Blue Sky Center will host an interactive outdoor show titled “Rec Hallipalooza: A Resilient Cuyama Drama,” 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Saturday May 16 at three locations in Richardson Park in New Cuyama.
The original outdoor performance about the rural Cuyama Valley (population 1,100) will conclude with a celebration at the Cuyama Valley Recreation Hall.
The show will move from space to space and highlight local history and stories, skateboarders, a Mexican Danza Folklorica, a lawnmower ballet, and a soccer field of dreams.
Featured performers include Ash Hanson and Alex Barreto Hathaway, PlaceBase Productions, along with more than 30 local artists and community performers.
The event is a collaboration between Blue Sky Center, Cuyama Valley Recreation District and artists with PlaceBase Productions as part of the Arts in California Parks program.
The Arts in California Parks program awards grant funds to local nonprofit, community, and tribal organizations to bring music, dance, storytelling, art, and cultural programs into parks.
“Our partnership with Blue Sky Center and the artists with PlaceBase Productions for this free drama program through the Arts in California Parks grant has energized our rural community around using our Rec Hall, our skate park, and other park sites in Cuyama,” said Melanie Shaw, Cuyama Valley Recreation District director.
“Kids have gained confidence in performing and skateboarding, and we’re excited to see our community get outside for the May 16 performance,” she said.
Blue Sky Center and partners received a grant from Arts in California Parks for Resilient Cuyama Drama, a free year-long community theater program, hosted on park sites managed by Cuyama Valley Recreation District.
Throughout 2025 and 2026, Hanson and Hathaway of PlaceBase Productions have worked with local Cuyama youth, adults and elders as paid artists and community co-creators to write, direct, and perform this theater production about the hopes and dreams and resilience of their rural community.
In March the artists hosted two Skate Jam workshops at Cuyama’s Skate Park to teach skateboarding skills to youth.
As many people in Cuyama don’t have skateboards, the workshops were supported by a donation of skateboards from Arbor Collective through local resident and CEO Bob Carlson.
Carpinteria Skate Foundation donated skateboards, helmets and pads. Through the grant, Blue Sky Center joined Arts in California Parks, a partnership between California State Parks, the California Arts Council, and Parks California to support artists, culture bearers, California Native American tribes, and local groups in creating art and cultural experiences in outdoor spaces.
Learn more about the funded projects at ArtsInCaliforniaParks.org/Projects-Map.
For more, contact Liz Fish, Blue Sky Center Creative Programs Manager phone 661-413-3005 or email liz@blueskycenter.org.