#96 - Jonathan Gomez, Cofounder of Asiel Design and the Midtown Immersive Night Parties

Daniel shares his motivation, development as a photographer, and a sneak peek at what guests can expect from his upcoming solo show. 

Alyssarhaye Graciano is a San Jose Native, practicing fiber artist, and current visual arts curator at Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA).

In our conversation, Bree shares her experiences creating art of her own, producing events, and the evolution she has gone through in various phases of her life.

Haley Cardamon is the founder of San José Day

Ann manages the complex production of our annual Open Studios Art Tour with a joyful attitude. She is the liaison for several hundred Open Studios artists, event sponsors, and volunteers.

We are excited to introduce Content's new Production Manager, David Valdespino Jr.

Eva Rorandelli is a fashion designer and founder of Evaro Italia, following in the footsteps of her father Massimo and his father before him, who began manufacturing leather goods in Florence in 1943.

Priya is the creator of Mosaic's inspired framework for social cohesion using the Arts and drives the creative vision, programming strategy, artist relations, and community outreach.

Angela joined the Cinequest team as the Events & Development Manager in 2018 and has expanded her role and responsibilities to VP of Development.

James G. Leventhal is an enthusiastic art leader and visionary who has worked at top museums throughout the Bay Area and the United States. Now, as of January 2022, he is back in San Jose as the executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Art San José (ICA).

Tony’s first feature film Last Chance Charlene invites much-needed conversation about death in our culture that largely keeps it at arm’s length.

In our conversation, Ruben tells how art, music, and movies were always a way to cope with life's challenges, how they came to San Jose, and how discovering South First Art Walk opened their eyes to the creative scene.

The time he spent with Lola from 2014 until her death in December 2016 brought out in Ronquillo the artist he always wanted to be. “I was getting further and further away from my dreams and goals,” he says. “I had to come home to make my dreams come true.”

Stacey is an attorney and program manager by trade and an art lover and community builder by heart. Stacey focuses on strategic partnership development and social impact for San Jose Walls. Born and raised in San Jose, she is passionate about creating a legacy of impactful public art in her hometown. 

Photographer Marcus Lyon has been in the South Bay with his team, Camila Pastorelli, and Joe Briggs-Price, working on the next edition of the Human Atlas projects.

Starting as founder and owner of the Fencing Center in 1981, Scott's career changed as he and other business owners looked to represent the needs of downtown businesses and the Downtown community experience.

Bassist and composer Nick Panoutsos' released his first solo album Monos.

Mattie Scariot became Director of PJIFF in 2018 and grew the festival to an 8-day regional festival including Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister, and San Juan Bautista. 

In our discussion, we talked about Amanda's path to becoming the project manager and research director of Art Builds Community, her role, and the work they have been doing for the County of Santa Clara Office of Women's Policy on a project called Womanhood.

A mixed-media artist and the first Creative License Ambassador in the program’s pilot year, Corinne Okada Takara composes technology-integrated projects and crafts sculptural work out of elegant yet mundane materials, like silk, food wrappers, newspapers, and plastic produce netting.

This episode of the Content magazine podcast is a little bit different. I conducted the full audio interview with Corinda Wang and Brian Corbett of Gensler about the Los Altos State Street Market project. Corinda is the design director and senior associate, and Brian is the studio director. 

Welcome to the wonderfully whimsical, twisted, and delightfully inappropriate world of Donny Foley, aka Donbon. This Donny does it all, comics, painting, children’s books, vintage resale, cartoons and more. He is not out to change the world with his art, he just wants to make people laugh and brighten their day.

In this episode, we speak with Marissa Martinez and Matt Casey, cofounders of More Más Marami Arts. Marissa is a playwright and a creative writer, and Matt is a theatre producer and organizer.

In our conversation, Suzanne shares her passion for music and ALF's mission to join and strengthen diverse leaders in our community, to create and support networks for good. To find out more about ALF, visit their website at alfsv.org

Rebecca Herman and Mark Shoffner have been artistic collaborators since 1999, creating sculptures and installations incorporating textiles, wood, bamboo, paper, and reclaimed materials. Their recent work draws on art and architecture from different cultures to create new interaction sites and refuge in contemporary society.

Brandon has been a contributing writer for Content Magazine since our second year of publishing in 2013. In addition to Content, Brandon has written for Metro Silicon Valley and San José Jazz.

