Discover 6.0 by Content Magazine

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E V I T A V O N N I REATIVE & C ULTURE C

CONTENT Issue 6.0_discover Feb/March 2014

shannon bynum SJ Ballerina

featuring:

content magazine, san jose

SV Roller Girls_roller derby Tulio Flores_Artist SP2_Bar/resturarnt Brooke D_musician Hermitage_Brewery The Fencing Center

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CONTENT Issue 6.0 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Discoverâ&#x20AC;? February/March 2014 The Makers: Cultivator Daniel Garcia Marketeer Sarah Garcia Managing Editor Flora Moreno de Thompson Writers/Editors Gillian Claus, Lynn Peithman Stock Publishing Consultant Alyssa Byrkit

Writers Mark Haney, Leah Ammon, Kathryn Hunts, Jennifer Elias, Susan Chmelir, Lam Nguyen, Victoria Felicity, Nathan Zanon, Charles Becker, Derek Haugen Designers Brian Jensen, Brian Gomez Photographers Gregory Cortez, Scott MacDonald, Lam Nguyen, Victoria Felicity Interns Samantha Mendoza, Jeff Gonzalez

Distribution Sarah Hale

After two years of publishing Content Magazine, I still feel like we are just discovering and uncovering the unique aspects to our region. With each story, interview and person we meet, our bank of features keeps growing. This issue, we wanted to share some of these with you. From fencing to brewing, to a ballerina to a librarian, there is a lot to DISCOVER!

Enjoy. Daniel Garcia

IN THIS ISSUE Shannon Bynum / Hermitage Brewery / SP2 / John Miller / Hellyer Velodrome / SV Roller Girls To participate in Content Magazine: editor@content-magazine.com Subscription & Advertising information available by contacting sarahg@content-magazine.com

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Content DISCOVER 6.0

February/March 2014 San Jose, California

Non-stop 8

SJC to DFW

History 10

Quicksilver Mines

Art

12 Artist, Tulio Flores 18 ZERO1, Fellowship / x 22 PAYVA, Peapod Adobe Youth Voice Academy 26 Cinequest 14, Essential Festival Guide

Design

28 MyTag, Tony Pham 30 WebEnertia, Steve Ohanians & Valod Amirkhanian 34 Aedis Architecture & Planning, Thang Do

SV Roller Girls pg. 42

DIscover

38 The Fencing Center 42 Silicon Valley Roller Girls 46 Hellyer Park Velodrome

Profiles

48 52 56 60

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sexyâ&#x20AC;? Librarian, Jill Bourne SJ Ballerina, Shannon Bynum Hermitage Brewery, Peter Licht SP2 Communal Bar + Restaurant, Ryan Hisamune, Ryan Melchiano, & Pomaikai Shishido

SP2, pg. 60

Style

66 HashTag 265, Angelina Haole, Hasti Kashfia, & Randi Zuckerburg 70 Dawn Richards, John Agcaoili

Music

76 Brooke D 78 John Miller, A Conversation with Chad Hall 80 Contributors

Content Magazine is a bimonthly publication about the innovative and creative culture of San Jose. To participate in the production or distribution contact: editor@content-magazine.com

Hermitage Brewery, pg. 56

John Miller, pg. 78

TICKETS AND PASSES ON SALE NOW

FILM FESTIVAL 2014

MARCH 4-16 C I N E Q U E S T. O R G

408 295 FEST

DALLAS,

Hop on a plane tomorrow and explore with reckless abandon or plan every last detail—whatever your mood, here’s our take on one of many non-stop destinations served by our very own Mineta San Jose International Airport. Now boarding!

It has been said once or twice that “everything is bigger in Texas.” A trip to Dallas, one of Texas’s biggest cities, will do nothing to disprove this stereotype. Dallas itself is large, spread out, and boasts an eclectic collection of activities, cuisine, and people. Dallas natives refer to themselves as “Texans.” Dallas natives are fiercely proud of their state’s heritage and history, and this pride shows through every aspect of their local culture.

TEXAS Written by Susan Chmelir

Good Eats At the top of anyone’s “Texas bucket list” should be an amazing steak. Luckily, it’s not too difficult to find amazing steak in Texas. Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House is the quintessential upscale cowboy eatery, complete with a mouthwatering prime rib and hooks to hang your 10-gallon hat upon entrance. Pappas Bros. Steakhouse has a similar vibe and specializes in filet mignon. For a more modern atmosphere, check out Smoke, which serves up the “big rib,” which is, obviously, a ridiculously large beef rib that could feed a small family. For some variety (if you don’t want steak for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), Maple & Motor serves the best burger in town. Or you can trade in the red meat entirely for top-notch seafood at Aw Shucks—which boasts an excellent oyster happy hour where patrons pay on the honor system. EatZi’s Market and Bakery has three convenient locations and serves classic Italian deli fare. Their selection of macaroni, fruit, and regular salads can’t be beat. And for breakfast or brunch, Oddfellows is a must. They serve some of the best coffee in Dallas, and their red velvet pancakes are always a good choice. Interestingly, Dallas is also the home to the original Neiman Marcus. If their luxurious clothing and jewelry are out of your budget, having lunch in the NM Fashion Café offers delicious bites along with some of the best people-watching in all of Dallas.

flight time The three-hour flights to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport depart daily from San Jose International via American Airlines.

Drink Up No Texan meal is complete without a nice cold beer to combat the legendary heat. Locals love The Meddlesome Moth, a gastropub that is a bit “off the beaten path.” They have more than 100 beers on tap, in addition to an extensive food menu. For the spirits drinker, The Common Table in Uptown has one of the best scotch and whiskey selections in town. When the weather is nice, The Foundry is the place to be. It has a huge outdoor space with a fire pit, live music, and is pet friendly. They even offer extensive bike parking, which is perfect for a group outing on a sunny day. For a more “redneck” experience, Double Wide is a great dive bar that offers live music, cheap beer, and a trailer theme. What more could you want from a Texan bar? Have Fun True to the “everything’s bigger” mantra, the Dallas Zoo and Dallas Arboretum are both expansive and full of family fun. The zoo has gone through recent renovations and now has state-of-the art, roomy habitats. A drive to Dallas’ closest neighbor, Fort Worth, is always fun. Now mostly a tourist attraction, the Fort Worth Stockyards offer cowboy-themed attractions, entertainment, and dining. Amongst the steakhouses with kitschy décor are the Cowtown Coliseum and the Stockyards Museum, both of which offer insights into Dallas and Fort Worth’s ranching and cowboy history. One of the most meaningful sites you can visit in Dallas is the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, housed at the infamous Book Depository Building site where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The museum is somber, reverent, and informative about one of the pivotal moments in American history.

Something that non-natives may not know about Dallas is that it has a huge bicycle culture. Dallas is almost entirely flat, and very dedicated to creating and preserving parks, open spaces, and nature areas. There are several scenic trails through the city worth checking out, including Katy Trail, Santa Fe Trail, and White Rock Lake. Another experience unique to Dallas is a visit to the NorthPark Center. As a standard mall, it has all the staples that people in Dallas love—brunch, bars, shopping and an air-conditioned movie theater— but it is also an art museum. The mall features world-renowned installations from artists such as Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, and Jonathan Borofsky. Dallas also has sports teams in every major sport—football, hockey, baseball, basketball, and soccer—all housed in state-of-the-art stadiums. Though football rules the land (“Friday Night Lights” is, after all, based on a true story), Texans take pride in all of their teams. For example, at Texas Rangers baseball games, they play “Deep in the Heart of Texas” in addition to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at the seventh inning stretch. Dallas may be known for its heat in the summer and its ice storms in the winter, but it is truly a cultural center that offers endless entertainment to visitors and locals alike.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House 5251 Spring Valley Road Dallas, TX 75254 delfriscos.com/dallas Pappas Bros. Steakhouse 10477 Lombardy Ln. Dallas, TX 75220 pappasbros.com Smoke 901 Fort Worth Ave. Dallas, TX 75208 smokerestaurant.com Maple & Motor 4810 Maple Ave. Dallas, TX 75219 mapleandmotor.com Aw Shucks 3601 Greenville Ave. Dallas, TX 75206 awshucksdallas.com eatZi’s Market & Bakery 5600 W. Lovers Ln., Suite 136 Dallas, TX 75209 eatzis.com Oddfellows 316 W. 7th St. Dallas, TX 75208 oddfellowsdallas.com

NEW ALMADEN

QUICKSILVER COUNTY PARK Written by mark haney

If you want to discover something different and steeped in San Jose history, then take a day trip 13 miles south of downtown and go back 150 years at New Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

known as quicksilver. Even today, mercury remains an essential part of the process of extracting gold and silver from bedrock in many parts of the world.

n 1996, after years of testing and clean up, Santa Clara County finally opened Almaden’s 4,152 acres to the public. The vision was to create a park where both mining history and the natural environment could be enjoyed. Though the area once hosted intense mining, most of the park is undeveloped wildlife—with trees, wildflowers, and ponds. It sits on the Guadalupe Reservoir and is ideal for hiking, equestrian riding, and biking. Technically just outside New Almaden, Casa Grande stands mere minutes from the park’s entrance and has been fully restored to a museum of the quicksilver mining days.

From the outset, the claim and ownership was in turmoil. Castillero, representing Mexico, claimed the newfound cinnabar deposits, but did not have the money to actually build the mine. After the Mexican War, Castillero could not return to California because he was a Mexican Army officer. So he ended up selling his stake in the claim in 1847 to Alexander Forbes, of Barron, Forbes & Co. The name of the mine was changed to New Almaden under California is famous for its gold rush of 1848, the event the new ownership. Almaden is a Spanish word, rooted in that saw thousands of prospectors moving to the Golden Arabic, which means “the mine.” State. But the successes of gold mining in Northern California and silver mining in neighboring Nevada would With the discovery of cinnabar in San Jose, the first mine have been greatly diminished were it not for a different of any kind was built in California. A few years later, the mine discovered by the Ohlone Indians, in a cinnabar cave mine provided quicksilver to the gold mines north of San Francisco. The mercury was taken by horse or coach on the Capitancillos Ridge. to the port in Alviso, and then ferried to San Francisco In 1845, three years before the gold rush, Captain Don where it was put on trains up to the gold country. Faster Andres Castillero of the Mexican Cavalry noticed the and considerably cheaper than shipping from Spain, New Ohlone using cinnabar, a reddish rock, to paint their Almaden quicksilver was also widely considered to be of bodies and make art. Castillero knew that cinnabar could higher quality, and was shipped all over the world. be crushed and heated to produce liquid mercury, also Images provided by sourisseau Academy for state and local history, Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. Library

By 1855, under the direction of a new manager Henry Halleck, the mine was producing nearly 32,000 flasks of mercury every year. New Almaden had built a row of cottages, an extensive infrastructure, and two historically significant buildings that still stand today: Casa Grande, a revival style estate, and The Hacienda Hotel, the first two story adobe hotel in California. Halleck left New Almaden in 1861 to eventually become the general-in-chief of the Union Army, but his imprint on New Almaden was not yet complete.

the New Almaden mine from Barron, Forbes & Co. But after serving in the Civil War and being a lawyer with experience in Mexican land holdings, Halleck helped to fight against the federal government’s seizure of the mine and won. After this decision, the Quicksilver Mining Company agreed to purchase the claim outright from Forbes, for $1.75 million and took over operations in 1863. During the 1860s and 1870s, the mine employed more than 1,600 workers and yearly revenue was close to $2 million.

Halleck commissioned early California architect Gordon Parker Cummings to build Casa Grande in 1854. It took one year to complete. The grounds—which, until 1861, included a vineyard—were filled with flower gardens and shrubs with a lagoon using diverted water from the bordering Alamitos Creek. Every succeeding mine manager lived in the three-story, eight bedroom revivalstyle mansion for the next 70 years. Guests from all over the world were entertained there, due to the mine’s fame. Then, in the late 1920s, the Black brothers purchased the property and created a summer resort called Club Almaden. They put in several swimming pools and used the lower two floors of the house for entertainment. In 1998, Santa Clara County purchased Casa Grande and used federal funds to both restore the mansion and to convert it into a mining museum.

At its height, New Almaden was home to more than 1,800 miners and their families. The Quicksilver Mining Company owned everything on the land including houses, schools, doctor’s offices, stores, taverns, and churches. The company insisted on good behavior yet stressed that a happy worker was a productive worker. Town life was segregated, with both Englishtown and Spanishtown having houses, schools, and churches: Catholic in Spanishtown and Methodist-Episcopalian in Englishtown. Extracurricular activities included religious celebrations, and clubs like the New Almaden Rifle Club, several baseball clubs, and even a few secret societies like the Sons of St. George.

