Will Johnson Open Studio

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

San Jose ceramicist Will Johnson will be a participant in The Art Of Living Black (TAOLB), the Bay Area’s longest running annual African American exhibition of its kind.

Johnson's Open Studio will be February 25th & 26th, March 3rd & 4th from 11am–5pm at the Black Bean Ceramic Art Center located at 561 Emory St., San Jose.

The TAOLB was co-founded by Jan Hart-Schuyers and Rae Louise Hayward. Both remarkable women have passed away but, their legacy lives on.

The driving force for Jan and Rae founding TAOLB was to present to the public artworks from artists of African descent, to show the richness and diversity of the artists and to give them exposure in the art world. Together they joined with the Richmond Art Center (RAC) in 1997, to have an annual exhibition for bay area African American Artists. The exhibition features emerging and established artists. The TAOLB Exhibition and Art Tour is a yearly event which is held at the RAC presented to the public between January and March. For more information, please visit www.taolb.net

San Jose's Steinberg Architects Selected for Gigantasaurous Project in China

This project is so massive I had to make up a word. China is building an 80 million square foot mixed-use project in Changsha and a San Jose firm will be responsible for designing it. That is not a typo, 80 million square feet. This would be the equivalent of 50 Santana Rows side by side or every building in Downtown San Jose 8 times over. 63 million square feet will be residential and the rest will be office/retail. Despite the scope, the 7,000 acre project will "only" cost $3 billion to develop.

Source: SJBJ

Saturday Stats: Average Silicon Valley Tech Salary Tops $100,000

For the first time, Silicon Valley tech worker salaries are averaging over $100,000 per year. Those are just salaries, not even including bonuses or other benefits. This is 25% higher than the national average for the tech industry. From 2010 to 2011, tech salaries nationally grew at a rate of 2% while Silicon Valley salaries rose by a staggering 5.2%. Contractor rates in Silicon valley rose an astronomical 11% to $74/hr (the national average was 2% here as well). Given our shortage of qualified workers, this trend will likely continue for at least a couple more years.

Another nice stat... the average pay for ALL workers--not just tech--in the San Jose metro is $67,850.  San Francisco is at $63,290. 

Source: SJBJ

Pellet's Gouache Workshop

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

What's gouache? Where did it come from? Who paints with this stuff? Why use gouache, and not another paint whose name I can pronounce easier? What can I do with it, and how do I get started?

Answers to all this and more at Pellet's Intro to Gouache!

Saturday, February 18th, 2–4pm
$30 for workshop, materials included
For inquiries or to sign up: call 408-293-1200 or email roanvictor@thearsenalsj.com

The Arsenal
1202 The Alameda
San Jose

Is the Future of the Bay Area Moving South?

Earlier this month there was a great post on The Bay Area Real Estate Blog about changes happening in the Bay Area. This is definitely worth a read, full post below:

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from The Bay Area Real Estate Blog by Josh Burroughs

Happy New Year Everyone! Enjoy our special guest blog post below by Jeff Current, President of the AIA Santa Clara Valley (American Institute of Architects). This is an excellent synopsis of real estate opportunities in the Bay Area 2012!
Cheers!
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San Francisco – The City by the Bay! Beautiful & stately it stands as a metropolis that lives, breathes and expresses its unique personality to the world. SF is a fantastic place surrounded by sparkling bay and majestic sea: a metropolis that superimposed an urban grid right over the tops of its hills and valleys as if it were the flat expanse of the LA basin. It is, and will continue to be a hub for culture and creativity in the Bay Area.

…But San Francisco has a cousin down the peninsula; the Santa Clara Valley, that continues to expand and grow and attract a life, culture and energy of its own. The business epicenter of northern California has shifted from the Financial District to Sand Hill Road and from the docks of Fort Mason to the disc drives of Silicon Valley.

Along with this shift in business comes a shift in population. A few years back San Jose passed San Francisco as the 10th largest city in the USA & 3rd largest city in California (behind LA & San Diego). In a new era of sustainability and gasoline prices approaching $5/gal, more people are choosing to live and work and play within a smaller circumference. This is building up the demand for ‘smart growth’ communities and the South Bay is home to quite a few of them. Looking ahead to Santa Clara Valley’s future is both exciting and dizzying.


We could have 3 brand new Sports Stadiums built in the next 5 years with 49ers Football, Earthquakes Soccer and Athletics Baseball venues. These new projects attract hotels, restaurants and retail. Pro sports franchises put their host cities on a world stage as media covers ALL THE ACTION, LIVE!

