This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube.

Russell Brown began working at Adobe in 1985 as a graphic designer, art director, and the company’s 38th employee. His journey to that role began with a creative spirit that traces back to his youth. Growing up in Kent, Washington, Brown was more interested in painting and photography at home than studying for A’s in school. His passion for creativity led him to earn a degree in ceramics at the University of Washington before he was encouraged by his father to pursue a second, more ‘practical,’ BFA in package design, filmmaking, and photography from ArtCenter College of Design.

Brown worked in industrial design in San Francisco before moving to Atari, designing packaging materials for the popular video game Pac-Man. When his Atari office closed its doors in 1984, Brown spent some time at Apple, where he was introduced to the Macintosh computer, PostScript, and the LaserWriter. Brown’s creative journey solidified once he was hired by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, founders of a newfound startup, Adobe, whose PostScript page description language would later be licensed by Apple for use in its LaserWriter printers.

Since 1985, Russell Brown has ridden the wave of technological innovation, having first witnessed demos of a new digital editing software in 1995 and ushering in the acquisition of Photoshop by Adobe from the Knoll brothers, becoming Adobe’s first “evangelist” (an expert in Adobe software who shares their knowledge of Adobe products through instruction, tutorials, and live events.) and training generations of Adobe employees and industry creatives in the potential of Photoshop.

Brown continues to push the limits of creative expression using Adobe technology, such as Photoshop AI. His photography, taken exclusively on iPhone, has gained an extensive following on social media. His work demonstrates the power of modern technology and photo editing.

Brown is also known as the boisterous host of live Adobe training courses. In 2024, he will host a hands-on course entitled Les Cirque Galactique designed for art directors, designers, and illustrators to learn advanced digital imaging techniques within a real-world project. Brown and a team of distinguished creative instructors will provide a class of 80 students the chance to work with some of the best artists in the industry and master new skills in advanced workflows using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Firefly. This preconference course precedes the annual Adobe MAX creativity conference inaugurated in 2003.

While 2024 Adobe MAX will be hosted live in Miami, guests can join for FREE online and still benefit from all the learning and inspiration in sessions, keynotes, and Sneaks. Online attendance is free and unlimited. Register here.

In this conversation, Brown traces the origins of his creative eye and reflects on the use of AI in the creative process. We discuss his transition from traditional analog mediums to digital and what the future may hold for Adobe Photoshop and the world of AI Photography.

Follow Dr. Russell Brown’s latest projects on Instagram @dr_brown and explore his Vimeo channel (Russell Brown) for a treasure trove of creative content.

Originally published at https://www.content-magazine.com on October 9, 2024.

Episode # 125 -Russell Brown — Sr. Principal Designer Adobe Inc. — Content Magazine was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Conversation Series

Vicky Phan: Thanks for your time today, Roy. Can you give us a quick intro of yourself and how you’re involved in the community arts scene?

Roy Hirabayashi: My name is Roy Hirabayashi. I grew up in Oakland, but attended San José State University in 1969 and have been a resident of San José since then. All my life I’ve practiced music and the arts, but I got involved in the local scene here when I helped start San Jose Taiko in 1973.

Vicky: So you’ve been an artist, a community leader, and an advocate for the arts for many decades. Why did you decide that now was a good time to accept a seat on the California Arts Council (CAC)?

Roy: When we first started San Jose Taiko in the 70s, there weren’t many organizations of color in the arts world-not just within San José but also across the state and the nation. Over the years, I saw how different multicultural arts groups really struggled in different ways. Existing was a challenge. So I worked on developing San Jose Taiko and also developed a leadership group called the Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative, or MALI program, to train and help arts leaders, especially leaders of color, to be more effective within the arts community.

After I left my leadership position with San Jose Taiko in 2011, I continued my work with MALI and also worked with the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. I started to realize that it was important not only to be involved in the arts as an artist but also to be looking at how we could grow the larger community. I had applied to the CAC many times as a funder or grantee in the past, but had never thought about actually joining it myself. But when the opportunity came to apply for a councilmember position, I realized that this was a great opportunity to have a direct impact on how funding goes to the arts-especially since there hasn’t been CAC representation from the South Bay Area in several years. So I put my name in, and I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen or not, but I was just amazed that I was appointed this past March.

Vicky: Yes, congratulations, Roy! I know that was a big moment for you and for the community. For the folks who are not as familiar with the CAC, can you share a little bit about what exactly it is, including how it is appointed and what the purpose of the organization is?

Roy: The CAC was started in 1976 under Governor Jerry Brown, and it is a state agency with the mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression to cultivate a better California for all. The Council is both a department of state government, with staff in Sacramento, and also a governing body with members like me, who are appointed to serve terms. The CAC department is a state arts funding mechanism that provides grants, programs, and services to different organizations, individuals, and agencies. And the CAC governing body is the group that helps develop or guide that funding mechanism. That group consists of eleven members who sit on committees, where we do work such as recommending arts policies and priorities for the state, developing new programs, determining what grant programs might receive funding, and reviewing and approving grant review panelists and grantees each year.

