La Dolce Vita is no doubt an all-encompassing art show that gives a broad, in-depth view of  Italian culture. The Santa Cruz County Banks Arts Collaborative draws together an ostensibly infinite amount of styles and forms displaying modern photography that will leave you perplexed, to traditional oil paintings of serene Italian landscapes, water colors, pastels, and stone and steel sculptures—a medium that has put so many Italian artisans in the history books. This extensive exhibit covers all mediums, all time frames, and all aspects of Cultura Italiana.

9 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday. Exhibition runs through Feb. 6, 2009. Various Locations. Free. 457-5003 ext. 2118.

Acclaimed local poster artist Liz Lyons Friedman has a new array of original poster art, this time in the form of linocuts. These bold lined posters give the feeling that the artist used woodcuttings to make the prints. Dark contours create vast amounts of beautifully contrasting negative space. When printed in black and white the feel is vintage, but with a little color these posters take on a festive look. Friedman’s content is as warm and pleasant as her style is bold and contrasting. With a post-impressionist twist, Friedman depicts friends and cafés, subject matter that can’t help but put a smile on an onlooker’s face.

Ongoing. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday. 12-4 p.m. Sundays. Pacific Gallery & Custom Framing, 321 Capitola Ave., Capitola. Free. 476–3855.

One of the oddities, and pleasures, of living in an artistically driven town is that it spills over into every aspect of life, including the government. The Santa Cruz County Government Center will exhibit a multi-story, multi-medium art exhibit, complete with pastels, photography, acrylic paint and bead work highlighting landscapes, foliage, vineyards and graphic symbolism. A public reception will be held with refreshments and a meet-and-greet with artists Peggy Hansen, Sandra Cherk, Thom Atkins, Kristen Cederquist and Scott Rasmann. With the growing success of this annual event, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the DMV begins their own artistic endeavors. One can only hope.

Poppy by Peggy Hansen

Friday, Dec. 5, 5–7 p.m. County Government Center, 701 Ocean St., Santa Cruz. Free. 475–9600. Exhibit runs through Jan. 29.

In the midst of a storm, leaves bend and sway with tremendous ferocity and all we can comprehend is the complete motion. Yet Kathleen Elliot saw a snapshot of torpid leaves frozen in their undulation, attached to an unyielding dowel of bamboo. This moment of flowing motion is sculpted with sandblasted glass, and will be shown alongside many other glass sculptures at the juried “The Unbreakables” exhibit. Elliot, and her peers will show their indestructible specimens of such a fragile substance in an effort to win a solo show later next year.

4:30-6:30 p.m. Cabrillo College Gallery, Library Building #1002, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos. Free. 479-6308. Exhibit runs through December 12.

The Santa Cruz Arts Commission got in a two-fer on Friday night, celebrating the official opening of the Sculptour downtown, and its annual ArtWORKS awards banquet at the Museum of Art & History . The awards -- which in person are very cool blown glass sculptures of a blue wave, each one slightly different for that one-of-a-kind vibe -- are given in recognition of businesses and people who have made significant contributions to the city's artistic community. 

Linda Bixby prepares to dole out the awards.

After the wine-and-cake reception, the crowd took a tour down Pacific Avenue of the newly installed sculptures by local artists . Look for a voting feature on this site in early 2009, where you can pick your favorite sculpture on the tour. The winner will receive a $1,000 prize from the Santa Cruz Arts Commission.

In a giant Victorian dollhouse on Broadway Avenue, a profusion of student designs are being displayed on every space available. From paint-spackled Impressionists reborn to drug-addled Picasso futurists, with a multi-mused photographer somewhere in between, these artists, and many others, will showcase what’s next in Santa Cruz art. Coming from UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College, these students have no other intention but to show their work outside the confines of galleries and campus-sponsored showings. At this free exhibition, there will be a grill for carnivores and vegetarians alike, a perfect accompaniment to a cornucopia of genre-crossing and medium-traversing art.

Noon–6 p.m. 1108 Broadway, Santa Cruz. Free. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

It was tough to find energy during the final stretch of the 2008 election when our acoustic senses were getting burnt out from pundits, polls and political commercials. However, this visual exhibition of 2-D & 3-D art represents the same issues that have been pulsating out of the television, except they will be presented to you with much needed aesthetic improvements. Featuring painter Lidia Hasenauer, who roams between the genres of Cezanne and Vintage French Racing Posters, and Juried by 89-year-old Peter Selz, influential art historian of German Expressionism, this political incursion will be much prettier than the commentary of Hannity and Colmes.

Santa Cruz Art League, 526 Broadway, Santa Cruz. Free. 426-5787. Exhibit runs through Nov. 23. Noon–5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and Noon–4 p.m Sundays.

In debates between peace-niks and war-hawks, there is always a vacuum of emptiness that sucks away the voices and experiences of the men and women who fill our combat boots. Operation Enduring Freedom veteran Jeremiah Ridgeway’s photography shows our soldiers’ day to day life, both fighting the Taliban and forming relationships with the people of Afghanistan. It doesn’t matter if a photograph of a firing mortar provokes sadness or glamour, this reception highlights the opening of an exhibit that honors those who do the job no one, on either side of the debate, ever wants to do.

5 p.m.–9 p.m. Dead Cow Gallery, 1040 River St. Free. 426-9155. Exhibit runs Nov. 7 through Nov. 30.

Whether you have memories of tamales and the tale of "La Llorona" or pumpkin pie and "Hocus Pocus," both are full of never-ending warmth that only tu abuela (Grandma) can offer. "Mi Casa Es Tu Casa" remembers these women with altars, strewn with knick knacks showing a private intimacy between the artists and their grandmothers. Featuring paintings, such as the one by Soquel artist Jennifer Cordery that tells a heart-wrenching tale of separation, as well as Lucien Kubo’s reverent exhibition honoring the Japanese All Souls Day, "Mi Casa Es Tu Casa" is an opportunity to honor our deceased kin throughout our diverse culture.

6 p.m.–8 p.m. Pajaro Valley Arts Council, 37 Sudden St., Watsonville. Free. 722–3062. Exhibit shows Nov. 1 through Dec. 7.