Our business and social lives continue to be shaped by products conceived and born in our valley. Huge new campuses are being designed by World Class architects for Apple Computer in Cupertino, Facebook in Menlo Park and Google in Mountain View. Apple’s Net Zero Energy “Spaceship” design by Foster + Partners of London will house up to 15,000 employees in a glazed donut ring set in a serene orchard. Google is creating a “LEED Platinum Campus” that not only provides office space for 2,500 to 3,000 employees, but will include housing, retail and entertainment to offer its workforce a home and activities close by.

Transportation is getting a huge makeover as BART presses south into Santa Clara County with a station in Milpitas (Great Mall), 3 stations in San Jose (Berryessa Swap Meet site, Five Wounds neighborhood and Downtown SJ) and Santa Clara (FMC site near Santa Clara University). California High Speed Rail is in the planning stages to provide 2 hour and 7 minute rail service between San Jose’s Diridon Station and LA’s Union Station.


Besides all this, Silicon Valley is attracting major auto-makers like Ford and GM with design and research facilities to connect them to the technologies that drive the future of transportation. The Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce has been working with the City of San Jose on ideas for a port in Alviso to allow for ferry service to once again connect Oakland and San Francisco with the South Bay. This plan could also include a marina with housing and hospitality uses, a Fisherman’s Wharf and restaurants, and recreation activities amidst the restored saltwater marshlands.

Alviso is linked to downtown San Jose by the Guadalupe River which plays host to pedestrian and bike trails and could even bring water taxi service from the Ferry Terminal to downtown (a la San Antonio’s Riverwalk). The Guadalupe River Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States with opportunity to attract thousands for nature, recreation and sports activities.

This is OUR VALLEY! These projects are in our neighborhoods and districts. As architects and designers in this thriving expanse of humanity and creativity, we need to plug in and get involved in some of these activities. Many of these organizations and projects are searching for visionary individuals to provide leadership for the process of growth and development. I encourage each of you to get involved to whatever degree you can commit.
- Jeff Current, AIA
>Click HERE for more information on AIA Santa Clara Valley!

Wednesday Wishlist: LED Architecture

In the 19th century, San Jose had a massive electric light tower Downtown... a landmark I often wish we managed to keep. Awesome lighting I think is a great way to brand a city, especially one in the middle of Silicon Valley. With the latest generation of LED lights, you can do some pretty incredible things. Below is a cathedral called the Luminarie Cagna in Belgium. This is one of many spectacles in the city in preparation for the 2nd annual "Festival of Lights." Over 200,000 visitors are expected for the event.

As insane as the cathedral looks, the 55,000 LED lights only use about 20 kilowatts of power. Imagine something to this scale in San Jose with interactive elements (think The 88's lighting system).

Source: inhabitat

TWO BUCK Tuesday Today!

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

TWO BUCK Tuesdays is coming up soon, join us for a great night of live art, demos and music!


Shannon Amidon will demonstrate how to make non toxic, eco- friendly oil and egg tempera paint.

Paint By Color! (Interactive)
Collaborate on a pre-drawn original art piece with Lara Sophia


Brande Barrett will demonstrate how to make art into glass pendants.

LIVE ART by: Nik Caesar, 
John Hageman
, Jean Davis, 
Jehoiakim Santos
, Joanne Yada
, Courtney Thiesen, 
Leeonnista, 
Al Preciado & 
students of Bellermine and Notre Dame

MUSIC by: J Swizza

If you'd like to join in as an artist, performer or musician, email us: info@KALEIDGallery.com

Tuesday February 21st, 7-10pm

KALEID Gallery
88 South Fourth Street
Downtown San Jose

Fundraising Saved San Jose's Lake Cunningham Regional Skate Park

One of the largest skate parks in the US has just been saved by parents getting together and raising $30,000 to keep to park open a midst non-stop budget cuts. I have to be honest, I didn't even know this park existed before reading this article, but it looks pretty incredible. Definitely a hidden treasure in San Jose.

At 68,000 sqft, it is the largest skate park in California. It also features the world's largest "cradle," the largest full-pipe feature, and the tallest vertical wall in any skate park. It opened up in 2008, cost $6.4M to build, and now attracts over 40,000 visitors a year. To find out more about the park and it's "Women Skate It Up" contest, just click the source link below.

Source: The Merc