We’re opening our doors and inviting artists, performers, and media makers to join us at The 418 Project on every First Friday of the Month for 2026 at 5 - 9 PM. Visual artists can table in our lobby and share their work with the community. Performers and media artists can take the stage in our small theater for live performance, short films, video art, and more. This is about connection. Collaboration. Showing up for each other’s creativity. Interested?

Check back in before the show for links to signups for next month!

Time Will Help Us Forever - The 418 Project [SMALL THEATER] Sep.4th 8PM

*Time Will Help Us Forever** is a live performance of original music accompanied by projected visuals and spoken word. Part concert, part film, the work explores memory, change, and the stories we tell ourselves about time.
Bio:
Mike O’Hara is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, sculpture, film, and machine based installations. His work is an exploration of transformation both personal and material shaped by his lived experience and an evolving inquiry into the forces that shape human perception.
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, O’Hara spent his early years skateboarding and composing
experimental music before attending Berklee College of Music. His creative pursuits took an unexpected turn when he became an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps, serving for seven years in Guantanamo Bay, Australia, and the Mojave Desert. The surreal landscapes of the Morongo Basin, the sensory overload of military machinery, and the tension between discipline and chaos in combat training left a profound imprint on his artistic approach. O’Hara’s work is, in part, a way of repurposing these experiences. The military instilled in him a respect for precision, order, and controlled force, yet it also immersed him in an environment where destruction was both method and purpose. His art serves as an act of reclamation taking materials, symbols, and psychological imprints of violence and redirecting them into spaces of reflection and new understanding. Since leaving the military in 2020, O’Hara has exhibited in solo and group shows in Joshua Tree, Atlanta, and New York. In 2024, he founded Stop Trying Studios, a collaborative initiative that seeks to push the boundaries of contemporary art through interdisciplinary projects. In 2025 he founded the Velonaut Exploration Corps, an experimental organization designed to promote individually designed methods for stepping outside unconscious participation in existing systems. His work has been described as raw, methodical, unflinching yet introspective—holding space for contradiction, tension, and ultimately, transformation. Through his practice, O’Hara works to reorient symbols of power, force, and control into something else entirely.

https://www.zeusbennet.com

Instagram:[ https://www.instagram.com/stoptryingstudios/](https:// https://www.instagram.com/stoptryingstudios/ "https:// https://www.instagram.com/stoptryingstudios/")

Doors open at 7:30 PM, show at 8 PM at The 418 Project, 155 South River Street, downtown Santa Cruz at the Dragons Gate.

$10 Advance/ $15 at door

The Psychedelic Art of 1970s Christian Hippie Comics

Religion and myth scholar Amy Slonaker will present an illustrated lecture on comic books from the 1970s designed by Christian Evangelicals to attract hippies to the Christian faith – including local Santa Cruz artist **Jim Phillips of the famed “Screaming Hand” logo! These “Christian Hippie Comics” present a psychedelicized version of Christianity where Aquarian ideas of free love and spiritual enlightenment merge with the Christian story of salvation through the love of Jesus. This lecture uses visual examples to explore the artwork of Christian Hippie Comics with their eye-popping array of counterculture iconography grafted onto Biblical narratives. The sources explored in this lecture include, among others, the work of Christian illustrator Al Hartley of Spire Christian Comics; cartoon art from the hippie-oriented Hollywood Free Paper; and issues of the comic book series The Crusaders by Jack Chick and Fred Carter (co-creators of many “Chick Tracts”). This lecture presents not only an historical overview of the genre of Christian Hippie Comics but also engages contemporary academic theories about religion and comics like those developed by religion professor Jeffrey Kripal in his book Mutants and Mystics (2003). These comic book theories present a way to understand Christian Hippie Comics as more than throw-away articles of pop culture and instead as visual manifestations of transcendent mystical truths.

Bio: Amy Slonaker** is a PhD candidate at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA, pursuing a degree in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in depth psychology. After a career in law, she now enjoys combining her myth scholarship with her undergraduate degree in Religious Studies from UC Santa Barbara to explore the intersection of religion and myth in both high and low art.

Doors open at 7 PM, lecture at 7:30 PM at The 418 Project, 155 South River Street, downtown Santa Cruz at the Dragons Gate.

