Fall is the beginning of so many good things in Santa Cruz County: school’s back in session, the leaves are beginning to turn, pumpkin spice is back in all things regardless if it’s needed (who doesn’t want pumpkin spice deodorant?), and Open Studios returns to showcase the county’s most stunning artwork.
Beginning Oct. 1 more than 275 artists—some seasoned professionals, some fresh-faced newbies, will crawl out from their artist caves and into the light to share their works with art lovers everywhere. Explore nooks and crannies of Santa Cruz County that you never thought to look for by taking in all sorts of art directly from the creators in their natural habitats—Open Studios allows locals to fully explore the process, the place, and the inspiration behind the work.
Follow the green signs, pick up GT’s Open Studios Art Tour 2016 guide, pack some snacks and peruse everything from furniture, collage, ceramics, glass, jewelry, fiber arts and more. Strategize and personalize your tour of the county’s finest, starting with South County, Saturday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 2 from Watsonville to the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. Bike around the harbor alongside the otters and then carpool to Watsonville where, in between art stops, you can tour the historical downtown and rehydrate with beer at Corralitos Brewing.
Bring a jacket for the foggier delights of North County’s festivities on Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9, from the reaches of Seabright up to the Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley forests—and grab a slice of olallieberry pie from Whale City Bakery in Davenport while the berries are still around.
On Saturday Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16, Open Studios opens up for an encore weekend of the whole county. Meet the friends, neighbors, and strangers you never would’ve guessed are secret fabric art geniuses or dedicate their time to master the craft of sculpture or wearable art. If you want to take the festivities up a notch, plan a viewing party yourself with maps for your friends, download the free app, and mix up some Virgin Open Studios cucumber basil gimlets to toast—check out the recipe on the Arts Council website (the virgin part is optional, of course) and find more information at artscouncilsc.org/open-studios.
Despite the title, it’s not quite correct to classify Demon as a horror movie. On the one hand, yes, it deals with the supernatural. But here in the States, what we call a horror movie generally involves randy teens in jeopardy, and oceans of blood gushing like Old Faithful all over everything.
In Demon, Polish filmmaker Marcin Wrona takes a much different approach. With centuries of history, culture, folklore and tradition to draw from—not to mention a sure grasp of allegory and metaphor—he layers on texture and meaning, drawing us into a world of mysterious images, and complex, yet subtly handled themes. As the story unspools, mostly over a single day and night’s wedding celebration, Wrona steadily winds up the tension without resorting to the gore and shock tactics we usually associate with the genre. Instead, Wrona creates an increasingly eerie atmosphere, and a sense of menace so profound, it keeps us engrossed right up to the last frame.
Piotr (Israeli actor Itay Tiran), who has been working in London, arrives by ferry at an isolated Polish village to be married. (Tiran is excellent as his role becomes ever stranger and more complex.) His bride-to-be, Zaneta (Agnieszka Zulewska), is the daughter of a local bigwig, a construction magnate (Andrzej Grabowski) who has gifted the couple with his own father’s home, a deserted old house out in the country, uninhabited for years.
With a bulldozer delivered to the property, Piotr accidentally dislodges a tree—and finds what look like skeletal human remains buried underneath. Startling visions follow, but his groomsmen arrive the next morning to prepare him for the wedding before he can tell anyone. After the church ceremony, the reception is held in a huge tent erected next to the old house, and as the celebration wears on into the night, strange things happen.
After a quick tryst with Zaneta, Piotr loses his wedding ring. He keeps seeing a mysterious young woman on the periphery of the party that no one else can see. When Piotyr himself starts having convulsions on the dance floor, his new father-in-law, with assorted cohorts, drags him off to the barn and orders more liquor to be served to the guests as a cover-up, hoping they won’t remember what they saw.
The bride’s father, the priest, the drunken village doctor, and the professor, an elderly Jewish man who has lived in the village all his life, try to figure out what’s going on. If there are no medical or psychological explanations for Piotr’s behavior, the specter of demonic possession is raised. The professor offers up the notion of a dybbuk, an unquiet spirit out of Jewish folklore that exists “to purge its own soul” of business unfinished in life, but also the soul of the possessed.
As the party progresses and more vodka is consumed, tongues loosen and polite facades begin to crumble. Village men grumble about Zaneta going out of the village to find a husband. The professor reveals that the entire village was once a thriving Jewish shtetl but it was destroyed by the Germans—along with most of its families and the only bridge to the outside world. At dawn, Zaneta’s father makes a drunken speech to whatever remaining partygoers have not already passed out, encouraging them to forget everything they’ve seen. “You were never even here,” he tells them. “None of us was ever here.”