Nine of the eleven members of the CAC governing body are appointed by the Governor, and those appointments can range from two to four years-most are four-year appointments. The remaining two spots are appointed by the legislature, including one by the Speaker of the Assembly. I was appointed by Speaker Rivas from San Benito County, whose assembly district includes parts of Santa Clara County.

Vicky: Can you also describe a few of the types of programs that the CAC offers, and if there are any recent successful ones that come to mind for you?

Roy: TheCAC has created and funded a lot of different categories over the years; the website has a full list of the programs. There are targeted programs for unique populations, like the Arts in the Corrections program, and the high school Poetry Out Loud program. During the pandemic, significant additional funding became available, which also led to the creation of new programs like the California Creative Corps and the Individual Artist Fellowships. And one of the newest ones is a Folk and Traditional Arts program, which feels very personal to me as a taiko artist. Unfortunately, the Council has been grappling with the recent state budget cut, which has meant reductions across all the grant programs. Some of the pandemic programs are not being funded next year as a result, but hopefully, we’ll see them again when the state’s budget improves in future years.

Vicky: I know that’s a challenge a lot of folks are thinking about, though it is great to hear about the breadth of programs the CAC has historically helped develop. In terms of artist support, what is the relationship between the CAC and local county arts agencies like SVCREATES?

Roy: In the late 1980s, the CAC established the State and Local Partner program. They built a network with every county, with the aim of ensuring that state resources supported the arts in every corner of the state. So throughout California, there are county arts agencies like SV CREATES, which are designated as local partners for their county, and which work together with the CAC-almost every one of the 58 counties in the state has one. I think SV CREATES has really done an amazing job with outreach and connecting with local, regional, and state networks in this area, just to keep a pulse check on what others are doing, who’s doing what, and how they’re managing what they’re doing. This helps create a larger network that pushes the CAC to do different things in different ways, and lets them know what’s going on out there and what programs there should be. So I feel like SV CREATES has done a great job of being that advocate for artists and arts groups in different regions.

Vicky: It’s amazing to hear that! Roy, some of us remember that the CAC nearly went away a few years ago, with a reduced budget of less than $1M annually. How would you describe how it has grown again over the past decade?

Roy: California is, unfortunately, not known to be one of the best-funded state agencies in the country. But over the past eight to nine years, the budget has grown, thanks to lots of advocacy and leadership from the arts sector. During the COVID-19 years, when things were really dire for a lot of arts organizations, there was even more arts money coming in for pandemic relief and community strengthening at both the state and national levels. So the budget ballooned from about 2021 to 2023.

Today, it’s scaling back quite a bit, and there is also a deficit budget. Whenever I hear of a deficit, I know immediately that arts funding is the first to go. And unfortunately, that is what’s happening at the state level. We were told earlier this year that the CAC budget was potentially going to be cut by almost $10M, so many different organizations and individuals throughout the state were doing advocacy work to try to prevent that from happening. Ultimately, there was a cut, but it was not as large as was initially projected, so things are not as drastic as they could have been. But I think there’s still a lot of work we can all do to call our state legislators and encourage them to support the arts, because that’s where it really starts. Naturally, at higher levels like the Governor’s office, they’ll set the budget, but they won’t react unless the public really pushes.

Vicky: As you mentioned, California is not well-funded in this area-we rank relatively low in state per capita spending on the arts. With the current state of our budget, are there any other immediate challenges that you see ahead for the CAC? And what are some longer-term opportunities that you see ahead?

Roy: As part of the council, we can’t personally lobby, but we definitely look at the budget and try to inform the Governor and our state legislation about our communities’ needs. We gather information about what’s going on, who’s doing what, what kinds of programs and gaps there are, and how we compare to other states, other national agencies, and even other countries. And that’s why I feel that letting your legislators know what you do as an artist or organization in your area is really important. They might not understand that for a small arts organization, even $5,000 would make a huge difference. If they don’t know that, it’s easy for them to say, “Oh, it’s only $5,000, let’s cut that,” because they’re operating at the multi-million dollar level. So that’s the message that needs to be relayed: that to arts organizations and artists, the dollars are important, no matter how big or small.

Vicky: What exactly should local arts communities do to help raise visibility? Is there anything specific that you’d like to bring arts leaders’ and organizations’ attention to?

Roy: Being your own self-advocate is really important, and so is starting locally. I really recommend that you invite your city council members or state legislators to your arts events. Even if they aren’t able to attend, just letting them know about the event helps them understand what’s happening in their community and that it’s important. And you should also follow up with them afterward, to let them know how the event went and how many people came through so they can understand the impact for the community.

