On Saturday, April 25, 2026, downtown San Jose was bustling with energy, as if it were the gateway to an early summer. At the city’s center, the evening began at the circle of palms with the 2026 Gala + Auction, a signature moment where supporters gathered to invest in the creativity and community that define the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA). This year, the museum honored sculptor Alison Saar with the Artist of Distinction Award and recognized The Adobe Foundation with the SJMA Visionary Award. While the gala sets the foundation for the museum’s mission through an elegant dinner and live auction, the After-Party—presented by Casino M8trix—opens the doors to the broader community, inviting everyone to join the celebration that began earlier.
Walking the purple carpet and seeing members of the arts community dressed in their finest immediately set the tone for a night of shared revelry. Even guests at the gala who seemed to be on their way out at the start of the after-party could be seen second-guessing the decision as the music began to hum. The heart of the party was the dance floor, centered in the museum lobby directly beneath Pae White’s installation, Noisy Blushes, hovering over the crowd like a geometric disco ball landing on Earth. The piece, a meditation on movement and time, material presence, and the elusiveness of form, links the outside with the inside of the museum and serves as a fitting beacon of an evening elevated by the confluence of community. On this night, the lobby was transformed into the classiest nightclub in town, pulsing to live sets by mainstay local DJs and vibe curators DJ Chale Brown and Cutso, with a surprise guest performance by Lyrics Born that electrified the audience.
The vibe on the dance floor was buzzing, a convergence of backgrounds and styles all moving together under the shimmer of White’s work. Between dances, guests enjoyed chef-crafted “light bites” in the Wendel Center from local restaurant partners, including Mezcal Restaurant, The Club on Post, Scott’s Seafood, and Casino M8trix, paired with specialty spirits from 10th St. Distillery. The unique charm of the atmosphere allowed attendees to easily slip away from the music and to the museum’s galleries and experience world-class artwork in a more intimate setting, exploring current exhibitions like Motherboards, ektor garcia: loose ends, and Tending and Dreaming. It was a testament to the power of art and community joy in downtown San Jose.
In 2000, a local school received a seed donation to grow an arts program. The school put out a request for applications and proposals, looking for a bright mind to guide its vision. Enter Ann Watts, a bubbly professional dancer with experience teaching and a scrappy tech startup attitude. Watts continues the story. “I applied, and I came in with the idea that we could do so much more than one art discipline at this one school. I wanted to bring in all the arts, provide for professional artists, and service the entire industry.” Watts’ proposal laid the groundwork for what is now Starting Arts.
Starting Arts is a hands-on, multidisciplinary arts program that implements art classes within public schools across the Bay Area. These classes are standards-based, aligned with Common Core, taught by skilled professionals, and take place during and after school. Watts grew Starting Arts with a combination of experience and an eager team of supporters. That growth further developed when she joined Mindshare.
This is what makes me want to get up every morning— meeting all of these creative folks and supporting them by just getting out of their way. They have so much to give; I just have to facilitate.”
“The nonprofit world can feel so siloed and isolating. Mindshare created a network and gathered a large group of people from different arts disciplines within the nonprofit sector,” says Watts. “We could ask each other anything; nothing was off the table.” These connections with arts leaders allowed Starting Arts to foster tangible partnerships with other Santa Clara County–based arts organizations such as Chopsticks Alley Art, Los Lupeños, and San Jose Taiko. “Those partnerships were really impactful for the community of kids and families that work with us,” shares Watts. Mindshare also included a one-on-one coaching program that further developed these leaders’ skills and knowledge. Watts’ coach helped her establish workflows for an expanding organization. In 22 years, Starting Arts grew from one school to 125, and six to 15 employees. “The number of contractors we worked with tripled. It was crucial for me to learn how to manage the growth of the organization’s infrastructure to remain sustainable.”
Today, Starting Arts provides art classes for thousands of students, and their schedule is booked through next year. Watts shares, “This is what makes me want to get up every morning— meeting all of these creative folks and supporting them by just getting out of their way. They have so much to give; I just have to facilitate.”
