City of San José

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact
Kerry Adams Hapner, Director, Office of Cultural Affairs, Office of Economic Development
408-793-4333; kerry.adams-hapner@sanjoseca.gov

City of San José Announces April Online Creativity Challenge

SAN JOSE, Calif. (March 18, 2021) – The City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs, alongside partnering artists, arts organizations, businesses and other community groups, announce the return of WeCreate408, a month-long online challenge to inspire creativity and celebrate San José’s rich and diverse arts and culture.

“Creativity is all around us, and lives inside each of us,” said Kerry Adams Hapner, Office of Cultural Affairs Director for the City of San José. “At this moment in time, we can use creativity to connect emotionally with friends, family, and the world around us.”

Every day in April, participants will receive a “creativity challenge prompt,” through email, social channels, or on the website, www.wecreate408.org. Prompts are designed to inspire people to create on their own and to check out creative activities around San José.

Each prompt is open to interpretation, and people can take part at their own pace or whenever they feel inspired. Adams Hapner encourages people to share their creative responses using the #WeCreate408 hashtag to help spread their unique talents and ideas far and wide. Everyone is welcome to participate; you don’t need to consider yourself an “artist” to take part.

The Office of Cultural Affairs and partners will be hosting a WeCreate408 virtual kickoff event on Thursday, April 8, 7:00 to 8:30 pm, details and Zoom link to be announced. This free event is a great way to learn about the creativity challenge, connect with other participants, join in virtual workshops and conversation sessions, as well as discover upcoming programs offered by San Jose arts and culture organizations. For more information, or to sign up to receive the daily creativity challenges, visit www.wecreate408.org.

“Creativity helps us grow and provides us with a sense of well-being,” adds Adams Hapner. “But what’s amazing about creative expression is how it can bring us closer to our friends, to our families, to neighbors and even to strangers. Especially during COVID 19, it’s this sense of connection that so many of us crave and need now more than ever.”

The Office of Cultural Affairs hosted the first WeCreate408 online creativity challenge in October of 2019. More than 1,000 individuals and organizations took part in the festivities, and the #WeCreate408 hashtag continues to be used today to highlight creativity across the city.

“[The 2019 challenge] really emphasized what a strong and diverse arts community we have in San José, and we felt proud to be a part of that,” said Leigh Henderson, managing director at Teatro Visión. “Hopefully, the community members who participated saw that as well. We also really appreciated that participating was very easy.”

Partners helping to plan and design the 2021 WeCreate408 festival include: Aimusic.us; Children's Discovery Museum of San José; Chinese Performing Arts of America; Chopsticks Alley Art; City Lights Theater Company; Content Magazine; Guadalupe River Park Conservancy; Kooltura Marketing; Lifeforce Jazz; MACLA / Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana; New Ballet; Opera San José; POW! WOW! San José; Red Ladder Theatre Company; San José Chamber Orchestra; San José Downtown Foundation; San José Jazz; San José Museum of Art; San José Museum of Quilts & Textiles; San José State University Art Galleries; School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza; School of Visual Philosophy; Silicon Valley Shakespeare; sjDANCEco; Teatro Visión; The Tech Interactive; and Vivace Youth Chorus of San José.

WeCreate408 is brought to you by the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs and has been generously funded through the David & Lucile Packard Foundation. The campaign was inspired by Creating Connection, a national initiative to change social norms so creative expression, arts, and culture are embraced as a recognized, valued, and expected part of everyday life.

About the City of San José
With more than one million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States and is Northern California’s largest city and the 10th largest city in the nation. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world. In 2011, the City adopted Envision San José 2040, a long-term growth plan that sets forth a vision and a comprehensive road map to guide the City’s anticipated growth through the year 2040.

About the San José Office of Cultural Affairs
The City of San José recognizes that the arts and culture are essential elements in the character and quality of life in a vibrant community and seeks to ensure that San José is an effective hub of a wide array of arts and cultural opportunities throughout Silicon Valley. The Office of Cultural Affairs, a division of Economic Development in the City Manager’s Office, is the lead City of San José agency for stewarding a vibrant arts sector.

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