Quicksilver mining continued until 1976 when a drop in market prices forced the mine to close its doors. In the end, New Almaden was not just the first working mine in California, it turned out to be the largest producer of The second significant structure standing from early New quicksilver in the United States. Over its 130 years of Almaden is Hacienda Hotel. Built in 1848, it was the operation, 84 million tons of mercury was mined at an first two-story adobe hotel in California and was used estimated value of nearly $75 million. to house and feed the miners. It burned down in 1875, and was replaced with a wooden hotel which remained in After the mine closed, during a time when the county was business until 1912, ultimately being converted to a cafe acquiring and developing thousand of acres of park land, in the 1930s. Today the former boardinghouse contains New Almaden was sold to Santa Clara County. Although one of San Jose’s gems, La Foret—a French restaurant with it was nearly two decades before the public was finally given access to Almaden Quicksilver Park, its rich history dining alongside the Alamitos Creek. and abundant wildlife is now open for all to enjoy. As New Almaden grew in the 1850s and 1860s, the Quicksilver Mining Company bought the adjacent land and began mining cinnabar, convinced that the Castillero’s ccgov.org/sites/parks claim was defective due to land disputes between Mexico Park hours: 8am to sunset and the United States. Leonard Scott, President Lincoln’s Casa Grande hours: former law partner and secret investor in the Quicksilver Mon, Tues, Fri 12pm-4pm Mining Company, got a writ from the president to seize Sat, Sun 10am-4pm

The Nature of the Artist

TULIO FLORES Written by Charles Becker Photography by ana Villafane

Tulio Flores is two parts of the same self-aware whole. He brings surreal monsters to life in exhibits that combine the cold decay of the city with the earthy grain of Mother Nature. From coffee filters to old wine bottles, what looks like trash to some is a muse for Tulio Flores.

ive minutes into our interview, Tulio Flores is already on his second cup of wine. He’s been eagerly waiting for me. He has reasons to be excited. He tells me this article will be his first published interview, but I quickly get the sense he has this passionate about every day of his life. Flores has been living in San Jose for the past 18 years, almost half his life. He’s watched the art scene mature, he’s observed retail return to downtown, and he’s been blissfully aware of a growing fan base for his surreal artwork.

Flores’ art is exhibited at Works/San Jose, a non-profit gallery for local artists founded in 1977. Like his previous exhibits, all the paintings and sculptures from his show Connected, including the tarp for the canvas of his paintings, are made with 100% recycled materials. “Everything for me is organic, Mother Nature,” he says. Flores admits his showcase Connection is social commentary on the destruction of the earth by industrialization. But the dark fantasies of the “Queen,” “Soldier,” and “Birdcage” that jump into 3D existence at the Works gallery borrow heavily from his own childhood in Mexico and his personal road to discovery. He doesn’t hide from what the world is today. There is still the softness of Mother Nature seen in the playful color used, but it is twisted with the hard lifelessness of metal he chooses to juxtapose against the earthy and organic.

If I were to flip through his portfolio for you, your eyes would scan the pages and catch the radiant choice of yellows, reds, greens, and oranges. Good. That means Flores has already triggered an emotion out of you. Allow your eyes to focus on the picture, and it might scare you or, just as easily, inspire you to tears. You’ll see dark monsters, beautiful ethnic adornments, and it will be through the His sculpture “Soldier” seeks vengeance and attention. lens of paint, wood, metal, and other recycled materials The playful cocktail of blacks with bright secondary colors imitates the human circulatory system and adds a frightful that helps Flores marry opposites. layer to the lingering presence of this crusader for Mother It was his mother, a Mexican artist, who passed down an Nature. Flores tells me the whip in her right hand is to lacinheritance of artistic expression to Flores. Art has helped erate the world that has polluted and used her. him work past traumatic events in his early childhood, but it wasn’t until his mid 20s that he decided to ignore all Some pieces are dark veiled by light. Yet others are disnegative opinions and discover a style that, like his own tinctly hopeful, like “Birdcage.” life, does not shy from confrontation. Since then, Flores has slept with a notebook next to his bed stand each night, The “Birdcage” piece represents a oneness by random because new ideas and inspirations literally jolt him from events. The colors on the mannequin and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) drawings on the body symbolhis sleep. ize religion, culture, hate, and love. It is all the opinions, “Life gives me challenges. Instead of hating life or getting beliefs, relationships, and norms that are ingredients for angry at everybody, I express it with my art,” says Flores. the ying and yang of chaos and unity. Flores’s simplifies

“THE ARTISTIC MENTALITY IS YOU HAVE TO BE WEIRD. IF YOU’RE NOT WEIRD, YOU’RE NOT AN ARTIST”

“I’M NOT THE TYPICAL ARTIST STANDING IN THE CORNER BEING WEIRD. I’LL COME UP TO ANYONE AND EXPLAIN IT.” this idea as, “You are one and I am one. Somehow we are all connected. We are connected by so many people, and their voices our inside our heads. Sometimes we keep one connection even when the catalyst is gone. The feathers are the souls. It can be dark, colorful, fun, anything you want. You open the door of the birdcage and you release the people, relationships, and thoughts that you don’t want in your head.”

There is a recurring theme in Flores’s work: a subject that is shamed by outside forces and must rise above an internal dilemma in order to be reborn. As Flores stares at photos of the new sketches on his phone, he asks himself, “She reaches a point of no return, will she persist or will she choose to die? If she chooses to live on, it will be as something new, a warrior. Taking another road, seeing what’s going to happen. Now she’s fighting.”

The centerpiece of the Connected series is called “Queen,” and represents Mother Nature. The face and body are made of recycled foil and clay, which gives the look and feel of a recently exhumed body. For extra effect there is fishnet stocking over the face of the “Queen,” clearly showing the audience a victim that has been violated. Still, the monarch here is dressed up with hand embroidery. It took endless hours to weave the red thread into the pipe straps used as the festive gown. Flores takes great care in the details. The roses at the bottom of the dress are actually hundreds of coffee filters that have been dipped in water for a natural saturation that looks like the pink and red hues of roses. One piece like “Queen” can require three weeks to finish. Flores’ work boldly confronts feelings of being judged, feelings of shame, and the epic quest of changing into a new person. “The artistic mentality is you have to be weird. If you’re not weird, you’re not an artist,” he tells me. He tells everyone, in fact.

The fights are real for Tulio Flores. Fighting a history of being told he’s not good enough and dealing with rejection due to his ethnicity. “I went to this gallery that was doing Chicano history. I brought my portfolio. They were like, you’re not Mexican or Chicano enough. My art is contemporary, modern art. It wasn’t ethnic enough,” he says. Today Flores and Works/San Jose Gallery have been doing the opposite; helping artists plant seeds on more fertile lands. “Many galleries turn down very talented people because they don’t have a concert or don’t have a background, they didn’t go to school, whatever,” he says. “Works/San Jose gives anyone a chance to express themselves.”

Now Works/San Jose Gallery is home to dozens and dozens of local artists like Flores, who are given a place to fine-tune their craft. For him, this platform and cohesive “I stand there with people who come to see my artwork support is essential to the blossoming of the artistic and explain every single little detail to them. I’ll tell them, community. ‘This represents darkness, negativity, life, this, and that.’ I’m really friendly. I’m not the typical artist standing in the “Everyone can get a chance. The people who are truly corner being weird. I’ll come up to anyone and explain it interested in doing it, they stay here. If you’re good, you’ll to you. I’ll answer any question. I’ll say want I. I want to know right away. If you’re not, then you’ll walk away. Because having a show is not easy, man. Creating your know what’s going on with my artwork,” Flores says. own show is not easy. There’s a lot of work involved. I This year is Flores’s busiest yet, with 60 shows to showcase changed my mind about San Jose, because my gallery Connected, as well as new work he’s created for Breast changed my mind.” Cancer Awareness, which will next be on view in April at Bel Bacio Coffee in Little Italy. Flores has at least eight shows every month. Flores shows me some sketches for the centerpiece of the new exhibit. It will be a series of ten 4’ x 7’ paintings. Each and every painting is a single step in the transformation of a woman from a shriveled victim from her battle with breast cancer into a warrior that has fed on her own sufferings to become stronger. He is also trying to incorporate live body painting at the show as extensions of the ten paintings to add another dimension for audiences to take in.

tulioflores.com workssanjose.org Works/San José 365 South Market Street, San José, CA 95113

Images by Antivj Courtesy of ZERO1

ZERO.1

Fellowship / x Written by Sieglinde Van Damme Photography by Daniel Garcia

t the intersection of art and technology culture is formed. History has demonstrated that innovation is driven by creative minds who seek to express the human experience in new ways: challenging the use of materials and current technology, pushing the boundaries to spur new developments. Challenging— the use of materials and whatever technology is currentpushing the boundaries to spur on new technology. ZERO1 is the place for exploration. Immediately that discussion can bring up feelings of ivory-towered-belly-button-contemplation. Yet, what if artists were applying their creative minds to find ways for technology to better the world? For social media to build empathy with others? For lights to not only illuminate dark areas of the city and provide a safely lit walkway, but to also draw people together in a game? This is what happened last year with ZERO1’s first fellowship class. They have tapped into the inherently innovative power of the artistic process as ZERO1 presented an individual innovation challenge to their inaugural fellows. Formulated by ZERO1, artists have been selected to partner with sponosrs (listed below) to develop a line of creative research then to formulate a response to that challenge and build the prototypes.

PARTICIPATING FELLOWS and Sponsors Paula Levine Google Inc. Daniela Steinsapir Adobe’s Creative Technologies Lab

The results of these fellows’ year-long journey is currently on view at ZERO1’s physical hub “The Garage” located on South First Street in downtown San Jose and include the following: a cooperative urban experience; a new messaging app; a web platform facilitating social practice art; and an unveiled presence of public network connections.

Cecilia Galiena The Christensen Fund Simon Geilfus (AntiVJ) KDDI Group City of San Jose Public Art Program Residency support from the Montalvo Arts Center.

magine strolling around downtown San Jose after regular Imagine strolling around San the Joseempty after walls regular business hours. As thedowntown sun goes down, of the business hours. As the sun goes down, the empty walls of theglide city slowly begin to illuminate. Mysterious life forms cityalong slowly up.the Mysterious along thelighten surface of wall acrosslife theforms street. glide Around the the corner, surface of the wall across the street. Around the corner, another another bare building surface, and another intriguing display of bare building surface, and another intriguing display of light ... light... Antivj, European artists who could easily be be Antivjis isa agroup groupof of European artists who could easily considered the artistic rock stars in the world of large-scale considered the rock stars in the world of large-scale projections projections that combine and to transform urban that combine light and light sound to sound transform urban architecture. architecture. Adding to their line of numerous international Adding to their line of numerous international projects, ranging projects, ranging fromtoSouth Korea to Tokyo Mexico,tofrom Tokyoand from South Korea Mexico, from Montreal, to most Montreal, and most recently the Centre Pompidou in Metzlead recently the Centre Pompidou in Metz (France), (France), lead artist Simon Geilfus and Antivj producer Nicolas artist Simon Geilfus and Antivj producer Nicolas Boritch have Boritch havedescended currently descended upon San Jose. currently upon San Jose. Participator Based Installations Antivj, a visual label

Nicolas Boritch

Simon Geilfus

Simon’s project proposes an illuminated navigation system thatthat Geilfus’s project proposes an illuminated navigation system would take shape as a city-wide web of large-scale projections would take shape as a city-wide web of large-scale projections onon downtown building facades thatthat lurelure thethe commuter, the the downtown building facades commuter, pedestrian, the random flaneur, through San Jose’s city streets. pedestrian, the random flaneur, through San Jose’s city streets. The conceivedasasa collaborative a collaborative Theprojections projectionsthemselves themselves are are conceived urban urban game, with an invitation to the audience to participate game, with an invitation to the audience to participate in the in creation the creation of ever-evolving the ever-evolving visuals through mobile of the visuals through theirtheir mobile device. device. San Jose’s downtown urban environment is being San Jose’s downtown urban environment is being repositioned repositioned a place of open and community as a place ofasopen exchange andexchange community-building between building between those already familiar and those familiar about towith those already familiar and those about to become become familiar inner core. This project is the the city’s inner with core. the Thiscity’s project is the way-finding component way-finding component of the Illuminating Downtown of the Illuminating Downtown Project from the San Jose Public Project from the San Jose Public Art Program. Art Program.