Vicky: That makes a lot of sense-I’ve been happy to see a lot of council members or folks from their offices at recent arts events in our area. My final question is: What is the one key thing you want people to take away from this discussion?

Roy: Often, people feel like they are just a small individual. They feel like they don’t have much experience or knowledge, or don’t know the right people, so they’re afraid to go out and speak or attend things. But it’s so important that you do engage and be involved. Just showing up is really important, especially at public CAC meetings, just so other folks know that there are numbers of people who are curious or concerned about what’s happening in the arts community. I get that sometimes it can be really hard to step away from our own arts practice to attend something like a Council meeting, which might feel like it’s on a different level, but it’s important. It’s the numbers that speak. I think it would be great if arts leaders not only showed up at these meetings, but brought their entire organizations with them.

Vicky: Thank you for sharing that Roy; I appreciate you taking the time to chat with me about this. This has been really enlightening for me, and I’m sure for a lot of folks who maybe don’t understand the different levels at which arts funding is organized. We in the community really appreciate your leadership in this area.

Roy: Thank you, it’s great to be talking to you.

Originally published at https://svcreates.medium.com on September 25, 2024.

An Interview with Roy Hirabayashi was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The recently released Silicon Valley Pain Index, a project of San José State’s Institute of Human Rights, puts a statistically fine point on the bleak situation we see and feel around us. According to the 2024 iteration of this report, Silicon Valley ranks first​ among major American cities in societal pain. The Pain Index notes that San José is the nation’s #1 most expensive large city, with average monthly expenses at $3,504. The amount a household needs to make to buy a house in the San José metro area is $468,252, making it the least affordable metro area in the nation.

Simply stated: living here hurts.

This pain is often multiplied for creatives working at the margins of our local economy, especially BIPOC-led/serving artists and arts organizations. Artists and culture bearers are living increasingly precarious lives in an under-resourced arts ecosystem, where health care and retirement savings are rare and precious commodities.

So what do we, as the Silicon Valley arts community, have to offer in this moment?

Vision

As artists, we are not just creators, we are warriors of imagination. We have the power to envision a more free and just world than the one we currently live in. We are the holders of stories untold and the creators of new ones. We play a unique role in breaking the curse of white supremacy, patriarchy, and myriad other forms of interlocking oppression. Our art is not just a reflection of society, it is a catalyst for change.

Recognizing the urgency of our situation, we, a coalition of BIPOC-led/serving independent artists and arts organizations, organized ourselves under the banner of Cultural New Deal Silicon Valley (CNDSv). The Cultural New Deal is a national movement sparked by creatives to work collectively for racial justice and cultural equity.

After several years of collaborating as a group, we recognized the need for a tool to evaluate the strengths and challenges of our local arts sector. We wanted to analyze the systems and processes impacting our work and create a space to share our vision for the future.

On Friday, October 10, we will release the inaugural Cultural New Deal Silicon Valley: State of the Arts. This report is informed by interviews with several Executive Directors from Silicon Valley’s leading multicultural arts organizations, and focus group feedback from collective visioning sessions with 20+ local artists and arts administrators. This iteration of State of the Arts looks at how local philanthropy helps and hurts our arts ecosystem and makes visionary recommendations for moving forward. This is not just a report release; it’s a call to action. We hope this inaugural process starts a dialogue among those invested in a thriving arts sector.

To this end, we invite you to the CNDSv State of the Arts launch party at The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza on Friday, October 10 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. This free event will feature food, entertainment, and a presentation about this year’s report findings. We hope the entire community can join us in this exercise of community power and voice.

Originally published at https://svcreates.medium.com on August 29, 2024.

It’s Time For A Cultural New Deal in Silicon Valley was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

*The article originally appeared in issue 5.1, “Sight and Sound,” 2013

From his 90s exploits at Ajax to the more recent Naglee Park Garage, Chris Esparza’s impact on downtown San Jose has come in many phases. He looks to take his next step with Blackbird Tavern.

Long-time downtown ambassador Chris Esparza remains one of the most connected people in San Jose. He’s built his Rolodex organically after having a hand in several local ventures past and present, among them Ajax, Naglee Park Garage, Giant Creative, Fuel, and soon-to-open Blackbird Tavern.

Though a local, Esparza was never able to call one particular neighborhood home growing up. Attending five different schools over seven years, including a two-year stint up in Auburn, California, the frequent moves never allowed him to settle in. “It was five years of never knowing where my class was, of being new and uncomfortable,” Esparza recalls. “In a lot of ways, that probably led me to producing events and hosting people.”

After graduating from Gunderson High in 1985, Esparza spent time at both West Valley and De Anza College, though he admits he had no direction at the time. A year later, he got a job working at Santa Clara club One Step Beyond. It proved to be the job that changed his life.