It’s clear that the entire village, not just the possessing spirit and the possessed, has unfinished business to purge. More literal-minded viewers may complain that the finale offers no clear-cut “explanation.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that’s what I loved about this movie, that the audience is invited to supply its own interpretations, building on all the rich themes that Wrona introduces. You get out of Demon what you’re willing to bring to it. Wrona may not supply all of the answers, but he gets us to ponder the most interesting questions.
DEMON
*** (our of four)
WithItay Tiran, Agnieszka Zulewska, and Andrzej Grabowski. Written by Pawel Maslona and Marcin Wrona. Directed by Marcin Wrona. Not rated.94 minutes. In English, Polish and Yiddish with English subtitles.
“What a terrific aroma,” Rita exclaimed as we grabbed a banquette at Mumbai Delights. Appealing and comfortable, the new Pacific Avenue eatery’s atmosphere is deliciously tinged with aromas of curry, ginger and garlic. Hot mint tea for me and a tall, orange mango lassi for Rita started us off. We checked out the bounty of dishes comprising the $10.95 lunch buffet. Salads, fruit, pakoda, dal, as well as tandoori, curry, chicken tikka masala and a pistachio dessert. It all looked and smelled wonderful, but we wanted a bit more adventure on our first lunch at Mumbai (which came highly recommended by one of the town’s globe-trotting foodies). So we took our time surveying the menu. Starters, appetizers, salads, classical entrees of India, a suite of curries and an even longer list of tandoori specialties. Obviously, one visit wasn’t going to begin to cover the landscape.
Impeccable butter naan ($2.50) and a platter of lime ginger chicken ($8) came swiftly. Four substantial slices of chicken breast had been lightly marinated in lime and ginger, and came topped with sliced limes and matchstick pieces of fresh ginger. It was both pretty and tasty. Rita and I were in heaven, but it was beginning to dawn on us that we’d ordered too much food. This “starter” was easily enough for a robust lunch entree.
I settled back on a banquette decorated with a silk embroidered pillow, sari fabric deconstructed into designer upholstery. A few well-placed Ganeshes bid me “namaste” as I enjoyed the view of well-chosen wood carvings and attractive plants set off nicely by the dining room’s soft coral walls. There’s an intimate wine bar in the center of the dining room where one can sample from the menu’s exotic Indian wines, as well as a long list of California premiums.
A bowl of excellent raita ($3) arrived along with fragrant basmati rice, and two entree platters. The traditional yogurt condiment (I put it on everything!) was expertly laced with diced cucumbers, mint, cilantro and garlic. Rita had ordered the comforting butter chicken ($14)—easy to like with its coconut cream and tomato spice sauce, laden with shredded tandoori chicken. I consider aloo gobi one of the great gifts of Indian cuisine, and Mumbai Delight’s version offered enormous chunks of potato and cauliflower, strewn with peas and highly aromatic spices. The tomato-driven sauce was distinguished by a fine balance of cumin, ginger and turmeric, bracingly “medium” hot—exactly the way I’d asked and hoped for ($12). The potatoes, especially, delivered the desired earthy comfort.
You know how it is with spice-laden food—we just ate and ate, using pieces of soft, tender naan to scoop up raita and traces of sauce. Too bad it wasn’t later in the day—a cold Kingfisher beer would have been brilliant with this meal. Next time. The menu here is tantalizing and comprehensive. Mumbai Delights is open daily for lunch and dinner, with a mega buffet I have yet to try.
Mumbai Delights, 810 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.-9 p.m., 9:30 p.m. on weekends.
Wine of the Week
The light and mineral-intensive Storrs Sauvignon Blanc 2014 made from Monterey grapes was the exactly right companion for spicy carry-out from O’mei last week. A beautiful light (13.3 percent alchohol) creation, it opened into a refreshing nose of ginger and kumquat, chestnut, flint and salt. I’m not delusional. Pour a glass for yourself, inhale deeply, let your senses look for the layers of flavor available in this and any well-made wine. You can still just partner it with food and enjoy, but you’ll find yourself with a deepened appreciation for artisan winemakers like Pam and Steve Storrs. $18, at Shopper’s Corner.
Regardless of how much it still feels like summer, Oktober begins this weekend. Yes, that’s with a “k”—I like to let my German side out a little bit to welcome in the change of seasons, and that also means slathering a delicious mustard on bratwursts and salt-encrusted pretzels. My favorite lately has been a local mustard made by Wilder Condiments. I first tried it at Stripe, lured in by its eye-catching graphic label, and ended up going home with all three varieties: a traditional Dijon-style mustard with white wine, honey jalapeño and horseradish.
It’s amazing how many uses for mustard I find now that I have a few in rotation that I really love. A swipe will energize a burger or sandwich, of course, but it’s also delicious tossed with roasted potatoes, as a substantial dressing that can hold its own against hardboiled egg and lardons in salade lyonnaise, or as a marinade for grilled meat. It’s also easy to toss in a bag and take down to the beach for the last of the summer’s beach cookouts.
