Although Santa Cruz is not a large city, it still has its own history with turbulent events that is worth the attention of any visitor of this place. If you want to learn more about the development of The City of Santa Cruz, the people who contributed to it as well as the most important dates on the timeline, you might be interested in the amenities described in the current article.
Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH)
As the name suggests, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History or, simply MAH, is one of the major places to explore the history of The City of Santa Cruz as well as the entire County. MAH located under the address 705 Front St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 is a home for numerous permanent and temporary exhibitions dedicated to the local history. Let’s look at some of them currently available to the public.
Santa Cruz County History Gallery
Santa Cruz County History Gallery is a permanent exhibition displayed on the second floor of MAH. The major topic of this exhibition is storytelling about the people who made the greatest contribution to the development of Santa Cruz and The County of Santa Cruz as well.
This exhibition is quite unique since it is not focused on the world-known people whose activity was somehow connected to The Santa Cruz County. On the contrary, you will learn a lot about ordinary people whose lives made a large differences for the establishment of Santa Cruz and The County. These people are a native Ohlone community as well as migrants from foreign countries who are fishermen, farmworkers, teachers, doctors, surfers and even street performers. Together, they made Santa Cruz a dream home for artists, scientists and activists.
The idea of Santa Cruz County History Gallery is also inspiring people to build an even stronger community and make history together.
Art & Healing: 30 Years After the Loma Prieta Earthquake
Art & Healing: 30 Years After the Loma Prieta Earthquake is a temporary exhibition displayed in Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, however, it will be available to the visitors of MAH till the August of 2021, so you have plenty of time to see it.
As the name suggests, the exhibition is dedicated to the reconstruction of Santa Cruz after the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 when Downtown of Santa Cruz was severely destroyed. At that time, a group of artists called “On sight” started their work rebuilding the city’s downtown.
The leader of the group, Robin Kandel wanted to fill the emptiness of the Santa Cruz downtown left by Loma Prieta by creating public art projects in that area. Due to these projects more and more people were brought back to the downtown in order to see the unique art created by the On Sight group.
These art works were temporary installations set among the landscape of the ruined downtown. One of the most significant pieces of art created during that period was The Lighthouse made by Robert Catalusci. The Lighthouse was regarded by people as a source of light showing them the way to the safe place. The installation of The Lighthouse gave a 3-mile radius of light and was made of plexiglass and plywood.
As far as you can see, visiting the Art & Healing: 30 Years After the Loma Prieta Earthquake exhibition will be an interesting experience not only for those people who are keen on history, but also for those who would like to know more about local art.
Evergreen Cemetery
Evergreen Cemetery is one of the most crucial historical sites of The County of Santa Cruz since the majority of people working hard to allow Santa Cruz develop into a flourishing city we know today can be found at Evergreen Cemetery.
The first community of people living in the area which is now known as Santa Cruz were people who arrived here in the 1800s. They were Yankees, Civil War veterans, gold prospectors, immigrants (especially from China), mountain workers, artists and many other people who contributed a lot to the growth of the city dedicating their lives to hard work.
Today, Evergreen Cemetery is participating in various projects which are organised in order to promote local history and also help to find relatives and information about your origin. For example, there is a programme called Researchers Anonymous which held monthly meeting of people who are passionate about the general history of Santa Cruz.