SOcial/Emotive ENgagement Daniela Steinsapir

aniela is an artist from Chile currently based in San During thecurrently past yearbased she in immersed herself at Daniela isFrancisco. an artist from Chile San Francisco. Creative Technology’s Labat and developed During the the Adobe past year she immersed herself the Adobe a new Technology’s messaging app, Her research revealed that Creative LabSparkChat. and developed a new messaging young people desire new creative communication because app, SparkChat. Her aresearch brought to light thattool young the current texting and social media tool formats are not people desire standard a new creative communication because teenssocial are eager a morearepersonal, thepersonal current enough; standardwhereas texting and mediaforformats not customizable, emotional stand out personal enough;creative whereasand teens are eager experience for a more to personal, and stay connected. addresses this need. customizable, creative SparkChat and emotional experience to stand out and stay connected. SparkChat addresses this need. With the user as its central component, SparkChat uses custom technology to as extract relevantcomponent, data input from the fragmented With the user its central SparkChat uses stories technology of our lives—as alreadyrelevant stored data on our personal custom to extract input fromphones, the social networking fragmented stories ofsites, ourcloud lives -applications as already etc.—to stored onspark our the quality phones, and emotional value of our sites, existing dailyapplications conversations. personal social networking cloud topic detection message carts, etc.Through - to spark the detection, quality andmood emotional valueand of our existing theconversations. new app suggests message basedmood on social context, daily Through topicfeeds detection, detection preferences and emotional timbre. Themessage personal is re-introduced and message carts, the new app suggests feeds based on to interpersonal interaction, for example, by replacing standard social context, preferences and emotional timbre. The personal withtoones own facialinteraction, expressions to in theby exact is emoticons re-introduced interpersonal forserve example, same function. is own the pop of contentreplacing standard Another emoticonsexample with ones facialup expressions popular trendingAnother imagery example to potentially torelevant, serve in the exactand/or same function. is theillustrate pop experiences from the past, instantly creating increased upshared of content-relevant, popular and/or trending imagery to connection in the shared present.experiences The resultfrom is a new messaging potentially illustrate the way past,ofinstantly communication and a patent underway. creating increased connection inapplication the present.isThe result is a new way of messaging communication and a patent application is underway.

riginally from Italy, Cecilia Galiena is a San Franciscobased artist with a background in psychology and HerChile projects combine knowledge, Daniela isjournalism an artist from currently basedtraditional in San Francisco. creativethethinking, andshe on-the-ground problem in order During past year immersed herself at solving the Adobe to advance social change. Herdeveloped newly developed web platform Creative Technology’s Lab and a new messaging Adaptnet connects practice artists, justice app, SparkChat. Her social research brought to scholars, light thatsocial young NGOs, cultural institutions, and arts and socialtool justice funders. people desire a new creative communication because on the aforementioned people and theDetailed current information standard texting and social media formats are agencies not along enough; with easywhereas cross-referencing is combined in personal, an elaborate personal teens are eager for a more multi-tieredcreative databaseand to emotional bring about relevant opportunities customizable, experience to stand out for andcollaboration. stay connected. SparkChat addresses this need. Social remain at the center of this uses on-line With thepractice user as artists its central component, SparkChat community, whiletotheextract platform functions a bridge custom technology relevant data as input frombetween the diverse intellectual knowledge fragmented stories of environments, our lives - as traditional already stored on our and disruptive thinking. thesites, means of financial support personal phones, socialCombine networking cloud applications network of additional expertise value withinofthe realms, etc.and - toaspark the quality and emotional oursame existing andconversations. the platformThrough would equally serve as a tool fordetection assessing the daily topic detection, mood of social valid arguments to undertake andvalue message carts,projects, the newproducing app suggests message feeds based on thecontext, project preferences and facilitate fromtimbre. stakeholders as well as social andbuy-in emotional The personal additional funding. is re-introduced to interpersonal interaction, for example, by replacing standard emoticons with ones own facial expressions to serve in the exact same function. Another example is the pop up of content-relevant, popular and/or trending imagery to potentially illustrate shared experiences from the past, instantly creating increased connection in the present. The result is a new way of messaging communication and a patent application is underway.

online communty Cecilia Galiena

ave you ever wondered about the trajectory of your data when e-mail, browse a website or carry out Daniela stream is an artist fromyou Chile currently based in San Francisco. activity? That’sherself part ofatwhat During an theother past on-line year she immersed the CanadianAdobe American artist PaulaLab Levine over the past year. With Creative Technology’s andresearched developed a new messaging a focus on the more available opentopublic systems, app, SparkChat. Herwidely research brought lightwireless that young Paula’sdesire projectaCity-to-City network traffic the form people new creativevisualizes communication tool in because a topographic illustrating in color soundarethe theofcurrent standardmap, texting and social mediaand formats notrealtime trajectory an individual’s inquiry from the point personal enough;ofwhereas teens areinternet eager for a more personal, of entry to itscreative final destination, en route from city city.out customizable, and emotional experience to to stand and stay connected. SparkChat addresses this need. Questions arise around the value and necessity of empathy as a common good current interconnected world. uses At the With the user as in its our central component, SparkChat core, however, are challenges opportunities to imagine custom technology to extract and relevant data input from thenew platforms for community-building based onstored ideasonof our global fragmented stories of our lives - as already citizenship in which thenetworking individual recognizes hisapplications and her role as personal phones, social sites, cloud an-inherent of the between local etc. to sparkelement the quality andbridge emotional value of and our global, existingand the conversations. responsibilitiesThrough suggestedtopic by this notion. mood detection daily detection, and message carts, the new app suggests message feeds based on social context, preferences and emotional timbre. The personal is re-introduced to interpersonal interaction, for example, by replacing standard emoticons with ones own facial expressions to serve in the exact same function. Another example is the pop up of content-relevant, popular and/or trending imagery to potentially illustrate shared experiences from the past, instantly creating increased connection in the present. The result is a new zero1.org way of messaging communication and a patent application is 439 S. 1st St. underway.

on-line data mapping Paula Levine

San Jose, CA 95113 twitter: @ZERO_ART

a Safe Place

a Creative

Space Written by leah amon Photography by Daniel Garcia

Every year, the Peapod Adobe Youth Voices Academy (PAYVA) at the Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) provides more than 150 underserved teenagers with completely free workshops focused on multimedia production, photography, dance, and spoken word. Teens do not need to demonstrate any advancelevel skill in these areas in order to enroll. The only prerequisites to attend are that students fall in the age range of 13-18 years old, and be willing to work seriously on a creative project that addresses issues they face personally or that affect their community.

orn of a partnership between Adobe Youth Voices and the Peapod Foundation—a charitable organization founded by the members of the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas—there are five Peapod Academies in the United States. The program at MACLA, formed in 2011, is the youngest of the academies. A safe place and creative space, PAYVA has a zero-negativity policy: students must be working on projects with an inspirational or motivational message, and feedback must be respectful and constructive. PAYVA students work with top-of-the-line equipment and cutting-edge software, and are instructed by a team of mentors and teachers. Three MACLA staff members act as mentors: media mentor Arnaldo Castillo; program assistant/media and photography mentor Angelica Michelle Torres; and Digital Media and Youth Arts Education Coordinator Ivan Martinez, who manages the program.

Torres’s work regularly aired as part of the evening newscasts, and she imagines she will return to journalism when she graduates from San Jose State University. A high level of professionalism is tempered with a supportive and laid-back atmosphere. “It’s a balancing act,” says Martinez. “You want to give them structure and teach them the skills they need to work in the field or get a college education. But at the same time, you need to give them the freedom to express themselves and be as creative as possible.”

In addition to technical skills, mentors help students build creative confidence. “When you’re a teenager,” says Castillo, “the feeling you get from knowing that you’ve created something that other people admire… it’s a big thing.” This confidence, in turn, gives teens courage to address personal issues in their art. “Maybe you’ve dealt with depression, maybe you’ve dealt with domestic violence,” Castillo continues. “Once you’re able to create, All three are young professionals who draw on their real- you’re better able to express your experiences and feelings world experience to inspire and inform. Castillo is a video to the people in your life, and through your projects.” director and producer, who is finishing up a degree at the Digital Film and Video Production Program at the “You see so much change in them,” says Torres, “from Arts Institute in Sunnyvale and launching his own line when they begin to when they finish. They learn that even of clothing. Martinez is a musician, sound engineer, though it takes hard work, nothing is impossible. It’s so and award-winning producer with a degree in Musical important for them to know they can accomplish things, Technology from Foothill DeAnza College. As an intern especially if the people around them are telling them they at the Sacramento-based TV station KUSV 19 Univision, can’t.”

Arnaldo Castillo, Media Mentor “Once you’re able to create, you’re better able to express your experiences and feelings to the people in your life.”

Ivan Martinez, Digital Media and Youth Arts Education Coordinator “I’m where I am in my life today because of the great group of mentors I had when I was a student at a similar program. That’s why I’m a firm believer that programs like PAYVA work.”

Angelica Michelle Torres, Program Assistant/Media and Photography Mentor “You see so much change in them from the time when they begin to when they finish. They learn that even though it takes hard work, nothing is impossible.”

For Torres and Castillo, an excellent example of this is the story of one of their current students, a girl named Alicia. “I remember the first day she came to the academy. She didn’t say one word,” says Torres. Alicia eventually opened up to her instructors, describing for them the challenges she faced having to move nearly 10 times over the past years. With their encouragement, she wrote a song called “One Way Station.” “She uses the metaphor of a train station, and how chaotic and quickly-moving everything is,” says Castillo, “to say that no matter how crazy things get, you have to stay sane.” The song has been recorded and will be filmed as a music video. The finished project will be submitted to Adobe’s Aspire Awards and The CreaTiVe Awards, and shared on the PAYVA Youtube channel.

pay for it. We’re able to tell them, ‘Just try hard, and we can help you.’” Torres, Castillo, and Martinez are all excited about the future. Torres speaks with pride of a group of PAYVA dancers who will be performing at the CreaTV awards. Castillo hopes eventually to bring some of his other skills to the academy. “I want to build entrepreneurs,” he says, “I think that’s really important.”

Martinez looks forward to “my son attending the academy.” He acknowledges this will not happen for a while, since his son is less than a month old. But he says “I’m where I am in my life today because of the great group of mentors I had when I was a student at a similar program. That’s PAYVA students also gain confidence from professional why I’m a firm believer that programs like PAYVA work. I contacts they make as part of the program. “We take our want to have that same impact on as many young people students to the Adobe corporate offices, where they meet as I can, so that the cycle continues.” people like the Adobe C.E.O., or the President of Adobe Youth Voices, and they don’t treat our students like kids. In the meantime, he looks forward to introducing the They treat them like artists, like equals. We don’t get a lot world to the next generation of media makers. He encourages people who are curious to know more about of that in our community,” says Castillo. PAYVA to spend time on the academy’s social media Opportunities arise through the program for scholarships channels or to visit the academy. “I would love to walk and grants. “Maybe they come from households where you through and show you what our students are working going to college isn’t part of the conversation. Or maybe on,” he says with a grin. maclaarte.org it’s financially impossible,” says Torres. “We’re able to show facebook: peapodacademyatmacl them that they can go, and that there’s a way for them to

youtube: payvamacla instagram: @MovimientoAYV

How Best to Enjoy This Year’s Film Festival

The Essential

Cinequest Survival Guide Written by Lynn Peithman Stock Movie stills provided by Cinequest

179 films…four theaters…six screens…84 world and North American premieres… more than 35 special events…almost 9,500 minutes of film and more than 700 participants. With all of this crammed into 13 days during this year’s Cinequest Film Festival, attracting 100,000 fellow film lovers, how do we even begin to choose? Choosing Cinequest, San Jose’s 24-year-old film festival, takes place from March 4 through 16. First, grab a printed Cinequest Film Festival Guide (available at Noah’s New York Bagels, Camera 12 Cinemas, and Philz Coffee) or go to cinequest.org to peruse all of the films and events. “There is great stuff going on every day and cool stuff in the evenings every day,” says Nathan Zanon, Content Magazine contributor and eight-year Cinequest volunteer. Figure out which days you’re free, look at the calendar to see what interests you, then go, he recommends. “How do you pick which ones to go to? There are certainly a lot to choose from. It’s really hard,” he says. Read the descriptions but have an open mind. “One of the great things is you don’t know what you’re going to get. You’re most likely going to see something that you won’t see anywhere else. Odds are pretty good you’re going to see something very unique. Be open—you can’t go wrong.” Cinequest also has a new iPad and Android app and an updated iPhone app. The website and smartphone app offer a calendar scheduler to allow you to create your personal film/event schedule. The best channels to follow are Facebook, Twitter, and Vine with the handles of @Cinequest (don’t forget to label your posts with #Cinequest). Facebook will offer more event/film info, Twitter will be used for conversations, and Vine will be used for Cinequest-made trailers of this year’s films as well as event views. Connect Or, in another word, party! Cinequest says it is the only major film festival that produces its own parties. There are two kinds held almost every day of the festival: VIP Soirees, from 5 to 7 p.m., and Maverick Meetups, from 9:30 p.m. until whenever the party ends, and locations vary around town. Both give filmgoers a chance to converse and even connect with some of those who have worked on the films. Soirees are open to VIP All Access pass holders and Meetups are open to everybody. “The experience doesn’t end when the credits roll,” says Kyle Burt, publicity manager for Cinequest. These are Zanon’s favorite parts of the film festival. “These are really great at building community around the festival,” he says. “They showcase downtown, they showcase the different spots. You have these great opportunities to meet people and mingle and meet filmmakers and Cinequest staff and volunteers.”

