VTA Express Light Rail Coming on Monday

Looks like Light Rail users received a new express option starting today! New express trains will shave up to 6-8min of commute time and finally offer WiFi (after all we are in Silicon Valley right?). The current express route will bypass the Highway 87 portion of Light Rail, but express trains are expected to be deployed to the entire system soon. Fore more details, check out this Merc article.

Panel Advocates Denser Downtown

A panel led by mixed-use development advocate Alan Talansky is pushing for a denser downtown, music to my ears. The panel consists of designers, architects, and economists and they will present their report on development options at an event sponsored by the High-Speed Rail Authority and the Urban Land Institute. They idea is that after HSR is built, San Jose will be a massive hub with a flagship transit facility at Diridon station. Based on what's written in the San Jose Business Journal, the panel is recommending:

• Increase building height caps [heck yes!]
• Increase the density of office building [yes, please!]
• Increase housing density [I really like these guys!]
• Develop more restaurants and entertainment venues [yes, yes, yes!]
• Increase connections between Diridon to downtown and surrounding neighborhoods [running out of ways to say yes!]
• Create a mixed-use, multi-purpose ballpark [you had me at increasing height caps!]
• Establish shuttle service between downtown and SJC [are they reading my mind?]

Whoever these guys are, I wish them all the luck in the world! Heck, I'll taken any one of the items above. More than 3 would be nirvana. For the full article, click over here. I'll also post some random photos of buildings that were in planning before the economy crashed, just to demonstrate where the development direction was going even before HSR.

San Jose Metblogs: Vote for your favorite BRT station design

Personally, I really like the Matrix option. It seems inline with the art style that is helping define San Jose's unique identity. Which one did you vote for and why?

Vote for your favorite BRT station design

from San Jose Metblogs by Matt Bruensteiner

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a system where specially designed buses in dedicated lanes enable highly efficient public transit comparable to light rail with much lower construction and vehicle costs. VTA has completed an environmental impact report and begun preliminary engineering to build a BRT system for the Alum Rock-Santa Clara corridor (replacing the current Rapid 522 service). A future project would add BRT service between Eastridge Mall and De Anza College via Stevens Creek Blvd, supplementing the current route 23 local bus.
Now they’re asking for your input on two options for the design of bus stations along this route. The designs and survey are here.
Thanks to Carrie on the NNASJ mail list for pointing out this survey.

Halloween in the Park, Part III

Happy October everyone! Since I'm a huge fan of Halloween, this is actually one of my favorite months of the year. Last October, I had what I still think is an excellent idea... Halloween in the Park! Think Christmas in the Park (which is Downtown's largest event btw) with a Halloween theme. This should be a collaborative effort to really come up with a compelling proposal, so please post your thoughts in the comments and perhaps we can turn this into a reality. Here is where we left off from last year:


The largest draw to downtown San Jose for many years now has been Christmas in the Park. It has continued to grow year after year and brings in visitors from all over the Bay. It's economic impact I'm sure is substantial and helps keep many downtown businesses afloat.

What would you think about a similar event for Halloween? Picture downtown lit up in orange and purple with elaborate Halloween displays assembled by talented local artists. Perhaps a lot of the infrastructure could even be shared with Christmas in the Park (e.g. retail booths). A strong event in October would help maintain traffic between the Music in the Park months and Christmas in the Park. Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Animated Halloween Displays
• Assembled by talented local artists
• Analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
• Family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
• Halloween Lighting
• Orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
• May be possible to use new controllable lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button, allowing the lights to stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and reducing setup/takedown effort.
• Food Booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, pumpkin seeds, etc.
• Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
• Artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
• Home decor/crafts like candles
• Light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
• Costumes
• Zombie/Halloween make-up station 
• Halloween-themed Carnival Games
• Pumpkins
• Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
• Pumpkin carving station for families. Perhaps a pumpkin carving contest.
• Costumed Entertainers
• Walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
• Haunts
• Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the convention center, or at SJSU.
• Potential Events
• Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. timeframe)
• Dia De Los Muertes Bike Party
• Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)

As before, please post your suggestions below!

South First Friday Tonight!