Since 1991, the SVLaureate program has awarded more than 150 of the finest artists the South Bay has to offer with honors, recognition, and a cash prize to assist them in pursuing their craft. This year, awards were given in several different categories: Off Stage (an artist working offstage, backstage, or pre-performance), On Stage (a performing artist), On the Wall (a visual artist working in traditional or mixed media), Off the Wall (a visual artist working in sculpture), and Emerging Artist (a young artist in any medium who shows promise for continued growth and excellence). This year the program added a new award, the SVNexus Award, honoring an artist who uses technology to fuel their creative work.
These artists are chosen based on the work they have created and their commitment to their communities. Through their work as teachers, artists, and performers, each of the SVLaureates has shown a devotion to their craft that includes mentorship, service, and forging new cultural understanding.
Kimberly Mohne Hill: Off Stage Recipient
Kimberly Mohne Hill grew up in the small Northern California town of Kelseyville. At age nine, she saw her first play—a high school production of Annie Get Your Gun—and was immediately hooked on the possibilities of live theater. After studying acting at UC San Diego, San Jose State, and A.C.T. in San Francisco, she performed in a number of productions around the Bay Area. A natural teacher, with an ability to empathize with both characters and actors, Hill eventually shifted gears to directing as she helmed The Seafarer for the San Jose Stage Company in 2009. She has had continued success with productions of In the Next Room, Venus in Fur, and others.
“I have always had a vivid, deeply empathetic imagination. When I read a novel, I believe in the circumstances of the characters so easily and fully…the stage is a place where that kind of active empathy has a home; I am able to live inside the stories I read for an extended time. Theater is the place where I feel normal, like my way of looking at the world isn’t weird, but required.
“I’m inspired in different ways by different people for different reasons. My daughters inspire me to seek out stories that encourage and uplift women. My husband inspires me to do work that is worthy of taking my time away from him and our family. As I age and our kids get older, I realize that time is precious and I want to spend it on quality experiences, quality art, and quality time with quality people. I feel very blessed to get to do what I do; if this award opens doors for me to help advance the arts and cultural landscape in San Jose, then that would be the best part about receiving this honor.”
This article originally appeared in Issue 10.3 “Profiles”
Celebrating the vibrancy and impact of early-career artists across disciplines.
SVCreates is excited to announce the 2024 Content Emerging Artist Award recipients, celebrating the vibrancy and impact of early-career artists working in all disciplines across visual, performing, and literary arts. This award, a testament to SVCreates’ commitment to building the capacity and amplifying the voices of artists in our community, has been granted to two artists who have made a significant impact. These artists, who work with diverse communities and across mediums, have shown remarkable courage in taking risks and embracing challenges. Their unwavering commitment to their practice, intentional sharing of their vision, and rigorous approach to creation and production are commendable. We are privileged to have them as part of our community in Santa Clara County, where they have contributed significantly to the richness and vibrancy of our region. This year’s recipients are Esther Young and Elba Rachel.
Esther Young
When Esther Young sits down to write music, she processes the outside world by looking inward—a fragment of a memory, a dusting of spirituality, the electrochemical processor that analyzes those inputs. The intuitive nature of her work is reflected in lyrics and stories that sometimes even she can only decode once she steps away from the source. The product is what she calls “ethereal indie folk.” Her music videos portray things like going for a drive, playing guitar in the woods, or doing laundry, but they contain a tilt of celestial normalcy that begs viewers to review the lyrics in the description. In many ways, Esther is laying bare her process of self-discovery for listeners and asking them to join her. In many ways, that process of self-discovery has been a process of redefining community.
Esther Young grew up as a shy kid in the East Bay, raised by a Chinese immigrant family devoted to their Chinese Christian faith. Esther was enrolled in classical piano lessons, sang in church, and generally listened to the music her parents showed her. She recalls, “I grew up around a mix of crazy music. My dad likes Chinese pop music, and I wasn’t allowed to listen to a lot of secular music.” At that time, her relationship with music was structured with a focus on worship. Early on, the roots of her songwriting stemmed from the prayers she would journal. That practice was a haven for her intimate musings.
