First Friday Art Show:
“Tideline”
Kai Dalgleish
Friday, December 5, 2025
6 pm – 9pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Join us for a First Friday Open House at the Fábrica!
A collection of process-based sculptures that explore entanglement, release, and the creation of order through stochastic repetition. Woven threads, pounded nails, and neatly-ordered resistors evidence the artist’s compulsive externalization of internal conflict.
Materials found wandering their favorite beach in the Port of Oakland, unraveling cast-off clothing, and prying nails from salvaged wood before its reuse in their larger-scale works.
Kai Dalgleish is an artist and engineer who recently returned home to Santa Cruz after spending time in Oakland and Southern Oregon. Their art practice revolves around finding beauty in rust and rot, and creating immersive experiences through mixed-media storytelling. They have a deep appreciation for the cast aside, the softly decaying, the long-forgotten, and the constancy of change.
Class & Mutual Aid:
Cloth Pad-Making Workshop
w/ Campesina Womb Justice & The Fábrica
Sunday, December 7, 2025
11 am – 1pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Learn to make a set of washable cloth menstrual pads and waterproof storage pouch. Optionally, you can also create a set of pads for distribution by Campesina Womb Justice.
A mutual aid project dedicated to reproductive and healing justice, Campesina Womb Justice is a partera-led group that aims to support the largely indigenous women farm workers in the Pajaro Valley by providing basic supplies, herbal remedies, and financial support.
You can find Campesina Womb Justice on social media @campensinawombjustice and Link Tree.
Fundraiser:
Holiday Art & Gift Sale
Saturday, December 13, 2025
3 pm – 7pm
More info coming soon, but save the date!
Past Events
First Friday Art Show:
“Leaky Bodies, Vadose Zones”
Joy Schendledecker, Ann Altstatt, and Avi Conant
Friday, November 7, 2025
6 pm – 9pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Join us for a First Friday Open House at the Fábrica!
Beneath us, the vadose zone—the layer between sky and groundwater, where water seeps through soil, fungi, rock, and time—porous space of flow and sinks, where nothing moves quickly, and nothing remains unchanged.
In this collaborative installation, we reimagine the vadose zone not just as a geological layer, but as a shared condition of multispecies, subterranean processes—bodily, emotional, ecological. We trace the flows of minerals from stardust to teeth, industrial waste to fungi, sweat to soil, love to leak. These flows, and their resistance to containment, become a map of contamination, persistence, and the possibility of repair.
At the heart of the project is fluorite: a cosmic mineral refined into PFAS, the toxic “forever chemicals” now found in soil, water, fungi, plants, animals, dust, rain, snow—in everything, everywhere.
Through textiles, mixed media, collage, found objects, specimens, field stations, and visual poetics, artists Joy Schendledecker, Ann Altstatt, and Avi Conant metabolize this terrain together. Their work invites you into an electrical ecology of tears, spores, and signals—where healing metabolizes through sympoesis, seeping, recombining, and remembering.
Halloween x Aulinta
Banner Procession
Friday, October 31, 2025
Meet at 5:15pm @ The Fábrica
Procession at 5:45pm Pacific Avenue
Join us for a spooky parade through Downtown Santa Cruz on Halloween night. The streets will be closed for trick-or-treat, so we will have a silly, small, low-key parade to show off the protest banners and mingle with the spirits.
Who? Fábrica volunteers and supporters! Come alone or bring a buddy.
What? We will pair people up and hand out banners from our Protest Banner Lending Library. Then we’ll walk down Pacific Avenue, parade-style. After taking a group photo near Pacific and Water St, people can go their own way or walk back with the group.
What should I bring? Wear a costume or anything kooky, spooky, or fun, plus shoes you can walk in! No need to bring anything else.
How long will it take? The walk won’t take long. We should be done a little after 6pm.
Accessibility info: At the Fábrica there are curb cuts and fairly standard width doorways, no stairs, and a bathroom with grab bars. We will walk at a leisurely pace and those who are unable to hold a banner are still very welcome to join. The route down Pacific is 0.6 miles long (or 1.2 if you walk back to the workshop). It’s almost completely flat with a smooth, paved road. 703 Pacific Ave is close to the 18, 19, and 20 bus routes.
First Friday Art Show:
“Bending”
Clare Bathum’s Fiber Works + Matt Baldwin’s “How to Play Guitar”
Friday, October 3, 2025
7 pm – 10pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Collage images by clare bathum.