October 1, 2010 — South FIRST FRIDAYS art walk

Posted on September 13th, 2010 admin No comments

JOIN US for the next South FIRST FRIDAYS art walk on OCT 1st!
8pm ’til LATE — ART WALK venues are free and open to the public
SoFA District (So. First Street between San Carlos and E. Reed streets)

• Anno Domini // the second coming of Art & Design – 366 South First St. map

  
  Opening Reception: BETTER THAN 2009 MOMO solo exhibition
  MOMO is known for thoughtful post-graffiti: tagging his name the width of Manhattan, creating over-sized collage, a fake New Yorker magazine cover, tide powered sculpture, a computer script which makes his art for him, and prints, paintings, and videos that rely on chance for fun and substance.
  Better Than 2009 at Anno Domini continues his recent experiments in paint, with some support materials demonstrating his previous outdoor and system based art.
  Exhibition dates: October 1 – November 20, 2010
  Also on view in galleryTWO: Estates of the Splendrous and Secret by Alex McLeod

• Art Glass Center of San Jose – 465 South First St. map

  
  Lionel Chapital is back at the torch demonstrating how to get in the “spirit” of the fall season. Witches and ghosts, goblins and ghouls, drop by the Art Glass Center and watch them being created starting at 8:00 pm

• Higher Fire Clayspace & Gallery – 499 South Market St. map

  
  Asadi, mask by Liz Burkhous
  THREE FOR FALL
  Higher Fire presents a trio of clay artists connecting with autumn festivities and colors: Liz Burkhouse, Cindy Couling, and Janet Starr. Check out exquisite hand-made Arts & Crafts tiles and murals, African-inspired masks, and Day-of-the-Dead themed works in our October gallery show,THREE FOR FALL. Tour Higher Fire’s newly renovated studio and browse a mini-show of functional and decorative pottery by studio staff; enjoy demonstrations of wheel-throwing and hand-building and some tasty treats too.
  Exhibition dates: October 1 – November 4th

• KALEID gallery – 88 South Fourth St. map

  7-9pm Opening Reception: Featured exhibitions by Mariana Barnes, John Eric Paulson
  
  Mosaic painting by Mariana Barnes
  Ancient Art, Modern Twist new paintings by Mariana Barnes
  Mosaics have been used in artwork around the world for thousands of years. Mariana Barnes has adapted this ancient art form into her mosaic-like style of painting. She gathers inspiration for her work from the art and symbols of past and present civilizations, combined with the patterns she sees in nature and everyday objects. She uses geometric and nonlinear designs, complementing them with iridescent tones and luminescent colors.
  The process of her art is meditative. She strives to make art that is calming and peaceful and art that speaks with candor and passion. Her work is intended to be healing -to spark a sense of well being in the viewer.
  
  photograph by John Paulson
  Italy Today an exhibit by John Eric Paulson, Master Photographer
  Thousands of years of history have produced the beautiful country of Italy. Visitors are pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the Italian culture. Italy is a young country. It became a unified nation in 1861. John’s first trip to Italy was in 2001. The enchantment he felt has drawn him back many time since. This exhibit will hopefully bring the same feelings to you, the viewer.

• MACLA Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana – 510 South First St. map

  
  Cones (detail), Tanya Aquíñiga, spun yarn, 2010
  Join MACLA for a fabulous evening of art and performances:
  In MACLA’s Gallery: Lineas: New Modes of Contemporary Urbanism featuring recent work by Tanya Aguíñiga and Teddy Cruz. This two-person exhibition explores a triangulation of global borders, local resources, and sustainability.
  In the Castellano Playhouse: D’Lo shows off his world class comedy chops and hip hop mc skills and get our First Friday audiences laughing and crying. Joining D’Lo is MACLA’s 2010 Youth Slam Team for an encore of their groundbreaking performances from the July 2010 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Competition

• Phantom Galleries – temporary exhibits in vacant storefronts

  
  386 South First St: Freedom. Experience Reality. by abstract artist Nathan Belomy

• San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles – 520 South First St. map

  
  TECHstyle SoftWEAR:Surface & Shape, an installation by
  Corinne Okada Takara, Colleen Quen and Rick Lee
  photo credit: Anthony Chen
  On view: TECHstyle SoftWEAR: Surface & Shape, an installation evoking the Silicon Valley experience by Corinne Okada Takara, Colleen Quen and Rick Lee. This collaboration comments on Silicon Valley’s inventive lifestyle and historical roots using textiles designed by Corinne Okada Takara through the community-driven fusionwear sv project/experiment in sculptural artwear created by Colleen Quen in an environment designed by Rick Lee. Also on view: the premier International TECHstyle Art Biennial (ITAB): this juried exhibition showcases the work of artists combining fiber media with new technologies in their artistic processes, in the content of their work and as a means of artistic expression. ITAB 2010 includes 40 works by 28 artists from six countries and includes digital Jacquard tapestries and garments, videos, interactive works, and even a tapestry of hand-woven fiber optic cable with patterning driven by real time Twitter feeds and airline flight data from the Internet.

