Living, working, and doing business in Silicon Valley remains extremely difficult for the arts, and the impacts of COVID and climate change have only made it worse. These challenges coupled with Silicon Valley’s high cost of living, growing income inequality, and lack of philanthropic support for the arts elevates the importance of programs designed to lift up artists and arts organizations striving to create a better community through the arts.
After taking the time to listen to our community, conduct creative sector research, and deeply reflect upon our work, SVCREATES refreshed our program goals guided by our equity framework and the realities of Silicon Valley. Our new goals are to: 1) cultivate, preserve, and advance our broadly diverse cultural ecosystem; 2) catalyze capacity and resilience for our historically under-resourced artists and arts organizations; and 3) provide access to the arts for high-need communities. These goals are the drivers of the work highlighted in this publication.
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 SVCREATES works to strengthen the resilience and relevance of small multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary arts groups and individual artists who bring our international community together, nurture the joy and creativity of the people who live here, raise the burning questions of our time, and drive social change.
Our mission is to elevate Silicon Valley’s creative culture by building the capacity, visibility, and accessibility of the arts.
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Arts Ecosystem: The interconnected and interdependent network of artists, funders, venues, organizations, students, teachers, connoisseurs, and audience members who make up our creative community.
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BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF OUR ARTS ECOSYSTEM
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IN 2022 WE:
- Supported 97 diverse local arts leaders through ongoing, facilitated peer roundtables.
- Awarded $403,000 in 64 operating grants to a diverse range of small arts organizations while increasing funding to BIPOC/ALAANA centered organizations by 30%.
- Distributed $205,000 in National Endowment for the Arts grants to provide pandemic recovery support to local arts groups, with 80% of funds supporting BIPOC/ALAANA centered groups.
- Conducted online workshops, in-person town halls, and professional development events for over 500 artists, arts leaders, and cultural workers.
- Selected Tshaka Menelik Imhotep Campbell as the 2022-24 Santa Clara County Poet Laureate.
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From “Reclamation: Resilience of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe;" Monica V. Arellano, Vice Chairwoman, Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Council. Photograph by Kike Arnal
SPOTLIGHT
Embracing Our Diverse Heritage
SVCREATES provides grants to approximately 100 arts organizations. Here are two examples of our 2022 investments to organizations showcasing and deepening our community’s understanding and appreciation for our diverse heritages.
New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU) partnered with Muwekma Ohlone tribal leadership on the exhibits, Reclamation: Resilience of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and Reclamation: Aboriginal Ancestral Homeland of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. This exhibition is part of an ongoing effort to speak about the continued vibrancy of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe by delving into the politics of erasure, cultural identity, revitalization, and resilience. Featuring photography by tribal photographer Kike Arnal, Reclamation aims to promote a deeper understanding of local indigenous art, culture, community, history, and contemporary Indigenous issues.
Contemporary Asian Theatre Scene (CATS) produced a sold-out Silicon Valley Asian Film Festival, raising Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) voices and stories in the face of anti-Asian hate crimes across the country. CATS continues its efforts to bring awareness and offer active solutions to these incidents as it plans programs and showcases cultural touchstones, historical stories, and lessons of AAPI heritage.
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RAISING THE VOICE AND VISIBILITY OF OUR CREATIVE CULTURE
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IN 2022 WE:
- Published 4 issues of Content Magazine featuring 68 artists and arts groups and hosted 4 Content Pick-Up Parties for over 1,100 guests.
- Produced and showcased 15 podcasts highlighting local cultural leaders and artists and 25 artist profile videos on social media.
- Named 3 artists, Jezrael Gandara, Chelsea Stewart and Kiana Honarmand, as the 2022 Content Emerging Artists.
- Awarded $5,000 unrestricted grants to our Content Emerging Artists at a grand celebration and stunning fashion show in partnership with West Valley College fashion design students.
- Partnered with Humanities Mellon Scholars from De Anza College to provide 3 career development internships.
- Produced magazine features and videos of San Jose’s 6 2022 Creative Ambassadors.
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Kiana Honarmand in Content Magazine, Issue 14.3 “Perform,” Summer 2022
SPOTLIGHT
Content Magazine Turns Ten
Content Magazine was founded by Daniel Garcia in 2012 and merged with SVCREATES in 2015. Since its inception, the Content Team has released over 60 issues, featured 1,500 Silicon Valley artists, creative entrepreneurs, and cultural leaders, hosted 58 Pick-Up Parties for over 14,000 guests, and ultimately brought our community together. Weekly podcasts, blog posts, video, e-blasts, and social media were added along the way and Content Magazine grew into Content Media with monthly readership of 9,500 and online reach of 38,000.
As a storytelling platform, Content Media embraces the beauty and soul of Silicon Valley’s creative culture, gives voice and access to artists and sector leadership, and fosters community engagement, pride, and understanding of the sector. What may be less obvious to the readers of Content is the number of professional connections and paying “gigs” Content Media has created for our local artist community.