Can’t Miss Event The Closing Night Party, Zanon says. “It’s always a great event.” Tickets Choose a level of festival pass depending on how much you want to immerse yourself in Cinequest. General admission tickets run $10 each; Film Lover passes are $145 and give you access to regular film screenings and encore day screenings; Maverick passes cost $250 and include the opening and closing night screenings and parties, Maverick Spirit Events, Media Legacy Events, forums and all screenings; and $500 will get you VIP All Access, which also includes VIP Lounge Access, VIP Soirees plus everything else. Films to Check Out • First film with gay content produced from Russia in 10 years: Winter Journey • First movie filmed entirely on an iPhone 5: Uneasy Lies the Mind • Documentary about Mark Bingham, one of the passengers on United Flight 93 on 9/11 who was from the Bay Area: The Rugby Player But remember: there are about 175 other films from which to choose. Picture the Possibilities If you want to peek inside the minds of today’s teenagers and young adults, seek out the films that they have created with the help of Cinequest and professional filmmakers. Maverick Spirit Awards Every year, Cinequest honors someone for this award. This year, Cinequest has chosen Martin Cooper for the Maverick Innovator Award. He created something almost all of us remain attached to throughout the day—the cell phone. Cooper will appear at the opening night event at 7 pm March 4 at the California Theatre. Matthew Modine will also receive the Maverick Innovator Award and the film festival will present his new “appumentary” about Full Metal Jacket. This chronicles the making of this Vietnam War masterpiece, directed by Stanley Kubrick. The Full Metal Jacket Diary event will be at 3:30 p.m. March 15 at Camera 12. Chef David Kinch and farmer Cynthia Sandberg will present recipes and hors d’oeuvres at the Cinequest VIP Soiree at the Fairmont from 5 to 7 p.m. on March 9. Past years’ Maverick Spirit Award honorees have included Harrison Ford, Spike Lee, Sir Ian McKellen, Jennifer Jason Leigh and William H. Macy. For the first time, film journalists and critics will receive a nod with the Media Legacy Awards. Three film journalists will screen movies they believe deserve a second look and will lead Q&A sessions afterward. Eric Kohn, Indiewire chief film critic and senior editor, will present “The Grand Seduction;” Harry Knowles, creator of the website Ain’t It Cool News, will look at Grand Piano. Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, will view Fruitvale Station.

cinequest.org facebook: cinequest twitter: @Cinequest

MY TAG

Written by Flora Moreno de Thompson Photography by daniel garcia

“I got duped. MyTAG was a response to that.”

Tony Pham turned a Craigslist sale gone wrong into myTAG, an online marketplace where buyers and sellers prove their credibility and no one gets ripped off.

t seems like almost everyone who has used Craigslist has a story or two to share about it. Sketchy sellers or damaged goods; warily meeting in public places to conduct transactions. Tony Pham’s particular Craigslist story is about a laptop sale. Pham went to a Starbucks one day to meet a man trying to sell a laptop—the exact laptop that Pham had been looking for. After seeing photos of the man’s children and thinking he was a perfectly trustworthy person, Pham was ready to make a deal. The man said he had a new, still in the box laptop in the car that he wanted to sell Pham instead.

A first generation Vietnamese American, Pham credits his upbringing for his work ethic and perseverance. When Pham told his mom one day that he was taking a big risk by starting his own business, she quickly reminded him that he had no idea what true risk was.

After the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War, Pham’s parents built a small motorboat and sailed away from Vietnam—Boat People, as they were called—to escape the Communist government. Their boat’s engine broke down soon after, leaving them stranded at sea for three weeks. Pham’s older brother, who was only eight months old at the time, nearly died on the treacherous journey. The family eventually made it to Hong Kong, and then to San Jose. Pham’s parents risked everything they had for the chance When Pham got home, the box was empty. to live in a democratic country. “Always be happy with Pham’s Craigslist story is, sadly, not a new one. He recalls what you have,” he says. seeing several other laptop boxes sitting in the back of the car that day and thinking about other folks about to get Pham started—like so many other startups—out of his scammed just like he did. Unfortunately for people who garage. Since he started the company on his own in 2011, fall victim to similar fraudulent sales, Craigslist lacks a way myTAG now has 15 employees. The company is focused to verify its sellers to protect buyers from shady deals. So less on making money and more on building somePham decided to start his own E-commerce business to thing that people will want to use. “We’re leveraging our address this issue. “I got duped,” Pham says. “MyTAG was resources to build a better platform,” Pham says. “Let’s talk about monetizing later.” a response to that.” MyTAG is an online marketplace where people register for free to buy or sell items. Unlike Craigslist, buyers and sellers can link social media accounts and other E-commerce sites to prove they are real, honest people. MyTAG users can also earn ratings based on their transactions to further increase their credibility amongst other users. “It goes back to humanizing the experience,” Pham says.

The emphasis on the human element isn’t just something that Pham wants for myTAG users; it’s how he runs his entire company. “It’s difficult, but at the end of the day we’re a family,” Pham says. “If we focus, we’ll get the job done.”

One of the ways that sets myTAG apart is a seller’s ability to post videos of the items they are selling. “It brings items to life,” Pham says. “People can see the item functioning.” Another way that makes myTAG unique is their tagging feature, which allows users to tag their photos to make them searchable. The wishTAG feature allows folks to create an ad for something they want and tag it. When that item shows up in the marketplace, they’ll be notified. MyTAG is currently in beta, but is hoping to expand soon.

mytag.com twitter: @mytag_com

Steve Ohanians

Valod Amirkhanian

WebENERTIA Digital Agency Story and Photograhy by Daniel Garcia

Lifelong friends Steve Ohanians and Valod Amirkhanian remain close even fifteen years after co-founding a digital agency.

The story is so familiar that it is almost a cliché: friends start a business together and end up becoming enemies. Tragic, but too often true. Fortunately for Steve Ohanians and Valod Amirkhanian, the friends and business partners are celebrating their fifteenth year together as the co-founders of WebEnertia, a growing digital agency.

Since Ohanians and Amirkhanian were already doing a little bit of web design on their own, they dove right into their business, before even thinking about a business plan, and got to work. Ohanians’ creative side and Amirkhanian’s analytic side has allowed them to build an innovative digital agency in Silicon Valley.

The balance between Ohanians and Amirkhanian is reflected in the success of the team that they lead today. Ohanians recognizes that if he was running the business on his own, his more “get down to work” mentality would be much more like a “military camp.” While if Amirkhanian was to fly solo, his jokingly fun side would make the place a never-ending party. Although, the duo Ohanians originally attended University of Southern is admittingly “stubborn at times,” they’ve learned to California to be an aerospace engineer, but early into the appreciate what each brings to the success of WebEnertia program found that his creative side wasn’t satisfied. He and make it work. took a stab at the rockstar dream and became the lead guitarist in an LA rock band, only to find his scientific Ohanians and Amirkhanian didn’t have an official plan mind wasn’t being stimulated. Meanwhile, Amirkhanian when they launched, but with a rooted commitment to was finishing up his mathematics degree at San Jose quality and each other, WebEnertia has developed an State. Ohanians and Amirkhanian reunited again back at ethos that is reflected in their corporate culture. San Jose State and launched their business in 1999. The decision to be in San Jose was a natural choice: it was their hometown, and they liked being situated right at the center of Silicon Valley. Ohanians and Amirkhanian are literally lifelong friends. Their fathers were friends first, so the two found themselves growing up together. They were the best man in each other’s weddings. How have the two remained friends and continued to grow an interactive design firm? The key is their complementary nature.

“It is never just a programing solution or just a design solution.”

One of the traditions the duo has incorporated into their agency is daily lunches together as a team. What had already been a habit for Ohanians and Amirkhanian became a norm at the agency when new team members gradually began to join in on lunchtime bonding. The communal style lunch table at WebEnertia’s downtown San Jose office on Third Street helps facilitate their routine. The camaraderie and family nature of WebEnertia also contribute to the uniqueness of the business. They have never sought to grow fast, but instead add quality people “to the table” as is naturally needed. “We are not just a UX design house or a coding house. We are a super collaborative environment,” says Ohanians, recognizing that his team manifests his and Amirkhanian’s desires. Looking back, Ohanians doesn’t really have any regrets about the way he and Amirkhanian started their business on a whim. It’s that complementary nature of theirs that has served WebEnertia well all these years. Ohanians does have one bit of advice for those thinking of starting a business in Silicon Valley, though: take risks.

WebEnertia.com 96 N. 3rd Street, Suite 100 San Jose, California 95112 408.246.0000

Info@webenertia.com

THANG DO: EXPLORING A MODERNIST VISIONARY OF THE BAY AREA

Written by Derek Haugen Photography by Gregory Cortez

In the heart of San Jose’s SOFA district, across from the fluorescence of Anno Domini and ambers of Café Stritch, is the unassuming home of Aedis Architecture & Planning in the W. Prussia Building designed by W.H. Weeks. The firm sits atop a growing marketplace, driven by the passion of Senior Principal Thang N. Do.

hang Do’s respect for San Jose’s architectural history that was unlike anything in my town…a flat roof, clean is palpable. The office’s exposed wood ceiling beams, line, concrete with exposed aggregate, glass, very clean bare cement walls, and energy efficient plenum floors simple geometry…It’s basically modern architecture.” reflect the minimalist and green values that Do adheres to. When Do was twelve or thirteen years old, his father “I view the office space as something that will always commissioned the family’s house to be built. Finding the evolve; you don’t build it in one shot and expect to be draftsman’s blueprints, Do was enthralled with how the done with it. We will always tweak it. Certain things work, three-dimensional world was rendered flat. Immediately, certain things don’t work. It’s always a work-in-progress. he started to create his own sectional and elevation drawings. We’re architects and it’s our permanent experiment.” Under Do’s leadership, Aedis has flourished, executing numerous projects that incorporate his passions for modernism, education, and sustainability. Bold colors, swooping curves, and elegant forms can be found all around the South Bay in schools that he has touched. Recently, Do was instrumental in growing downtown San Jose’s retail scene through the fitting partnership with Muji. Born in 1959, Do grew up impoverished in Đà Lat, a holiday resort town, built by the French during colonial times to escape the heat. Although Do was surrounded by Đà Lat’s French colonial architecture, the unlikely inspiration of a Shell Oil housing development steered him in a different direction. “They built this cluster of housing

“As a child, I loved the adventure of exploring through spaces and especially buildings that have a lot of nooks and crannies, different kinds of scale, different kinds of space, different kinds of light, interesting circulation, going up and down, flat…That’s what we try to do with schools. In my own house, I designed it specifically for children because I have four kids. It has two lofts, one of which is a secret loft that only our kids know how to get to. There’s a secret door, a visitor will not know where it is.” In 1975, when the country was literally collapsing due to the war, Do left aboard an Air Force plane. After staying in Guam and coming to the US, he continued to pursue architecture through drafting classes in high school. He eventually discovered the Bauhaus architects as well as

“I VIEW THE OFFICE SPACE AS SOMETHING THAT WILL ALWAYS EVOLVE… IT’S ALWAYS A WORK IN PROGRESS. WE’RE ARCHITECTS AND IT’S OUR PERMANENT EXPERIMENT.”

Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater,” a building that In addition to educational building needs, Aedis plays an active role in project-based learning with schools like heavily influenced his decision to become an architect. Evergreen Elementary in San Jose. Do says the benefits After graduating, Do went on to work with construction go both ways; students learn about design methods and companies and architectural firms. He took a position at employees learn about school needs and how kids think. PJHM Architects, now Aedis, before deciding to go to “real architecture school.” In 1986, Do graduated from the Sitting on the Architectural Review Board, Do has California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo an optimistic view of the city’s future development, and returned to PJHM as a key partner. Though power particularly downtown. “The term may sound pretentious, came quickly, proper leadership and business skills were but whatever, I’m an urbanist. I would like to see San Jose talents that Do admits he acquired over time. “I lacked the become more and more a rich urban environment. Our sense of self confidence to really let myself go, let myself being here and opening the market downstairs is part of design, explore, and so forth. I always approached this that…It’s not just us. I start to see more life on this block. profession in a conservative way until the last five or so So hopefully, collectively, if people see downtown as a destination, then we’ve got something.” years.” A testament to his latest approach is the award-winning work with Union City’s James Logan High School, one of the projects he is the most proud of. Initially, Do was asked to replace the village of prefabricated classrooms, commonly known as portables. He went further by addressing larger functional issues with sustainable solutions, and crowned his achievement with the exquisite Center for Performing Arts. Do not only helped the school receive state funding, but he met and exceeded the school’s goals with his personal vision intact.

aedisgroup.com Aedis Architecture & Planning 387 S. 1st Street Suite 300 San Jose, CA 95113

En Garde! Releasing the inner swashbuckler at The Fencing Center Written by Samantha Mendoza Photography by Scott Mac Donald

Welcome to a sport where the first lesson requires stabbing the instructor in the chest with a sword.

he Fencing Center on Stockton Road in San Jose “The question is, how are you going to react to this? The has been teaching students the art of Olympic-style heart of fencing is how we react and how we learn to train ourselves to not panic in extreme situations.” fencing since 1981.

Peter Burchard taught an adult education fencing class at the Independence High School cafeteria, which was later formed into a club. Michael D’Asaro was the varsity coach at San Jose State University who trained the champions who started the club along with adult recreational fencers. Executive Director Scott Knies, along with Peter Schifrin and Greg Massialas, who had both been on Olympic fencing teams, also taught after-school outreach programs for youth and gave demonstrations.

According to Winer, fencing is a primal tactic used for protection, but one that has evolved into a sport. “We don’t have to worry about bad people attacking our homes or stealing our food and women,” Winer says. “It’s a beautiful art form and a great way to self-discovery and self-actualization. Everybody should try this.”

TFC has students ranging from ages eight to 80 years old. From first-time students, to Olympic athletes, to veterans, the Center offers guidance for a variety of skill levels and experience. The only requirement for students is having an interest in learning to fence. One of the most popular classes for beginners is an introductory class that provides a basic lesson on the three types of swords used in fencing. One session is dedicated to foil, another to saber, and the last to épée.

“We don’t just train fencers, we build new coaches,” Winer says. “The Fencing Center and our head coach Mike have been working with me and several other fencers who have aspirations to help train, study, and learn more.”

While fencing is a sport of swordfighting, it also encompasses respect, intellect, and strategy. From the moment fencers stand en garde on the fencing strip, it’s In 1983, the first board of directors operated the club as tradition to salute one another with masks removed. a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization under the name of Asgard Fencers, Inc., before the club officially became The Learning the basic moves in fencing requires strategic planning and technique. Engaging in a match is like dancing Fencing Center. the tango; the moves of each fencer are simultaneous Current head coach Mike Botenhagen says the 80’s were with one another. When one fencer advances, the other the club’s “heydays.” Some of the best fencers and fencing retreats in equal distance. As one fencer lunges to hit the coaches came to The Fencing Center, making it a hub of competitor, the other arches back to avoid the strike. With swords being the primary weapon used, it’s important for talent. fencers to consider safety first. Fencers wear protective As the number of students attending lessons began to attire to ensure their safety. grow, the former building of the San Jose Mercury News was donated to TFC. When the building was bought out by a The history of TFC makes it unique from other clubs ballet studio, TFC moved to 40 North First Street, where in the Bay Area, forming what Winer calls the “fencer’s they were located for 11 years. The club would change mecca.” TFC is one of the few non-profit fencing clubs locations once more to Brokaw Road before moving to with a board of directors, elected by members who help preserve the club. their current home on Stockton Avenue in 1996.

In December, Winer celebrated earning his first level of coaching expertise when he became a certified Moniteur d’Armes (which includes all three weapons) by the United States Fencing Coaches Association. It’s his goal to reach the next two levels of coaching: Prévôt, and then Maestro.

Though TFC is crowded with fencers fighting at every corner, the group is tight-knit, and the staff immediately Winer says fencing brings together an intellectual group of notices when new visitors arrive and welcomes them with thinkers. Whether attendees are fencing for the first time or training for an international tournament, fencing is for open arms. people who want to become in touch with themselves. Heath Winer, the manager and a coach at TFC, describes “We’re coming to battle together, but we walk away as fencing as a conversation between two people. friends.” “I’m going to ask you questions with my body by either stepping close to you or far away,” Winer says.

Fencing Terms Advance: take a step forward (toward one’s opponent) Beat: a sharp tap on the opponent’s blade to initiate an attack or provoke a reaction Engagement: contact between the fencers’ blades En Garde: position taken before fencing commences Épée: dueling sword, heaviest of the three weapons, V-shaped blade and large bell guard for protecting the hand Feint: false attack intended to get a defensive reaction from the opposing fencer Foil: court sword, lightest of the three weapons and blunted tip Guard: part of the weapon between the blade and handle Parry: defensive action where a fencer blocks opponent’s blade Piste: French term for fencing strip, the perimeter where actual fencing takes place Recover: return to the en garde position after lunging Saber: light and fast weapon, V-shaped or Y-shaped blade and used for cutting and thrusting

Scoring Foil: fencers score points by landing tip of blade on area along torso from shoulders to groin in front and to waist in the back. Arms, neck, head and legs are off-target. Saber: fencers score points by hitting with point or edge of blade on target area above the waist, excluding hands. (Both Foil and Saber must follow right-of-way rule: the fencer who started to attack first will receive the point if they hit a valid target, and that their opponent is obligated to defend themselves) Épée: fencers score points by hitting their opponent first on any part of the body.

Source: Fencing.Net, LLC

“We’re coming to battle together, but we walk away as friends.”

Allen Luong started fencing at the Center in July 2012 and won a competition just three months later.

Fencing.com 110 Stockton Ave. San Jose, CA 95126

Leaders of the Pack Written by Kathryn Hunts Photography by gregory cortez

The wild women of the Silicon Valley Roller Girls use the track as a foundation for building new lives and lasting friendships

two-inch piece of rubber at the tip of a roller skate digs into a painted line. It alone restrains the energy of the neon green and black clad skater at the front of the pack. Behind her, nine other thrill seekers breathe deeply with every muscle ready to fire. As soon as the whistle shrieks, players with names like Bionic BabyDoll and Luna Chick smash into the visiting victims to open a pathway for their team’s “jammer” to emerge in front of the mob. Like an NFL running back clawing for the first down, she breaks free and crossover skates around the flat track. She grabs a teammate’s hand who catapults the jammer all the way to the front again. This high-octane slam fest is the passion of the Silicon Valley Roller Girls. For nine months of the year, SVRG’s top squad, the Dot.Kamikazes, take on opponents from as far away as Australia and Canada. The players are as diverse as the places they visit. Their day jobs range from Google employees to librarians. Some discover roller derby in the midst of a major transition such as a new job, big breakup, or as a way to fit in with a community of women. Whatever brings them to the track, they initiate into an athletic army complete with husbands as “roller widows,” even referring to life outside the track as their “civilian life.”

Lexi Baldisseri (aka Absolutely Scabulous) found derby when she moved to San Jose and wanted to meet new people. “I had no girlfriends out here, and I was working out alone…it was super lonely. I joined [SVRG], and I was like, ‘My people!’ Aggressive in a great, healthy way—assertive, confident women [in a] sporting space.” Dennyce Martinez (aka Merciless Martinez) was a high school cheerleader when she discovered the appeal of the rough and tumble style of derby. “I didn’t really fit into that [cheerleading] community as much. I’ve always grown up being the kid who likes to roughhouse, and my mom knew that, too,” explains Martinez. “I needed to find a sport that fits my personality and then I saw Whip It, and I thought, ‘Is that actually real? People actually do this? This is my dream sport!’” When she showed up to practice, Martinez quickly realized that the real thing is nothing like the movie, but the strategy and sweat surpassed her expectations. That intensity is exactly what players like Jessica Pellegrini (aka Booty Vicious) look for as an alternative to the gym. “The gym bores me to tears. I played sports in high school, so this was something I could continue with and keep myself active and engaged.” Teammate Aubrie Mastrangelo (aka Smack Dahlia) agrees, saying, “It’s really fun, and it’s also the biggest mental and physical challenge ever—because you just get in the zone.” Slamming into opponents on the track may be fun, but it

also causes a lot of injuries, everything from broken fingers to minor concussions. But these skaters are cut from a different cloth. They view each injury as a battle scar they collect with a sense of pride. “It’s like being a thrill seeker but in a very kind of contained way, you know? I’ll be on the track, and I’m like, ‘Oh she’s gonna hit me! It’s gonna hurt! And it’s fun,” says Pellegrini. “It gets to the point where you’re like, ‘Oh, that was such an awesome hit!’ I got laid out at practice one time, and I did a barrel roll... You’re not mad at your teammate, you’re not hurt, you’re just like, ‘Yeah! That was so cool! You did that to me! How did that happen?’” says Mastrangelo. The sisterhood born on the flat track extends beyond the Silicon Valley team. When skaters find themselves on the road for work or pleasure, they can reach out to that city’s local team and practice with them. Pellegrini also points out that it can come in handy in sticky situations: “So, if I were in another state, and got into some trouble, I could probably send out the bat signal—somebody would probably come help me out because I’m in the community.”

This comradery in team sports can be difficult to find as adult women. It is even more rare to find a place that has a built-in understanding that life happens. If someone gets a job offer in another city or wants to start a family, her teammates celebrate with her and hope she stays in touch. “They know that they can come back to the sport, and it’s gonna be here; it’s consistent. Everyone’s really respectful of everyone’s life journey…I know if I have to switch jobs and have to leave, everyone would be my biggest cheerleader, so supportive, and help me in my transition,” says Baldisseri. “I’ve been in the league for five years, this is longer than any boyfriend I’ve ever had. I feel like, as cheesy as it sounds, I get to bring my authentic self,” continues Baldisseri. “I can be a fucking disaster, right? I can be super bummed about something and then come to practice and the unconditional love that a family will give you, this group totally gives you.”

“I GOT LAID OUT AT PRACTICE ONE TIME AND I DID A BARREL ROLL...YOU’RE NOT MAD AT YOUR TEAMMATE, YOU’RE NOT HURT, YOU’RE JUST LIKE, ‘YEAH! THAT WAS SO COOL! YOU DID THAT TO ME! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?’”

svrollergirls.com facebook: svrollergirls twitter: @svrollergirls

HELLYER PARK

VELODROME

Written by flora moreno de thompson Photography by gregory cortez

id you know San Jose is home to the only velodrome in Northern California? Hellyer Park Velodrome was built in 1963 and hosted the US Olympic Bicycling Trials in 1972. It’s not just for experienced cyclists—all types of cyclists are encouraged to ride the track. Each Saturday morning, novice sessions are held to teach beginners the basics of racing, safety, and track etiquette. You don’t even need a bike to ride at the velodrome: track bikes can be rented for as little as $5.

Not all riding on the track is about racing. Many riders come out for the fitness aspect of the sport. The skills learned on the track can translate across all types of cycling and other sports, too. “Good balance, sprinting, and speed skills also get bolstered when you ride the track,” Hernandez-Jones says.

A common misconception about riding on a track is that it’s a dangerous activity, but Hernandez-Jones says it is no more dangerous than riding on the road. “Most events are “Many of the riders and racers in our community started overseen by a Hellyer supervisor to make sure everyone is by riding fixies on the street,” says Elizabeth Hernandez- safe,” she says. Jones, Vice President of the Northern California Velodrome Association. “Hellyer gives them the opportu- If you aren’t quite ready to take a ride on the Hellyer Park nity to take their riding to the next level and transition to Velodrome, Friday night races at the track are always exciting to watch—the spectating is free. racing on the track.” People come from as far south as Monterey to as far north as Siskiyou to learn, ride, and race at Hellyer Velodrome. “We also host several events throughout the year where riders come from across the country to contest racing here in San Jose,” Hernandez-Jones says.

ridethetrack.com 995 Hellyer Ave. San Jose, CA 95111 408.225.0225 twitter: @hellyer

The Quintessential

Sexy Librarian* Written by Lynn Peithman Stock Photography by Daniel Garcia

*Or so says Molly Ringwald

estled near her fourth floor office at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Jill Bourne is surrounded by stories—more than 1.7 million books at this library location alone. But you won’t find the San Jose Library Director’s favorite stories on the shelves. Bourne’s favorites are real life ones experienced by patrons every day at the library, as they discover a new aspect of their world and make their life better. Bourne is the new Director of Libraries for the City of San Jose. She came here in July from San Francisco, where she was deputy city librarian for seven years. Now she takes the helm at San Jose’s 23-branch system, overseeing a budget of $38 million. “What really makes me inspired about being in a library every day is that every day there are dozens of stories going on. There’s a person whose life has actually been changed by being able to have access to knowledge that made them improve their own life. And that’s an incredible gift. You see it happening every day, whether it’s a person with their child who has just figured out they have a reading disability they never knew about. Something has changed their life because they have access to information for free…A person filling out a job application online, who has never used a computer. We have hundreds of stories.”

