Local Color End of Year Newsletter

Wrapping Up 2022

Good Morning Local Color Community,

Our end of year newsletter is here, enjoy this recap of Local Color’s impact in 2022 (approx 12 min read - prepare your warm beverage).

Through recent strategic planning work, we as staff and board, have discovered that Local Color is more than an arts organization: Local Color is an Artist's Organization. Local Color is built by Artists to support Artists and creatives through the capture and distribution of resources. Local Color facilitates programs that are of, by, and for the community served. Representation is critical - of the Artists served by the programs: 80% are of communities of color. Most identify as part of the Latinx, Black/African, Indigenous or Asian diasporas. 68% identify as women or non-binary.

Local Color envisions a San José, where locals, specifically communities and Artists of color, see themselves, hear themselves, and feel their cultural identities as integral and honored pillars of the City's artistic and cultural landscape.

We use this end-of-year newsletter to report and recommit to our work to serve you, the community. Thank you, San José, for the opportunity to organize under your sunny skies!

Fund Public Art & Creative Services

Through the Fund Public Art Program, Local Color worked with local Artists to create over 4,200 square feet of accessible, community-centered artwork on and off the wall. Fund Public Art is centered around the people who live, work, and love San José as we intentionally built community consulting and input into these projects.

Our client-based Creative Service program generated 4 new murals and forged unique partnerships with corporate partners and team-building programs!

San José Sharks x Zoom Murals

Local Color worked with the San Jose Sharks and 6 local Artists (Alyssa Wigant, Eddie Ramirez, Luis Guardado, Rayos Magos, Sam Rodriguez, and Jess Eastburn) to create vinyl interior murals at the SAP Center. Artists were asked to create artwork that reflected their own unique and diverse interpretations of the city. For more on this project, read here.

49 East Santa Clara Street

In partnership with the San Jose Downtown Association, Local Color worked with Frankie McFly and Venecia Prudencio to create paint-by-number style murals on boarded up businesses on the corner of 2nd and Santa Clara Street. With the help of over 20 volunteers, both Artists helped activate another corner of Downtown. For more on this project, read here.

Hella Gardens 2022 Installments

Our ongoing project, with the San Jose Downtown Association invited seven more Artists to create seven new, botanical-themed temporary murals in Downtown on Market and Santa Clara Street. Check out all of the new installments here and here!

Rooted SJ

Local Color was invited by San Jose State’s Cesar Chavez Community Action Center to provide a hands-on activity to Rooted Festival-goers! Over 100 participants made their marks on a collaborative mural that now belongs to the CCCAC. For more, check our post here.

Crossroads

Designed and Led by Artist Madelyne Joan Templeton, Local Color facilitated the exterior mural in partnership with Crossroads Trading Company. This stunner graces the walls of 1959 W San Carlos St, San José. For more on this project, read here.

Westfield Oakridge Mall

Designed and Led by Artist John Barrick, Local Color facilitated the interior mural dedicated to the city of San Jose in partnership with Westfield Oakridge. This staggeringly technical piece was hand-painted by John and his sons. For more on this project, read here.

Steinberg Hart

Designed and Led by Artists Eric Vasquez and Jessica Punzalan, Local Color facilitated an enriching team-building experience at our Underground Studio with staff and interns at Steinberg Hart. These paint-by-number murals provided an afternoon of mural tours and mural painting. For more on this project, read here.

TOPA Architecture

In partnership with TOPA Architecture, Local Color assembled several San José rtists in our first “Think Tank.” The question discussed was: How can local Artists partner with new developments to maintain San José beloved vibes?

WLS Mural Tour

The Women’s Leadership Summit toured Downtown with Local Color to learn about the importance of public art and its value to architecture and the city.

What’s Next?

Quetzal Gardens

After garnering over 500 votes from Quetzal Gardens residents, the Mayfair neighborhood, and the city as a whole, we are excited to announce the final selected muralist for this exciting project in 2023! Another round of applause for Jorge Camacho (J.Duh), Rayos Magos, and Elba Raquel for putting their designs out into the community.

Interested in working with Local Color? Reach out to us here: Artists | Clients

*** We are hiring a Creativity Facilitator to support this program in 2023 ***

Interested? Email the Team: hello@localcolorsj.org re: Creativity Facilitator 2023

Artist in Residence (AIR)

In 2016, Local Color began transforming vacant buildings slated for demolition into affordable Artists' studios. To date, Local Color has opened over 69,000 square feet of creative space, and currently, two locations totaling 23,000 square feet are active. We provided $100,000 in discounts throughout the pandemic to retain 86% of our membership. This prototyping has yielded the first long-term lease in partnership with an affordable housing development opening in 2023.

The “Digital” Underground is a haven for twenty members who are painters, podcasters, designers and musical minds. Our subterranean studio features open-air studios, creative coworking, and assembly room spaces.