Isabel Freed, the one-woman show behind Wilder Condiments, is committed to using organic ingredients and sourcing them locally, which really makes her products stand out. For example, she adds Bonny Doon Vineyards’ Le Cigare Blanc white wine to her classic mustard, and honey sourced from “an adorable couple in the hills of Mount Madonna” to the honey jalapeño. And she hand-makes every batch here in Santa Cruz, her hometown.
“We love Santa Cruz, and we seek to embody the place we come from. The flavors in our mustard are the flavors of California: bright, sunny, and great quality. We hope people are enjoying our products with friends, and that we’re adding to the experience,” says Freed.
Available at New Leaf Markets, Stripe, Cameron Marks, Picnic Basket and Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard. wildercondiments.com
BREW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Keep your eye on the Westside—Shanty Shack Brewing hopes to open on Fern Street by the end of October. Brewers Nathan Van Zandt and Brandon Padilla will offer a variety of New World and Old World styles, plus a selection of farmhouse-style barrel-aged beers, which guests can enjoy on their fruit-tree-filled outdoor patio. www.shantyshackbrewing.com.
When seven of us got together over wine and food in the bar area at Seascape Beach Resort recently, we made short work of a bottle of Saratoga’s Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay 2013—and promptly ordered another. This is an excellent wine to pair with all kinds of food.
Most of us got there too late for the resort’s Happy Hour—from 4-6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday—so we ordered from the Restless Palate menu created by Chef Mario Garcia. It’s a menu of small bites, like fish tacos ($12), Mad Thai seared scallops ($16) and spicy ahi poke bowl ($16)—plates of food just perfect to share over wine and conversation.
Full, lush tropical fruit dominates this wine’s aromas and flavors. Complex on the palate, it is a premier example of Central Coast Chardonnay. Grapes are harvested from Wolff Vineyard in the bucolic Edna Valley near San Luis Obispo, an ideal grape-growing region that yields the best possible fruit. This Mount Eden Chardonnay can be found in stores all over and sells for about $21 ($30 at Seascape Beach Resort). Mount Eden Vineyards, 888-865-9463. mounteden.com.
Hospice Oktoberfest
As well as an abundance of interesting items to bid on, including artwork, restaurant gift certificates, weekend getaways, tickets to sporting events, and more, the annual Friends of Hospice Oktoberfest always has an amazing selection of wines in its silent auction. Treat yourselves to some tasty German-style food, like sausages and sauerkraut, enjoy Bavarian music, and a wonderful live auction, which includes trips, jewelry and a dinner with wine donated by Mike Termini of Triad Electric. Remember what a worthy fundraiser this is, with all proceeds going to Hospice of Santa Cruz County. Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, Scotts Valley Community Center, 360 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley. Visit Hospicesantacruz.org/Oktoberfest. Admission is free.
Celebrate Harvest at Burrell School
Freshly shucked oysters by Bill the Oyster Man and live music by Menage, playing jazzy tunes with guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and vocals. Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1. Regular tasting fees apply. Burrell School Vineyards, 24060 Summit Road, Los Gatos, 408-353-6290. burrellschool.com
Thursday, Sept. 29, is Michaelmas, Feast of Saint Michael, honoring Archangel Michael, protector of the Earth during Autumn. During each season a different cosmic protector or archangel tends, cares for and protects Earth and her kingdoms. The Autumn Archangel is Michael. He carries a sword. Winter’s protector is Archangel Gabriel. He has a special connection with Mary, Mother of Jesus. Spring’s Archangel is Raphael. He carries the chalice of healing. And summer’s protector is Uriel. He teaches in meadows and fields to all of the kingdoms. The devas (nature spirits) especially love him.
Friday is the new moon at 8.15 degrees Libra. At new moon festivals we “strengthen and support the endeavors of the New Group of World Servers (NGWS).” The NGWS works in all nations. Often unrecognized, its members work with intention and dedication to bring into the world that which humanity needs. We must always ask ourselves when attempting to serve the world, “What does humanity need?”
Sunday night is the first evening of Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, ending Tuesday evening. Rosh Hashanah celebrates Adam and Eve’s (humanity’s) creation and we contemplate upon humanity’s role in God’s world. It’s a day of judgment, too. The shofar (ram’s horn) is sounded, calling humanity to forgiveness. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the 10 Days of Repentance culminating in Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement, Wednesday, Oct. 12). During Rosh Hashanah we eat apples dipped in honey, asking for a “sweet year” ahead, and bless one another with the words “L’shanah tovah.” (May you have a good year.)
ARIES: You will be called to teamwork, perhaps by competitors and possibly by those you consider enemies. Don’t fret or fuss. Libra is about bringing Right Human Relations, balance, and fairness to all interactions. You can initiate this through your intentions and will(ingness). This will enhance your public image, create new alliances, and affect your environments (inner and outer), friendships, and release love all around.