$10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Restored Perúvian Feature on Shamanic Rituals

THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA (1983, Kino Lorber, Cuba / Perú, 85 min.). Dir. Nora de Izcue. Restored in 2018 in cooperation with the Perú Ministry of Culture, THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA (El viento del ayahuasca) was the first film to offer an authentic and honest depiction of an ayahuasca healing ceremony (a traditional South American shamanic ritual involving a hallucinogenic brewed drink called ayahuasca.). In Iquitos, gateway to the Peruvian Amazon, Nexy (Silvia Chávez) lives on the margins, sometimes as a sex worker, haunted by the memories and folklore of her rural childhood. She meets Miguel (Johnny Palacios) a sociologist visiting from Lima, studying the spiritual traditions and socioeconomic disparities of the region. “I began asking myself what I expected to find in a jungle full of ghosts,” he murmurs shortly after arriving. Miguel encourages Nexy to consult a curandero (Melitón Delgado), who suggests she participate in a healing ceremony to rid herself of her terror of yacurunas, river dolphin spirits in human form. Together, they travel into the jungle, seeking to deepen the healing in a natural environment. When Nexy vanishes, both Miguel and Melitón seek guidance from ayahuasca, and experience profound revelations while in the embrace of the medicine. In depicting ayahuasca-induced visions, filmmaker Nora de Izcue avoided the American tropes of frantic psychedelic visual effects, and instead depicts the spiritual journeys as a series of elegantly composed tableaus, through which the camera often glides on a waterborne platform. These moments of detachment from the “reality” of the narrative enfold the viewer in poignant and often profound meditative states. Melitón Delgado, who portrays the shaman in the film, was an actual ayahuasquero, and served as technical consultant on the film, with his mother Alicia Vda. de Delgado. THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA is also noteworthy as the first Peruvian feature by a woman director. THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA was restored in 2K from an English-subtitled 35mm print. (In Spanish with English subtitles).

Doors open at 7PM, film at 7:30 PM at The 418 Project, 155 South River Street, downtown Santa Cruz at the Dragons Gate.

$10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Hosted by Yuki and Aaron

A Practilonga is a place to dance Tango as if you were in a regular milonga, following the same rules and etiquette of a traditional milonga, but also open to experimentation, asking questions, and a less formal dress code.

Whether you're attending your very first tango event or you've been dancing for years, dancers of all experience levels are warmly welcome. Come to dance, practice, connect with the community, and enjoy an evening of traditional Argentine tango.

Tango Class 7PM-8PM

Dancing 8PM-11PM

Traditional tango music by DJ Yuki.

Cash donations welcomed at the door.

The 418 Project complies with all local health regulations.

A Panel Discussion + Concert — The 418 Project, Santa Cruz — September 19th, 2026 Brought to you by the Romero Institute, the 418 Project, and Heart Tribe Presents

About This Event

Across the country, the machinery of representative democracy is under strain. This event brings together a panel of issue experts for a nonpartisan conversation about three converging threats to fair representation in the United States — followed by live music.

This is not a candidate forum, and it is not about one political party versus another. We're looking at these issues through the lens of democracy and representation itself, and the way they affect communities — conservative and liberal alike.

What We'll Cover

• The Supreme Court and the Voting Rights Act — In April 2026, the Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais significantly narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, raising the bar for proving that a state has diluted the voting power of communities of color through redistricting.

• The nationwide gerrymandering wave — Starting with Texas's mid-decade congressional redistricting in 2025, a wave of new district maps has reshaped the U.S. House map, shifting seats toward conservative-leaning states heading into this year's elections and prompting several liberal-leaning states to consider redrawing their own maps in response.

• Underrepresentation of communities of color — One consequence playing out in real time: communities of color are losing their representation in the House of Representatives. For example, in May 2026, Louisiana's legislature passed a new congressional map that eliminated one of the state's two majority-Black congressional districts, reducing Black Louisianans' opportunity to elect their preferred candidates from two districts to one.

Our panel will unpack what’s happening, why it matters, and what's at stake for voters and communities of color regardless of where they live on the political spectrum.

The Panel

Ryan Coonerty

Ryan Coonerty is a former Santa Cruz mayor and Santa Cruz County Supervisor with two decades of public service. He served on the Santa Cruz City Council from 2004 to 2012, including two terms as mayor, and represented the Third District on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors from 2015 to 2023. A graduate of the University of Oregon's Honors College, the London School of Economics, and the University of Virginia School of Law, Coonerty has taught democracy and constitutional law at UC Santa Cruz since 2003 and at the Panetta Institute for Public Policy. He is the author of Etched in Stone: Enduring Words from Our Nation's Monuments and co-author of The Rise of the Naked Economy, and was named a Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership by the Aspen Institute.

Daniel Sheehan

Daniel Sheehan is a Harvard-trained constitutional attorney with more than five decades of experience litigating landmark civil liberties and civil rights cases. He served as co-counsel in the Pentagon Papers case, argued Eisenstadt v. Baird (cited in Roe v. Wade), represented Karen Silkwood's family in Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee, and won a civil judgment against the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party in the Greensboro civil rights case, before serving as chief counsel investigating the Iran-Contra affair. He founded the Romero Institute and the New Paradigm Institute and has served as lead attorney for the Lakota People's Law Project since 2006. Sheehan has taught constitutional law and American political history at UC Santa Cruz and UC Santa Barbara.

