age novel originally written by S.E. Hilton and adapted to stageplay by Christopher Sergel. This production is directed by high school seniors Ryan Jones and Benjamin Rotte. Performance dates are October 2nd-10th.

Relationships are beautiful and complex things. They all have a beginning and an ending. Jason Roberts explores the complexities of relationships in his emotional musical, The Last Five Years. Cathy and Jamie are romantically involved for five years, and the audience watches it unfold from each perspective. Cathy’s view of the relationship will begin at the end and work its way back to the beginning, while Jamie’s perspective starts at the beginning of the relationship and moves to the end. The story features beautiful and clever music that explores the sacrifices and costs of relationships. Audiences will contemplate how relationships affect how we define ourselves. Goes until Oct 3. -Isabella Marie Sangaline

With stories and fractured essays writer/actor Christopher Michael Palermo presents his unique perspective on the world as it is, was, and has always been.

We will be hosting the Open Studios Preview Exhibition, showcasing the work of all the 330+ Santa Cruz County Open Studios Artists who are participating in the program

Carlos Motta’s When Time Stands Still features new and recent installations, videos, and sculptures highlighting the artist’s preoccupation with the historical and aesthetic productions of difference and marginalization that shape the present. The selection of artworks in the exhibition explore the unsettling experience of living in a time that seems violently stuck on repeat. Archetypal figures from art history (a fool, a siren, a witness, a victim) reappear in the current moment as containers of time, bringing the past of imperialism, colonization, and displacement into a present marked by the rise of anti-immigration politics, climate injustice, and other forms of disposability. Some works challenge this violent repetition of time. The clock moves, if gruelingly, in an endurance-based video performance, No One, 2025. For forty-six minutes, the artist undertakes to keep his eyes open, witnessing, withstanding, confronting, and resisting the bombardment of images, both historical and otherwise, that normalize harm. In another video work, Gravity, 2024, performers enact rescue carries, supporting each other until they can’t bear the weight. Together, the artworks act as a proposal about how to rethink time—how to slow time—with a poetic and aesthetic cadence that might counter the numbing reverberations of living in the present. When Time Stands Still is organized as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to create a future free of prisons. About the Artist Carlos Motta (b. 1978, Colombia) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice documents the social conditions and political struggles of sexual, gender, and ethnic communities, challenging normative discourses through acts of self-representation. His work has been the focus of several survey exhibitions.

“Ni de aquí, ni de allá” (“neither from here, nor there”), is a phrase commonly used by bilingual, bicultural communities. In the exhibition the phrase becomes a bold declaration of dual belonging against a violent notion of nationalism and identity. Through paintings, immersive installations, sculptural works, and a curated soundscape, Marka27 invites gallery goers into a vibrant, layered world where street culture meets Indigenous tradition, and personal memory collides with collective truth and activism. Curated by internationally recognized curator Kate Fowle, this exhibition is organized in partnership with The Center for Art & Advocacy and as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to contribute to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining underway to create a future free of prisons.

“Ni de aquí, ni de allá” (“neither from here, nor there”), is a phrase commonly used by bilingual, bicultural communities. In the exhibition the phrase becomes a bold declaration of dual belonging against a violent notion of nationalism and identity. Through paintings, immersive installations, sculptural works, and a curated soundscape, Marka27 invites gallery goers into a vibrant, layered world where street culture meets Indigenous tradition, and personal memory collides with collective truth and activism. Curated by internationally recognized curator Kate Fowle, this exhibition is organized in partnership with The Center for Art & Advocacy and as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to contribute to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining underway to create a future free of prisons. ABOUT THE ARTIST: Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez is a renowned visual artist working at the intersections of contemporary art, graffiti, vinyl toys, fashion and design, and art activism.

Come join the magical world of D&D storytelling, where you can be a bard, a wizard, or a barbarian for a few hours and let your creativity run free. Solve weird and wonderful problems with spells, cunning, or daggers and make some new friends in the process. Whether you're a complete beginner or a seasoned player you will be welcomed every 1st Sunday for an afternoon of collaborative storytelling at the Downtown Branch. Friendly game masters will be ready with dice, characters, and the start of a story; all we need is your creativity and enthusiasm. No prior experience is necessary. This program is for adults 18+. This program also happens on 3rd Saturdays at the Capitola Branch from 12-5. What is Dungeons and Dragons? D&D is one of many tabletop roleplaying games, in which players create and control fictional characters within a shared imaginary world. A Game Master guides the story and sets the scene, while the players make decisions for their characters, rolling dice to determine outcomes. TTRPGs encourage creativity, teamwork, and storytelling as players collaborate to overcome challenges and complete quests. Modern D&D has veered away from the combat-heavy game it used to be. While it's still possible to spend hours attacking monsters and finding loot, many groups now tell stories of mystery, intrigue, horror, or whimsy. Who are the game masters? This event is organized by Jeltje van Baren ( [email protected] ), who learned to play a few years ago and has been creating games for new players ever since. She will be assisted by a rotating group of diverse GMs from the local TTRPG community, all of whom are used to patiently explaining the rules and keeping the game fun for everyone.

The SLV Theatre Department is proud to present The Outsiders, a dramatic coming-of-age novel originally written by S.E. Hilton and adapted to stageplay by Christopher Sergel. This production is directed by high school seniors Ryan Jones and Benjamin Rotte. Performance dates are October 2nd-10th.

There’s a thin line between love and hate and sometimes, it’s the barrier between balconies. That’s the premise of Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Two divorced lovers find themselves spending their new honeymoons next door to one another at the same hotel. Both are egotistical, passionate, and selfish, so how are they going to manage to live next to each other at a hotel? Better yet, how are they going to live without each other? This laugh-out-loud comedy is rich, witty and as sharp as Cupid’s arrow. See the play on Friday, September 4th for a matinee preview or check out one of the multiple showings through October 4th. -Mat Weir; Good Times Santa Cruz

Salsa By The Sea is a free, weekly outdoor salsa dancing event held near the wharf on Beach Street, at the Ideal Bar patio. The event runs all year long (except when it rains). Some weekends are Bachata by the Sea, with more bachata music played than salsa.