TAURUS: It’s time to seriously consider another level of health, exercise, and proper eating—very necessary at this time to vitalize your energy system and adrenals. The emphasis now needs to be on service to self. Everyone around you, including pets, will be reflecting your health issues. Use homeopathics. Consider Ayurveda. Add resveratrol, chlorella and herbs for the lymphs. Swimming is good, too.
GEMINI: What are your favorite activities and hobbies? What do you do for fun? Have these changed in the past several years? What do you value and love, where and how do you find freedom, and are there children or pets in your life? Contemplate upon these questions, so you can, with eyes wide open, recognize your true life path. Libra balances and harmonizes Gemini’s polarities and dualities. Do you understand this?
CANCER: It seems your property, what you own and/or where you live, has been in a state of reordering, reorganizing, reorientation, and transformation. At some point, emerging from your inner rooms you might consider creating a “garden room.” Perhaps it’s also time for a greenhouse and an uncluttered home office. Where and who is your community these days? What is your personal “Art of Living?”
LEO: It’s a good time to write letters, the old fashioned way. It’s also good to contact family, siblings, old friends, and to renew relationships, which may have been set aside due to excess work, intense grief, or a general antipathy toward relationships. Visiting forests, woods, oceans and glens allows you to feel your relationship with all of life. The most nurturing and balanced of relationships is with the plant kingdom. Communicate with the green and violet devas.
VIRGO: Perhaps it’s time for a resale sale, or maybe a new look at your resources and valuable possessions. Assessing your resources with new eyes provides insight into what your true values are. How have your values changed in the past 12 years? Acknowledging what you value refreshes and regenerates your identity and directs your next steps on the path, which, then again, could change.
LIBRA: Do not be afraid of leadership. But do be aware that leadership is a razor-edged path. It’s important to understand that others look at leaders through the lens of their own experiences, wounds, childhood, expectations, needs and projections. This is not comfortable for leaders. Only the courageous and loving can lead effectively. Begin to create new projects that will overflow into next year. Something’s almost over. As something new, a feeling, a forgiveness, perhaps, appears.
SCORPIO: Visit the ill, the hospitalized, the shut away, the sad, the lonely, and the limited. Those in need. This will provide you with a perspective on your own life that leads to clear self-analysis, contemplation, and the ability to reorient yourself toward spiritual values. Tithe, be charitable, ask forgiveness for past omissions, and seek work that heals humanity. Big tasks for a courageous person (disciple).
SAGITTARIUS: Are there several social contracts or social aspirations that you consciously or unconsciously adhere to? Ask yourself if there are opportunities for a new occupation that would benefit you if you told others of your immediate and far-reaching aspirations and life goals? How is your financial situation? Things are attempting to balance and reorient themselves to the light this month. Short trips out and about are good. They bring you to right balanced perspective.
CAPRICORN: New work goals and newer ways to offer your gifts, talents and abilities come forth. Review past work and know that it was good. Know also that you can summon all gifts from your many past lives into your present and ask that they be applied efficiently and brilliantly to this life. Ask also that they provide you with art and beauty. Ponder on possible plans and goals. All things beneficent fall into your world, your daily life. You create rituals of gratitude.
AQUARIUS: It’s time to contemplate upon a long-range life program. Ask yourself, “What do I want to learn and to do? Where do I want to go? Whom do I want to meet and include in my life?” Recognize that answers to these questions bring light to your life’s needs, providing you with a view of your aspirations. And your inner nature. Write your answers down in a notebook, anchoring them. Know everything will come to pass. Perhaps a home is first.