“To write a heartfelt song, you must live with an open heart so that the ache is tangible.”
-Esther Young
Esther’s teenage years proved transitional in her approach to life, music, and spirituality. She disenrolled from classical piano classes, picked up the guitar, and began listening to secular music. These developments drew Esther closer to her voice as an artist but were also forms of assimilating into an idyllic American lifestyle. She admits, “I wanted to blend in with American culture for much of my life. I tried hard to avoid the parts of me that are Chinese.” Esther later attended Santa Clara State University, where she majored in both English and music. She became invested in finding her voice through the communities she engaged with. That experience culminated in her disaffiliation with religion. She explains, “I don’t identify as Christian anymore. I thought so many people should be saved, but according to the rules I had learned, they wouldn’t be. It was the existence of all my beautiful gay and queer friends that made those rules not make sense. I just wanted to live my most authentic life, and I started to feel more like myself—less conflicted.”
Esther credits the open mics she attended in college as a critical moment in her trajectory as a singer-songwriter. She says, “Mighty Mike McGee’s storytelling open mics were the first I went to. It wasn’t even music open mics, but I knew that was the space I wanted to be in. As a writer, what’s valuable to us is what’s being said and why it’s being said.” That emphasis on storytelling is manifested in Esther’s lyrically driven compositions. Much of her writing is distilled from her own lived experiences, but she hopes to imbue her work with universal themes and community voices. Esther’s work as a journalist and non-profit cultural worker has helped shape that perspective and worldview. She says, “As writers and artists, to be effective, we must explore our blind spots; to know ourselves, we must know our history. My pet peeve is when songwriters put together lines that have no purpose other than to rhyme—what a wasted opportunity. To write a heartfelt song, you must live with an open heart so that the ache is tangible.”
Esther’s journey of self-discovery through song is ongoing, but she is constantly refining her process. As a recipient of the 2024 Content Emerging Artist Award, Esther hopes to spend more time in the studio recording unreleased music and begin work on new music videos. In addition, she has recently been collaborating with local contemporaries. “Playing with other musicians that I look up to, who have strengths that I don’t have, has been exciting to me,” she says. Esther’s emphasis on community parallels her reflections on the importance of art. She explains, “If the art community has a foundational belief, the way that church does, it would be ‘what you do matters,’ period. I feel like that’s what holds our communities together. Everyone has a chance to tell their truth. There’s that sense of acceptance. I think that’s the thing about art that is so healthy for people.”
Reflecting on her past, Esther says, “I’m grateful to the younger versions of me that spent time alone writing. I’m proud of her.” When asked why folks should care about Esther Young, she replies, “I’m always trying. When I see the worth in something, I will put some effort behind it. I’m always sincere.”
Celebrating the vibrancy and impact of early-career artists across disciplines.
SVCreates is excited to announce the 2024 Content Emerging Artist Award recipients, celebrating the vibrancy and impact of early-career artists working in all disciplines across visual, performing, and literary arts. This award, a testament to SVCreates’ commitment to building the capacity and amplifying the voices of artists in our community, has been granted to two artists who have made a significant impact. These artists, who work with diverse communities and across mediums, have shown remarkable courage in taking risks and embracing challenges. Their unwavering commitment to their practice, intentional sharing of their vision, and rigorous approach to creation and production are commendable. We are privileged to have them as part of our community in Santa Clara County, where they have contributed significantly to the richness and vibrancy of our region. This year’s recipients are Esther Young and Elba Rachel.
Elba Raquel
A young girl stares off into space while sitting at the dinner table, surrounded by family. “Elba!” the girl’s father says, snapping his fingers for a reaction. “Elba, where are you?” the man echoes. Elba replies as if a fog had begun to lift: “I am right here.” “No, we lost you,” her father replies.