Ami Chen Mills

Ami Chen Mills is an educator, journalist, and author with 30 years of experience in community, school, and university settings. She lectures at UC Santa Cruz's Oakes College and is the author of several books, including State of Mind in the Classroom and The Spark Inside. An award-winning journalist recognized for environmental and investigative reporting, she hosts the radio program and podcast Moment of Truth and writes on climate policy, mental health, and social justice for Lookout Santa Cruz and other outlets.

Julia Butterfly Hill

Julia Butterfly Hill is an internationally known environmental activist best known for living 738 days in a 1,000-year-old redwood tree named Luna to prevent its logging — an act that led to a negotiated agreement permanently protecting the tree. She has since worked on environmental and social justice causes worldwide, co-founding the Circle of Life Foundation and the Engage Network, which trains civic leaders for social change. Hill is the author of The Legacy of Luna and co-author of One Makes the Difference, and has spent more than two decades connecting environmental protection to community empowerment and civic engagement.

Schedule

• 7:00 PM — Doors open

• 7:30 PM — Panel discussion

• 9:00 PM — Live music begins

Live Music

Random Rab (Headliner)

Random Rab is a Colorado-based electronic music producer and multi-instrumentalist who has spent more than two decades blending organic and synthetic sounds into immersive live performances. Since his 2001 debut album Epicycle, he has released more than a dozen albums — several reaching the iTunes Top 5 Electronic charts — and has performed at festivals including Lightning in a Bottle, Shambhala, Boom, and Coachella. He has held a 25-year annual residency performing the Sunday Sunrise set at Burning Man and has headlined the Great Pyramids of Giza festival in Egypt. His music has been featured by National Geographic, Google, and Red Bull.

Phreeborn and the Phreequencies (Opener)

Afro-beat artist Phreeborn brings Santa Cruz-rooted, globally-influenced live music to open the night.

Venue

The 418 Project — 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060 — is a community arts venue operating since 1993, dedicated to cultivating safe, creative spaces where artists and communities come together to learn, grow, and create belonging through the arts.

Tickets

• $25 Presale

• $35 At The Door

A Note on This Event

This is a nonpartisan event focused on the health of representative democracy and fair treatment of communities of color — not a candidate forum, and not an event that champions one political party over another. All discussion of redistricting and representation will be framed in terms of conservative or liberal-leaning communities rather than political parties, and the underrepresentation of communities of color will be discussed as a shared concern regardless of political affiliation.

For the last 4 years, The Rave Factory has brought thousands of slugs together for the biggest welcome week events in Santa Cruz and every year has SOLD OUT. This year we are at a brand new venue: The 418 Project. PROJECT Y2K is a limited-capacity immersive music and visual experience inspired by the Y2K era. 💿 THROWBACK ANTHEMS 👕 DRESS CODE: Y2K 📍 THE 418 PROJECT 📅 Tuesday 9/22 ⏰ 9PM–12AM Tickets are expected to sell out in advance. Due to limited capacity, tickets may not be available at the door. 📋 ENTRY REQUIREMENTS • Ages 17+ with a valid college ID • Ages 18+ with a valid government-issued photo ID • Physical ID required — photos or copies will not be accepted • No ID = No Entry 🎟️ TICKET TIERS • All ticket tiers are the same • Prices increase as each tier sells out 💰 NO REFUNDS — ALL SALES FINAL • Tickets may be transferred using the Posh transfer feature 🚫 EVENT RULES • No alcohol will be sold or permitted inside the venue. • No outside drinks, food, drugs, weapons, etc. • Venue reserves the right to deny entry to overly intoxicated or disruptive guests. • No re-entry.

We are offering two tracks for this series:

• Level 1 & 2 • Level 2 & 3 Please read the descriptions and register on our website :)

Each level is the same price ($65) and each includes: Three classes (1 hour and 15 minutes each) from 7PM to 8:15PM Three social dances from 8:15PM to 9:15PM All classes and dances are located at the 418 Project in Downtown Santa Cruz. Note: all classes are focused on Blues, East Coast Swing, or Lindy Hop, NOT West Coast Swing.

Santa Cruz Swing began in response to the growing interest and excitement the Santa Cruz community has shown for swing dancing. The teachers and those who have supported SC Swing have been swing dancing for over a decade and want to share the silly, playful, cool, and fun nature of the dance.

During our series, we host social dances from 8:00pm - 9:30pm immediately following the dance lessons at the 418 Project. Students from the lessons get into the dances for free. Dancers from the general public are welcome to join as well, for $5 during a regular DJ'd social, and $10 If we have a band.

