A Celebration Of The Arts In UCSC’s Spectacular Arboretum Garden

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Of course, you’ve noticed it by now: the spreading leaf shade, the thickets of bright blossoms. Spring has arrived and local gardens have responded with sweet floral generosity–nowhere more than at the UCSC Arboretum. And it isn’t just the flora that’s responding to the siren song of spring–on May 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the arboretum will also host a flowering of the arts. The UCSC faculty and students, and the local community, will bring dance, theater, music, and culinary arts as well as exhibits of photography, paintings, printmaking, and a self-guided sculpture tour, to the Arboretum’s gardens.

The gardens are spectacular all by themselves. The Arboretum contains the largest collection of Australian plants outside their native country, including brilliantly colored grevilleas, spectacular banksias, waratahs, and much more. The proteas in the South African garden are one of the most incredible flowers in the world–much coveted by florists. Unusual plants from New Zealand and California natives add to the richness and diversity of this magnificent place.

The May 20 event features faculty member and internationally known choreographer Mel Wong with a new, site-specific dance work for the garden. Guest composer Peter Cor and UCSC music professor Karlton Hester will provide the music. Cor has written for recording artists Earth, Wind & Fire, Lee Ritenour, and Tuck & Patti, as well as films for Sony Pictures and Disney Studios.

Shakespeare Santa Cruz and the UCSC Theater Arts Department’s "Shakespeare To Go" students will be presenting a 50-minute version of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s exciting and fast-paced tragedy, with Arboretum trees standing in for Burnam Wood in the final scene.
Creative writing assistant professor Karen Tei Yamashita, winner of the American Book Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Award, will read from and sign her just-released book, Circle K Cycles. Creative writing faculty Micah Perks and Peter Gizzi and their students will be reading from new work in the Arboretum amphitheater.

Local musicians, the Huxtables, provide tunes in the afternoon. And adding additional flavors to the event will be Jozseph Schultz, the creative chef for 25 years at India Joze Restaurant. Schultz will prepare a variety of festive foods from around the world, and you will have the opportunity not only to watch him in action, but to purchase and enjoy his secret gourmet delights.

There will be kite-making from 12 noon to 2:30 p.m., a "Mist Sculpture" in the meadow below the New Zealand Garden, and an exhibit of photography on glass in the Owl House on the old dam. Bring the family and enjoy a day of delights for all. Admission is free.

Norrie’s Gift shop offers plants from the Arboretum’s collections, fresh flowers from the garden, books on botany and horticulture, and unique gifts. For a preview of the gardens, visit the Arboretum web site at: [www2.ucsc.edu/arboretum][2].

The Arboretum is open 9-5 daily and is located on Empire Grade between the campus’s main and west entrances.