PISCES: Continue to eliminate things in your life that are not in alignment with order, organization, purity and simplicity. Pay all debts and continue saving. Economic prudence is most important now, and will later become a resource. There are several very important items needing to manifest in your life to be used communally. See yourself working with the Law of Attraction. It comes with Love. Conserve all spending as you conserve your energy. A new talent arises.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What’s the difference between a love warrior and a love worrier? Love warriors work diligently to keep enhancing their empathy, compassion, and emotional intelligence. Love worriers fret so much about not getting the love they want that they neglect to develop their intimacy skills. Love warriors are always vigilant for how their own ignorance may be sabotaging togetherness, while love worriers dwell on how their partner’s ignorance is sabotaging togetherness. Love warriors stay focused on their relationship’s highest goals, while love worriers are preoccupied with every little relationship glitch. I bring this to your attention, Aries, because the next seven weeks will be an excellent time to become less of a love worrier and more of a love warrior.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): How will you deal with a provocative opportunity to reinvent and reinvigorate your approach to work? My guess is that if you ignore this challenge, it will devolve into an obstruction. If you embrace it, on the other hand, you will be led to unforeseen improvements in the way you earn money and structure your daily routine. Here’s the paradox: Being open to seemingly impractical considerations will ultimately turn out to be quite practical.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Is it possible that you’re on the verge of reclaiming some of the innocent wisdom you had as a child? Judging from the current astrological omens, I suspect it is. If all goes well, you will soon be gifted with a long glimpse of your true destiny—a close replica of the vision that bloomed in you at a tender age. And this will, in turn, enable you to actually see magic unicorns and play with mischievous fairies and eat clouds that dip down close to the earth. And not only that: Having a holy vision of your original self will make you even smarter than you already are. For example, you could get insights about how to express previously inexpressible parts of yourself. You might discover secrets about how to attract more of the love you have always felt deprived of.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m not asking you to tell me about the places and situations where you feel safe and fragile and timid. I want to know about where you feel safe and strong and bold. Are there sanctuaries that nurture your audacious wisdom? Are there natural sites that tease out your primal willpower and help you clarify your goals? Go to those power spots. Allow them to exalt you with their transformative blessings. Pray and sing and dance there. And maybe find a new oasis to excite and incite you, as well. Your creative savvy will bloom in November if you nurture yourself now with this magic.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): One of your old reliable formulas may temporarily be useless or even deceptive. An ally could be withholding an important detail from you. Your favorite psychological crutch is in disrepair, and your go-to excuse is no longer viable. And yet I think you’re going to be just fine, Leo. Plan B will probably work better than Plan A. Secondary sources and substitutes should provide you with all the leverage you need. And I bet you will finally capitalize on an advantage that you have previously neglected. For best results, be vigilant for unexpected help.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Attention! Warning! One of your signature fears is losing its chokehold on your imagination. If this trend continues, its power to scare you may diminish more than 70 percent by Nov. 1. And then what will you do? How can you continue to plug away at your goals if you don’t have worry and angst and dread to motivate you? I suppose you could shop around for a replacement fear—a new prod to keep you on the true and righteous path. But you might also want to consider an alternative: the possibility of drawing more of the energy you need by feeding your lust for life.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Thank you for all the entertainment you’ve provided in the past 12 months, Libra. Since shortly before your birthday in 2015, you have taken lively and gallant actions to rewrite history. You have banished a pesky demon and repaired a hole in your soul. You’ve educated the most immature part of yourself and nurtured the most neglected part of yourself. To my joyful shock, you have even worked to transform a dysfunctional romantic habit that in previous years had subtly undermined your ability to get the kind of intimacy you seek. What’s next? Here’s my guess: an unprecedented exemption from the demands of the past.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Are you able to expand while you are contracting, and vice versa? Can you shed mediocre comforts and also open your imagination to gifts that await you at the frontier? Is it possible to be skeptical toward ideas that shrink your world and people who waste your time, even as you cultivate optimism and innocence about the interesting challenges ahead of you? Here’s what I think, Scorpio: Yes, you can. At least for right now, you are more flexible and multifaceted than you might imagine.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You Sagittarians are famous for filling your cups so full they’re in danger of spilling over. Sometimes the rest of us find this kind of cute. On other occasions, we don’t enjoy getting wine splashed on our shoes. But I suspect that in the coming weeks, the consequences of your tendency to overflow will be mostly benign—perhaps even downright beneficial. So I suggest you experiment with the pleasures of surging and gushing. Have fun as you escape your niches and transcend your containers. Give yourself permission to seek adventures that might be too extravagant for polite company. Now here’s a helpful reminder from your fellow Sagittarian, poet Emily Dickinson: “You cannot fold a flood and put it in a drawer.”
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I believe that during the coming weeks you will have an extra amount of freedom from fate. The daily grind won’t be able to grind you down. The influences that typically tend to sap your joie de vivre will leave you in peace. Are you ready to take full advantage of this special dispensation? Please say YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES. Be alert for opportunities to rise above the lowest common denominators. Be aggressive about rejecting the trivial questions that trap everyone in low expectations. Here are my predictions: Your willpower will consistently trump your conditioning. You won’t have to play by the old rules, but will instead have extra sovereignty to invent the future.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you can expect an unlikely coincidence or two in the coming days. You should also be alert for helpfully prophetic dreams, clear telepathic messages, and pokes from tricky informers. In fact, I suspect that useful hints and clues will be swirling in extra abundance, sometimes in the form of direct communications from reliable sources, but on occasion as mysterious signals from strange angels.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You know that inner work you’ve been doing with such diligence? I’m referring to those psycho-spiritual transformations you have been attending to in the dark, the challenging but oddly gratifying negotiations you’ve been carrying on with your secret self, the steady, strong future you’ve been struggling to forge out of the chaos? Well, I foresee you making a big breakthrough in the coming weeks. The progress you’ve been earning, which up until now has been mostly invisible to others, will finally be seen and appreciated. The vows you uttered so long ago will, at last, yield at least some of the tangible results you’ve pined for.