The library system has more than 270 employees and serves more than six million visitors annually. It has more than two million items in its collections and circulates nearly 12 million items a year. Bourne shared her own life and library stories recently with Content Magazine. What is your favorite story? Bourne shares one from Varsha, a library patron who grew up in India. “Libraries were few and far between. I had to travel by bus for 45 minutes to get to a nice library and it was not free. When I came to this country 16 years back, I was amazed and impressed that the libraries were free! And that I could check out 100 books if I wanted to. I really valued this privilege here and value it even more now as I have a 10 year old who is a voracious reader.” What drew you to San Jose? I was really drawn to the spirit of innovation. That, plus this really is an urban community and that’s what I’ve always been committed to, libraries in urban communities. There is this perception of what Silicon Valley is, and it is true, there are all these great big companies and all this money and wealth but it is also a very large city of a million people and we have all the urban issues that cities face. We have communities that need access to information and knowledge that aren’t getting that connection to this amazing culture of Silicon Valley.

This is a great library system and San Jose Public is an internationally known library system. It has achieved amazing things. It was one of the first libraries to get the both library of the year and the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services award, called the National Medal, for organizations, the highest honor. This library was the first to get both. How long have you been on West Coast? I moved to the West Coast in 1995, 19 years. I was on the East Coast in grad school trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and decided to go to library school. How she choose her graduate school: It was 106 degrees in the summer in Boston when I had to make my decision and I lived in a fourth-floor walkup. I was there in this incredible, horrible heat, and thinking about where the library school programs were...One in Austin, one in Boston, and one in Seattle. My roommate and I were saying, ‘it’s going to be this hot every day in Austin. Let’s go to Seattle.’ Bourne has a bachelor’s degree in English from New York University and a master’s in library and information science from the University of Washington.

Jill Bourne is the new Director of Libraries for the City of San Jose.

“I LOVED PIPPI LONGSTOCKING. SHE’S THE ORIGINAL RIOT GRRRL.”

Plans for the library system here: That’s a big question...There’s this whole realm of how libraries are in intraspace learning, getting access to even more technological tools, like learning how to use industry-level software, learning the tools how to get a job. We already do a lot of that. We teach people how to do resumés, and how to use computers. What is that next step in the world of applied skills, like maker type stuff. Learning how to make a digital film. Or do coding. We have some great programs like partnering with this national organization called Girls Who Code. Through them, we’re partnering with Google to do classes at our Evergreen branch for teen girls. That is type of programming I’d like to see. What other innovations is the library system trying? We started [a tablet program] at the Educational Park Branch, which opened in May just before I started and we started the program subsequently. It’s called Tech Connect. We’re testing about four different tablets or reader devices. We’re testing it for us—how

does the checkout work, what kind of cover do you need to keep it safe, what are the security issues, what are the use issues, what are the types of things people need to know when they start to use a tablet like this…Working with different demographic groups— what are the most commonly asked questions? Because that’s what we like to do, answer people’s questions, so then we can think about how to scale it. We’re also thinking of having the same program in at least one other branch soon. We want to take this out to as many locations as possible.

I always liked working with kids. I love the energy and positivity and that really appealed to me at that part of my life. It still does. If you ever have a bad day, you should definitely go to a story time because everything is so exciting...You get so much positive feedback and excitement about life. I think that’s the thing that really drew me to that.

Personal life: Bourne’s husband works for a global environmental nonprofit, doing IT projects. They have an 11-year-old son who is in middle school in San What other programming is on the Jose and plays soccer. The family lives downtown and Bourne walks to work. horizon? We want to create an instructional program this year. We really do see Reading now: a need for classes, even self-directed The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the online classes or classes in person. 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown. The book is available in What led you to become a librarian? I love the public and I definitely loved the San Jose Public Library. learning. So I got a job at a children’s library outside of Boston and it What are your usual go-to books? literally was one of those moments, a I spent time as a young adult as a huge eye-opening experience. This is children’s book selector; it was a great job. But when I was a teen, I was exactly what I need to be doing.

obsessed with Elizabethan tragedies and Greek tragedies, and Faulkner and James Joyce. I only read adult books when I was a kid. So then when I was an adult and I started reading these books for my job, I was really into young adult fiction. I actually read a lot of young adult fiction and fantasy. It’s really embarrassing because I have all of this young adult fiction in my house. You can read one in one day. It’s like watching a television show. They’re so actionoriented and character based. I find it very satisfying.

What keeps you up at night? The fact that our branch libraries are open only four days a week. No, it really does. I really hate it. It’s something that we’re working really hard on. It all starts with being available to the community. When I know we’re not open on a day when kids are out of school and they don’t have anywhere to go, or on a weekend when families are together…that keeps me up a lot and the uncertain funding for libraries that makes that happen.

One of the reasons I decided to come here [was] I saw a strong desire on the part of city officials to support the library. There are these beautiful libraries that had been built that weren’t open. When they talked to me, I thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to go there. That’s where they don’t open First book remember reading or being libraries.’ read to: Probably Winnie-the-Pooh. My mom They told me right away that a plan used to read to us all the time. I’m the was actually in place. The mayor youngest in my family so I got read to himself and the city manager’s office before I remember. and everyone I’ve talked to were very clear that they had already dedicated My favorite book from that time is in that year to open libraries. It was totally Pippi Longstocking. I loved the only department to get additional Pippi Longstocking. I have a first funding that year. edition of it my husband gave to me. She’s the original Riot grrrl. Describe the library system in one She’s the strongest girl in the world. word. Independently wealthy—I love that. It’s a gateway. It really is a starting place Totally, totally inappropriate at all for any direction that you need to go times...I remember I would laugh in your life. It could be a gateway of with my mom. I read sections of them information, of learning a new skill, sometimes just for fun. connecting with other people in the community, so it’s a gateway. What’s easy for you? I always did like making order out The Molly Ringwald story: of things. I think my brain naturally In case you haven’t followed does that. I was an English major and Ringwald’s career since she made The a math minor. I love the structure. On Breakfast Club, she has evolved into a the other side, I love the creativity. thoughtful author, hence

her appearance in San Francisco a couple of years ago at a literary event to discuss her book, When It Happens to You. Bourne was there, too, and afterward found herself face to face with Ringwald by the bar and mentioned she was a librarian. Ringwald responded by calling Bourne “the quintessential sexy librarian” and our very own book nerd has the tweet to prove it.

Recent read: The entire Divergent series by Veronica Roth. The first movie is coming out in the spring. I wanted to read them before the movie comes out.

sjpl.org twitter: @sanjoselibrary

ANYWHERE—BUT HERE

Shannon bynum Written by leah Ammon Photography by daniel garcia

Ballerina Shannon Bynum’s career might have taken her in many directions. She might have called many different places home. But she chooses to be here in San Jose, and there is nowhere else she’d rather be. As a company member of Ballet San Jose since 2006, San Jose native Shannon Bynum has danced a number of leading roles and earned acclaim for her recurring part as one of the Spanish dancers in the annual production of The Nutcracker. Consummately sane, sweet, and serious about her calling, Bynum shared a little about the journey she has made in the course of her career.

The virtues of flexibility As she grew older and increasingly serious about dancing professionally, Bynum left the Atlas School of Dance to attend the highly competitive Teen Dance Company of the Bay Area. There, she worked with a number of different guest choreographers and experimented with diverse dance styles. At Atlas, she had studied tap and jazz as well as ballet. At TDC, her horizons were broadened further with African, Indian, and “just about every possible kind of contemporary dance.”

“I don’t feel like me without it in my life” Bynum’s introduction to ballet was almost accidental. Nobody in her immediate family was a dancer. An extremely shy little girl bubbling with energy, her mother thought that dance classes might give her a healthy outlet and help her to make friends. So, at the young age of two and a half, Bynum enrolled as a student at the Atlas School of Dance.

While at college—studying physical therapy at Fresno State University—Bynum worked with both the contemporary company Altered Modalities and private classical ballet instructors. Her teachers began to pressure her to focus on one style. Bynum was sincerely torn. “I loved ballet. I have the build for it, and it seemed like a good fit for me. But at the same time, I was drawn to commercial dance. I didn’t know how I could choose.”

Her first classes were not exactly a success. “I just sat and watched the other girls,” she recalls. As the months went by, one of her teachers even cautioned her mother that it might not be worth it to invest in a costume for Bynum for the year-end recital.

As sometimes happens, fate decided for her. In the summer of 2005, Bynum was accepted into the American Ballet Theatre’s summer program in New York. But she was also selected as one of the top 100 competitors for the televised dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance. When she placed just shy of the cut-off to progress to televised elimination rounds in Los Angeles, she was philosophical. “I figured it was a sign. I just hopped on a plane back to New York.”

But when the curtain went up the night of the show, something magical happened. “There I was, front and center— suddenly, I wasn’t scared anymore,” she says. From that moment, she never wanted to stop dancing, and she never has. “It’s something I love with all my heart. I feel it in my soul. I don’t feel like me without it in my life.”

“I don’t regret my experimenting with different dance styles at all,” she says. “If anything, my experience has really broadened my technique and helped my career. Companies today prize versatility. They need dancers who can dance it all.” The next year, Bynum auditioned for Dennis Nahat, then artistic director of Ballet San Jose, who promptly hired her. She has been with the company ever since. “There have been so many opportunities for me with the company. I’ve danced challenging roles, and keep growing and changing as an artist.” Of course, Bynum relishes opportunities to travel professionally. She has toured as far away as China, and danced on stages all over Europe. “I love exploring different cities, trying different food, and hearing how the different orchestras perform the same score in unique ways.” But no matter how far abroad she goes, she feels a tremendous amount of satisfaction every time she returns to San Jose. “It’s really a dream come true,” she says. “I love dancing for this city. I feel so proud that I was born and raised here, and so happy that I can give back to my community.” “You have to keep your balance” Bynum’s instrument is her body. To hone her control of it takes discipline and focus. Rehearsing for a production, she dances more than eight hours a day. All of this is not without a physical toll. Already, she has had two hip surgeries, one ankle surgery, and suffers from arthritis. “Ballet isn’t natural for the body,” she concedes. “Sometimes it’s very much a mental fight, when your body hurts, to even get out of the bed in the morning.” The secret to making it all work? Bynum says, “you have to keep your balance.” Physically, this means finding ways to train that emphasize natural movement—for this, Bynum likes Pilates and cross-training—and making sure to eat and sleep enough and well. Emotionally, Bynum gets fulfillment out of working as a teacher, both of ballet and Pilates, for children and adults. She especially enjoys sharing her knowledge of training and technique with a new generation of students. She also recharges with quality time with her family. “I’m half Middle Eastern,” she says, “and food is a huge part of our lives. My grandmother cooks, and our gatherings are full of food, laughter, and just…the joy of family.” “This is not a selfish career” Bynum is without question driven, but she is emphatic that dance gives not only to the dancer, but also to the audience: “This is not a selfish career,” she says. “Every dancer wants to give (of themselves). We don’t do it for ourselves. We do it for the people in the audience.” She continues with a smile, “when you’re on stage in position, and the overture begins, and the curtain is about to rise—in that moment, you think to yourself ‘this is why I do this.’ When your profession is your passion, it’s a pleasure to push yourself. Because you know you’re so very lucky, and you never forget it.”

