Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History — Attraction in Santa Cruz

Saturday, 8/05/2023 - Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History was right across the street from Woodstock Pizza. So we decided to check this Museum out. Address here is 705 Front St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. There's 3 small floors to check out. Entry fee: Adults $10.00, children $8.00, seniors $8.00. We started from the top down.

Pros

1. there were a few interactive things for the kids to do.
2. learned some cool things: the strike for workers rights, earth quake, American Indian pottery, hippie, how Asians were not acknowledged then, etc.
3. top floor had a few sculptures outside, one room with cool light sculptures, and folding origami.
4. 2nd floor was pretty neat. You'll have to go to find out.
5. 1st floor were the board rooms where people go and hold meetings or events.
6. staff was very nice and informative.

Cons

1. this was a little smaller than I expected. Besides being small, the museum still had some great stuff to learn from.

Conclusion I really liked this little museum. You can learn a lot of Santa Cruz history. It didn't take too long to go through it. You can't really learn a lot when you have little ones rushing you out due to them being bored. Lol. Check this place out when you're...

Did not visit today but have visited numerous times in the past. I love the MAH and so does my family. However today's experience was a bit different. We felt highly pressured right as we walked in to pay the $10 each for addmision, I felt uncomfortable by the pressure and we chose to leave (mainly because we were under the impression that the fee was suggested and this felt mandatory). As we were leaving we were told we could leave a donation at the end of visiting instead. Unfortunately it felt a bit tainted at that point and a desperate attempt on behalf of the staff. We chose to continue with leaving. I've never been approached in that way before when visiting it was unfortunate. We would have liked to see the exhibits today peacefully and would have been more than happy to pay money to do so just not under so much pressure. The staff made it feel as though the $10 per person was a set fee to get in and if you didn't pay they weren't going to let you in. Hopefully the approach will be different the next time we...

I can honestly call myself a "museum nerd" at this point in life as for the amazing museums I have gotten to see. While one can travel to larger cities to see grand exhibits of artwork, the MAH (Museum of Art & History) keeps a local mind and focuses on revealing the past through the eyes of the Santa Cruzian. The recent exhibition of redwood surfboards is particularly astounding, as you are not only overcome with a mindset of our surf history and how it has wiggled its way into our world and culture, where those who do not even surf know where Steamer Lane is, names like O'Neill, Billabong, Rip Curl and use the terms "dude", "awesome" and other surf lingo in their daily vernacular. The MAH also defends its history through its people and places. How each diversity has somehow contributed to our society over time and how places, such as Cabrillo College and UCSC have helped shape our minds. If you have not had the chance, spend the $10. The MAH is...