The Tannery Arts Center campus is a testament to the importance of art and the pivotal role culture plays in sustaining our community. In operation since 1856, the Salz Tannery was the oldest leather tanning operation west of the Mississippi. After its closing, the City of Santa Cruz acquired the property and partnered with ArtspaceProjects, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit developer of affordable space for artists and arts organizations, to redevelop the historic site as a world-class arts campus with 100 affordable housing live/work spaces for artists and 28 working studios to provide space for a wide variety of artists.

The historic Kron House was updated as a home for Arts Council Santa Cruz County. At the Tannery, you’ll also find great food, wine, and beer at the Art Bar, the world's first Arts Education Philanthro-pub. The 200-seat Colligan Theater, managed by Jewel Theatre Company, opened in a rehabbed historic building to rave reviews in November, 2015.