Homework: What most needs regeneration in your life? And what are you going to do to regenerate it?FreeWillAstrology.com.
Why do students choose to pursue higher education in Santa Cruz County? The redwoods? The beach? The virtually unlimited supply of artisan ice cream? Not bloody likely! Here at Dilated Pupil, we understand that you’re here for the exacting academic standards, which is why we’re sure you’ll appreciate articles in this issue like “Introduction to Applied Nuclear Physics” and “Statistical Methods in Extragalactic Astronomy.” Ha ha, just kidding! We’re a bunch of liberal arts majors; we can’t tell our asteroids from a hole in the ground! But when all that lecturing from Professor Nerdy McNerderson and Dean Vernon Wormer start to get you down, why not find refuge in our stories about the real Santa Cruz, like where to people watch, and how to find underground comedy shows? Take our self-guided courses in finding places to surf, get a tattoo and do your laundry. Now that’s applied physics.
Fashion never slows down, and neither does FashionArt. In order to keep its reputation as the most fashion-forward event not only in the local scene but also possibly in all of Northern California, its organizers have to constantly keep pushing the boundary between wearable and art. That’s what makes it so much fun for us to cover every year, and usually we try to provide an overview of what kind of craziness to expect in the upcoming show.
In this week’s cover story, however, Maria Grusauskas takes a different approach. Instead of going wide, she focuses on a more in-depth study of one of the fashion minds behind this year’s event, FashionArt’s new design coordinator Christina Morgan Cree. Though she’s been involved with FashionArt almost since it started, this is her first year in this role, and her ascent is part of that constant drive to mix, expand and push that has made the event a huge success. Reading about her background in fashion—how she’s had both an insider’s and outsider’s view of fashion design throughout her life made me think about the line that FashionArt walks between loving embrace of the industry’s artistic ideals and witty satirizing of them. (And I don’t mean just the involvement of the Great Morgani—has he ever done anything that wasn’t tongue-in-cheek?) Santa Cruz loves to reject trends and support the outlier, which is why FashionArt has thrived here. Check out some pics from last year and read the story to find out why this 11th anniversary of FashionART could be the best yet.
There was a recent blurb about the City of Santa Cruz contemplating putting the Warriors Arena at the Depot Park location (GT, July 13). This is ludicrous. There is no parking in the vicinity, and the streets get clogged on a normal weekend. On busy summer weekends, there are even parked cars in the “Flats” so people there can’t get out of their driveways or their cars parked on the streets.
The soccer folks tried for years to get a field. They finally have one.
The city needs to wake up to the fact that there is no area between Swift Street and Capitola or from Mission Street to Beach Street in which to build anything! It’s time for a reality check and time to stop!
Rowena Fulk
Santa Cruz
Real Plan
I run a locally owned business and lose valuable time sitting in traffic. My clients, my business, our local economy and the environment would be better off if small businesses like mine were not trapped in a continuously congested highway with no end in sight. The back roads and neighborhoods are not much better. Besides, cutting through them just to avoid the highway is endangering children and cyclists. I plan to vote for Measure D because it actually has a real plan to address these issues.
Justin White Â
CEO, K&D Landscaping Inc. | Watsonville
Buses Not Enough
I will be voting no on the transportation sales tax measure this November because it provides $100 million for Highway 1 widening. Studies have consistently shown that adding more lanes to a highway does not result in long-term congestion relief. To decrease travel times, the number of cars on the highway must be reduced. Coming to the decision to oppose the measure was very difficult for me because a percentage of the tax money will fund the METRO. However, the amount of money to be allocated to the METRO will be insufficient to accomplish a goal of providing innovative plans needed to increase bus ridership and decrease cars on the highway.
When I moved to California a year ago, I was drawn to the City of Santa Cruz because of its natural beauty, walkability and bus service. I had already decided to no longer own a car in order to limit my carbon footprint. Aggressive wildfires in California and deadly flooding in Louisiana indicate how climate change is already affecting American lives and local economies. Climate chaos will only become worse as greenhouse gases continue to be spewed into the atmosphere. Without a car, I quickly discovered that riding the bus was a positive experience and that METRO drivers were courteous and helpful. I continue to be impressed by passengers who thank the driver when leaving the bus at their destination. But many more people need to experience bus travel if traffic congestion is to be alleviated and our collective carbon footprint decreased. I hope a new tax measure to fund road repairs and only 21st century sustainable transportation projects, like the METRO, will be presented to the public in a couple of years.
