Arts
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California Arts Council fellowship supports faculty member’s musical innovation, from opera to hip-hop
Assistant Professor akua naru will receive unrestricted funding for her work, which centers Black music, culture, and experience.
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THI Moving Image Lab Public Fellow helps bring horror exhibition to life at the Academy Museum
A scholar of queer history and culture with a passion for horror, Bradford Nordeen is The Humanities Institute Moving Image Lab’s 2026 curatorial and exhibitions fellow at the Academy Museum, where he worked on the new exhibition The Horror Show, featuring nearly 400 horror-movie artifacts. The exhibition, which runs until July 21, drew nearly 8,000…
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Quarry Amphitheater to Present Sir Isaac Julien’s Landmark Film Young Soul Rebels
A newly restored director’s cut of Sir Isaac Julien’s acclaimed 1991 film Young Soul Rebels is coming to the Quarry Amphitheater on Wednesday, October 21. Following the screening, Julien, Distinguished Professor of the Arts and Humanities, will join The Humanities Institute (THI) and the Moving Image Lab for a discussion of the film’s origins, its…
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Matthew Prescott’s path from Porter College to Hollywood
From student media at Porter College to editing television and films in Hollywood, Matthew Prescott (Porter ’12, film and digital media) built his career through creative experimentation and connections that began at UC Santa Cruz.
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The Festival of Monsters returns to Santa Cruz
As Halloween draws near, the monsters are about to descend on Santa Cruz. From Wednesday, October 14, through Sunday, October 18, the UC Santa Cruz Center for Monster Studies will bring together more than 80 scholars, artists, writers and makers for the fifth annual Festival of Monsters, the center’s largest conference yet.
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Legendary composer and performer Samuel L. Waymon coming to UC Santa Cruz
The visit includes two movie screenings and discussions that are free and open to the public.
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Life Beyond the Redwoods: Samantha Chang at Sunblink
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Samantha (Sammy) Chang (College Nine ’25, art & design: games and playable media) is a marketing and player communications coordinator at Sunblink—a video game development studio based in Boulder, Colorado, best known for creating the critically acclaimed video game ‘Hello Kitty Island Adventure’.
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More than a resume line: high schoolers build community in Art for All
With the summer rapidly drawing to an end, the Institute of the Arts and Sciences (IAS) has said a fond farewell to its 2026 cohort of eleven Santa Cruz County high schoolers who participated in Art for All, a summer youth program.
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Alumnus and Pixar editor Kevin Nolting empowers next-gen filmmakers at UCSC
Kevin Nolting (Porter ’79, aesthetic studies) founded Slug 48 within UC Santa Cruz’s Arts Division in 2024. The 48-hour filmmaking event empowers UC Santa Cruz students to push past creative boundaries.
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Celebrating teaching
The Academic Senate’s Committee on Teaching (COT) has selected the 2025-26 Excellence in Teaching Award recipients and the 2025-26 Distinguished Teaching Award recipient.
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UCSC faculty receive Early Career Faculty Research Excellence Awards
The awards reflect a renewed systemwide investment in early-career faculty at a time of increasing pressure on research funding. In total, 54 faculty were selected.
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An ancient production for the here and now
Mojada is a modern adaptation of Euripides’s 5th-century rendition of the Greek myth of Medea, exploring the tragic end to Medea’s marriage after her husband betrays her.