50 S Barack Obama Blvd, The Artists In Residence at our light-industrial studio represents some of the best sign painters, screen printers, and design students in the bay area. The nine members at this location can be seen crafting large-scale projects and fronting elaborate production lines.

With both facilities ultimately zoned for redevelopment, Local Color continues to seek a permanent facility for Artists and community organizers. If you can help us solve this problem, please email us hello@localcolorsj.org!

Are you interested in a Studio? Click this link to chat with Rebecca, Artist In Residence Program Manager.

Local Commons | Fiscal Sponsorship

Launched in 2020, Local Commons fosters sustainability for local Artists, organizers, and collectives by providing comprehensive fiscal sponsorship. Local Commons expands access to otherwise restricted funding resources to South Bay Area organizers' fundraising efforts for community-centric creative projects. Local Commons support grant research and funds management and, to date, has redistributed $105,000 to a majority of BIPOC organizers.

Projects supported by Local Commons:

Culture Night Market

Led by Community Organizer Brandon “BQ” Quintanilla, Culture Night Market gathers community, supports small businesses & uplifts creativity through group economics.

Martha Street QuarantZine

Led by Jessica Gutierrez, The Martha Street Quarant-zine, a document provides a physical & digital platform for the voices of BI&POC creatives local to San José, where they can share their art with others while historicizing expressions from the diverse cultural city of San José.

SJ is Not For Sale

Led by Michael Cabana, San José Is Not For Sale: A Community Project a community-born documentary series displaying a combination of storytelling, cinematography, inspiration, and the talents cultivated in this city.

SJ Shooters

Led by Miguel Ozuna, SJ Shooters archives the beauty and social justice-related experiences found in the communities of San José through partnerships between local photojournalists and aspiring youth photographers.

TEYA

TEYA is an organization of BIPOC and ally teachers in the San José Unified School District. We strive to educate and empower youth with guided, purposeful, and relevant community activism workshops. TEYA supports teachers with anti-racist, culturally relevant, and equitably accessible lessons

GWNA

the Guadalupe Washington Neighborhood Association (GWNA) and the lead Artist Wisper are advocating to preserve a significant community mural at the intersection of Oak and First Street in San José, CA, by creating new work in collaboration with the neighborhood.

I Am My Body

2022 San Jose Creative Ambassador Stephanie Barajas Aguilar centers portraits and interviews with folks from diverse communities, examining the relationship we have with our bodies and the issues that we face due to our physical appearance.

Transformation Station

2022 San Jose Creative Ambassador, Amy Hibbs, is a participatory art piece that uses the creative output of visitors to feed hungry composting worms. Participants are invited to contribute a bad thought, deadly secret, or expression of grief in the form of a drawing or just words on newsprint paper.

SJUEC

SJUEC is a grassroots coalition of parents, educators, students, and community members committed to racial equity, our schools' safety, and our community's health.

Youth Empowerment Series (YES)

YES includes custom-designed, arts-based programs built to empower next-generation leaders in creative fields. From "how-tos" for curating community murals to developing artistic skills and collaborative leadership – the creative engagements provide outlets for improving mental health, self-expression, and art activism.

Jóvenes Activos @ SOMOS Mayfair

Sasha Chavez worked with the Jovenes Activos in the second iteration of this program. Installed at SOMOS Mayfair’s new location in the heart of the Mayfair neighborhood, Local Color taught Jovenes how to plan, curate, and create a mural that reflected the youth’s vision of a diverse San José and paid respects to the city’s rich history. For more on this project, click here.

Jóvenes Activos @ Veggielution

After being postponed due to the Pandemic, Mario Dimas could finally paint and install his mural at Veggielution. In partnership with SOMOS Mayfair’s Jóvenes Activos youth group, teens from East San José and the Mayfair neighborhood had a hand in every step of this mural-making process as they could do community outreach and create a public artwork that reflected their neighborhood. Watch a video on this mural here.

Grants Awarded

In 2022, we were awarded multiple grants totaling $298,476. The foundations supporting Local Color this year include:

Kenneth Rainin Arts Opportunity Fund Grant Fund
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation
D5 Councilmember Magdelena Carrasco
California Arts Council
The Sharks Foundation
Knight Foundation
SVCreates and the NEA
TSNE
The Abierto Program and the School of Arts and Culture
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Rotary Club of San José

Through this funding, Local Color will continue strengthening the arts community in San José by building equitable opportunities to keep emerging and established Artists active, employed, and engaged.

Fundraising

In October, we hosted our Third Annual 31 Skulls Live Auction Fundraiser. 31 local Artists’ hand-painted ceramic skulls were auctioned at our Underground Studios. It was a lively night of live music, Artists’ talks, whiskey tastings, a photo booth, and food from local sponsors. A special thank you to the Artists who spent their time creating a skull for the event. Thanks to the San José community and gracious supporters, we were able to raise $44,033.00.