“It was my first exposure to the young twenty- and thirtysomething alternative life-the goths, the skinheads, the mods, the punk rockers, the death rockers, and everything in between,” he remembers. He saw the club present everything from metal to English soul and rockabilly, witnessing sets from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Ramones, Megadeth, and Fishbone. The work inspired him to move to San Francisco, where he worked for two years.

However, when his mother passed away, he felt a need to get away. “I took the opportunity to be somewhere else at Christmas time,” he says. Buying a one-way ticket to Europe, he traveled through Spain, Belgium, and Scotland, picking up work wherever he could. Upon his return, he decided he wanted his own club.

In 1991, Esparza and business partner Chris Elliman opened Ajax. During its mythical four-year run, the venue hosted the likes of The Fugees, The Roots, and Ben Harper, establishing itself as a destination for forward-thinking cool. It attracted all pockets of the downtown scene during San Jose’s “Four Corners,” 90s nightlife heyday. Esparza admits he was the social creature of the group. “In a way, I was a natural doorman,” he says. “I liked greeting people, getting them excited about what we were doing, and telling them when to come back.”

Looking back, Esparza sees his Ajax period as a time when he and Elliman could seemingly do no wrong. Arriving at a time when the area was just starting to become Silicon Valley, the low cost of living fostered plenty of nightlife. Ajax was championed by local creatives. “I think they trusted us to curate night after night,” he says. “We said, ‘Look, I know you’ve never heard of Ben Harper, and no one else has either, but we heard this guy’s cassette tape, and I’m telling you, don’t miss this.’ And they would show up.”

Sadly, the club’s four-year run came to a close after negotiations with the space’s owners fell through. Esparza was effectively locked out, with the space maintained by the owners. In nine months, the space was vacant.

Two years after the demise of Ajax, Esparza and a similar cast of partners returned with Fuel, an international café in the current Blank Club space. It showcased a similar vibe, though it wasn’t exclusively a club. “It was for an adult that wanted a beautiful space that wasn’t as easily defined as a café or nightclub or restaurant,” Esparza says. “It was literally all of those things.” Boasting a painted globe on the ceiling, it was conceived from the ground up and seemed primed to tap into the same crowd that made Ajax such a success. Yet, where Ajax could do no wrong, Fuel’s four-year run was mired in constant, needless self-reflection. The message was the same, but somehow, the crowds had dried up.

After coming back to the fold with much more business savvy than he had at Ajax, Esparza struggled to understand why Fuel was failing. “It was a business learning experience,” he says. “You can be good, and you can be the smartest guy on the block, but if you don’t have a little bit of luck and timing on your side, it doesn’t matter who you are.”

“YOU CAN BE GOOD AND YOU CAN BE THE SMARTEST GUY ON THE BLOCK, BUT IF YOU DON’T HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK AND TIMING ON YOUR SIDE, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO YOU ARE.”

-Chirs Esparza

In retrospect, Esparza ties in the trouble with the economy. In conjunction with the tech boom, rent skyrocketed, stealing spending money from the venue’s target audience of local creatives. At the same time, the steady rise of illegal downloading significantly changed how artists toured. Suddenly, a $300 show became a $3,000 show, and Fuel couldn’t keep up with the discrepancies. It closed its doors in 2001, an unsung gem that was never able to find its niche like Ajax so easily had.

During his days at Fuel, Esparza began to be approached by organizations to serve as a creative consultant, leading to the creation of Giant Creative. Going twelve years strong, Giant is now responsible for KraftBrew, Winter Wonderland, and the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch in Palo Alto. The outlet became a necessity when Fuel was struggling. It’s since become his main gig, allowing him to help anyone from small businesses to the city of San Jose.

In the restaurant realm, Naglee Park Garage has been Esparza’s latest success. He lovingly calls the 30-seat bistro “the tiniest restaurant on the face of the Earth.” Despite its limitations, he, business partner Brendan Rawson, and head chef Louis Silva have made it a signature downtown eatery.

After the space, a former service station, suffered a series of failed business ventures, its owners decided to wait until the right offer came around. They were envisioning an Americana-themed restaurant with a great selection of beer and wine. As luck would have it, that was exactly what Esparza, Rawson, and Silva were looking to pitch. Luck returned years later when Guy Fieri’s Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” called. Their segment led to national exposure, and repeat showings now result in a spike of emails requesting the location’s fabled ketchup recipe.

Still, Esparza sometimes has trouble making sense of their subsequent success. The show didn’t change their formula; it only got the word out. As he maintains, “We were great before ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.’ Why does it take national television to tell you to go eat there when you live in this town, and there aren’t many choices?”

