Because many in-person events across Santa Cruz County have been canceled or postponed during the pandemic, Good Times is compiling a weekly list of virtual events hosted by local nonprofits, artists, fitness instructors and businesses. To submit your virtual event, send an email to [email protected].
ARTS AND MUSIC
EXHIBITION OPENING: COMMUNITY IS COLLECTIVE CARE Celebrate the opening of the MAH’s first outdoor exhibition, “Community is Collective Care,” to imagine individual and collective pathways toward healing alongside new work by Irene Juarez O’Connell. Stroll through between noon and 6pm to check out the new exhibition and collectively imagine what health and wellness could look like in our community. The exhibition is located in the Secret Garden tucked behind the MAH and Abbott Square in downtown Santa Cruz. “Community is Collective Care” is on view and free to visit Sept. 4 through July 25, 2021. In addition to this opening event, we are hosting a donation drive for the Campesinx Womb Care Project. Support local farmers by donating much needed care products, which can be found here: santacruzmah.org/events/ccc-opening. Also as part of this event, drop in for an outdoor guided meditation from 5-6pm on envisioning equality led by Yasmina Porter of Insight Santa Cruz. Please bring a journal or paper, and a writing tool. Show your support for your collective wellbeing and please wear a mask. Your mask protects me, and my mask protects you.
MOVIES AT THE MAH: HEARTS BEAT LOUD Catch movies under the stars in Abbott Square with a new monthly film series created in collaboration with the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (the MAH), Westside Video, the Diversity Center, and the Watsonville Film Festival. For our first screening, we’ve teamed up with Westside Video to present “Hearts Beat Loud,” a feel-good family drama about a community coming together through creativity and music. Space is limited to the first 100 attendees to allow for adequate physical distancing on the patio. There is no pre-registration required; drop-by when you can but, if possible, we recommend you arrive early to ensure you have a seat. Saturday, Sept. 5, 8-10pm.
TOP DOG SCREENING We are excited to announce a Virtual Screening of Top Dog. The Top Dog Film Festival was launched in 2017 to showcase the incredible bond between dogs and their people through independent films. Touring annually, the Top Dog Film Festival screens over two hours of the most inspirational, heartwarming and entertaining films related to dogs and their human companions from independent filmmakers around the globe. Including a carefully curated selection of films of varying lengths and styles covering topics relevant to dogs and dog lovers. A portion of ticket sales benefits Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. Sponsored by Pacific Paw, Santa Cruz Waves, Pet Pals and Community Mobile Vet, Dr. Hannah Good, D.V.M., and Santa Cruz Film Festival.
THE DANCER’S JOURNEY: VIRTUAL STORYTELLING ACROSS BORDERS On Sept. 5 at 6pm, Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center will return with a third Virtual Theater installment: The Dancer’s Journey, a collage of compositions from professional and pre-professional dancers, and a live Q&A with Virtual Theater commissioned artist, Nathan Hirschaut. This performance portrays the cross-cultural stories of young dancers from Santa Cruz and from Final Year BFA students in Kingston, Jamaica, who have reflected on their strengths, vulnerabilities, desire to change the world, and their own artistic sensibilities and vessels. The Dancer’s Journey is a powerful palliative for this isolating and unsettling moment. As we head into the end of the year, TWDCC needs support to continue pushing forward. The Dancer’s Journey is the launch event of the TWDCC End of the Year Fundraising campaign, and is a call to action for the community to aid in this reformation of Santa Cruz’s Best Cultural Center of 2020. Tickets for The Dancer’s Journey will be sold online through the TWDCC website on a sliding scale. Attendees will also have the option to donate throughout the duration of the performance. The evening will be presented through Zoom webinar. Attendees will be directly emailed the Zoom link to attend. Ticket sales end at 5:30pm on September 5. In response to the recent damage done from the CZU Lightning Complex fire, 50% of the funds raised through this event will be donated to TWDCC community members impacted by the fires and to local organizers and support groups. Learn more at tanneryworlddance.com/virtual-theater.
CLASSES
65-HOUR TRAINING Community members may participate in a Monarch Services virtual training to become California state-certified peer counselors for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking. The training will be held Aug. 24-Oct. 14 during these times: Mondays 1pm-3:30pm, Wednesdays 1pm-3:30pm, Thursdays 1pm-3:30pm. Register by emailing [email protected].
NAMI FAMILY-TO-FAMILY CLASS NAMI’s Family-to-Family class is an eight-week educational program for family and friends of adults with mental health challenges. Learn about how to support your loved one, gain valuable communication and coping skills, and become educated on the latest mental health research. Class is led by two trained volunteers with lived experience caring for someone with mental health conditions. Sign up online and learn more at namiscc.org/family-to-family.html. Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm.
CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION WEEKEND EXPRESS CLASS This Saturday and Sunday virtual class is intended for expectant mothers and their labor support team. Focus will be on the birth process, including the stages of labor and when to go to the hospital. Non-pharmaceutical coping techniques for pain, including breath work, mindfulness practices, supportive touch and positions for labor and birth, along with standard hospital procedures, pain medication options, medical interventions, cesarean birth, postpartum recovery, newborn procedures and breastfeeding basics. In this class, we will actively practice positions and coping techniques for pain, so please be dressed for movement. Please register for the PEP class session. Only after you have completed this process, the Zoom meeting information will be provided to you via email prior to your class. Classes run 1-5:30pm on these days: Sept. 26-27, Oct, 24-25, Nov. 14-15, Dec. 19-20.
SALSA SUELTA IN PLACE: Free weekly online session in Cuban-style Salsa Suelta for experienced beginners and up. Contact to get a Zoom link. Thursdays at 7pm. salsagente.com.
COMMUNITY
VIRTUAL WALK-A-MILE Our annual Walk-a-Mile fundraiser is going virtual this year! The walk will take place on Saturday, Oct. 3, to coincide with the first weekend of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Between now and event day, participants can sign up online individually or as a team, create a personalized web page and outreach to their networks to fund their walk. Through our event site, social media networks and teams, we will raise awareness and build support for the movement to end violence in our community. All funds raised through this year’s Walk-a-Mile event will go toward meeting the immediate needs of survivors (housing support, food, transportation, etc.), violence prevention programming for youth and teens, as well as outreach to those most at-risk of violence during this time. Learn more at monarchwam.funraise.org.
LUMA BOOK CLUB This is a time of seismic shift, and yet also one of opportunity. Luma Yoga is a community center operating on principles of inclusion, compassion, and, yes, reflection, but make no mistake—also of action. The first step in effective action is gaining knowledge. To this end, Luma is hosting a book club on the topic of racism and social justice issues. The reading groups will be held remotely (for now) over Zoom Thursday nights 7-8:15pm. The purpose of the groups is to learn the endless shapes oppression can take in the world, to recognize our own biases within ourselves, and to move from discomfort to action in support of Black and non-white POC. The groups will be facilitated by Steven Macramalla, a professor of psychology at SJSU. The Club will work on a 3- to 4-week cycle, reading one book per cycle, with several chapters covered each week. For more info visit lumayoga.com. Thursdays at 7pm.
TALES TO TAILS GOES VIRTUAL Beginning Aug. 10, SCPL’s early childhood literacy program, Virtual Tales to Tails, is moving to a new time slot: Mondays, 3:30-4:30pm. At the end of your school day, hop online and have fun reading at your own pace to an audience of therapy dogs, cats and other guest animals. Have math homework? Good news! Your furry audience would also love to learn how to count, add and subtract. Register online. Registrants receive reminders, links to the live program, and fun (educational) activities to complete and have showcased on future sessions Learn more at santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/6764938.
GROUPS
VIRTUAL YOUNG ADULT (18-30) TRANSGENDER SUPPORT GROUP A weekly peer support group for young adults aged 18-25 who identify as transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, agender, or any other non-cisgender identity. This is a social group where we meet and chat among ourselves, sharing our experiences and thoughts in a warm, welcoming setting. Our meetings will be held on Discord during the shelter-in-place order. For more info, contact Ezra Bowen at [email protected].
LGBTQNBI+ SUPPORT GROUP FOR CORONAVIRUS STRESS This weekly LGBTQNBI+ support group is being offered to help us all deal with stress during the shelter-in-place situation that we are experiencing from the coronavirus. Feel free to bring your lunch and chat together to get support. This group is offered at no cost and will be facilitated by licensed therapists Shane Hill, Ph.D., and Melissa Bernstein, LMFT #52524. Learn how to join the Zoom support group at diversitycenter.org/community-calendar.
OUTDOOR
EVERGREEN AT DUSK: CEMETERY HISTORY TOURS Discover the shadows and secrets found within Evergreen Cemetery, one of the oldest public cemeteries in California, on a self-guided tour of the grounds. Bring your curiosity (and maybe some flashlights) as you explore the final resting place of Santa Cruz’s early settlers. The 45-minute tour is a self-driven adventure uncovering the stories and tombstones of the people who made Santa Cruz what it is today. Designed for daring, curious, and history-loving households, this tour is great for all ages! Registration is limited to one household per tour to ensure plenty of spacing as groups individually explore the cemetery. Each tour should take 30-45 minutes to complete. The time you select is when your group/household tour starts, we recommend arriving 5-10 minutes early to ensure you can begin right on time. Dates and times vary. You will be able to select the date and time of your tour when purchasing tickets.
ANNUAL COASTAL CLEANUP For over a decade, Save Our Shores has regionally hosted Annual Coastal Cleanup in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. This year, to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Save Our Shores will not be hosting cleanups at organized sites on one particular day. Instead, you can conduct your own local cleanup with those you have been sheltering in place with on any Saturday during the month of September. These individual, close-to-home cleanups will protect our oceans beginning at our own front doors. Learn more and find out how to participate by visiting saveourshores.org/coastal-cleanup-2020.
