New Public Art Exhibits on Display at the Tannery Arts Center

A series of public art displays are now featured at the Tannery Arts Center in Santa Cruz. This series of sculptures, murals, and community engagement activities are designed to bring pieces out of artists’ studios and into public view for a more accessible way to experience local creative talent. 

Two of the featured projects in the series are Stellar Motion and exTANt.  Stellar Motion is a kinetic steel sculpture inspired by elements of nature on both a macro and micro level – from galactic bodies to the delicate patterns of crystalline structures. While abstract in approach the themes combine opposing factors, including chaos and order, simplicity, and complexity as well as gravity and balance which all serve to remind the viewer of our connection to the greater universe and heighten the viewers’ awareness of their immediate natural surroundings. exTANt is a locative sound installation accessible via a smart phone app, similar to an audio tour. Guests download the app and as they move through the Tannery campus, their GPS coordinates trigger sound pieces associated with specific locations. This audio tour traces historical linkages between communities who lived and worked at the Tannery Arts Center, from Indigenous peoples and former Salz Tannery workers to Tannery Art Center live/work artists. The Tannery Arts Center was formerly home to Salz Leathers, the oldest working tannery west of the Mississippi River when it closed in 2001. Today, the eight-acre center houses working artists and provides them with studio space.