Yet even with his string of successes, his best conception may have yet to officially begin. Esparza and Rawson are ready to bring their savvy to downtown’s epicenter with Blackbird Tavern, a restaurant and café located along Paseo de San Antonio that looks to appeal to out-of-town business folk and locals alike. Much like Ajax and Fuel, he wants the venue to offer great food, music, and conversation for patrons.

Patio seating is set to spill out onto the Paseo. Plans are in place to serve wine from vineyards in the Santa Cruz mountains, and their bar will offer a well-curated selection of craft brews and California spirits. Esparza even hopes to pair food with music. For him, the value in the idea goes both ways-patrons get an all-encompassing dining experience and those behind the scenes remain on their creative toes.

Some speak of the Blackbird space as cursed, the speculation stemming from a string of franchise failures over the past decade. To counter the talk, Esparza offers a history lesson, noting that a taqueria lasted in the space for twenty years, making it through massive downtown light rail development before those three failed. He attributes the failures to bad business strategies. “I know why they closed and I know what they did wrong,” he says. “I won’t make those mistakes.”

A lot has changed since his first days working at One Step Beyond in the mid-80s, when he discovered a wealth of alternative culture. He’s learned plenty in the process, but what rings loudest for him remains the people he’s helped bring together. As a teen who constantly struggled to find his place, Esparza finds comfort in the fact that he’s been able to create spaces where others can find theirs.

The article originally appeared in issue 5.1, “Sight and Sound,” 2013

*We post this with a heavy heart at the passing of my friend, mentor, and fellow progenitor of culture, Chris Esparza. Content Magazine and I personally have received so much from the friendships and connections that Chris created. I will miss him. We will miss him. But the world, and especially Downtown San Jose, is better because of his life and work. We respect and thank him, say goodbye, and rest in peace, my dear friend.

Daniel Garcia, Aug. 2024

Originally published at https://www.content-magazine.com on August 6, 2024.

A Stroll Through Chris Esparza’s San Jose — Content Magazine was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Conversation Series

Tim: I’d love to start with a quick introduction about you, your organization, and what your artistic practice is.

Sam: I’m the Artistic Director for Los Lupeños de San José. I’m a Mexican, LGBTQ immigrant. I got to the United States in 2000. I was in Chicago, where I built a dance company and worked there for 15 years. I had an amazing time in Chicago–the community is beautiful. Then, I was invited to direct Los Lupeños in San José in 2015. I found an organization that is very deeply rooted in the community. I was very excited with the possibility of working with the San José community and with the whole Northern California community. Los Lupeños de San José is a pioneering Mexican folk dance company. It’s been around for 55 years, promoting Mexican culture through dance. The main goal of the company is to serve in San José, but our work has been appreciated around the United States.

Tim: I’ve seen some of the performances; they’re absolutely spectacular. Why do you think it’s important that the government funds your work? In particular, with the governor proposing large budget cuts to the arts in California, I think many people reading this want to advocate for the arts and push back on these cuts. How does government funding help you and what happens if it goes away?

Sam: I think we have this old perception that culture is a luxury. For my community, it’s not a luxury at all–it’s a necessity. In Mexican communities in San José, it’s very expensive. Most families have to have both parents working, which means the kids have to find activities and things that make sense for them. And, of course, culture–the arts — are essential for us. I think making sure they understand the culture they come from and reconnecting is essential. The sense of belonging–the young kids need to identify themselves and find out who they are. And I think the art of Mexican folk dance brings them to a place where they understand better who they are.

There are many, many situations where the arts helped to have more well-rounded individuals in my community. I think it’s not just dance, the beauty of dancing, or how pretty they can look on stage. It’s what it means to our community. The kids are in the dance class forming a community while the parents are outside waiting, creating another part of the community. We come together around dance, around art, and around our culture. We participate in many events that really promote diversity and contribute to economic growth. The work that we do is essential even for mental health. The children need the arts, and the culture brings them to a place where they feel like they belong. Without funding–oh my goodness–we are not going to be able to serve our community. And it’s essential for us to do that.

Tim: I think you’re emphasizing something we really believe at SVCREATES. Art is not just about the event or the piece of art. It’s about the value to the community that goes so far beyond the art itself.

Sam: Yes. In fact, we know that people that are involved in the arts are more empathetic, have a more open mind, and they’re more compassionate. The emotional intelligence of these kids is bigger.

Tim: That makes total sense. What is the Art Advocacy Day that you went to in Sacramento?

Sam: This was my first time. Full disclosure–I was very uncomfortable. I’m a dancer, so I dance. I don’t talk. Getting to talk in front of politicians was, for me, kind of very “out there.” But I started researching a little bit and learning what Arts Advocacy Day was. It’s an annual event where artists, advocates, and arts organizations come together in Sacramento to raise awareness and promote the support that we need from our lawmakers. We go to a series of meetings throughout the day, and we have the opportunity to say who we are, tell our stories, and hopefully influence budget decisions.