Growing up, Elba Raquel was a daydreamer. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would reply with professions such as detective, writer, or world traveler. She shares, “I have a restless mind and a zest for life. My parents were protective of us growing up, but I always wanted to live a more exciting life.” As far back as she can remember, she loved drawing. When preparing for college, she knew “it was either going to be writing or art. I chose art because it was the only thing that fulfilled me 100 percent.” Through art, she could investigate the subjects she painted, travel to a world of her own creation, and tell stories through her imagery.
While steadfast in her passion to pursue art, Elba remembers her family’s skepticism. “They wanted to convince me to switch majors. They would say things like, ‘¿Dónde vas a comer? You’re not going to make any money as an artist.’ They thought I was wasting my potential.” She went on to earn an AS in two-dimensional design, a BFA in illustration from the Academy of Art University, and an MFA in art education from Santa Clara University. That self-determination to forge her own path has been a constant theme in her journey.
Elba discovered Mexican painter Frida Kahlo while in high school. Researching her work stirred Elba’s identity as an artist. Like Kahlo, Elba painted her reality, which included the pain of lost love, states of depression, and familial turmoil. Painting was a conduit for peace, a way to work through those emotions. She explains, “Art has been my savior. I also feel bad for my art because I place my burdens on it. Many of my paintings are about my torments, but I am working to make art about happiness and joy.”
Elba’s technical ability to produce masterful realism on canvas contrasts the time it has taken to discover her unique style and voice. That discovery process spanned a decade, including having children and becoming an art teacher. She truly fleshed out her approach only during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elba recalls, “I had completed enough Instagram challenges that asked artists to create characters in their own style, and I began to notice my own style. I was doing two-dimensional lead pencil realism with highlighter backgrounds. I started trying that style on a large scale and fell in love with it. I completed a piece called Mexicanas Unidas. That was my first ‘Elba’ piece.” Mexicanas Unidas is a 4-foot by 6-foot self-portrait in grayscale with a crimson-red background. The subject is adorned with colorful tattoos and is strangling a fang-baring snake.
“Art has been my savior. I also feel bad for my art because I place my burdens on it.”
-Elba Raquel
Mexicanas Unidas was a turning point in Elba’s career. Along with finding her style, she discovered her voice. Elba began painting murals at events like the Bizare Art Festival and with the San Jose–based artist collective Together We Create. She noticed the lack of women participating in live painting events and made empowering women part of her mission. “That’s my little bit of change. I know it has to start with me. The more successful I am as a female artist, the more others give themselves permission to do what I am doing.” As part of that mission, Elba has participated in the Art Builds Community’s Womanhood project that recognizes influential Santa Clara County women. She actively seeks women to assist her with projects, has created a portfolio of female muralists, and actively engages with feminist themes in her studio practice.
Elba describes her work as a muralist: “Muralism is my heart and soul because it gets me away from myself and takes me into a different role that serves the community. I love Frida Kahlo for her ability to put herself out there and be 100 percent vulnerable. But I admired Diego Rivera for his audacity in creating pieces that were larger than himself. Murals are my gift to the community. It’s their voice and vision through my style and symbolism.”
As a recipient of the 2024 Content Emerging Artist Award, Elba plans to create more from a place of joy, manifesting the reality she wants to live. “We think we have to create from pain. But we can also paint from light. We don’t always have to paint alone, either. Paintings don’t talk back to you. They don’t give you a life. People do.” She is currently working on a new body of work under the moniker “Bo$$ Bïtçh” that she plans to share with the community through social media by exploring performance art. Elba is determined to forge her own path and be a light for those who follow it.
Join us on Friday, November 22, for Pick-Up Party 17.1, “Discover” at The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. This issue’s magazine in-real-life experience celebrates the creatives featured in the issue, including graffiti legends King157 & Nexus, breakdancer Vicki “La Vix” Chang, fiber artist Jaya Griscom, and more.
