Arts News

Tom Killion: A life in color

Alumnus Tom Killion, whose intricate woodcut prints have captured scenes of rugged beauty for decades, brings his traveling exhibit to the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History in January.

'A Celtic Christmas' features music lecturer and arts alumnus William Coulter

For the past two decades, Tomaseen Foley’s 'A Celtic Christmas' has toured the country, offering a staging of a night before Christmas at a remote farmhouse in the west of Ireland during the 1940s and 50s. The show’s music director is award-winning guitarist William Coulter, who has been performing and recording traditional music for nearly 25 years.

TRACTION art talk to feature influential British filmmaker and installation artist Isaac Julien

TRACTION: Art Talks, a new artist lecture series launched this fall by the UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences, continues on November 28 with influential British filmmaker, photographer, and installation artist Isaac Julien.

A sound artist, sociologist, evolutionary biologist, and two art curators walk into a room…

UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences will resume its popular series of LASER talks this fall on campus, Tuesday, November 14, at 7 p.m. in the Digital Arts Research Center.

New center, fellows renew commitment to teaching

Twenty-two faculty fellows are supported by the new Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning (CITL), which was established in July 2016 to revitalize the university's longstanding commitment to outstanding teaching.

Five-day Pacific Rim Music Festival to feature historic collaboration with Korean performing artists

A dazzling array of traditional and contemporary Korean music will be performed at the 2017 Pacific Rim Music Festival, October 25-29, on the UC Santa Cruz campus.

UC Santa Cruz to host ‘Freedom, Justice, Difference: The Merchant of Venice Now’ at museum

Since it was first performed in 1605, The Merchant of Venice, has been one of Shakespeare’s most controversial works. For the past 400 years, a debate has raged among critics and scholars over whether or not it is anti-Semitic.

Nearly 70 percent experience "rent burden" in Santa Cruz County, according to UC Santa Cruz survey results

Nearly 70 percent of renters surveyed in Santa Cruz County experience "rent burden," defined as spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities, according to preliminary results of a survey of 1,700 renters across the county conducted by UC Santa Cruz.

Sound Designer and UCSC Alum Ren Klyce Makes All the Right Noises

With five Oscar nominations for film sound editing and mixing, UC Santa Cruz alumnus Ren Klyce’s career has taken a sky-rocket climb since he decided to major in music back in 1983.

Gail Project exhibition studies military occupation of Okinawa through a photographic lens

Now in its fourth year at UC Santa Cruz, The Gail Project was inspired by a collection of photographs taken in 1952 by American Army Captain, Charles Eugene Gail. "The Gail Project: An Okinawan-American Dialogue" opens on campus October 5 at the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery.

New faculty further campus scholarship, research

The new professors, spread across all five divisions, further build on campus strengths in many key areas.

UC Santa Cruz music alumnus lands job as head archivist of Bob Dylan Archive

Five weeks ago, UC Santa Cruz alumnus Mark Davidson moved from Austin, Texas, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to begin a new job at the Bob Dylan Archive.

In Memoriam: Andrew Doe (1928-2017)

Andrew Doe, UC Santa Cruz professor emeritus of theater arts, died of lung cancer at his home in Vermont on July 12, 2017. His family shared thoughts from Theater Arts professor James Bierman.

Telling stories that haven't been told

Filmmaker and alumnus Tal Skloot aims to show a different perspective with eclectic, meaningful subject matter.

UCSC arts research center awarded $250,000 grant from U.S. Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service has awarded a $250,000 grant to the Center for the Study of the Force Majeure, a research center based in the Arts Division at UC Santa Cruz.

UC Santa Cruz faculty awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts

Two faculty members from the UC Santa Cruz Arts Division have each received $25,000 Art Works grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to support their latest documentary film projects.

London’s Barbican Centre celebrates career of film professor B. Ruby Rich

The work of feminist writer, film critic, LGBT activist, and UC Santa Cruz professor of film and digital media B. Ruby Rich will be celebrated this week at the Barbican Centre in London.

Campus preparing for commencement 2017

More than 4,800 UCSC students are earning undergraduate and graduate degrees for work completed during the 2016-2017 academic year.

Music alum named Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year

UC Santa Cruz alumna Shelley Phillips (Music,’85) has been named the 2017 Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year by the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission.

'Be so good they can’t ignore you'

Creative obsession and hard work led alumnus Kalen Egan to his role in producing one of Amazon’s most popular television series, The Man in the High Castle.

'Zoot Suit' still relevant four decades later

When Zoot Suit premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1978, it was more than just an instant success. As former Los Angeles Times theater critic Sylvie Drake recently observed, “it exploded on the stage with the force of a sociopolitical A-bomb.”

Environmentalism Outside the Box: An Ecosex Symposium

"Environmentalism Outside the Box: An Ecosex Symposium" is the title of a free public event that will take place on May 18-19, hosted by the E.A.R.T.H. Lab, a research center of the Arts Division at UC Santa Cruz.

