• Spring Exhibitions at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences

    Institute of the Arts and Sciences 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States

    Visit the IAS, UCSC’s premier art galleries, for our spring exhibitions. On view April 10–August 16, 2026 are three diverse and interdisciplinary shows: Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right, the first US solo exhibition by the Colombia-based artist and medical doctor; Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj, a site-specific and immersive exploration of the Haitian […]

  • Visualizing Abolition Screening Series: Beyond Access

    Visualizing Abolition
    Institute of the Arts and Sciences 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States

    On view in the IAS Screening Room is a selection of short films curated by Visualizing Abolition Visiting Faculty Fellow Dr. Pooja Rangan. Prisons deny and censor the access of those trapped inside them—to information, to intimacy, to community, to meaningful work, to nourishment of all kinds, and perhaps most cruelly, to care. This program […]

  • DMA Recital—Maisha Lani

    Music Center Recital Hall 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    Graduate student Maisha Lani debuts new compositions composed over the course of two years in the D.M.A. Music Composition program at UC Santa Cruz. The pieces range in instrumentation and style: from a blues to a post-tonal work, consisting of vibraphone and stringed instruments, to afrobeat inspired compositions, to graphic scores and improvisation. Audiences are […]

    FREE and open to the public
  • Drop-in Figure Drawing

    Drop-In Figure Drawing
    Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center Baskin Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    Drop-In Draw provides a live model and room monitor. There is no formal lesson and only dry media is allowed (no paints). — ADVISORIES – These events contain mature content and nudity. – Drop-In Draw is subject to the possibility of last-minute cancellation without notification, and sessions are not guaranteed. — ADMISSION – FREE and […]

    FREE and open to the public.
  • Of Nature and the Cosmos—April in Santa Cruz

    Music Center Performance Studio 131 Santa Cruz, CA, United States

    Join acclaimed Iranian virtuosi Siamak Barghi (kamancheh, tombak), and Arya Tavallaei (santour); Stanford University’s celebrated guzheng master Hui You; and San Francisco’s Del Sol Quartet (“excavations of beauty from the elemental”—New York Times) for an intrepid concert that explores nature, the cosmos, the “deep acoustics” of musical harmony, and an exchange of imagination and inspiration among […]

    FREE and open to the public
  • Something held by poetry

    Institute of the Arts and Sciences 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States

    In this intimate workshop, UC Santa Cruz students, faculty, and staff are invited into conversation with poets Ronaldo V. Wilson and Terri Witek. Something held by poetry is programmed for Wilson’s multimedia exhibition, there are no words, but melodies, currently on view at the IAS. RSVP is required. Ronaldo V. Wilson is a poet, interdisciplinary artist, […]

  • Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, directed by Kinan Valdez

    Experimental Theater Theater Arts Center, Santa Cruz, CA

    Blending Euripides’ classic Medea with Mexican folklore, Luis Alfaro examines the tragedy behind America’s immigration system and the destiny of one family caught in its grip. Directed by Kinan Valdez. — ADVISORIES – This presentation is an estimated 90 minutes with no intermission. – Seating is limited at this venue and is expected to reach […]

    Free – $20
  • Arts Dean’s Speaker Series

    Digital Arts Research Center 407 McHenry Rd, Santa Cruz, CA

    Save the date for the Arts Division Dean’s Speaker Series event. For UCSC affiliates only. Information to be announced.

    FREE and open to UCSC affilates
  • UCSC Opera—Orpheus in the Underworld

    UCSC Opera—Orpheus in the Underworld
    Music Center Recital Hall 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    A rollicking and irreverent spoof of the Orpheus myth, Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld is most famous as the origin of the “gallop infernal”—the music now strongly associated with the can-can dance. This operetta follows the unhappy (and unfaithful) union of Orpheus and Eurydice, as the latter’s love affair with the god of the […]

  • Making an Exoneree Showcase

    Audiences are invited to Making an Exoneree, a reception and film screening featuring the premiere of five student-made short documentaries that reveal the facts—and falsehoods—of wrongful conviction cases from around the country. Over the Winter and Spring quarters, 15 UCSC undergraduate students in the Making an Exoneree course dedicated themselves to uncovering the truth about […]

    FREE and open to the public
  • Office Hours Under the Sea

    Institute of the Arts and Sciences 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States

    Join Ronaldo Wilson and special guests for a site-specific, endurance performance as part of there are no words, but melodies. The exhibition emerges at the intersections of Black poetics, performance, and visual art toshuttle between verbal and non-verbal forms of language, rendering the boundaries of identity and meaning slippery. Drop in and visit Wilson’s office […]

  • Arts Staff Live!

    Digital Arts Research Center 407 McHenry Rd, Santa Cruz, CA

    UCSC Arts Staff Live! 2

    FREE and open to the public
  • Chamber Music Concert with UCSC Music Ensembles —Percussion, Celtic, Classical Guitar, Horns, Central Asian, Experimental

    Music Center Recital Hall 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    Audiences are invited to a free spring quarter chamber music concert featuring a variety of student ensembles. — ADMISSION – Attend in person at the Music Center Recital Hall at UC Santa Cruz – UCSC Affiliates only – Open seating (no ticket required). – Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start […]

    FREE
  • UCSC Jazz Combos

    Music Center Recital Hall 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    UCSC Jazz Combos present a spring quarter concert

    Free – $12
  • 52nd Annual Print Sale

    Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center Baskin Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    The 52nd anniversary of the UCSC Print Sale runs in conjunction with the Art Department’s Spring Open Studios. Hundreds of original prints will be for sale in a variety of media at this two-day event, including: Woodcuts Lithographs Etchings Photo-based prints Screen prints And more! All proceeds benefit art students: 80% of proceeds go to […]

    FREE and open to the public.
  • Spring 2026 Open Studios

    Spring 2026 Open Studios
    Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center Baskin Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    Art Department students exhibit their art work throughout the studios and classrooms in the Visual Art Center at UC Santa Cruz.

    FREE and open to the public.
  • UCSC Jazz Big Band

    Music Center Recital Hall 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    UCSC Jazz Big Band

    Free – $12
  • Barn Dance at the Hay Barn

    Barn Dance at the Hay Barn
    Hay Barn 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, United States

    The UCSC Celtic Music Ensemble performs live during a beginner-friendly, gender-neutral, darn good barn dance. Attendees are invited to dance, and partners are not needed. — ADMISSION – Open admission; tickets/registration not required. – FREE and open to the public. – Donations of any amount are welcomed and appreciated to support to support live music […]

    FREE and open to UCSC affiliates
  • UCSC Central Asian Ensemble

    Music Center Recital Hall 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA

    UCSC Central Asian Ensemble concert

    FREE and open to the public