The party will feature over 20 pop-up murals presented in partnership with 1Culture, painted by artists from current and past issues of Content Magazine. The evening will also include food trucks curated by Feast Mode, beer from Foxtale Fermentation Project, music from Edward of SOBA Collective, and a dance performance from the breaking crew, Elephant Graveyard.
Issue 17.1, “Discover,” Cultivator Notes:
“I have wanted to do a primer on graffiti writing for years, and I am excited to see it finally become a reality in this issue. I wanted a primer because, though I don’t know much about graffiti, I wanted to honor the long tradition of street art in the South Bay and appreciate graffiti art’s role in many artists’ journeys. Many “bombers” have found their community through painting, which has helped them avoid other avenues that might not have been positive. I can’t pretend to be knowledgeable or an expert; thus, I am very thankful to Joey Reyes for helping bring this primer into existence.
Also, I want to thank Andrew Espino of 1Culture for his support in connecting us with Nexus and King157 and for providing a venue and a “yard” where this artwork could be created and displayed.
This issue is merely an overview of the craft. We will continue to feature these often-overlooked artists in the future, as we have in the past with Girafa, RC, Mesnger, and Wisper. But for now, we hope that in this issue, you will see that there is more to street art to be discovered.”
In this conversation, Daniel Garcia and David Valdespino Jr., the Cultivator and Developer of Content Magazine, discuss the curation of issue 17.1, “Discover,” share some insight into how each story connects, and layout what folks can expect from Pick-Up Party 17.1 “Discover.”
Thank you to our outstanding contributors. This magazine is only possible with your words, photos, and keen editing eye.
Thank you to our event partners: The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 1CULTURE, Foxtale Fermentation Project, and Feast Mode SJ by Culture Night Market.
Become a member and help support our mission to feature local creatives.
The SVArts program annually awards prestigious honors to Santa Clara County-based artists in a variety of categories and disciplines. In the nearly 30 years since its establishment, the program has awarded more than 175 artists who push the boundaries of creativity with both recognition and a cash prize to assist in pursuing their craft. This year, awards were given in the categories of Backstage (for those working behind-the-scenes in a theatrical setting), On Stage (for a performing artist), On the Wall (for visual artists working in traditional or mixed media), On the Page (a new award recognizing an artist in the literary arts), Emerging Artist (for a young artist in any medium who shows promise for continued growth and excellence), the SV Nexus Award (honoring an artist who uses technology to fuel their creative work).
The artists are chosen based not only on their body of work, but also on their community involvement and engagement. As educators, artists, and performers, each of them has devoted time not only to their own craft but also to mentoring others and forging new cultural connections in the diverse Silicon Valley community.
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Jarvis Subia Emerging Artist
Jarvis Subia was born and raised in San Jose, graduated from Oak Grove High School, and attended college at San Francisco State, where he found his passion at a campus spoken word poetry group called S.P.E.A.K. (Spoken Poetry Expressed by All Kinds). He soon began traveling the country, competing in poetry slams as a representative for local poetry groups. In 2018, he earned the Grand Slam Champion award at the San Jose Poetry Slam. His writing draws on influences from music to visual arts to photography, and touches on topics of personal experiences, social issues, and community. While he will always consider the world of slam poetry home, he aspires to hone his craft to create literary work as well, bringing “a new fierce voice to an older practice.”
“I’ve been blessed with [the chance] to travel and perform my work across the country. It’s a gorgeously wholesome feeling to be recognized by the city you grew up in. The arts always seem to be combatants in juxtaposition with gentrification. It continues to seem [that way] in the Bay as more new and affluent people move in and more artists move out, pushed out by the rising cost of living and lack of adequate work, especially work that provides enough to comfortably create art. There are so many writers, performers, organizers, painters, photographers, etc. coming together to ensure art happens; arts tend to get cultivated by the people who need it most. [There are] new, urgent voices and art movements emerging.”
