University Library
Dead Central is a gallery space on the Main Floor of McHenry Library at UC Santa Cruz dedicated to exploring cultural, social, and creative moments in the twentieth century in which the Grateful Dead played a critical part. Exhibits feature unique materials from the Grateful Dead Archive alongside original sources from across the University Library's rich historical collections. The creation of Dead Central was made possible through a generous grant from the Brittingham Family Foundation.
Dead Central admission is free and open to the public during all normal McHenry Library hours.
LOCATION: Dead Central, on the main level of McHenry Library
Any reference to the Grateful Dead, perhaps the world’s most iconic improvisational band, can easily conjure images in one’s mind of psychedelic tie-dyed clothes, dancing bears, and rose-garlanded skeletons. But just as they defied expectations with their music, the band also inspired in their listeners a diverse visual landscape in response to their songs.
(card sent to the Grateful Dead from Dead Heads Japan, with art by Miki Saito)
11 June 2018 - 23 December 2019LOCATION: Dead Central, on the main level of McHenry Library
Visit the Digital Exhibit created by co-curator Gabriel Saloman Mindel
This exhibit explores how the band invented, improvised, redefined, and pioneered business practices that revealed new ways of thinking about work, about being in business, and about the relationship between creators and their communities. It draws on the newly processed business records of the band.
About Put Your Gold Money Where Your Love Is, Baby:
This exhibit was made possible through a generous grant from the Brittingham Family Foundation.
Curated by: Jessica Pigza, Alix Norton, and Gabriel Saloman Mindel
With contributions by: Eric Arvizu, Thomas Bergan, Sean Concannon, and Andy Smith
With special thanks to: The Garcia Family; Eileen Law; Alessia Cecchet, CART Fellow; Marcus Thayer and Ryan Dzialo, Library Operations; Kristy Golubiewski-Davis, Digital Scholarship Commons; Joop Rubens and Linda Hunt, Library Development; all staff and student assistants in Special Collections & Archives; and Elizabeth Cowell, University Librarian
Love on Haight: The Grateful Dead and San Francisco in 1967
6 June 2017 - 1 May 2018
Love on Haight: the Grateful Dead and San Francisco in 1967, highlighted materials from multiple collections housed in the Library’s Special Collections & Archives. The exhibit featured posters, photography and ephemera from the Grateful Dead Archive and photographs from Ruth-Marion Baruch’s 1967 Haight-Ashbury series. Additionally, the exhibit included a selection from the Library’s exceptionally rich holdings in alternative publications from this time period: a variety of newspapers and magazines, comic books, literary journals and broadsides as well as political tracts. The audiovisual elements in this exhibit included films about the Summer of Love, snippets of performances and of course, music.
Imagining the Dead presented more than 200 images and artifacts drawn from every era of the Grateful Dead.
This exhibit explored the art that documented, celebrated, and inspired the Grateful Dead and their fans.
Santa Cruz, CA
