River ArtWalk Tour

Installed along the riverbank, the River Ghost boats appear to be floating down the San Lorenzo River. Photo 2015, copyright Ron Holman.
Installed along the riverbank, the River Ghost boats appear to be floating down the San Lorenzo River. Photo 2015, © Ron Holman.

Ebb & Flow Logo.
Ebb & Flow logo by Doug Ross.

Ebb & Flow on the San Lorenzo

Several organizations have been working hard to change how people think about and can use the San Lorenzo River. Among them are the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County. They created The “Ebb & Flow River ArtWalk,” a month long display of art at eleven sites along the San Lorenzo River, in June of 2015. Some of the art installations are still there, some are not. But this tour keeps the art alive indefinitely in digital form.

The ArtWalk is a half mile walking tour from the Tannery Arts Center to the Kaiser Permanente Arena. The goal of Ebb & Flow is to harness the power of the arts to educate folks about Santa Cruz’s most important water source, highlight the walkway along the river, inspire new relationships between artists and river stewards, and build artworks that tell stories about our river’s past, present, and future. We highlight a few stops below but the main content can be found in the mobile app.

Visit the ghostly steel-and-concrete silhouettes of people enjoying the river in times gone by.


Installed along the riverbank, the River Ghost boats appear to be floating down the San Lorenzo River. Photo 2015, copyright Ron Holman.
Installed along the riverbank, the River Ghost boats appear to be floating down the San Lorenzo River. Photo 2015, © Ron Holman.

The San Lorenzo River used to team with fish and fisher-people. This past is highlighted with oversized fishing rods and buoys.



‘Fishing Rods’ created by Nielsen Design Studios hangs off of the Water St. Bridge. This is one of ten installations created for the Ebb & Flow River Arts Project in June 2015. Photo courtesy and © of Nick Ibarra.
‘Fishing Rods’ created by Nielsen Design Studios hangs off of the Water St. Bridge. This is one of eleven installations created for the Ebb & Flow River Arts Project in June 2015. Photo courtesy of and © of Nick Ibarra.

“The Guardians” were perched on the Pedestrian Bridge and watched over the San Lorenzo for only one night before being vandalized. The statues were salvaged and artist Geoffrey Nelson may bring them to life again.


Guarding the river for the evening. Photo 2015, © Ron Holman.
Guarding the river for the evening. Photo 2015, © Ron Holman.

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About The Author

Ranger Salazar

Lauren McEvoy is a naturalist and Santa Cruz native with a passion for teaching through writing. She graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2015. Lauren worked for Mobile Ranger as an intern and created a self-guided natural history tour of the UCSC campus. After graduation she has come back to Mobile Ranger to write and help things run smoothly.

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