The Tannery Arts Center, Santa Cruz County’s first-in-the-nation arts community that provides a sustainable, accessible and vibrant home for the arts in Santa Cruz County, announced today it will host three free community events on Saturday, June 18, 2016, to celebrate all aspects of the arts campus.
Festivities begin with the return of Ebb & Flow, a free community celebration of the San Lorenzo River and the Tannery Arts Center. The event, put on jointly by Arts Council Santa Cruz County, the City of Santa Cruz, Coastal Watershed Council and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, includes community art-making, the unveiling of new murals and family activities along the RiverWalk and the creation and installation of a major temporary public art piece on the Water Street bridge.
Ebb & Flow is a movement that transforms and enlivens the San Lorenzo River and the Tannery Arts Center. Its goals are to activate the river and inspire impassioned stewards; energize the Tannery and help to alleviate campus challenges; create economic engines through use of the river and campus; and increase water literacy.
This year’s Ebb & Flow public art project is being designed and led by local artist Heidi Cramer, who is creating her piece as part of her summer residency in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History’s Art Works program.
“This will be a collaborative sculpture which aims specifically at the landscape, local flora and fauna, and the history of the river,” said Cramer. “This temporary sculptural event will bring the community together and be an opportunity to engage visitors young and old to create a work of art about the river environment, within the river environment.”
The public is invited to start their day with a stroll along the RiverWalk from the arena to the Laurel Street Bridge to see seven new wheat paste murals on buildings that face the river by Tannery artist and SPECTRA teacher Elijah Pfotenhauer.
From 12-2:30 p.m., at the Water Street bridge, the community can enjoy:
- Hands-on art making and installation of the public art piece on the Water Street bridge
- River Tours by local river experts and storytellers
- Children’s art booths led by Mariposa’s Art arts instructors
- Photo booth under the bridge with Geoffrey Nelson’s Guardian of the River sculpture
- Fun and games with Eb, Flo, and other costumed river creatures
This year’s Ebb & Flow is supported by the City of Santa Cruz’s Economic Development Department and Arts Council Santa Cruz County. Project partners include Coastal Watershed Council, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Radius Gallery, Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center and the Tannery Arts Center. Sponsors include Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center, Santa Cruz County Bank and KSCO.
The day of revelry continues with the annual Tanniversary, a full afternoon and evening celebrating creativity with art experiences, food and free performances at the Tannery Arts Center Campus.
Tanniversary activities will include: live performances scattered throughout the campus from 4-6 p.m. showcasing the great talent in the community; a scavenger hunt for kids led by Camp Tannery Arts from 3-7 p.m.; pop up art vendors from the Tannery Lofts; and food trucks throughout the afternoon and evening. Studios will be open 3-8 p.m. There also will be an artist reception at 6 p.m. for “Rabbits That Don’t Fit In,” and the Arts Council’s “All Hands on Deck” raffle will happen at 7 p.m.
Tannery artist Geoffrey Nelson recreates the “Guardians of the River”, one of which was destroyed just before Ebb & Flow 2015. He invites the public to pose in a Photo Booth under the Water Street Bridge with the illuminated figures during Ebb & Flow, 12-2:30 p.m. The figures will be on display Radius Gallery from 4-9 p.m.
Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center will host a Grand Reopening Celebration in its new 3,200-square-foot space in Studio 110. TWDCC’s free community dance party will be 8-10 p.m.