Conrad is a Ghanaian artist based in Detroit, working in figurative narratives of the African Diaspora. His work blends religious and West African folk iconography within domestic scenes, portraying  a deep understanding of the history of portraiture. He utilizes shaped canvases and relief elements to reference stamps and postcards as metaphors for migration; journals, books, binder tabs, and chapters as metaphors for time and the archiving of ideas.

Danny Thien Le, known by many in downtown San Jose as "Dandiggity" has been a key personality in the cultural scenes in San Jose from poetry, event planning, arts & music advocacy, and fashion entrepreneurship.

My-Linh Le now describes herself as a Multidisciplinary Storyteller as she has moved from being an environmental lawyer to freestyle dancer, choreographer, and director of a forthcoming film, "Mudwater." The film is an adaptation of the turf dance project she started and developed known as Mud Water Theatre.

Scott played a primary role in the development of the Boom Box, the mobile box truck stage. He has recently led the project to transfer a section of the 310 South First office space (home to SVCreates/Content Magazine and San Jose Jazz) into a performance lounge called the "Break Room."

In this episode, we speak with Rosa Maria Gordilla, the Environment Education manager, and Emily Schwing, the Public Affairs Director, to hear how the SoFA Pocket Park project came about and the plans and programs for space.

Join our conversation with SVCREATES CEO Connie Martinez on the Content Podcast as we discuss The Business of Arts and Culture.

Jeffrey Lo received the Arts Council Silicon Valley 2012 Artist Laureate: Emerging Artist Award (the precursor to the SVCreates/Content Magazine Emerging Artist Award). Lo is also the founding artistic director of San Jose’s ‘06 Ensemble where he wrote and directed “A Kind of Sad Love Story,” “Barcelona Love Song” and “The Chase.” He is producer of the New Play Development Factory which highlights and develops the work of local Bay Area playwrights.

Toni Vanwinkle is the Senior Director of Digital Workplace Technology and Services, focused on keeping Adobe's diverse and global workforce innovative, collaborative, and productive everywhere.

In our conversation, we talk about Danny's transformation to being the founder of the City Peace project as well as discuss his book "Post Traumatic Quest: From pain to purpose, purpose to peace, his memoirs, which is accompanied by three songs he had written and remastered for the May 2021 release.

Whether they realize it or not, anyone who has been to an outdoor festival in San Jose in the past 20 years has probably encountered Filco Events, the aptly-named production company headed by Fil Maresca, quietly one of the city’s most significant drivers of cultural community events since he moved here in 1989.

Doug Hughmanick is the found and creative director of ANML Design, a digital agency that crafts simple and elegant design solutions, marrying form and function to create valuable connections between businesses and people.

Maryela originally came to San José after graduating from UC Santa Cruz. She was looking to gain experience and develop a resume to become an urban planner. Through AmeriCorps and a program called Public Allies, she landed an internship with the Park and Recreation Department of San José. Once in the city, Maryela began to connect with the creative community, which led her to become a curator at MACLA.

In our conversation, Emily shares her mission for Gallery 1202 and her large aspirations to provide the South Valley arts community affordable creative spaces to pursue their dreams through the recently formed non-profit 6th Street Studios and Art Center.

Chris Jalufka is a Bay Area-based artist and writer focused on the world of design, illustration, and limited edition posters. His articles have appeared in Content Magazine, HOW Magazine, Print Magazine, Juxtapoz, and various sites and his venture, Evil Tender.

In our conversation, Shannon sure about the journey to opening. The road they have been on through COV-19 and the spark of hope they feel as they can see the light a the end of the tunnel as they slowly to reopen.

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo is a visual artist, poet, teacher, and 2021 Creative Ambassador with the Office of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Jose.

For a city that has been fasting in a desert for years, San Jose Spotlight might be just the thing to quench the community’s thirst for news.

Peter Hsieh is a writer and director from San Jose, California, who has written over 30 staged-plays. His full-length play "Tangerina" was a finalist for the 2015 Orange County New Play Festival, and the short play "A Room with Modern Furniture" won 3rd place at Playwrights CageMatch 2013 at Douglas Morrisson Theater. His feature film, "Drive All Night," which he wrote and directed, is premiering at Cinequest Film & Creativity 2021 online festival.

Eric Bui looking through his social media feed, you will notice that he enjoy drawing with ink and pen to a digital tool like Procreates.  Recently, Eric has been found himself in the local spotlight because of a piece he had submitted to a group exhibit curated by the City of San Jose called "Holding the Moment," a series of works by 77 artists displayed at the San Jose International Airport.

