• 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
  • VMCC Talk with Salar Mameni—Blood of Tulips

    Porter College D-Building, Santa Cruz, CA

    What counts as life in the midst of war, genocide, and planetary destruction? What is death and how do ideas around martyrdom and sacrifice contribute to our understanding of sacred ecologies? In this talk, Mameni engages these questions based on research for his second book project focusing on ecologies of war and martyrdom in the […]

    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 Content advisory: includes violence, adult language, mature themes, and mention of sexual violence This presentation is an estimated 90 minutes with no intermission. Seating […]

    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

    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

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

    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 […]

    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
  • 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—a two-day event

    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

    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
  • SocDoc MFA Thesis Screening

    Landmark’s Del Mar Theatre

    The Social Documentation MFA Thesis Screening is a yearly event held by the Film and Digital Media Department. This event is part of the Social Documentation MFA program, and involves […]

    FREE and open to the public