Susan Cavalieri
Santa Cruz
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RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
As nonprofit FoodWhat?! celebrates its 10th anniversary, it has helped more than 400 low-income and struggling youths gain job skills and confidence growing organic produce, cooking from scratch, and eating healthy. Food justice, environmental sustainability and the importance of reading labels are just part of an education that creates empowered youth. For more information, visit foodwhat.org.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It’s not about design. It’s about feelings.â€
“Better than Burning Man”—that’s how “Sleepy” John Sandidge recently described FashionART Santa Cruz on KZSC. Desert dust and nudity aside, the runway show certainly rivals—and often surpasses—scenes from the playa, in terms of its daring creativity, and well-thought-out, painstakingly crafted designs.
Now in its 11th year, FashionART, which takes place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, has established itself as a permanent fixture of Santa Cruz culture—a place where emerging models, artists and local legends like the Great Morgani emote, evolve, and, in many cases, form the foundation of their careers.
“The months leading up to FashionART are like a crescendo of excitement,” says founder Angelo Grova. The event, which packs the 1,800-capacity Civic Auditorium, is now one of the biggest events in town.
“And it gets bigger and bigger every year,” says Grova.
GT spoke with Christina Morgan Cree, this year’s new design coordinator, who, at 41, returned to design work after retiring from her craft for almost a decade—and whose soda-can-ring gown not only dazzled the FashionART audience of 2011, but was also selected by French haute couture designer Jean Paul Gaultier in a contest to be part of a gala at the de Young museum in San Francisco. Since then, Cree hasn’t looked back; she’s established her own line (see christinamorgancree.com), and has participated in countless runway shows—including FashionART almost every year, and joins this year’s installment with both a wearable art piece and a design line.
How did you get into the world of fashion design?
CHRISTINA MORGAN CREE: Well, I started when I was probably two or three. As soon as I could draw, as soon as I could get my hands on fabrics, this is what I was doing. And it was really a lot of sort of the 18th-century kind of French Court look, that was my thing for a long time, and I still love the panniers, the big side things that stick out, and you’ll still see that in some of my work. So I am very self-taught. I had a teddy bear named Corduroy, after the book Corduroy, and he was my model for many years, he would wear the dresses I made. We did not have a lot of money; I grew up on food stamps in a very poor neighborhood in San Jose, this is pre-Silicon Valley. So whenever I could get my hands on fabric, whenever someone would just give it to us, I loved it. I learned all by hand. I would design costumes for the neighborhood kids, and I was really into space and The Jetsons, and I would have all these adventures with our decorated refrigerator boxes in our courtyard, and I would make space clothes and Halloween costumes for all of them.
‘Future Modern’ design line by Christina Morgan Cree
You took a long hiatus from fashion design while raising three children—aside from a few wedding dresses and Halloween costumes. In 2011 you designed a gown of plastic soda rings for FashionART that not only appeared on the 2012 FashionART posters, but was also selected by Jean Paul Gaultier in a contest at the de Young museum. Did that feel like a sign that you needed to keep doing design?
In the Bay Area there are a lot of experienced and talented people submitting stuff. So that was really cool, I got to go there and I got to briefly meet him. I’m just super thankful that [FashionART] took my scratchy pencil sketches, and kind of cracked open the door for me, which led to a lot of other stuff. Yes, it was definitely validating, and I don’t think it sank in for months or years. Because you sit at home, and you’re making this stuff, and there’s just a lot of you in there, and it can be very vulnerable to put it out there in public. So, coming into it as a 41-year-old, and having not done all the design that I thought I was going to be able to do for decades, it was really wonderful.
Do you consider your soda ring dress, or some of the other pieces, like the candy-wrapper dresses, a statement about consumer culture?
I’m a big recycler, and I recycled in Santa Cruz years before they did curbside recycling. We’d lug all of our stuff in the car to recycle it because we just felt strongly about that. So, my dress didn’t have a direct statement, but I would say it definitely represents who I am … There are pieces in FashionART that have been very direct statements on the environment and using recycled materials, and salvaging. Lisa Bibbee, her design line last year was entirely repurposed, upcycled fabric. And a lot of people save and reuse. And so some people definitely do have very environmental statements on the runway, and that’s very intentional.
‘Polka What’ by the Great Morgani
What can people expect for 2016?
It’s going to be very multicultural. We’ve got two different designers that grew up in Africa, and they’re bringing their whole kind of integrated culture into their stuff, and it’s just wonderful, and it’s different. We have four designers who are really bringing their own backgrounds of their ethnicity and their growing up, their cultures, and colors to their lines. One of them opened the show last year, and she’s going to be there again this year. One of the designers is doing this really wonderful themed design line with headpieces. It’s going to be gorgeous. And we have a lot more men this year, so that’s exciting. We have a men’s designer, who just showed at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week—Ben Ellis.
Many of the pieces showcased at FashionART are so beautiful, but also a bit crazy as far as street clothes go. Do people actually wear these pieces afterward?