South Bay native Brendan Rawson has worked in the local arts scene for more than twenty years. Since joining San Jose Jazz (SJZ) in 2012, Brendan has worked to increase their education programs' impact and conceived many of their most successful initiatives, including Jazz Beyond programming and the mobile Boombox Truck stage.

Cinequest was one of the first California institutions to make tough choices to move the festival after six safe days of in-person events but then had closed the rest of the festival.  Fortunately, Cinequest leadership was already working on a digital media platform called, Creatics that they could alter to include online screenings in the summer of 2020, which has been a great test run for this year's Cinequest Online Festival March 20-30th.

Marianne K. McGrath is a Los Gatos, California, local who used her background in art and art history to build her own business, MKM Art Consulting, LLC., to practice curating, art consulting, and art education. Marianne holds a BA in art and 3-D design, as well as an MA in art history from San Jose State University. Her passion for art led her to a career focused on sharing art with the community, especially seen through her work with the New Museum Los Gatos (formerly The Museums of Los Gatos). Art exhibits and projects hosted by MKM Art Consulting include "To Hear and Be Heard" and "31 Women."

Chad Johnston, CEO of CreaTV San Jose, sees immense opportunity and a chance to reshape what we’ve come to know as Public Access TV, and transform it into a powerful public tool for local storytelling and media activism.

He calls himself "Mr. Walker." He started out hosting comedy nights at San Jose's Britannia Arms and now performs at the Ice House, San Jose Improv, Laughs Unlimited, Rooster T. Feathers, and the Caravan Lounge. He's also emcee'ed Music in the Park and San Jose Jazz Festival stages.

Jorge “J.Duh” Camacho uses the symbiotic duality of his creative process—fine art versus street—to create unique, vibrant, and witty works of art.

Their passion for art and community lead them to launch the School of Visual Philosophy in 2013. The vision was to provide a place for artists to learn, create, and develop a new pedagogy for creative craftsmanship and art.

In 2019, Sinjin moved from Colorado to the Bay Area and is currently rounding up his first year as the Artistic Director at Pear Theatre in Mountain View, California. Sinjin has been able to use his skills in multiple medias to innovate creative solutions to keep Pear Theatre running during the global pandemic.

Juan founded Baunfire in 2003 to provide "great work" for his clients and soon realized that a "great team" is the key to the quality of Baunfire's service. As a digital design agency based in the heart of Silicon Valley, downtown San Jose, they have partnered with leading global brands and forward-thinking startups to design and develop elevated platforms on the web. Baunfire has partnered with a diverse group of high-profile clients including Nike, Netgear, Honda, Cisco, The Walt Disney Company, and more.

Sayre shares about the adjustments and changes the museum has made during COVID-19 and some of the plans for the museum moving into 2021.

In our conversation, Joe shares about a design lesson "nugget" as well as talk about the roll of graphic design for cultural equity and inclusion. Jos also shares the vision and future of Works San Jose and the change they have had to make during COVID-19.

Karen Kienzle is Director of the Palo Alto Art Center and oversees this vital community organization's vision, budget, marketing efforts, and staffing. Karen brings more than 15 years of experience in arts administration to the Art Center and a Lecturer San Francisco State University's museum program.

Michael Ogilvie, formerly overseeing public art programs in Las Vegas and Clark County, as San Jose's public art director, seeks to deepen San Jose inhabitants' appreciation of their home and leads the city's public art program by stewarding over 250 works of art, research, and plans and evaluates public art projects.

Lately, two topics seem to be on the mind of Santa Clara County's latest poet laureate, Janice Lobo Sapigao: death and childhood. Though "beginning" and "end" might seem polar opposites, they're closer than we often give them credit for.

Steve Borkenhagen has been an entrepreneur and business owner in Silicon Valley since 1975. He opened Camera One Theater, the first repertory cinema in San Jose, and partners in 1975. Since then, Steve had founded and operated multiple bars and restaurants in the South Bay Area, including Eulipia Restaurant from 1977 to 2012 when they transitioned to be Cafe Stritch.

Cain co-founded Cowgirl Bike Courier, a San Jose-based bike messenger service, with Amanda Muehlbauer in 2014. After running the business for a few years in the South Bay, better business opportunities led him to San Francisco; but after an injury and changes in the messenger industry, Cain retired from that business. Soon after, the contacts he had made as a messenger led him to his next gig with Paper Moon Coffee Company.