Iranian American visual artist Pantea Karimi began formally studying art at age 14 and never looked back. With the encouragement of her parents, she earned an MFA in Graphic Design from the Art University in Tehran before opening up her own studio there. In 2001, she moved to England to study printmaking while showcasing many of her own works in galleries and collections around the world. She continued her studies at San Jose State starting in 2005 with a second master’s degree in painting and printmaking. Drawn from an early age to her mother’s fashion magazines—not only for the clothing styles, but for the layout and design elements—some of Karimi’s recent work has brought this thread back into focus as she has studied various forms of print media from a design lens. Today, she is a sought-after speaker at museums and universities; she also teaches at the College of San Mateo and maintains a studio in Palo Alto.
“As an artist, I am naturally driven by my deep feelings and childhood experiences that have shaped my perceptions of the world. My work has been an exploration into the pages of medieval Persian, Arab, and early modern European scientific manuscripts. The scientific books from these periods offer nuanced understandings of the relationship between form and text, and above all, between scientific concepts and their myriad manifestations in visual forms. I also draw inspiration from artists from around the world, my peers, and art genres. I am always thankful to the art communities that embraced me and contributed to my growth as an artist.”
Mel Day was born and raised in Canada, the eldest of nine children. Her parents were botanists, and at a young age she found creative inspiration in the strange fungal forms she saw as she peered into their microscopes. On her educational path, she took many turns through various colleges, exploring different artistic practices and embarking on scientific adventures; she eventually wound up with an MFA from UC Berkeley. Today, her wide range of multidisciplinary experiences and interests have manifested in a new participatory singing platform and video installation inspired by her previous work, Wall of Song, which compiled hundreds of online voices into a community musical experience.
“I remember working on a piece that was one of the most technically and emotionally challenging projects I have ever made. The piece just went through one too many moves, as it were. But this piece catalyzed my practice. I received valuable feedback, learned restraint, and kept following the thread of the work. I now draw upon these learnings as an educator and ultimately am grateful for the ways in which I’ve been privileged to continue in my practice. I feel inspired and mentored by many of the people that I’ve met in this area who are working at the edges of their fields. I realize now that living here has deeply influenced, nurtured, and supported my practice in way that might not have been otherwise possible. I’ve been drawn to the resonance of collective singing ever since I can remember when my father first played records at top volume in our living room of thousands of Welshmen singing. These voices have now come full circle in my work.”
Andrea Bechert traces her interest in scenic design for live theater back to her middle school years watching her father design a tunnel through a mountain, helping him build things, and feeling his support of her creativity. “Both my parents taught me to work hard, do my absolute best, take great pride in all that I do, treat everyone with respect and kindness, and to see the beauty in the world all around us,” she says. Bechert attended Ohio University and studied Scenography, then did an internship at the Salzburg Festspielhaus in Austria. In the ’90s, she moved to the Bay Area with no contacts and no work, finding what opportunities she could as a designer, a stagehand, a scenic artist, and a props master. A two-year sabbatical in Chicago turned into 11 years, but she eventually returned to the Bay Area, which she considers “one of the most beautiful places in the country.” She has now designed over 350 productions nationwide, and in addition to continuing to work in theater, teaches at both San Jose State and the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts.
“As a Scenic Designer, I have a unique and magical task. I create a new world for each production, unique to the particular characters and stories. When I do my job well, the audience connects with these visuals, becoming engrossed in the experience of the play, transported momentarily into the world of the characters. In the best of instances, my design, the arrangement and composition of the visual elements, inspires mental and emotional connections in the audience members’ minds. Live theater is like a guided dream for the audience, and each audience member’s experience is unique and magical. Designers do not just design spaces and environments, we design dreams.”
A San Jose native, Ray Furuta has devoted his career to the flute. As a prodigious high school student, he was invited to take private lessons with renowned flutist Carol Wincenc and continued to study under her private instruction through college. In 2011, Furuta returned on a break from his studies at Stony Brook University in New York and had a revelation that there simply wasn’t enough opportunity available in his own hometown for classical musicians to thrive. So, he founded Chamber Music Silicon Valley (CMSV) to fill the void, an organization for which he still serves as Artistic Director. Initially conceived as an outlet for traditional classical performances, today CMSV attempts to push the boundaries of what chamber music can be in the hopes of making it more relevant to the diverse Silicon Valley community. Furuta, meanwhile, continues to tour worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher, and cultural ambassador.