Artists: Alyssa Wigant • Andrew Sumner • Annabelle Anderson • Anthony Combs • Berni Prado • Defaced Creations • Drew Roulette • Edgar Ochoa • Emilio Cortez • Eric Vasquez • FCO • FORCE129 • Frankie McFly • J.Duh • Jess Punzalan • John Barrick • Joseph (Zeruch) Arruda • Julie Meridian • Lotte Van De Walle • Lucia M • Paige Mason • Rayos Magos • Rene Lorraine • Saman The Samaniist • Sarah Pham • Sidy • Smooth Jazz • Taylor DuBose • Vampire Pumpkin • Wisper • Emonic • Danny Ibarra • Miguel Ozuna • Lauren Urroz • Carlos Velazquez

In addition to 31 Skulls, we held a few other fundraising campaigns that included the work of 16 Artists and totaled raising $57,300. Thank you to our supportive community and people like you who diligently donate and attend these fundraisers. A special thank you to all of the volunteers over the year, we could not have done this work without you!

Community Outreach

Another way Local Color expanded its reach this year was by attending various events in San José, allowing us to share our mission, facilitate live art, and connect further with Artists in our community. Some of the events you may have seen us at include:

SJSU x CCCAC Rooted Festival
SURJ x RISE SJ Restrospective
Rose, White, and Blue Parade on the Alameda
Sharks season opening block party
ICA San José Block Party
Airfield’s 420 Take-Off
Culture Night Market’s Eastridge, SJ Jazz Summerfest, and Pay Pal Park
Creative Ambassador Ricardo Cortez: Lowrider Show N’ Shine #Create408

Reflections From Team Local Color

Jessica Punzalan (Creative Services Manager)

What were some highlights from 2022?

As of November, I celebrated my first anniversary with Local Color! This year was an incredible learning experience. I’m stoked to continue my work with Local Color and learn more about what we do from the fabulous mentors and colleagues by my side.

I saw so many cows and farm animals during my various hikes around the Bay Area this year (see me at Point Reyes to the left)

What are you looking forward to in the new year?

More professional and personal growth outside of Local Color with the Multicultural Art Leaders Institute and beyond!

What are you drawing inspiration from right now?

Working with over 80 artists in 2022 has definitely inspired me to invest more time into my own art practice.

Rebecca Lee (Artists In Residence Facilities Coordinator)

What were some highlights from 2022?

One of my favorite quotes is, "If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you." As we wrap up 2022, I am celebrating my year-and-a-half anniversary with Local Color as the AIR Facilities Manager.

What are you looking forward to in the new year?

Much like every year 2022 was TOUGH. My mental and physical capacities were tested; learing how to balance life and juggle responsibilities had me feeling like I was a performer at a circus. Luckily, I had the grace and support of Team Loco and our members who inspired and motivated me to persevere.

What are you drawing inspiration from right now?

I am grateful for my job and our community because I was able to acquire new skills and improve on others; I was able to polish my communication skills, practice project management, and improve my facility knowledge. In the coming year I hope to continue along this trajectory and I look forward to working with y’all again in the coming year.

Carman Gaines (Associate Director)

What were some highlights from 2022?

2022 was filled with personal and professional growth. I was part of the 5th Cohort of the SVMindshare Program and completed my first section of the education path for Certified Professional Accounting. Both experiences shaped my perspectives on leadership and communication.

What are you looking forward to in the new year?

I look forward to revisiting art in my daily practice. It felt nerve-wracking and rejuvenating to pick up my cameras more this year and draw live in the Luna Art Chalk Festival at Backesto Park.

What are you drawing inspiration from right now?

I am inspired by the individuals I worked with in the Local Commons program this year. It can be terrifying to be vulnerable and share your work in a grant application scenario. Congrats to everyone who overcame a challenging task!

Erin Salazar (Executive Director)

Why, Hello.

This was a massive year for me, personally. In May, I graduated from the fancypants prestige of the Ivy League! I received a Master of Science from the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Pursuing higher education has liberated me from personal doubt; it’s what brought me to San José State University from the dismal Mojave Desert 17 years ago, and now it’s what has given me the formal tools and emotional fortitude to keep this machine going. I learned about finance, data analysis, and entrepreneurship - and I only cried a little bit! For reals, though, I severely underestimated how difficult it would be to work and go to school at the same time, and I am grateful to have such an incredible team to lean on for support. The good news is that I got straight A’s, and I am beyond thrilled to use all I learned to serve the creative community this year!

What are you looking forward to in the new year?

In 2023 I am looking forward to more dedicated time for my artistic practice… heck, maybe even having an art show. Who knows, really?

All I know is that 23 is my favorite number, so I’m expecting ‘23 to be my favorite year!

To Local Color’s Extended Team

Special thank you to Local Color’s extended team members this year: Haley Cardamon, Patricia Stokes, Desiree Tabizon, Michelle Marie Robles Wallace, and Chris Del Pilar for assisting us in making all the work above happen!