Google Donates $1M to Support Lick Observatory

It's nice to see Google giving back to the San Jose community, where many of its employees are housed. The search giant has committed $1 million over the next two years to help keep the doors open at the historic Lick Observatory, which has been responsible for many discoveries and important astronomical projects over the years. The gift is equivalent to one fourth of the center's annual operating budget.

Lick Observatory is one of San Jose's most prominent landmarks and is the only observatory in the UC system where astronomy and astrophysics students can design and build their own astronomy projects. A vote of confidence from a company like Google will go a long way to attracting other Silicon Valley donors.

Source: The Merc

Saturday Stats: San Jose is #1 For Advanced Industry Sector Employment

San Jose has the greatest share of advanced industry employment in the country. Advanced industry includes tech, engineering, and energy jobs that drive innovation. In fact, it took first by a mile. 30% of employment in the San Jose metro is in the advanced industry sector. Seattle came in second at 16% and San Francisco was in 5th with 14%.

Why is this important? Not only are these the jobs that drive economic growth in the country, but the pay is spectacular. In 2013, workers in this sector nationwide raked in an average of $90k a year. However in Silicon Valley, that number is doubled to an astounding $180k per year.

Source: SiliconBeat, Brookings Institute

San Jose Convention Center Getting The Alternative Press Expo

APE (The Alternative Press Expo) is moving to San Jose and will take place on October 3rd and 4th. APE is an annual indie comics show that was previously hosted in San Francisco. One of the key goals will to make APE in San Jose a multi-venue event with additional programming in the SoFA District across the street.

The San Jose Convention Center also hosts the mainstream Big Wow Comics Fest each April. Landing another comics convention is a big win for the local arts community.

Source: Comics Beat

More Murals Coming Downtown!

Erin Salazar is creating a group of professional artists called The Exhibition District to paint murals on the sides of buildings throughout Downtown. Salazar has a bit of experience here, as she was the person responsible for the murals in Good Karma Vegan Cafe and Paper Plane. There are multitudes of boring windowless walls throughout the area that could become attractions with a bit of color and artistic creativity. With all of the traction Downtown has been getting lately, there has never been a better time to take our arts scene to the next level and show what local artists are capable of.

The San Jose Downtown Association and the Knight Foundation have already signed on as sponsors. Hopefully we'll see some projects from The Exhibition District underway real soon!

Source: MetroActive

Examples of Downtown Murals we have today:

Anno Domini (2006)

Andre Hart at SubZERO Festival (2014)

February 2015 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• The 25th Cinequest Film Festival will run from February 24th through March 8th and include nearly 300 events and features, including both US and World Premiers of films. In 1990 there were 3,000 Cinequest attendees... this year there will be over 100,000.
• You can nominate one-of-a-kind, only-in-Downtown gems over here: http://sjdowntown.com/live-here/downtown-gems/ (as well as see previous gems).
• San Jose Jazz's Winter Fest 2015 will be in the SoFA District from February 27 to March 8th (coinciding with Cinequest).
• There, There SJ is a clothing pop-up shop that has decided to stay Downtown past the holiday. Their store is on North Second Street. The Usuals and SJ MADE Playspace will also be remaining at the former Rep Theater lobby until at least the end of March, as will DH Co. and Good Concepts which are located in shipping containers right outside the former theater.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

The Sharks are Moving Their Minor League Team to SAP Center!

The San Jose Sharks are going to be one of the first NHL teams to have their minor league (AHL) affiliate play in the same arena. The "minor league Sharks" are going to be moved from Massachusetts to San Jose this October, and will be playing 38 AHL home games at SAP. This is of course great news for Downtown, which will see even more visitors and activity during game nights. The AHL games will cost substantially less than the NHL games and will hopefully make hockey accessible to more people in the area.

Source: SVBJ

Mill Creek Building an Apartment Project on San Pedro

To say that the San Pedro Square area is on fire would be an understatement. Just as the Centerra tower is wrapping up, the two Silvery Towers broke ground earlier this month. Those three towers alone will add thousands of people to the San Pedro Square area. North of San Pedro, multiple projects are just waiting for the Julian Street realignment in order to get started. And yet... there is more.

The Mill Creek project will bring 8 floors of apartments right to the heart of the San Pedro Square area in what is now a parking lot. While not very tall, this infill project will create 204 new units as well as 9,500 SQFT of retail on the ground floor. One other neat feature is a new landscaped paseo next to Peggy Sue's that will also host some live/work units. This could add thousands of square feet on the retail side if the occupants choose to locate businesses on the ground floor.

This looks like another great project in the Downtown San Jose pipeline. The total cost will be around $90 million and Mill Creek is hoping to break ground by the end of the year. Oh, and the financing is already in place. This has the potential to move very quickly.

Source: SVBJ

Playful People Productions Presents: Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR.

A pop culture phenomenon comes to the stage. From the Emmy award winning Saturday morning TV series in the 1970’s that taught history, grammar, math, science, and politics through clever, tuneful songs, Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR. definitely rocks. Visit “Conjunction Junction” to “Unpack Your Adjectives” while you “Do the Circulation”. Generation X-ers seeking a taste of nostalgia will delight in introducing their own kids to this good, clean, and educational fun! Come discover why this Schoolhouse Rocks!

Our shows often sell out prior to the show weekend. Be sure to buy your tickets early, you won’t want to miss out on this fantastic production.

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theatre, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126

Show Times:
Friday, February 27th - 7:00pm
Saturday, February 28th - 10:00am, 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Sunday, March 1st - 10:00am and 2:00pm

Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net
$12 attendees 12 and up, $8 children 11 and under,  and $6 Children’s floor seating

Tickets at the door (30 minutes prior to curtain)
$15 attendees 12 and up, $10 children 11 and under, and $6 Children’s floor seating


Founded in 2010, Playful People Production’s mission is to provide a quality, caring environment where children, teens and their families can have positive theater experiences. We strive to involve all family members in the many aspects of on stage and backstage theater in a safe and fun environment and offer participation in theatrical productions, classes, summer stock and camps for ages 3-93.
Playful People Productions is run by a mother-daughter team, Barbara Galiotto and Katie D’ Arcey, who between them have approximately 50 years of experience in the musical theater world. Both are Positive Discipline trained and worked as early Childhood Educators as well as in the theater.