Omar Rodriguez founded Kooltura Marketing to provide creative communications agency that works  through the paradigm of multicultural marketing, a form of marketing that bases its strategy and methods on the people, culture, language, and history of the community it hopes to target. Kooltura has targeted San Jose’s Mayfair community and downtown San Jose. 

Ren Geisick isn't a typical jazz or country singer. As a matter of fact, she categorizes herself as an Americana singer-songwriter. Growing up with country and jazz icons playing through the stereo in her San Jose home, she is equally influenced by Bob Dylan and Nina Simone; she flows seamlessly, from the soulful delivery of a jazz ballad to the carefree lilt of an American folk song. Ren is a solo artist and co-leads new funk and soul band The Anachronistics with William Bohrer.

Demone Carter's original plan was to be a "famous" rapper but found himself in the arts nonprofit world after starting after school youth hip-hop dance program. He continues to Rap and make music, but that transition led his path to become an influential voice in the South Bay creative scene. From overseeing MALI and the School of Arts and Culture programs to co-hosting a Rap culture podcast with Needle to the Groove team members, Dave Ma and Nate Leblanc, which has recently been pick-up by Stony Island Podcast Network.

Trami Nguyen Cron, the founder of Chopsticks Alley Art, and author of her 2016 debut novel, VietnamEazy: A NovelaboutMothers, Daughters, and Food. Having lived in cultural crossroads for most of her life Trami founder Chopsticks Ally Arts in 2018 to bring their people’s artwork outside of their community into the mainstream so that “our narrative, our voices, our version of things is being seen.”

Karen Gutfreund is a curator focusing on feminist and social justice themed art and is also a practicing artist. She has been a contributor to Content Magazine with her piece on "Art as Slow Change" (http://bit.ly/artslowchange104). Karen's current work is a catalog featuring 147 artists with over 350 works titled, "Not Normal: Art in the Age of Trump" as is a visual protest of the Trump administration.

Founder, and President of Sangam Arts Usha started reconnecting with native forms of art from her home country, which led her into the local arts and culture scene.

Jonathan Williams took the helm as Executive Artistic Direct in July, amid the COVID pandemic. As a theatre, their performances (and revenue) came to an abrupt halted with the shelter-in-place orders. Immediately, the Tabard team began to think to go way to pivot and produce a live-stream format and presented one-man show performances of "Looking Over the President's Shoulder," featuring James Creer.

Jessica accepted the School of Arts and Culture's role in March 2019 with years of experience in community service and activation. She brings those skills, knowledge, and passion to her new position, which has been vital. They have had to pivot t they working out the mission to catalyze creativity and empowers the community. 

Fiesta Pamplona is a documentary project from local photojournalist and San Jose State alumnus Neal Waters. The beautify shot film records the process and events surrounding the Fiesta de San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, which include the daily running of the bulls.

Michael is one of the co-founders of the Needle to the Groove (NTTG) record store in San José and also know as DJ Basura. David Ma is part of the NTTG label, and is an accomplished writer, contributor, and curator to Content Magazine's Album Pick series. Check out latest selection at https://bit.ly/AlbumPicks123

If you have been listening to the Content Podcast, you have heard her song "Muddy Water" behind the intro and the closing credits. Socorra, featured in issue 9.2, has not only been performing and connecting with the local music scene; she has also helped organize events with Filco and raise the next generation of artists as a teacher with the School of Rock. 

A Conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with Valéria (“Val”) Miranda and Hannah Garcia. Valéria (“Val”) Miranda is the Executive Director of Santa Cruz Art League and a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant. Hannah Garcia is the Grants Program Manager and the Equity Catalyst for the Arts Council of Santa Cruz.

Jay Kim, as Silicon Valley pastor, found himself wondering if the Church's quick implication of new technologies happened without giving thought to want might be lost in its application. That gave way to him penning his first book, Analog Church (InterVarsity Press).

In our conversation, Rah discusses how her plans to resign from Eastridge Center on March 13 to work abroad four months in South East Asia with Remote Year changed and delayed because of COVID-19. As a planner, how that has been a learning experience for her. We also discuss her thoughts on social media and what we have grown to discover and love about the uniqueness of the South Bay.