I can speak for me and some of the wearable artists. They do go into other exhibitions. Some of my stuff’s been in the Richmond Art Gallery, and at the MAH, and I get asked a lot for my wearable art pieces for models and photographers to do photo shoots.
Santa Cruz doesn’t necessarily have a reputation for being fashion forward. Do you think that FashionART is changing that, proving that we do have an edge? Would you say that what we’ll see is what we can expect to see for Fall?
Well, from what I’ve see in stores so far, I would say my line this year is probably more of what you’ll be seeing this fall. But FashionART is more about a platform for new and emerging designers, and, you know, there’s so much out there now. I would say FashionART does reflect the community’s fashion sense in that it’s really individualistic, and it’s very much from the heart of the person, and there is a lot of non-conformity spirit there. And just showing what you are, who you are, what you are uniquely bringing that nobody else can. Because there will be amazing talent, and new and better and whatever, but what makes you as a person stand out is your perspective, your history, and what you uniquely bring to something, and that’s what I really love seeing come out.
‘Show Me the Money,’ a wearable art piece made from coins and dollars by Christina Morgan Cree
It’s interesting to think about how the technological aspect of design has changed fashion, because most people are designing with computers now.
Yeah, that’s a good thought. I wonder how much that has lent to the flooding of the market with so much—you’re just inundated now with “new and different,” and it’s always changing, but it’s almost too much.
So then is the question ‘what’s new for fall’ kind of obsolete?
There’s always something new, but even when they come out with the Pantone color for the year [2016 is, for the first time, a blending of two colors; rose quartz and serenity], I don’t necessarily see that color.
‘DNA’ design line by Tobin Keller
Do you have any advice for beginning designers? I think what’s great is there are so many platforms now to sell. You can even sell through Facebook now, and of course Etsy. And there are a lot of boutiques locally that are open to taking one-of-a-kind things. When I was going to school, going into the fashion design business, you were groomed to work in a bigger company—say Old Navy, or Esprit back then was still a thing in San Francisco. You were groomed to be the one who was doing, say, the pockets on shorts. You were part of a whole company. But what I like now is that you can start small and work for yourself. There are street fairs and a lot of pop-up shops now, like in Valley Fair Mall and in downtown San Jose. You can do a small little shop that’s like a booth almost, and you pay for your spot there, and you don’t have to maintain a space in the mall, but you’re getting all that traffic coming by. There are so many ways that you can get your stuff out there now, and you don’t have to put this huge financial investment into it, that maybe you don’t have. So for young designers, I would encourage them to take advantage of all these things that we have. Fashion shows are a great way to get pictures and publicity. You’re not necessarily going to make a bunch of sales from a fashion show, but I get more custom work from fashion shows. Also, you have to be a little thicker-skinned and realize you will get nos, and you will get rejections—but take it with a grain of salt, and look for where you can improve, and really believe in yourself.
‘Countdown 4, 3, 2, 1’ by Angelo Grova, producer of FashionART
You’ve been involved in FashionART since the beginning. Do you see it evolving, or moving in any particular direction?
To me it gets better and better each year, from what I’ve seen, and it steps up in sophistication, year to year, and yet it’s still extremely inclusive. There are still models of all sizes; we have a lot of great models who have a lot of experience, and they are your 5’9” and up and size 2-4, so we’ve got those models. We’ve got the professional hair and makeup, we’ve also got short models, we’ve got models of all shapes and sizes. I go back and forth depending on my line if I use model-looking women or normal-shaped women, and I love doing that. So I feel like it’s becoming more professional looking and yet it’s not getting detached from its original purpose, which is that it supports the community and the arts and foundation and fashion teams, and it’s very supportive of artists like myself.
‘A Fusion’ design line by Saundra Beno
And a lot of these artists are working all year long on their lines for FashionART?
Yes, there are some that work all year. We always have some designers where this is their first time putting together an entire line, and really putting their heart and soul into it. And it really takes a lot out of you. Jill Alexander has gone international with stuff, and I believe FashionART was her first runway show, and she started with plus size and now she does all sizes.
You’ve done shows around the Bay Area but you say FashionART is easily your favorite. Why is that?
First of all, you’ve got this venue that holds just so many people, and most fashion shows can’t seat that many people—and then people are just really happy to be there, it’s just the best audience. So you go out on stage and it’s a nearly 50-foot runway, and you are literally on your own, thrown out there. There have been a lot of first-time models, and this is the first time they’ve modeled in these high heels on this huge runway—very intimidating. But the warmth and the support and all the love you feel, I mean it’s just great. Everybody loves doing it, everybody comes away from it saying they loved doing it.
INFO: FashionART Santa Cruz is 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Civic Auditorium. For tickets visit fashionartsantacruz.com.
