Art for All Summer Program Participants: (Left back row) Regina Morales, Gaby Moreno, Sofia Karim, Isabella Morales-Ibarra, Liana Alexander, (Left front row) Zarahi Lopez, Yasmin Genis-Ramirez, and Javier Aldaco-De Los Santos. Photo by Nestor Guerrero
By Hayley Sanchez
From joining scientists to observe blue whales in Monterey Bay, to making plant dyes with visiting artist Christina Howard Sandoval (Chalon Nation) at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden, high school students from across Santa Cruz County experienced art and science as never before this summer at UC Santa Cruz.
Through the second annual Art for All summer program, organized by UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences (IAS), eight high school students were awarded paid internships to spend an immersive five weeks learning climate action through both art and science. Each year, the program provides students training in arts-related careers through active engagement with the exhibitions on view at the IAS. This year, the focus was on themes found in Weather and the Whale, an exhibition creatively engaging the impacts of climate change, organized in collaboration with the Friedlaender Bio-Telemetry and Behavioral Ecology Laboratory.
Students gained hands-on experience in the IAS gallery. This was an eye-opening experience for Regina Molina, a senior at Pajaro Valley High School.
“Before, I thought working in a museum just meant giving tours or helping visitors at the front desk. Now I know there are so many other roles like being a curator, collections manager, conservator and a museum educator,” she says. “You can pick something that fits your own interests and skills, which made me think that a career in a museum could actually be a good fit for me.”
Through Weather and the Whale, the student interns also learned about climate change through visits to the Bio-Telemetry and Behavioral Ecology Laboratory, which studies the impacts of environmental changes on marine mammals behavior, and a whale watching trip in Monterey Bay.
Students took part in artist-led workshops and field trips to museums and cultural organizations including San José Museum of Art, Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, UC Santa Cruz’s Seymour Marine Discovery Center, and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Staff at these organizations led lively discussions with the students about how artists, as well as scientists, are necessary in the struggles against climate change and social change
Javier Aldaco, a senior at Watsonville High School, noted, “My biggest takeaway from this program is that we live in a world which needs to change, and one way we can be part of that is through art and other creative channels.”
As the culmination of the program, the high school students collaboratively hosted a Family Day at the IAS on Saturday, July 26. Their friends, family, and the broader public joined for student- led tours of Weather and the Whale, screenprinting, a food truck, live music, craft making, and a photobooth.
Pajaro Valley senior Isabella Morales-Ibarra was enthusiastic about the experience. She says, “I joined Art for All because I wanted to make new friends and connections, and it felt surprisingly easy to do. …Not to be dramatic, but this program genuinely felt life changing!”
Art for All at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences offers high school students pathways to careers in the arts. Funded through grants and donations to the IAS, transportation, daily lunches, and weekly stipends are provided to all students in the program.
View photos from the Art for All Summer 2025 program.
For more information about the Institute of the Arts and Sciences and the Art for All program, please visit the IAS website’s Art for All page.