A weekly guide to what’s happening.
Green Fix
Liv O’Keeffe Lecture
Marketing and communications professional Liv O’Keeffe always did love plants. A California native, at age eight she nicknamed her first house plant and caught polliwogs at the nearby swamp. A few years ago, she left her corporate job to join one of the world’s most influential botanical conservation organizations and has since bridged the botanical world with communications to spread the love of our natural world.
INFO: 7 p.m. Thursday Nov. 1. UCSC Arboretum, Horticulture II Building, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. 502-2998, arboretum.ucsc.edu. Free.
Art Seen
12×12 Exhibition
12 inches by 12 inches isn’t a large size for a canvas, but you’ll be surprised what artists can do within this simple square. Cabrillo’s 12×12 exhibit and fundraiser is back again, featuring work that can be larger than life, but must fit into a 12×12 box. The show is open to any and all California artists, so there will be a wide variety of work from across the state. Make sure to cast your vote for your favorite pieces—three will win the popular vote awards.
INFO: Opening reception 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3. Show runs Monday, Nov. 5-Friday, Dec. 7. Cabrillo Art Gallery, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos. cabrillo.edu. Free.
Wednesday 10/31
Downtown Book Giveaway
It’s not New Year’s yet, but the Santa Cruz Public Library is already out with the old and in with the new. Just in time for Halloween the library is giving out free books because they are overstocked and trying to make more space. It’s like trick or treating at the library, but they are giving out books instead of candy. There’s guaranteed to be a wide assortment of books for any and all bookworms. Who said nothing in life is free?
INFO: 12:30-2:30 p.m. Downtown Santa Cruz Public Library. 224 Church St., Santa Cruz. 427-7707. fscpl.org. Free.
Saturday 11/3
Día de los Muertos Festival
Join the Museum of Art and History in celebrating the Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday remembering and respecting those who have died. Followed by All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 1, Día de Los Muertos is traditionally celebrated by dedicating altars or ofrendas to loved ones and decorating them with marigolds and calaveras (sugar skulls). The celebration features live music, face painting, dance performances and an altar contest. The event begins on Cooper Street and in Abbott Square and will continue through downtown Santa Cruz to the Evergreen Cemetery. Feel free to join in and follow the procession at the start, or meet them along the way.
INFO: 12:30-6 p.m. Begins at 118 Cooper St., Santa Cruz. santacruzmah.org. Free.
Sunday 11/4
UCSC Farm Tour
Summer is slow to leave, but who is complaining? It’s almost November, and the farmers markets are still packed with peppers, tomatoes and other summer goodies. Early fall is one of the best harvest times of the year, with all of the pumpkins and winter squash coming in, and there are few better places to see it all in action than UCSC’s 30-acre organic farm. The Farm features tractor-worked fields, hand-worked gardens, orchards, greenhouses, and a children’s garden. There are free tours on the first Sunday of every month, but rain cancels them so check it out while the weather is still promising.
INFO: 2-3:30 p.m. Park and start at Cowell Ranch Historic Haybarn. 459-3240. casfs.ucsc.edu. Free, no reservations necessary.