BALLETSJ.ORG

facebook: ShannonBynum twitter: @shanaynaybynum

Hermitage brewery tapped into the craft beer boom Written by Nathen Zanon Photography by daniel garcia

Hermitage Brewery and its Brewmaster Peter Licht are turning an industrial neighborhood into a craft beer destination.

he Hermitage Brewing Company is a little bit difficult to find. Located just outside downtown San Jose in a warehouse district near Spartan Stadium, the brewery and taproom are nestled in the back of a lot adjacent to a recycling yard and a roofing company. “This used to be a bakery,” Hermitage brewmaster Peter Licht says, pointing out that the area was once an agricultural center back when San Jose was full of orchards. He’s seated in his taproom at a wooden barrel that’s been converted into a table, in the shadow of several towers of other barrels which are aging beers by Hermitage and other local brewers. The bar opened to the public last July, and despite the out-of-the-way location and limited hours (Thursday-Saturday), they see a steady flow of customers and beer lovers. “We’re small, so it doesn’t take a big crowd to be successful in here.” Licht and Hermitage have deep roots in the South Bay brewing scene. A native New Yorker, Licht had been enthralled with beer from the time he was a kid. “I still remember taking a sip of my dad’s beer when I was like five. I loved it! Then in 4th grade, we got to write a report on whatever we wanted, so I wrote it on beer. I went to kind of an experimental school,” he adds.

After graduating from Columbia University, Licht found his way to Oakland in 1989 and was thrilled by the booming beer culture he encountered. “You’d see all these local breweries and brewpubs, things I hadn’t ever really imagined as a beer lover.” His excitement inspired him to first try home brewing, then enroll in the Master Brewers program at UC Davis. After graduating, he took a job as brewmaster at Coast Range Brewing Company in Gilroy. “I didn’t want to move all the way to Gilroy,” he explains. “So I moved to San Jose. It’s a big city, but also like a small town. I like it.” Still, Licht found the beer scene in the South Bay lacking. When he took over as brewmaster at Tied House in downtown San Jose in 2007, what he found was a quality local brewpub struggling to fill seats. The restaurant had been open nearly 20 years, but unless there was a Sharks game, it was almost deserted. After about a year there, Licht says, “we decided to close it down.” He moved the fermenters and production equipment to its current location and set up Hermitage as a place where he and his team could experiment, and where other “gypsy” brewers could use the facilities to craft their own product. Partners have included Strike Brewing, Almanac, and others. Hermitage remains “in the Tied House family”—many of the beers are available at the Mountain View location, and Tied House options are poured in the Hermitage taproom.

Meanwhile, since the move, craft beer in San Jose has finally begun to blossom. And Hermitage has helped lead the way, developing several award-winning beers, including Ale of the Imp and their Single Hop series. They also host an annual “Meet the Brewers” event, bringing in dozens of local brewers to talk beer and give tastes of their latest offerings. Last year, the gathering drew close to 800 people, with even more expected at this February’s event. Craft beer has been so big that “the main challenge has been trying to grow fast enough to meet the demand,” Licht says. As an example, he describes the increase in demand for hops, as growers develop new varieties rich in flavours and aromas that craft brewers are drawn to. Although still a relatively small percentage of the overall beer market, craft beers often use 10, 20, or even 100 times the hops per barrel as some large production breweries. “Sometimes it’s hard to get hops,” Licht shrugs. Too much demand is a good problem to have in any industry; Hermitage has responded by taking over two warehouse spaces next door to their original one. More fermenters, more barrels, and even a comfy new office are all in the process of being installed. And in this formerly bleak neighborhood of agricultural plants and warehouses, several other local brewers—including Strike, Clandestine Brewing, and Santa Clara Valley Brewing—are all starting up production. Couple that with some art spaces popping up in the vicinity and the need for nearby pre- and post-game celebration spots for San Jose State sporting events & San Jose Giants games, and you just might have a good reason to visit the Spartan-Keyes neighborhood in the immediate future. What does Licht see as the next step in moving the beer scene in the South Bay to be in line with the more attention-grabbing San Francisco and East Bay? “In those areas, there’s much more synergy between food and beer and food and wine. If that comes together with craft beer, better food, more independent restaurants, more momand-pops—I’d love to be a part of that, supplying beer to those places.”

hermitagebrewing.com 1627 S. 7th St. San Jose, CA 95112 408.291.0966 twitter: @hermitagebrews facebook: hermitagebrewing

“Turtle” Trainer: Crysta Causin

Pomaikai (Kai) Shishido

Ryan Hisamune

sp2

Communal BAR + Restaurant Written by Samantha Mendoza Photography by daniel garcia

Ryan Melchiano

Ryan Melchiano, Ryan Hisamune, and Pomaikai Shishido team up to bring modern dining to the South Bay

In August 2013, SP2 had its grand opening. Melchiano was married the same week that the restaurant opened and worked the day before and after his wedding. For the three co-owners, the restaurant is their top priority. “When someone doesn’t like what we do or complains, it really burns us because we do care. We built that chair and put that light up,” says Melchiano. “We are married to this place.”

yan Melchiano and Ryan Hisamune met in 2002 after college while working at Hukilau in San Francisco. Melchiano was serving, eventually getting into management, while Hisamune was working as a barback. They found themselves having similar work ethics and ideas about the restaurant industry and found themselves having conversations about what they would do if they could ever open a restaurant of their own.

With Melchiano’s leadership, Hisamune’s bar expertise, and Shishido’s knack for marketing and social media, SP2 (San Pedro Squared) has already made a mark in San Jose’s dining scene. Yet, even though with the SP2 team’s experience, Hisamune admits he was caught off guard by craft beer scene in San Jose. “I realize people down here are very knowledgable bout that scene,” explains Hisamune, “And they expect that, so we changed most of our taps during the first month.”

As a friendship developed, Melchiano and Hisamune worked together on various restaurant and club projects in San Francisco. When Melchiano was asked to help owners of Hukilau open the nightclub Suede, he brought Hisamune along to be a part of the team. Melchiano and Hisamune continued to gain experience and a track record of successful endeavors such as the opening of Big, which within a year was rated as one of the top 10 bars in San Francisco.

Walking through the doors of SP2, guests are welcomed by an open kitchen and the warmth of a wood fire oven. The reclaimed custom designed furniture by local craftsmen and large hardwood main dinner are inviting and blend the old with the new. Along the wall is a large wooden bar displaying not only a vast selection of beverages, but upon closer look guests will notice metal rings in the bricks where horses used to be tied to during the building’s original stable days.

The two Ryans met Pomaikai Shishido coincidentally at the Hukilau, where Shishido was managing and bartending at the time. The three starting talking. Melchiano and Hisamune were managing at 620 Jones and invited Shishino to bartend for a party they were having with the intention of seeing if he could sink or swim. Shishido swam. In 2011, the trio decided to venture out together and try something new. Melchiano, Hisamune, and Shishido began to see that there was a demand in the South Bay when they polled their SF bar guests and found out 40 percent of their clientele were from San Jose. Recognizing there were customers in San Jose looking for a different dining experience, the three saw an opportunity to open a place that would combine their aesthetics and vision that had been brewing years earlier.

Besides a wide selection of drinks, SP2 has a food menu that changes every month. As an athlete, Melchiano is very keen to healthy eating and it shows in his dedication to sourcing mostly local and organic foods. SP2’s American bistro menu has been developed with the help of chef and friend Executive Ola Fendert. Resident chef Kelvin Ott complements the owners’ passion with his own dedication to a perfect dining experience.

After a couple years of researching the nightlife and locations in San Jose, they found the space adjacent to San Pedro Square Market that was once an horse stable. But over the years, previous tenants, most recently - Tapas Bar & Lounge, had covered up many of the building’s original features. Melchiano, Hisamune, and Shishido wanted to bring back to the historical aspects of the stable and embrace its roots.

These elements make SP2 a welcomed addition to downtown’s expanding culture. And there is a sense that Melchiano, Hisamune, and Shishido have just begun. With their commitment to always improving, plans are in the works to redesign the back private dining room as well as opening the lounge into San Pedro Square Market’s courtyard in the spring of 2014.

Doing many of the interior improvements themselves, people walking by found it hard to believe that the crew covered in drywall dust were the actual owners. Having that kind of commitment to their vision is what gives SP2 its unique aesthetic. Together they divided up tasks but always, quality was the thread that bound them together.

“We’re always looking for other locations for other projects. You can be ambitious but you have to be careful to not be foolish. We want to make this our number one spot. We have a commitment to this community,” Melchiano says.

“you just know when you meet people and you like them and you get along with them, you’re just going to be surrounded by them for a while.”

Ryan Melchiano The Concept person Knows a little about everything The one who Makes it happen Appreciates good things “Ryan’s our engine” “I’m not a master of anything , but good at appropriating to have it executed.”

Ryan Hisamune Drink and Beverage Man Bar manager The Numbers Guy “Ryan is more of the business savvy, book worm type--which is a great value to our team” “in the end, I want the customer to have a good time”

Pomaikai (Kai) Shishido The Chill Hawaiian Boy Marketing, PR, Social Media Runs the Floor “People like to talk to Kai. He balances us out.” “My Big thing is people. I like Being social”

Sandia Smokey Vida Mezcal Aperol Fresh squeezed lime juice Watermelon juice Agave syrup Served tall glass Chile-lime salt rim

Baby Back Ribs Ginger Soy Glazed Braised Deep Fried

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Angelina Haole

Randi Zuckerburg

Hasti Kashfia

The Valley of She-Moguls Written by Jennifer Elias Photography by daniel garcia

Silicon Valley fashionistas collaborate on a fashion line with hopes to helm the closets of tech professionals while breaking down a few gender barriers.

and big, bulky shoes,” she says. “I focus on introducing them to a different way of dressing like themselves. Maybe a cool, sarcastic t-shirt with a sport coat over it.”

“You have 90 percent of my attention,” a frazzled Hasti Kashfia told me while laughing apologetically. “I’m freaking out with five percent battery left,” local stylist and couture fashion designer Angelina Haole chimed in, “Sorry, we haven’t seen each other in an hour and in that hour so much has happened.” Kashfia continues, “So we’re”— Haole finishes her sentence—”downloading,” referring to their pre-fashion event catch-up.

“I don’t think anybody thought that you could go to work and make three million dollars a year wearing jeans,” Kashfia says. “And I respect that, but I think it’s also cool to give people the tools they need to shine.” Haole adds, “You’d be surprised how many Google guys don’t want to be dressy at work because they don’t want to be looked at differently. But then,” she continues, “for a big party, they’ll go all out. It’s an expectation thing.”

The two women are working frantically on a preview of their new accessory line, Hashtag 265, debuting at Valley Fair’s newly-renovated luxury wing. Co-founder Randi Zuckerberg (yes, sister of the Mark Zuckerberg) arrives and the threesome begin talking about taking on the tech industry, though not in the traditional sense. “I know for a fact that Silicon Valley is underdressed and they’re looking for help,” Haole says, joking. “It’s a real tear-jerker.”

Zuckerberg recalls moving to Palo Alto as one of the first of few women to work at the Facebook offices. “When I first moved here to Silicon Valley, I didn’t own a pair of jeans because I came from New York, working in media, where you would mortgage your home to get Chanel heels,” she admits. “I walked into Facebook wearing my outfit from the ad agency and people looked at me like I had four heads,” she recalls. “I immediately ran out to the store and bought sweatshirts and jeans. But Zuckerberg

Haole knows a thing or two about the underdressed, as she’s been styling tech professionals in San Jose for several years now. “The tech guys come in and they don’t have a personal style besides really baggy jeans—the worst wash,

As the line’s official launch approaches in spring of 2014, the three women are using today’s universal signal of the hashtag for their namesake. “Hashtags are really central to helping us sort out ourselves and sort our feelings.” Haole says. “People feel immediately connected.” While the hashtag’s geographic birthplace of the Silicon Valley remains the biggest inspiration of all, the trio says they want to take Hashtag 265 to a national stage. “This will give us a wider reach, but we’ve got some pretty badass women right here in [Silicon Valley],” Haole says.

credits Haole and Kashfia for showing her a way to dress based on her own personality. “I had a lot of ideas in my mind that short women can’t pull off certain styles and so these women really opened my horizons,” she says. “But, I think women in tech are having a fashion moment right now. I hope it progresses and doesn’t go back to the hoodies and jeans.” The threesome agrees that women are under more pressure in the male-dominated industry. “I used to empty closets full of masculine polo shirts and the women would say, ‘I don’t know what else to wear where I’m not sexualized and yet still respected,’” says Haole. “I think they are just looking for someone to say ‘It’s okay to look beautiful and kick ass at work’. It’s not a ‘girls are better’ thing. It’s about valuing and supporting each other and raising our standards.”

Peeking under Haole’s coat is a Hashtag 265 shirt that reads “She Mogul.” The super-soft, American-made shirt hangs on her body like a comfy-chic Alexander Wang tee. “It’s a really important to us that it was high quality fabric,” Zuckerberg says. “But it continues to be an ongoing refining process,” she explains. “The pieces make you laugh but they also make you think. A lot of them have ones and zeros, but if you’re an insider, you’ll know that it actually says something,” she says. “It’s a line for people whose brains are their best asset.” One of the shirts is literally Haole’s handwriting, Kashfia tells me. “Well, fingerwriting on the iPad,” she laughs.