“Being able to give musicians the tools they need to go out and be successful is a very important mission for me. I also have a passion for using my talents to ignite social change—to enable my students to go out and be advocates for music and social justice. Working hard to better the lives of my family and make them proud of me is a constant inspiration (not pressure, at all). They sacrificed so much for me to achieve the career that I currently have—so giving back to them is an important inspiration for me. Otherwise, breaking social and cultural barriers and creating a better world through music is overall what I strive to accomplish; even if the impact is only a little, that little matters very much to me and keeps me working hard.”
Renee Billingslea grew up in Eugene, Oregon. The product of two artists herself (her mother was a ballet dancer, her father a graphic designer and painter), she was always surrounded by the arts, so a career in photography seems only natural. She earned a BFA from Southern Oregon University before transplanting to San Jose State for her MFA, where her biggest challenge was nurturing both a career and a newborn daughter. Her hard work paid off; she completed her master’s and is now a senior lecturer at Santa Clara University. Her current project is Ten American Concentration Camps, a study of the 10 locations of World War II Japanese American internment and the impacts of these camps on citizens and communities. It is set to debut next year at the Triton Museum of Art.
“In the 7th grade, I took my first photography class with Ms. Geoller and was completely seduced by the instant gratification that black and white analog photography gave me. There was a true connection, and years later, I would learn this was one of my life’s callings. Now that our baby is mostly grown, I find myself running to my studio and keeping a journal of the many ideas and work I must do. Every day I am grateful for all my abilities that allow me to grow and evolve as an artist.”
Since 1991, the SVLaureate program has awarded more than 150 of the finest artists the South Bay has to offer with honors, recognition, and a cash prize to assist them in pursuing their craft. This year, awards were given in several different categories: Off Stage (an artist working offstage, backstage, or pre-performance), On Stage (a performing artist), On the Wall (a visual artist working in traditional or mixed media), Off the Wall (a visual artist working in sculpture), and Emerging Artist (a young artist in any medium who shows promise for continued growth and excellence). This year the program added a new award, the SVNexus Award, honoring an artist who uses technology to fuel their creative work.
These artists are chosen based on the work they have created and their commitment to their communities. Through their work as teachers, artists, and performers, each of the SVLaureates has shown a devotion to their craft that includes mentorship, service, and forging new cultural understanding.
Tasi Alabastro: Emerging Artist Recipient
“I burned a banana tree when I was a kid,” says Tasi Alabastro by way of an introduction. The winner of the Emerging Artist award grew up on the island of American Samoa, dropped out of college at San Francisco State, and wound up in Hawai’i, where he enrolled in an acting class at Leeward Community College. This class launched his career in the arts, and since his return to the Bay Area, he has found continued success, landing roles in a wide range of theatrical productions, short films, and feature films, including the indie hit Yes, We’re Open. He describes many Bay Area artists as “accidentally multi-disciplinary,” and he embodies this description, working as a photographer, visual artist, graphic designer, and content creator on the live-streaming video platform Twitch.
“I’ve always been inspired by creative problem-solving. When working in theater and film, you come across a lot of interesting problems. I think the sense of empowerment doubles when one applies their personal creative wealth toward solving problems. Growing up and not seeing myself represented in what I was watching, reading, and experiencing contributed to so many challenges in my career, and being the recipient of the Emerging Artist award means I am paying tribute to my past and my roots as an artist. It is the manifestation of all the support I’ve received from those I’ve surrounded myself with and a personal milestone in an arts track that doesn’t have easily identifiable milestones. Even with this distinct honor, I’m still finding new ways to emerge and grow. My craft becomes more defined and specific with each audition, workshop, cast, rejection, article, and role played.”