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INCREASING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF THE ARTS
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IN 2022 WE:
- Provided arts education opportunities for over 9,000 children through ArtsEdConnect grants to Santa Clara County K-12 schools, awarding 60% of the grants to Title I schools.
- Supported over 200 educators with arts programs and materials.
- Delivered 700 hours of art education to court schools and 1,100 hours to community schools by providing teaching artists from our Studio program.
- Invested $245,000 in 18 organizations for projects to increase access to the arts for high-need communities through Arts Access Grants.
- Completed Phase II of Leah Rosenberg’s Artist in Residence installation at the Women and Children’s Center located within our county’s Valley Medical Center.
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Project Mercy at Morgan Hill Charter School
Photo by Teague Tubach
SPOTLIGHT
ArtsEdConnect in Action
Not every child has access to arts education and creative experiences. Each year, ArtsEdConnect provides opportunities for thousands of children to access arts education and creative experiences by empowering educators with access to and funding for a “marketplace” of art programs, teaching artists, and art supplies.
First graders at Windmill Springs Elementary created comics books in Vietnamese and English. They worked as a team to research, write, edit, illustrate, and publish their books resulting in a project filled with pride and satisfaction.
Third graders at Alex Anderson Elementary School worked together to create educational board games including history inspired games titled "Ohlone Village" and "Gold Miners," math games titled "Galaxy Racers" and "Math Mess," and an interdisciplinary game titled "Think Fast!" They developed the concept, built the board game pieces, tested board designs, and unleashed their creativity, critical thinking prowess, and social-emotional and learning skills.
Seventh graders at the Charter School of Morgan Hill designed an interactive experience called “Tunnel of Despair” to spread awareness about homelessness. A 25-foot tunnel was constructed using PVC pipes and tarp, then filled with original and haunting artwork.
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INCUBATION OF COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVES AND PARTNERSHIPS
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IN 2022 WE:
- Advanced municipal partnerships with Gilroy, Milpitas, San Jose, Los Gatos, and Palo Alto.
- Delivered a second year of arts research and analysis for the arts segment of the Index of Silicon Valley in partnership with Joint Venture Silicon Valley.
- Advocated with other county arts agencies and Californians for the Arts to increase state funding for the arts.
- Forged a partnership with Think Together to prototype a series of afterschool arts programs.
- Hosted a series of genARTS networking events and creative conversations.
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Steering Committee Members of genARTS, 2022
SPOTLIGHT
The Launch of genARTS
genARTS Silicon Valley was founded in 2007 by Josh Russell while he was working for Arts Council Silicon Valley and has been one of our programs since 1stACT Silicon Valley merged with the Arts Council in 2012 to become SVCREATES. The program was designed to prepare the next generation of cultural leaders for Silicon Valley’s arts and culture community of tomorrow by connecting them to mid-career and established leaders and providing networking and professional development opportunities. With funding primarily from the Hewlett Foundation, genARTS has hosted dozens of gatherings, provided scholarships to national conferences, and created mentorship, grantmaking, and awards programs.
SVCREATES has a history of incubating initiatives and organizations like School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza, SPUR San Jose, and Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) and then launching them. In partnership with the genARTS Steering Committee and co-chairs Stephanie Barajas Aguilar and Malti Lee, SVCREATES is launching genARTS’ independence on July 1, 2023. SVCREATES will become their fiscal sponsor and one of genARTS’ funders. We are proud of their journey and excited for their next phase of empowerment.
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OUR WORK IN 2022 WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH MAJOR SUPPORT FROM
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BOARD
OFFICERS
Marshall Jones, Vice President of Regional Sales at Prestige | Global Meeting Source – Chair
James LaCamp, Chief Operating Officer, Flock Safety - Treasurer
Tamara Alvarado, Program Officer of Local Grantmaking Program at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation – Secretary
Janice Fry, Former Executive VP of Development at Sun Microsystems – Immediate Past Chair
Victoria Phan, Product Marketer, Asana - Member at Large
Toni Vanwinkle, Vice President, Digital Employee Experience at Adobe Systems - Member at Large
DIRECTORS
Jaye Bailey, Chief Employee Relations Officer, Santa Clara VTA
Sean Cottle, Shareholder at Hoge Fenton
Roy Hirabayashi, Co-founder of San Jose Taiko and MALI Program Manager of School of Arts & Culture at MHP
Tim Leehane, Senior Manager, Product Management of Fire Tablets at Amazon
Kim Walesh, Former Deputy City Manager and Chief Strategist, City of San Jose
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STAFF
Connie Martinez
Tanuja Bahal
Alyssa Erickson
Daniel Garcia
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STAFF
Sarah Moore
Stephanie Phe
Alexandra Urbanowski
David Valdespino Jr.
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