What are the correlations between bending over a stitch and bending a guitar string? Come find out at our SubRosa x Fabrica x SCUM First Friday event, October 3 from 6 – 9 pm. clare bathum’s fiber works and digital collages will be on display, along with a special reading and performance from Matt Baldwin, on tour from Los Angeles with his new book/collected zines “How to Play Guitar”. DJ leshy and friends will be spinning tunes throughout the evening. Read more about the artists below.
clare bathum is a fiber artist, digital/physical collager, and texture enthusiast based in the santa cruz mountains. their practice revolves around multi-sensory explorations of texture and non-verbal communication/relation through slow observation, study, and crafting. this has manifested into a growing collection of hand-stitched fabric pieces and digital collages. @_mudsucker
Matt Baldwin is a writer, musician, and psychotherapist trained in psychedelic psychotherapy (CIIS 2017 & Field Trip 2022). He has released numerous records and tapes (Leaving Records), is a frequent collaborator, and is the author of the acclaimed zine series, “How to Play Guitar”. @baldwin_unlimited
S.C.U.M. (Santa Cruz Underground Music) is a collectivized effort towards performance and skill-share across experimental art spaces and mediums. @scum.events
COMMUNITY EVENT:
Cedar Street Festival
Sunday September 28, 2025
12 pm – 6 pm
@ 320 Cedar Street, between Maple and Laurel; Downtown Santa Cruz.
Come visit us at the Cedar Street Festival, sponsored by Redwood Records. Live music, food, art and more… plus a Fábrica fundraiser sale!
We’ll have lots of unique clothes, plushies, and other sewn and handmade sundries created by volunteers to support the Fábrica’s ongoing operations!
Tendremos ropa única, peluches y otros artículos artesanales y cosidos por voluntarios para apoyar las operaciones de la Fábrica.
Move info here.
Open House:
September Open House & Banner Sew! w/ YARR
Friday September 26, 2025
6 pm – 9 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Stop by to say hi or stay for some stitching and a cuppa tea. This is a mellow open house with banner sewing and fresh art on the walls.
We’re hosting our friends from YARR to create a banner for the organization. We’ll also be working together on finishing the “Abolish Ice” and “Together” banners.
YARR, which stands for “Your Area Rapid Response,” is a hotline and community network created “to document, resist and prevent actions by ICE or other oppressive forces that would harm our fellow human beings.” You can find more info on their website. Come by to meet YARR volunteers and learn more about their work.
You can also check out new work from Ann Altstatt: quilted works Ann created during a recent residency at the Winslow House Project in Vallejo.
Join us to help with the banners, schmooze with our YARR comrades, relax in the courtyard with a friend, peruse the rack of vintage clothing and homemade gifts, and, as always, there will be tea.
August Art show:
Louise Leong (POSTPONED)
Friday, August 8, 2025
6 pm – 9 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Join us for an art show and reception with the artists at The Fábrica.
For the month of August we will host work by our friend Louise. More info coming soon.
July Art show:
Practice
Drawings by Harper & Maria
Friday, July 25, 2025
6 pm – 9 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Join us for an art show and reception with the artists at The Fábrica.
The Fábrica’s July Art Show features drawings by Harper and Maria. Join us for a reception (and activities!) Friday, July 25th, 6-9 PM at the Fábrica. There will be art supplies and objects to draw at the big table, as well as banner sewing outside in the courtyard.
“Maria and Harper started a simple daily drawing practice using everyday household objects — one item, a couple of minutes, with any paper or writing instrument that was around. Drawing soon became a practice of slowing down and looking at things with care. They’ve found it to be a helpful reminder of the power of seeing.”
Free Skool Class:
At-Home Shoe Repair w/ Elijah Dalley
Learn how to perform basic shoe repairs at home to keep your sneakers on your feet. Will go over gluing, painting, and stitching/patching.
Accessibility: Masks are encouraged in The Fábrica space, and there will be some light tool use and handling of sharp objects in the workshop.
Contact: Elijahgdalley@gmail.com
Instagram: @ghostboy.design
Website: ghostboy.design
Sunday, July 20, 2025
2:30 pm – 5 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
June first Friday show:
Dyllie Dally Super Gallery
Friday, June 6, 2025
6 pm – 9 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Join us for an art show and reception with the artist at The Fábrica.
The June 6th First Friday art show will feature costumes and performance documentation from artist Dylan Seidel’s drag alter ego, Dyllie Dally.
“Each costume carries a memory of the drag performances I have worn them for. As they lay before you…, you are witnessing them incomplete. I like to think of Dyllie Dally as the puppet (the look), the puppet maker (the artist who put the work together) and the puppeteer (the body that moves and creates the performance).”
Free Skool Class:
Workshop: Sew Your Own Bike Frame Bag
UPDATE: Class is full! Check back for our next offering late summer/fall.
We’re re-running our popular Frame Bag workshop! Come learn how to sew your own bike frame bag- free of charge, all supplies provided.
Experienced biker-sewists will guide you through a tried-and-true pattern! BYO-bike. We are limited to 6 attendees, so save your spot by emailing thebikechurch@gmail.com. If you want to attend but have never used a sewing machine, we recommend you visit The Fábrica beforehand to get a primer.