Cathy Kimball - Executive Director and Chief Curator San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Cathy Kimball as been with the ICA since 2000 and has planned her retirement as the ICA turns 40, though she will continue to participate in various ways, specifically to assist with the Marcus Lyon project, "De.Coded: A Human Atlas of Silicon Valley" by the Packard Foundation, scheduled for 2022.

In addition to her prior roles as Co-Founder of Local Color and Founding Board Member of Catalyze SV, Ellina Yin is a firm believer that local government is ground zero of systemic change. As a community engagement enthusiast born and raised in Eastside San Jose, she is always on the lookout to raise awareness and encourage civic participation in more meaningful and productive ways.

Sam and his partner Lauren Burns have gone from a pop-up coffee trailing to three cafés. The most recent location (on The Alameda near Santa Clara University) opened right at the beginning of the Shelter-in-Place order for Santa Clara County because fo COVID-19.

In addition to contributing to Content Magazine, Michelle works as a Policy Counselor for one of the large Silicon Valley Social Media companies. In our conversation, Michelle reveals her love for Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and cast her vote for Star Trek over Star War.

Co-Founder of Empire Seven Studios (E7S) and POW! WOW! San Jose, along with his partner Jennifer Ahn, Curator and Gallery Manager. ES7 was established in 2008 as an urban contemporary art gallery located in Japantown San Jose at Empire St. and 7th St.

Grace Talice is a writer and contributor writer and editor with Content Magazine.

oe Hyrkin has been the CEO of Issuu, a digital publishing platform, for the last seven and a half years, the longest he has been with any company in his career. Having worked in business development and sales for companies like Yahoo! and Flickr, Joe has spent most of his career working in the intersection of content and technology.

Ralph Buenconsejo recently launched out on his own as a freelance designer after working several years with the Baunfire Agency.

In addition to being a contributing writer and editor with Content Magazine since 2018, Esther Young's main creative outline is songwriting. Though, she might not tell you that she can be found at local open mic shows and slowing releasing her songs on Spotify.

Though Brad's day job as a public relations profession for WRIKE involves a lot of writing, he has found that "creativity isn't a finite resource." As he seeks to be inspired in what he does for work, he discovers inspiration in his creative writing and songwriting, and vice-versa.

Kristen Pfund has been part of the Content team since 2014, first as a volunteer, and then brought on staff to help oversee the production of our events and assist with our partner relationships. 

Jimmy Fonseca is an artist, muralist, and cofounder of Downtown Screen Printers. Join our conversation with Jimmy, who shares how being a resident artist at Local Color organically leads to form Downtown Screen Printers with Aliks Hernandez.

Genevieve Hastings is an installation artist and the director of the Art Ark Gallery in San Jose. In this episode, Genevieve shares how her curiosity has led her from studying linguistic and anthropology, to travel, and to directing a local gallery. 

Avni Levy is a contributing Content photographer and, like most of our contributors, has a growing creative content business of her own. In our conversation, Avni shared here daily routine, a few helpful practices for creatives, and three great books, including "The Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod.

Massimo Chisessi is the marketing director for San Jose Jazz (SJZ). In our conversation, Massimo tells about his experience in the arts, and with arts organizations. He explains the transitions the SJZ has taken to help musicians during the shelter in place order. As well as his sharing about his personal experience of the passing of his father during this COVID19 atmosphere.

Isaiah Wilson is one of the Cofounders of the Come Up, a collective that showcases local musicians and artists. In our conversation, Isaiah talks about his transition in the way he approaches producing shows and gathering.

Kerry Adams Hapner has been the director of the Office of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Jose for the last 12 years. She oversees the department and staff that helps shape the City’s artistic and cultural vibrancy, resources, and vision.

Sean Boyles Co-Owner of The Arsenal Art Store Sean Boyles is an artist, teacher, and co-owner of the Arsenal ArtStore in Japantown, with his wife, Roan Victor. We talk about this life as an artist, shelter-in-place, and the expansion plans for The Arsenal Art Store.

Dalia Rawson, Director of the New Ballet, leads San Jose's school of classical ballet but credits her online gaming experience for their ability to transition to online classes during the shelter-in-place order. If the combination of ballet and gaming appears to be an odd pairing, what about Ballet and Aliens?

Frank Nguyen is the owner of Academic Coffee, which has become a community favorite over the last few years. Recently, Frank demonstrated innovation, foresight, and care for his employees, as he adjusted his menu during the beginning days of the Shelter-in-Place order due to the COVID-19 pandemic.