• SLG Art Boutiki & Gallery – 577 South Market St. map

  
  artwork by James Brunner
  EYAAAAAAH!! MONSTERS!!!
  October is here and Halloween is coming and, of course, there be monsters afoot. The Art Boutiki features monstrous art by the likes of James Brunner, Jon Hastings and Drew Rausch (just to name a few). Also featured will be unpublished pages from SLG Publishing’s Haunted Mansion comic book series and a few other ghastly images from our vast archives of, ghastly images. Live music and all the usual Boutiki fun.
  Exhibition dates: Oct 1-29, 2010

• Works San Jose – 451 South First St. map

  
  
  On view: (OP)space
  (OP)space—which stands for OPportunities, OPen, and OPerable—is an ambitious experimental architectural design project constructed to demonstrate how flexible architecture and a “Zipcar” style short-term rental model can contribute to the cultural and economic development of a neighborhood by giving communities the tools to reclaim unoccupied spaces. The installation is constructed with hinged hexagonal-based organic sections that operate similarly to the leaves of an expandable table. By shifting the orientation of the sections a wall becomes a table, or a chair becomes a shelf. This flexible environment, designed and built by students and faculty of California College of the Arts to coincide with the 3rd 01SJ Biennial, will host programs created with the local community ranging from a bike kitchen to a fashion show to a DJ lounge. The many uses of the environment continue on First Friday at Works with (OP)exhibit: Glass_Texture and Transparency.

• Caffé Trieste – 315 South First St. map

  
  “Gelato Counter”, Acrylic on Gallery-wrapped Canvas, 20 x 20
  Opening reception of Food, Flowers and Fun by Jennifer Norton
  This exhibit will feature a collection of inspiring images including food we love to eat, flowers we love to admire, and fun things we love to do on our time off.
  First Fridays are Opera Night at Caffé Trieste with some of the Bay Area’s best opera singers performing your favorite arias and duets.
  Exhibition dates: Oct 1-30, 2010

• Downtown Yoga Shala – 450 South First St. map

  
  Join us after Candlelight Yoga (6-7:30 pm) on Friday, Oct 1st, as we welcome Art Walk patrons and mingle with new yogi friends and the downtown community. For the month of October, we feature Nancy Lober. Nancy Lober’s work is influenced by the simplicity of Japanese design. Her work focuses on combining images, textures, photography and found objects. She transforms them digitally into her own vision of beauty.
  Exhibition dates: October 1-29, 2010

• Good Karma Vegan Café – 37 South First St. map

  
  Opening Reception: I Want To Go There! by Kristin Abbott
  I work as an illustrator and I love to set the scene and tell the story one image at a time. My very favorite thing is when kids come to my house and say “OoOOOoooh, I want to go there!”

• METRO Photo Exhibit – 550 South First St. map

  
  photography by Jennifer Ahn
  snaps: photos by the ahn sisters
  A small collection of photos by Jennifer & Nancy Ahn shot over the last 10 years.
  This is a tale of two sisters. one is loud and crazy who takes 30 minutes to explain a story; the other is quiet and mellow who can explain the same story in two minutes. both share a love of yummy food, bargain shopping, cute animals, and most of all art.
  
  photography by Nancy Ahn
  Exhibition dates: October 1-29, 2010

• South First Billiards & Lounge – 420 South First St. map

  
  Streetlow Arte—”I’m On the Outside Looking In”: outsider art from within prison walls.
  Artwork by incarcerated youth and adults is about the guarded, nonetheless creative expression to the outside world of one’s condition in an atmosphere hostile to individualism, vulnerability, and emotion.
  Materials we take for granted such as pens, pencils, and paños (bandanas) are often banned in prison. But, through networks and trade, they still find their way into the hands of incarcerated artists driven to produce raw, technically-challenging art pieces made with painstaking detail and patience. Confiscation and destruction of these pieces are not uncommon, making this art much more meaningful to those loved ones outside fortunate to receive these messages of loneliness, pride, love, and pain.
  This exhibit presented by Streetlow Magazine, The Beat Within and Heart of Chaos features work from the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall, California & Texas Prison systems, and local Chicano artists and photographers.
  The Homeboy Mad, Dee Lady, The Soul Strivers, and Moses & The 10 Commandments of Soul will spin Rare Soul, Northern Soul, Funk & Lowrider Oldies.
  Open to all ages until 10pm, 21+ after 10pm

• Art Ark – 1035 South Sixth St. map

  
  Center Piece by Inge Heidric, puzzle pieces, interior light
  5–8pm Opening Reception: MODIFIED, a group show of artists using the found object as a gateway into their processes.
  For these artists, the found object serves as a vehicle for the erotic, the mundane and the psychological. For some artists, the object quietly reveals itself over time. For others, there is a need to rip it open and pull it apart. Ocean plastics, puzzle pieces, an ironing board and crutches; these everyday objects have been modified in order to manifest new realities with the purging of inherent cultural meanings.
  Exhibition dates: October 1-29, 2010