In the past several years rehabbing the wardrobes of industry professionals, the three women discovered Silicon Valley’s style problem went beyond their closets—it was a gender problem. “We started to look at the type of women we are, and we realized there’s something missing out there,” Kashfia explains. “We really want to see people say things like ‘She looks like an engineer’ or ‘She looks like a mom’ where it’s okay to be geeky, a mom or”—“To be smart!” Haole chimes in. “It’s important for young girls to know that it’s cool to be smart, to code, and be invested in science and math.” Kashfia continues. “Eventually, we would love to do clothes for kids to tell girls to be proud and say, ‘Hey, I love math’.” The trio also plans to eventually include unisex pieces in their line.

One of their favorite pieces from the line is an enamel bracelet that reads “Go outside, the graphics rock,” which Zuckerberg says is an interesting piece about art and social commentary. “It’s a novelty piece, but it really does comment on our perspective of technology,” she says. “Don’t live your entire life through a cell phone screen.” “Hello,” Haole interrupts in agreement, “Earth has the best graphics of all! It’s not all about technology—it’s about life,” she says. “But the fact of the matter is, technology is part of life.”

Encouraging people to break the traditional way of thinking in style and in life, Kashfia, Haole, and Zuckerberg refuse to put their customer in a cookie-cutter box. “I love that [our customer] could be anyone,” Kashfia says. “She could be a yoga mom, an entrepreneur, a working mom, or a college student” she says.

facebook: hashtag265

twitter: @HastiKashfia @AngelinaHaole @RandiZuckerberg

DAWN Photography: John Agcaoili Model: Dawn Richard Model: Michael Fortes MUA: Ivadell Hair: Mary Craig Stylist: Holly Jane Cornell Lighting Director: Mark Sebastian

gold and black dress by Edita-$44

Designer (Womens): Dexter Flawk dextersimmons.com Designer (Mens): Andre Soriano andresoriano.com Designer: Cecilia Aragon for Punk de Luxe ceciliaaragon.com Designer (Mens): Angelina Haole twitter:AngelinaHaole Accessories: Angela Agabao for WorkPlayDate workplaydate.com Jewelry: With Love Made From Hate withlovemadefromhate.mysupadupa.com Location: History San Jose Location: San Jose Armory/Theater, Fred Sharkey

LOOPING LULLABIES Story and Photography by VICTORIA FELICITY

San Jose native singer and songwriter Brooke D. has created a world of whimsy with her storytelling lyrics and finger-snapping melodies. As jazz-influenced musician, she crafts melodies through the effects of a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, looping lullabies enchant intimate audiences across the Bay. Through the process of discovering your musical self, how do you feel your music has evolved since your first EP to now?

It actually happened a little by accident. I was supposed to have musicians play with me on a bigger gig. I didn’t want to perform by myself, but they weren’t able to make it a day before the show and I had this loop pedal and I thought…well, I can try this. With a loop pedal you just have a lot of options in regards to the sounds you can make; you can feed a lot into it. It changed my view of how I could compose things and I was able to build layers upon layers. I think that in order to discover myself I had to find out that what I was doing and how I write is not the norm. It takes that freedom to be open to new ideas.

I feel that from the start, my roots as a jazz singer really informed my beginnings as a solo piano player/singer/ songwriter. It seems that as you progress in that, people constantly tell you that you should have a band. For a long time I was just not meeting with musicians who could make that commitment or who vibed with what I was doing. It took a few years of exploration with different bands trying different things to finally get where I am now, which is doing this looping thing.

“I think that in order to discover myself I had to find out that what I was doing and how I write is not the norm. It takes that freedom to be open to new ideas.” How do you come to develop the stories behind your different EPs? Is there a reason you have grouped certain songs together? Actually, every time I start writing, I am not really thinking about an album. It’s usually just song by song, and in that period of time, I naturally tend to write about similar things and they just happen to group together. I will notice that some songs have a theme and they seem to go well together, and that will usually inform the last few songs I decide to write. It is conscious but not, because I feel that the creative process comes from another inspired place. You are a twin—what was your family dynamic like? Our parents were always really supportive of anything we wanted to do. We asked for it, and thankfully our parents were open to letting us try things. It was awesome because it helped me figure out what I liked and what I didn’t and taught me a lot about myself.

sions. We are all in that process of remembering who we are all the time, but when you get to find that spot where you feel comfortable and free, that is such a magical place to be. What is one of your most memorable performance experiences? A really memorable moment was when I performed in the city at Amnesia for my CD release. The Giants had just won one of the World Series games. While I was walking to the gig, everyone was cheering and it was great energy. I get to Amnesia and I get up to perform, just me alone with my loop, and the whole bar is silent for at least four songs. After, the bartender told me that rarely happens. It felt scary but at the same time it was a big moment for me to be able to connect with a whole crowd being with you in that moment. It was awesome. That has been a triumphant thing for me as a solo artist, that connection. You got a tattoo recently. What is the story behind that? It is actually a meditation symbol. What I have been learning as far as meditation goes and as far as my spirituality, it makes you more open and more authentic. You are remembering who you are and remembering that anything you choose to share was meant to be shared and for me. It helps me be more honest in my music. It makes me more conscious of my lyrics and what the words are really saying. What is your intention behind your music?

My intention, as far as music goes, is to be able to heal those empty spots, or those spots that are not talked about for people. That is usually what my goal is with music, but it became more clear to me with the last album, which was We were always really supportive of each other, we were all about speaking the truth. I think music can heal people on the same team. I think my mom really engrained that and I hope that my songs do that for people. in us. Because we are so close, we were able to blossom What’s your desert island disc? together but still be individuals. As adults, we all had our time to be on our own and find That is a really hard question. OK: Computer by Radioour voice. We don’t shy away from our talents and pas- head. Because even now listening to it, I find new things. brooked.bandcamp.com facebook: brookedmusic

No Rest for the Wicked Surviving as an artist in the modern world is as perilous as it is fulfilling. We join John Miller and Chad Hall, sipping coffee and conversing about the terrible and wonderful lives theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve chosen. Interview by Chad Hall Story and Photography by LAM NGUYEN

John Miller, a singer/songwriter from Aromas, California, spent his adolescence sheltered from the typical vices and missteps that most of us associate with our teenage years. Hailing from a very musical family, he was constantly surrounded by the sounds of perfectly tuned guitars and a parade of instruments. At the age of 13, when most of us were fighting our raging hormones and searching for identity, he joined his first band. These days, John is a solo artist. His latest album, Beneath the Willow, is haunting and complex. You can hear influences like Elliot Smith and The Decemberists creeping out in folkish, melodic ballads. At points it feels excruciatingly personal and one quickly gets the sense that the album was written to tell one continuous story. As a young student, Chad Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s snide remarks in class would often land him in the dog house with many of his teachers. He now admits it was all for the challenge of being smarter than his teachers, more clever than his peers, and better than the establishment. With a book of poetry and myriad of short stories under his belt, Hall continues to pelt away at his typewriter, hoping to find newer and better ways to tell his stories. Different people, different paths, different mediums, same struggle.

A Fountain of Frustration Why is it tough being an artist in the modern world?

Like Grows into Love How hobbies grow into passion and leads to obsession

Chad Hall: The thing that bothers me, from a writer’s perspective, is when you think about people like Kurt Vonnegut or John Cheever, these guys used to make a living off of short stories. It seems that now, because of the internet, there are so many artists that are willing to work for free that people seem less willing to pay for something decent.

CH: Compulsion is always a part of the equation for most artists. When I was younger, writing was about reaching out to the world. I wanted people to know about me. It sounds a little sad and desperate now. As I’ve gotten older, I find myself heading more toward writing things that are very obviously not about me. I imagine that journey is pretty similar for musicians as well.

John Miller: I’ve been kind of reaching out for the answer for a while now. Just the other day I was listening to an interview with Penn Jillette, from Penn & Teller’s Magic Show. He was living in San Francisco for a while and he was juggling on the streets. Because he was such an accomplished juggler and because of his sheer persistence and will, he was starting to make a lot of money as a street performer—I mean he was clearing six figures. He was making so much that when he brought his money to an accountant, his accountant told him not to declare that he had earned the money by juggling, the reason being that no one would believe him; the IRS would assume that he was a drug dealer or something. I look at something like that and I think that there was a time and a place where things like this could happen. People who try to give me advice these days mostly come from that time and I feel like most of their advice doesn’t really apply to me now.

JM: For me it was more like this slowly boiling pot that kind of simmered throughout my childhood. It wasn’t like I just woke up one day and decided I was going to make music for the rest of my life. My dad, at some point, gave me this crappy 40 dollar electric guitar and a cheap amplifier. He also got himself, and my mother, some earplugs. After I got my hands on it, all of a sudden, I couldn’t help myself. I had to make noise. I want to make a living doing music and live decently because of it. It’s never really about getting famous or anything like that. It’s about having enough to live a full and complete life and I can’t imagine that life without music.

Is it all worth it? Most of the time. Some days you want to smash your guitar against the wall and walk away. I sit down at the piano or pick up a guitar and I’m back again. I work hard because I want others to see that it can pay off if you do it right. It may not right away, but fighting for CH: I heard a great quote from Amanda Palmer (a musi- something you love is always worth it in the end. cian). The gist of it is, ‘as artists, we have to get used to the idea that we’re blue collar workers,’ and I feel like that’s the level most artists should be working towards now. Create art that will put food on your table, pay your bills and keep a roof over your head. JM: These days, I just want to be successful enough to not have to sling coffee anymore, you know? All I want to do is get to the point where I have enough success and enough of a track record to call a booking agent and say ‘Hey, I have a great idea for a tour and I think it would work well on the East Coast,’ or something like that. CH: So it’s about getting to the point where you get to the pass and people start trusting your art and valuing your opinion, right? You work and you work and you present what you’ve done and someone will say ‘it’s not enough.’ Then, one day, you’ll get to a point where people say ‘okay,’ and that’s what you fight for. Once you get to that point and you’ve established that reputation, people begin to expect less of you. Even though success is what we’re all working toward, success can also breed apathy and that’s something we all need to be mindful of.

“Fighting for something you love is always worth it in the end.” john-miller-music.com

facebook: johnmillerband twitter: @johnmillermusic

therealchadhall.com

twitter: @therealchadhall

Contributors The production of Content Magazine would not be possible without the talented writers, editors, graphic artists, and photographers who contribute to each issue. We thank you and are proud to provide a publication to display your work. We are also thankful for the sponsors and readers who have supported this magazine through advertisements and subscriptions.

DEREK HAUGEN Derek is a creative involved with writing, music, fine arts, and acting. In 2008, he graduated from the University of California-Berkeley where he studied English and Japanese. Currently, Haugen manages content for Level in San Jose and lives in Milpitas.

BRIAN GOMEZ Brian was born and raised in San Jose California. He is a recent graduate from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Art and music has been a major influence as well as vessel for his creativity. His works and character are both well rounded and diverse as he strives to inspire and motivate people. briangomezdesign.com

SAMANTHA MENDOZA Samantha is the Publishing Intern for Content Magazine and is in her last semester at San Jose State University, studying journalism and business. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she moved to San Jose in 2012. She’s also an avid runner: can’t stand the treadmill but she loves running trails.

NATHAN ZANON Nathan is a social media geek, a frequent doodler, and a pretty good juggler. He has called San Jose home for more than a decade, and has ingrained himself in the arts and cultural scene through his work with the Montalvo Arts Center, the Camera Cinemas, Cinequest, and the San Jose Downtown Association.

ANA VILLAFANE Born in Argentina, raised in Patagonia and living in California since 2003, Ana has turned an adolescent curiosity with photography into a life-long passion. For her, the goal is to catch the world at its most natural, to see its essence and candid truth. anavillafanephotography.com

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JOHN AGCAOILI John is a photographer & cinematographer. He actively participates and produces community based collaborations for the arts, has been published at an international level. John is also the co-founder of the creative team DSOTM.

JEFF GONZALEZ Jeff is a handsome (citation needed) journalism student at SJSU and a Content Intern. He is the opinion editor of the school paper and uses his column, “The Movie Knight” as a medium to rant about movies and society. If he isn’t writing or telling bad jokes, he’s drinking beer and thinking about what to write and more bad jokes to tell.

Want to be a part of the Content community? Contact us at: editor@content-magazine.com

Shannon Bynum shoot arranged by Nicholas Adam, Ninico Communications. Vintage Tibetan Lamb Fur & Leather Jacket provided by Audre VanBroers of BOLO Vintage. ninicocommunications.com bolovintage.com

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