This workshop is organized by The Bike Church, with support from The Fábrica local custom frame bag maker Cheeta Bags. Our buddies at Free Skool are helping publicize.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
2pm – 6 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
May First Friday show:
Annalie Taylor
Join us at The Fábrica and Subrosa for a reception with the artist.
The show will remain up through the month of May. Come by during open hours to see this work.
“My quilts are a chance for me to learn from my materials and to give them a second life. Most of my fabric is sourced second-hand from places like The Fábrica or local thrift stores. I incorporate natural dyes, some of which are locally foraged, and the slow and steady practice of hand quilting, which allows me to infuse the pieces with memory and stories.”
Friday, May 2, 2025
6 pm – 9 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
community event:
Artist Market & Free Museum Day
Saturday May, 10 2025
11 am – 4 pm
@ The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History & Tyrrell Park
1305 E Cliff Dr, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Come see us at the Local Artist Market & Free Museum Day sponsored by the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History!
¡Visítanos en el Mercado de Artistas Locales y el Día del Museo Gratuito, patrocinado por el Museo de Historia Natural de Santa Cruz!
We’ll have lots of unique clothes, plushies, and other sewn and handmade sundries created by volunteers to support the Fábrica’s ongoing operations!
Tendremos ropa única, peluches y otros artículos artesanales y cosidos por voluntarios para apoyar las operaciones de la Fábrica.
LGC x The Fábrica:
May Day! Flag Printing Workshop
Saturday April 26, 2025
12 pm – 3 pm
@ Little Giant Collective
115 River St. S., Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Join LGC and The Fábrica for our annual flag-making event in preparation for May Day! Participants can help prepare fabric and make silkscreen prints. Take some banners with you to decorate your home or wave at a May Day march for International Workers’Day!
This year there are a LOT of celebratory events, including a campus tour celebrating labor history and environmentalism, a UC wide strike with AFSCME and UPTE, a public talk from Keeanga Yamahtta Taylor via UCSC Community Studies, and ending with the best dance party in town, Peoples Disco! Peoples Disco
Sun April 27, 1-4, Quarry Plaza
Red & Green UC Campus Tour
Thurs May 1, 10-2
AFSCME and UPTE strike! Noon Rally!
Fri May 2, 9pm, Moe’s Alley
People’s Disco
April first friday show:
Works by Olin Borgeson & Pete Brook
Friday, April 4, 2025
6 pm – 9 pm
@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Long-time friend of The Fábrica Olin Borgeson will be showing new works in The Fábrica while one of Pete Brook’s quilts will be in Subrosa.
Olin has been making and showing art since childhood. He learned to sew in elementary school on an old sewing machine that was gifted from a family friend. Since then, his creative pursuits have involved clothing alteration and other textile arts, film making, woodwork, sculpture, painting, drawing, and collage, among other media. Olin’s work is heavily influenced by his surroundings and his memories of growing up in Santa Cruz: the ocean, the beach, working in construction, a childhood home adorned with art and art-making supplies.
His recent mixed media paintings involve gouache paints and ink on wood, paper, fabric and found objects. The colors! The textures!
The Fábrica’s 15th Birthday Party
Saturday, April 5, 2025
12 PM – 4 PM
@ The Hub
703 Pacific Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
The Fábrica turns 15 years old on April 1st this year! Join us for a celebration: an open house and a tea party in the garden. Saturday April 5th, 12 – 4 PM There will be snacks, tea, music, banner-sewing, screenprinting, and a raffle. Bring a shirt to print! Buy tickets at the link in our bio or in person at the door. Please donate $5-$50, pay what you can. Tickets include a raffle ticket.
La Fábrica cumple 15 años este abril! Venga a celebrar con nosotros. Habrá una fiesta de té en el jardín. Sábado 5 de abril, 12 a 4 de la tarde Habrá comida, bebidas, música, serigrafía, costura de banderas, y una rifa. Trae una camiseta para serigrafía. Compre boletos con el enlace en nuestra bio, o a la Fábrica en el día del evento. Paga lo que pueda $5-$50. Cada boleto incluye un tíquet para la rifa.
SCHMA x The Fábrica:
Natural Dye & Screenprinting Workshop
Saturday, March 29, 2025
12 PM – 3 PM
@ The Hub
703 Pacific Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Join us for an afternoon of learning how to prepare and use natural dyes on fabrics. We will explore materials, supplies, and methods necessary. We will also be screen printing during this event, so bring items you’d like to print on!
Please bring your curiosity, questions, own experience and desire to be in community.
Some snacks provided.
Please reach out for accessibility needs. Masks required for inside, optional outside.
The Fábrica 