Tim: What surprised you the most when you met with elected officials who aren’t necessarily artists?

Sam: They have a lot of willingness to engage. They were really listening to us. And they were really invested in meaningful conversations. They were very attentive. They were taking notes. They showed genuine interest and concern about our opinions and our experiences. I hope that by telling them our stories, we secured allies for any budget debates that they have.

Tim: What did you find the most valuable about meeting with other arts leaders like you from around the state?

Sam: The day before Arts Advocacy Day, we had the Arts and Culture Summit. It was amazing to hear these wonderful leaders, their experiences and their perspective from all across California. The community is big. They are very diverse and they are very, very supportive. I had amazing conversations throughout the day. It helped me re-evaluate and appreciate the importance of what we do. When I came back to San José, I was very inspired. I was motivated to keep helping to make my community better. They filled my heart with joy.

Tim: I always get inspired by hanging out with other artists. What would you say to other artists or art leaders that are hesitant to advocate to elected officials or haven’t yet gone to an event like Arts Advocacy Day?

Sam: Remember this Mexican immigrant guy from San José that thought the same thing. I thought, “This is gonna be hard. I don’t know how to do it.” But I really want to encourage artists and leaders to join Arts Advocacy Day, because it’s a great experience to take a stand with other fellow artists and influence decisions that our representatives make that will impact the arts. Our stories really can make a difference and benefit not only our organization, but the arts community in general. If you really believe in the power of arts, you should know that you can make a difference.

Tim: Is there anything that you would like to share with other artists or other art leaders in Silicon Valley that we haven’t yet talked about?

Sam: We just learned that there have been some proposed cuts coming this year. We need to push back. You need to talk to representatives. You need to call the government. You need to really push back and avoid these cuts. These cuts will be very impactful to our community. If we don’t say anything, nothing’s going to happen. I ask the community to please, please push back. It’s not just about applying for grants. We also need to take a stand and say, “Hey, we need not just what we have–we need more.” We are very, very low in the list of arts funding per capita in the United States. Even Florida spends more on the arts than California. How can that happen? So please participate. Please make sure that our elected officials know that we are here, we are standing, and we need their support.

Tim: Gracias, Sam. That’s all my questions. I appreciate you taking the time.

Sam: Thank you for having me. It was a great experience. Like I mentioned before, I was very overwhelmed by the idea when they first told me, “Let’s go to Arts Advocacy Day.” I said I would go, and then I thought, “Why did I do that? I don’t even know if I can really do that.” And now, I’m very excited to take part in this and know that we can really make a difference. So, thank you for having me here and sharing my experience.

Samuel Cortez, a graduate of the Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, is the artistic director and choreographer of the Los Lupeños de San José and Los Lupeños Juvenil dance companies. A LGBTQ+ Mexican Immigrant to the United States, Cortez began his traditional dance background in his home state of Guanajuato, México before pursuing dance in the US.

Cortez is a member of the International Dance Council, the Asociación Nacional de Maestros de Danza Popular Mexicana, the Instituto de Investigación y Difusión de la Danza Mexicana and Dance/USA. He is also a NALAC Leadership Institute 2021 and MALI (Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute) graduate and gives back by mentoring directors of other dance companies across the United States.

Tim Leehane is a Sr. Manager of Product Management at Amazon and a member of the SVCREATES Board of Directors. He is also an independent music producer and the City Leader for the San Jose chapter of the international musician’s networking group, Balanced Breakfast.

An Interview with Sam Cortez was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

By Connie Martinez, SVCREATES’ Chief Executive Officer

This is an exciting time of the year for SVCREATES as we announce our Content Emerging Artist Awards. Through a competitive selection process using an independent panel, we have selected three artists as the region’s most promising emerging creatives based on the quality of their work, their commitment to developing their craft, and their service to enriching our local community.

Congratulations to our 2022 Content Emerging Artists: Kiana Honarmand, Jezrael Gandara, Chelsea Stewart.

Since 1991, more than 150 artists have been honored through the SVLaureate and Emerging Artists program with support from the County of Santa Clara. Applications for Content Emerging Artists were submitted this past fall and reviewed by an independent grant review panel comprised of artists, presenters, and critics representing a spectrum of disciplines from the Bay Area. This year, SVCREATES received 29 applications from artists of exceptional talent and vision, and the panel chose to acknowledge three individuals who honor us with their work and spirits. Each Awardee will receive a $5,000 cash award to celebrate and encourage the continuing development of their artistic work, a profile in Content Magazine, and the title of Content Emerging Artist.

The Content team lifts the voices of other creatives through our “storytelling’ media platform all year. And they take an active role in selecting and showcasing these “emerging” artists during this time of year to honor Silicon Valley’s innovative and evolving culture, and its corresponding dependence on new talent.