Theater Arts professor Kimberly Jannarone named National Humanities Center Fellow

One of 34 chosen from more than 600 applicants, Kimberly Jannarone will spend the year in the company of national and international scholars from 14 states, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Sisters Julie and Kristen Gautier-Downes Turn Loss into an Art

Twin sisters, Julie and Kristen Gautier-Downes both decided to pursue the arts at UC Santa Cruz, graduating in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Julie earned her BA in Studio Art, with an emphasis in photography, and went on to acquire an MFA in Photography at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) while Kristen received a BA in Studio Art with a concentration in painting.

UCSC to present environmental video installation at SF’s Minnesota Street Project

UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences will present a dramatic, four-screen video installation in San Francisco, hosted and co-sponsored by Minnesota Street Project, the city’s new contemporary art venue, May 20 through June 24.

Alumni Weekend 2017: Glorious weather, vibrant events bring Slugs home

Revelers took a Fun Run, got a crash course in activism, rekindled old friendships, let their hair down, and paid tribute to Sammy the Slug at UC Santa Cruz Alumni Weekend 2017.

Film professor receives California Documentary Project grant from Cal Humanities

UC Santa Cruz associate professor of film and digital media John Jota Leaños is the recipient of a 2017 California Documentary Project grant from California Humanities.

Five graduate student alumni return for awards

The five honorees will be presented with the first Distinguished Graduate Student Alumni Award and be part of panel discussions where they’ll share their stories on career and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Theater arts professor Danny Scheie wins Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award

UC Santa Cruz professor of theater arts Danny Scheie has received a 2017 award from The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and recognizing excellence in theatre arts.

Three faculty members honored with Dickson Emeriti Professorships

Murray Baumgarten, professor of English & Comparative Literature, E.G. Crichton, professor of art, and Catherine Cooper, professor of psychology, were awarded Dickson Emeriti Professorships in recognition of outstanding achievements in scholarship and teaching.

Grad student composer wins commission to create new piece for Other Minds Festival

UC Santa Cruz grad student Brian Baumbusch has received a grant to create a new composition that will be performed at the acclaimed Other Minds Festival of contemporary music in 2018.

UC Santa Cruz ranked among top schools for game design

UCSC is featured on Princeton Review's 2017 lists for top undergraduate and graduate programs in game design.

UC Santa Cruz named one of the country’s best colleges for undergraduate film majors

UC Santa Cruz is featured in a Top 10 list of Best Bachelor’s Program for Film, Video and Photographic Arts along with USC, NYU, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Rhode Island School of Design.

Reef madness: A coral grows at UC Santa Cruz

Hundreds of students and community members are contributing their handiwork to the Crochet Coral Reef, a massive participatory art project that combines higher geometry with handicraft while calling attention to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.

Film professor Shelley Stamp wins 2017 international media and history book prize

Film and digital media professor Shelley Stamp has been named the recipient of the 2017 Michael Nelson Book Prize, presented by the International Association for Media and History for her latest book, "Lois Weber in Early Hollywood."

UCSC Grad Slam winner envisions surfing on shrimp shells

John Felts, a second year Ph.D. electrical engineering student, earned top marks for his talk about creating environmentally friendly surfboard foam from shrimp shells.

With more than 100 featured projects, UC Santa Cruz hosts Giving Day 2017

The website site will go live at 12:01 a.m. on March 8 for donors to make gifts and track their favorite projects in real-time. Giving Day 2017 builds on the success of last year’s event, when nearly 3,000 donors came together to collectively give $340,000.

Campaign for UC Santa Cruz enters home stretch

The campaign is the university’s first campuswide effort to build a culture of giving in support of students, faculty, and campus programs. Launched in 2009 and publicly announced in fall 2013, the campaign has raised $311 million in gifts.

The Conversation editor to encourage faculty expertise on pressing issues

UC Santa Cruz receives $191,000 grant to benefit grad students in humanities, arts, social sciences

UC Santa Cruz is one of five universities nationwide selected by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to be part of its new University Initiative program.

Film professor contributes to new PBS documentary on race in America

UC Santa Cruz assistant professor of film and digital media Jennifer Maytorena Taylor has produced one of several short pieces that comprise The Talk: Race in America, a new film premiering Feb. 20 on PBS.

Music professor receives patent to help fight bark beetles ravaging Western forests

UC Santa Cruz music professor David Dunn has joined forces with two forest scientists from Northern Arizona University to combat an insect infestation that is killing millions of trees throughout the West.

Waves Passing in the Night: a talk about astrophysics, harmony, and boundaries

Acclaimed writer and UC Santa Cruz alumnus Lawrence Weschler will join Academy Award-winning sound and film editor Walter Murch, and noted campus astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz on Feb. 13, in the Music Center Recital Hall.

Crochet coral reef exhibition to open Feb. 10 at Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery

"Crochet Coral Reef: CO2CA-CO2LA Ocean," an exhibition by Margaret and Christine Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring, is an artistic response to global warming and the growing problem of plastic trash accumulating in the ocean.

UC Santa Cruz receives $2.2 million for innovation and entrepreneurship program

New support program will help bring research innovations to the marketplace and spur economic development in the Santa Cruz area.