Friday, September 25th – 9:00 PM – 12 Midnight – LARGE THEATER

Live Drag Rave + DJ + Dance Experience

DANCE OR DIE: A DRAG RAVE

What is Dance Or Die? DANCE OR DIE is a community organization, presented under basic principles of movement, creative expression, and community as ways of spiritual enrichment, and seeks to create a safe space for people to express themselves in queer freedom.

What is Dance Or Die: A Drag Rave and what does it look like? DANCE OR DIE: A Drag Rave is Santa Cruz’ largest recurring drag show. It is not just a rave, it is a punk-spirited drag experience. We have a DJ who plays killer music before the show, during intermission, and after the show, this is usually electrifying techno/house. The main show is a drag show, with 5-6 performers total, 2 gogo dancers, and 4 main performers (including Sam Bennaroch, the host, Squeeb), and a guest performer. Main performers plan two performances. Gogos dance to the music before the show, during the intermission, and after the show if they feel like it. Guest performers plan one performance. Before our intermission we have a contest -- previous contests have included: costume, kissing, and dance.

Our crowd is 18+. We tend to appeal to a crowd of Santa Cruzians who do not have access to traditional club spaces and want a place to express themselves, though we see people of all ages.

Get ready for the BIGGEST DRAG EXPERIENCE SANTA CRUZ HAS EVER SEEN, Santa Cruz’ very own hit drag show DANCE OR DIE: A Drag Rave RETURNS to The 418 Project in the large theatre. Get ready for a night of high octane sounds by DJ DEATHTONOKIA, and drag performances from top talent in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. Leave your life’s problems outside.

Are you ready to get your life?

Follow @wedanceordie and @squeebster for all things DANCE OR DIE!

Tickets: $15 advance / $20 at the door.
Click Here For Tickets

Doors open at 9pm at The 418 Project, 155 South River Street, downtown Santa Cruz at the Dragons Gate. The 418 Project complies with local health regulations.

"CALIFIA'S CHILDREN: ALTERNATIVE SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA" with author Mike Marinacci

From sex cults to religious murder-gangs, from UFO devotees to crazy Christian sects, and from psychedelic churches to New Age communes, California has produced more fascinating, bizarre and sometimes sinister “new religions” than anywhere else on Earth. From the Azusa Street Revival Meetings in L.A. in the early 1900s, to the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross – or Rosicrucians – which settled in San Jose in 1928, to Church of Satan Founder, Anton Lavey, in San Francisco in the mid-1960s, and hundreds more, California has been a hotbed for alternative spirituality.
Join author and self-described “Scholar of Weirdness” Mike Marinacci for this amazing trip to the fringes of Golden State spirituality. With fascinating anecdotes and rare photos, Mr. Marinacci will cover the histories, beliefs, and doings of California’s strangest and most colorful religious groups.

Bio:
A lifelong California resident, Mike Marinacci has written several books about the weirder aspects of Golden State history and culture. His most recent work, Psychedelic Cults and Outlaw Churches, covers the now-booming phenomenon of religious groups devoted to the use of entheogens. Mike lives in rural Northern California with his fiancée and a French bulldog.

Doors open at 7:00 PM, lecture at 7:30 PM at The 418 Project, 155 South River Street, downtown Santa Cruz at the Dragons Gate.

$10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Please join us for a joyful community celebration of the Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival — a time to honor family, friendship, gratitude, and cultural heritage. Experience an afternoon filled with: Live Cultural performances, Music and Lion Dance, Hand-on crafts and activities for all agesStories and traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival Opportunities to connect with neighbors and friends from all backgrounds. At Flex Kids Culture, we believe cultural traditions bring people together. Through events like this, we celebrate diversity, encourage cross-cultural understanding, and create meaningful experiences for families throughout Santa Cruz and Monteray county.

No purchase necessary, but please purchase a ticket to support if you can. Proceeds go entirely to Flex Kids Culture.

Same location as last time: 155 S. River St. Santa Cruz CA, 95060.

Wild West Country Night is officially returning to The 418 Project in Santa Cruz on Friday, October 2nd

Get ready for an unforgettable night of country music, line dancing, beginner-friendly lessons, and nonstop fun on the dance floor. Whether you’re an experienced dancer or stepping onto the floor for the first time, everyone is welcome. No partner needed.Wild West Dance ambassadors are ready to guide you.

Dust off your boots, grab your friends, and join us as Wild West makes its long-awaited return to Santa Cruz.

The 418 Project — Santa Cruz

Friday, October 2

Ages 18+ to enter

Country music • Line dancing • Lessons • Social dancing • Immersive visual productions • New dance floors

The 418 Project, 155 South River Street, downtown Santa Cruz at the Dragons Gate.

Tickets $15 advance/ $20 at door