Our Business of Arts and Culture research documented the importance of arts start-ups, underscoring the need to nurture homegrown artists, which in turn fuel our sector’s resilience. And just like the tech sector, we have “churn” too. This may be driven by the Valley’s high cost of living or growth opportunities for the artist — or both. Regardless, we are proud to call these artists “ours” and we are grateful for their work and contributions to our community and beyond.

Celebrate the work of Kiana, Jezrael, and Chelsea at the Content Magazine Pick-Up Party on Thursday, May 19 at West Valley College. In partnership with the Cilker School of Arts and Design, join us as we recognize these three emerging artists for the joy, learning, and inspiration that they bring to us. We know that without artists, there is no art.

Congratulations to our 2022 Content Emerging Artists was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

By Julie Baker, Executive Director, Californians for the Arts

In a state that exports innovation and imagination and represents 25 of the Nation’s creative industries, it stands to reason there is a month for California to recognize the contributions and impact of arts, culture and creativity. This April, California’s Arts, Culture & Creativity Month (ACCM) brings new statewide activations and celebrations of the arts through programming and advocacy tools. Californians for the Arts (CFTA) directs this month-long spotlight on the arts to raise visibility and awareness of the value that artists, culture bearers, cultural organizations, and creative workers generate for Californian’s economy and communities. All CFTA-led events take place virtually and are free to attend; the public is encouraged to participate all month long. CFTA anticipates more than a dozen local governments will be participating formally in ACCM 2022 through announcing proclamations in their cities and counties. A guide for passing local proclamations is available for download here.

This year’s ACCM programming is shaped by the theme, “The Arts Work,” with a particular emphasis on creative workers, in alignment with California’s groundbreaking Creative Workforce Act (SB 628), signed into law in October. CFTA provides an active ACCM 2022 toolkit of weekly messaging campaigns that express how the artists and organizations working in all cultural forms help society to heal, build community, advance justice, empower youth, and create jobs. Weekly webinar panel discussions with thought leaders and practitioners in the field will take a deeper dive into exploring these impact areas while examining the conditions in which arts workers are trying to build lives and livelihoods, and what policies or systems change we should be considering to strengthen their efforts and to build a more just economy broadly.

And new to ACCM is The Arts Works Showcase. CFTA invites artists and arts organizations from across the state to submit existing works of art or arts-related projects that exemplify one of the five themes. Submissions will be hosted on a web gallery for the public to view. This new program intends to uplift creative workers and honor their work with weekly drawings for cash prizes.

While it is important to take the time to celebrate the endurance and resilience of the arts, it is also a time to recognize the public policies and investments arts, culture, and creativity industries need to sustain and thrive to help rebuild a more equitable and just industry for all creative workers to access.

ACCM programming is also designed to empower arts advocates to take action and to spur greater investments in the arts. During arts advocacy week, April 25–29, advocates meet virtually with their elected officials and share the investments and policies they urge lawmakers to make in the California budget process. This year’s budget includes proposed investments of $30 million for California cultural districts, $50 million for arts in parks, $50 million for the CA Creative Workforce Act, $799 million for Expanded Learning Opportunities Program for Arts Education, $50 million for museum grants program (SB 963, Laird) and funding for SB 1116 (Portantino) The Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund.

For a complete list of events and programs associated with ACCM 2022, click here.

As the Executive Director of California’s statewide arts advocacy organizations since 2018, Julie Baker has worked to increase the legislative clout and visibility of the arts and culture communities by building coalition across the for and non-profit sectors of California’s creative industries,. She serves as the California State Captain to Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Action Summit and on the State Arts Action Network Council and as the co-chair of the Western Arts Advocacy network for WESTAF. She is on the board of California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project, a founding member of the Nevada County Relief Fund advisory council and was elected to the Nevada County school board in November of 2020.

Over the years, Julie has owned a fine arts gallery for emerging artists, co-founded Flow art fair — a satellite to Art Basel Miami Beach — opened a consulting firm Julie Baker Projects and curated an annual music series at the Crocker Art Museum. Julie also served for eight years as the Executive Director of The Center for the Arts, a non-profit performing arts venue and California WorldFest, an annual music and camping festival located in Grass Valley, CA. She is the recipient of the inaugural Peggy Levine Arts & Community Service Award from the Nevada County Arts Council. And the 2021 Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award from Americans for the Arts, which honors an individual at the state level whose arts advocacy efforts have dramatically affected the political landscape.

The Arts Work for California was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

By Connie Martinez, SVCREATES’ Chief Executive Officer

Five years ago, SVCREATES merged Content Magazine into our organization and Daniel Garcia, along with some of his Content colleagues, became part of the SVCREATES team.

I had been “eyeing” Content for some time, observing how Daniel was able to elevate the voices of our creative culture and magnify their stories. Content was connecting kindred spirits, building community, and growing appreciation for our multicultural artist community with style and beauty…..not an easy task in “geekish” Silicon Valley.

