After a brutally parched year Berkeley is looking a whole lot more green following the weekend’s historic downpour. The city’s traditional arts scene is also getting a major infusion of green, according to an announcement Tuesday by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Kristen Hwang’s thesis documentary, “When They’re Gone,” about humanity’s fragile dependence on nature and the consequences of industrializing honey bees for crop pollination, has won the top honor for student documentary filmmaking in the 48th Student Academy Awards.

Christina Yang spent her formative years studying art and art history at UC Berkeley during times of strife when politics tried to censor expression. She brings that experience, and mountains of museum and gallery practice, to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive as the institution’s new chief curator.

From the sidewalks to the skies, with chalk art, poetry, songs, Origami, guided field trips and binoculars, birds will be celebrated this coming Sunday, Oct. 17, in Berkeley at the first-ever Berkeley Bird Festival. And UC Berkeley will be a prime spot for the public to take part.

Last week’s decision by the UC Board of Regents to move ahead with a plan for People’s Park that will include student housing, supportive housing and public open space that commemorates the park’s history marked the latest development in the decades-long history of the park.

Spooky season is here, and it’s looking like the kids will be able to trick-or-treat for All Hallows’ Eve this year — pandemic restrictions permitting. Brush up on your spookiest dad jokes, deck out the front yard and fill a big bowl with wrapped candies, pencils or whatever treats you can conjure up before Oct. 31.

The University of California is seeking to add 20,000 seats for students by 2030, the equivalent of a new campus, to help meet surging demand for a UC education and college graduates to fill the state’s growing need for highly skilled employees.

UCLA Professor Safiya Noble directs an interdisciplinary research center focused on the intersection of human rights, social justice, democracy and technology. She joins two UC Berkeley alums, Taylor Perron and Joshua Miele, and Daniel Alarcón, a former visiting scholar and fellow at UC Berkeley, in receiving the prestigious fellowships.

The Berkeley Forum announced its fall 2021 lineup of 12 events featuring panels and speakers from a variety of different fields and disciplines.

Few artists of any era can rival Mark di Suvero when it comes to the inventive use of different tools and materials.