We do live in a region that bends towards Aristotle’s logic, reason, and function. But there are many of us who crave Plato’s truth, beauty, and justice. And for those souls who know they need a dose of Plato, take refuge in Content’s network of creatives. And for those who don’t know that they need it, be inspired by the stories and the beauty of the print.

It helps that we are not trying to make money, but rather to leverage Daniel’s talent and the resources we have to draw upon to simply break-even in service to a greater good. Content highlights and connects South Bay culture curators, artists, and innovators through the art of storytelling, their online community, and local event experiences. What Content does for our region is important and worth our support, and directly aligned with SVCREATES’ goal to raise the visibility and voice of our creative culture.

Thank you to Daniel and Kristen for an incredible 10 years, and to all of the amazing graphic artists, photographers, and writers who have helped produce Content Media. We all benefit from their creativity and hard work, and Silicon Valley is better off for it.

Celebrate 10 years of Content Magazine and the release of Issue 14.2 “Sight & Sound” on Thursday, March 3 from 7:00–9:30pm at San Pedro Square Market for the 10th Anniversary Pick-Up Party (where the first Pick-Up Party was held in 2012). Together, we will toast to the creatives that have been featured over the past 10 years in partnership with BAUNFIRE.

By Connie Martinez, SVCREATES’ Chief Executive Officer was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Back in the early 2000s, there only seemed to be a handful of artists and arts administrators of color actively speaking up to tell the story of the multicultural arts community in the San Jose area. Even today, some of the oldest arts organizations in San Jose come from many ethnic communities, yet 15 years ago, they did not have a voice in the process of designing equitable funding and programming. Finally in 2004, a group of artists of color formed First Voice to create our own discussions and support network. We realized that there was a lack of leadership training opportunities for multicultural artists and arts administrators that specially addressed the issues and concerns of organizations of color. So, Raul Lozano and I decided to pursue the idea to create a leadership program for multicultural artists. Soon after, Tamara Alvarado joined in to help form the concept and the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) was born.

Arts organizations of color have always worked from the values of diversity, equity, and inclusivity. MALI works to share these values with the larger arts community. The MALI curriculum and concept came from our participation in Arts Leadership for the Future offered by the Packard Foundation and the Management Center, the American Leadership Forum Fellowship, and the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders — Arts conducted by the Stanford Graduate Business School and the National Arts Strategies. These were good programs, but they all lacked a multicultural focus and perspective.

In 2008, MALI recruited the inaugural Class 1 — a group of multicultural creatives to build a network and increase the skills of artists in the region. Through our year-long training program, we coach local multicultural arts practitioners by giving them the technical skills, philosophical underpinnings, and networking opportunities necessary to grow and sustain their individual work, organizations, and arts sector in Silicon Valley. Our impact is documented in “We Are Enough: Equity, Inclusion, and Emergent leadership in Silicon Valley’s Multicultural Arts Community” — a brown paper commissioned by the School of Arts & Culture and authored by Dr. Maribel Alvarez. Today, there are a total of 137 MALI Alums, from Class 1 to the current Class 13. Many of the MALI Alums have moved on to executive and artistic director positions, eight are SVCREATES Laureates, and five have moved on to government jobs.

The MALI program is the proud recipient of the 2021 Creative Impact Award from the City of San Jose Arts Commission and the Office of Cultural Affairs. The recognition belongs to the MALI network. Your voice, advocacy, persistence, and dedicated creative work have made a difference for all of us here in San Jose.

MALI gives thanks to SVCREATES (formerly 1st ACT) for incubating the MALI program and to the Knight Foundation for providing the initial funding to create the program. Tamara Alvarado joined 1st ACT as the first MALI Program Manager and eventually became the Executive Director of the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, where MALI found its permanent home. Demone Carter took over the program after completing the program itself with MALI Class 4.

MALI also thanks the generous support of the Hewlett Foundation, Packard Foundation, Castellano Family Foundation, SVCREATES, Applied Materials, and the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs for the many years of support and help.

Roy is a leader in North American taiko and a Northern California leader in the arts community known for starting organizations, fiscal management, fundraising, and empowering the next generation of leaders. He is co-founder of one of the seminal taiko groups in North America, San Jose Taiko, and the group’s former Artistic and Executive Director. Roy is also a co-founder and current director of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute at the School of Arts & Culture in San Jose. He has been active in developing San Jose’s Japantown and arts community, and has been a champion for social justice, multicultural arts, and cultural preservation. He is past chair of the board of the Japantown Community Congress San Jose and of the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza. As a nationally recognized folk and traditional artist, composer, producer, and collaborator in international projects, he is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow and an American Leadership Forum John W. Gardner Leadership awardee. He is currently on the board of SVCREATES.

Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) was originally published in Content Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.