The Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs (OEDCA) is excited to announce the seven arts-based businesses and entrepreneurs who have received grants under the Creative Economy Fund, totaling $40,000 in support of the City’s creative economy.   

The Creative Economy Fund, funded by the OEDCA and managed by the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI), provides financial support to artistic, cultural, and creative enterprises, strengthening the city’s commitment to cultivating and sustaining its talent, innovators, and small business owners.  

"San José is one of the most diverse cities in the country, and the arts bring us together as we share our unique cultural heritages and celebrate our shared values," said San José Mayor Matt Mahan in a CCI press release. "We're proud to support local entrepreneurs and artists who are telling San José's many stories with resources from the Creative Economy Fund." 

See below for this year’s grantees. To learn more about the Creative Economy Fund and other initiatives that support the City’s goals to attract, retain, and support creative talent, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, visit the City’s Arts Grant program page and resources for Small Businesses.  

2025-26 Grantees:

ASHY AROMAS     

Ashy Aromas is a Black- owned fragrance studio in Downtown San José that sells handcrafted candles, room sprays, and other scent-forward products, while also offering immersive candle and perfume/cologne-making experiences. The grant will directly support essential renovations to their interior space as well as provide marketing support to boost engagement with their candle, perfume, and cologne-making experiences with their signature candle, perfume, and cologne-making experiences. 

“Receiving this grant is a powerful affirmation of our journey and purpose. It allows Ashy Aromas to enhance our studio, expand our reach, and continue creating meaningful fragrance experiences that connect people and celebrate culture. This support helps us move closer to our vision of transforming “Soul Street” into a thriving hub for art, scent, and Black entrepreneurship in Downtown San José." -Deshawn Jones, Ashy Aromas  

Art Builds Community LLC 

Art Builds Community is a public art consulting firm, commissioning art and developing art plans, with the majority of work being in San José and Santa Clara County. The grant will support professional development workshops at their Downtown San José location on CAD drawings, integrating artwork into architecture, budgeting, and fabrication methods, along with pop-up artist and vendor events and a fabricators’ open house to connect artists with industry professionals to spark collaboration and growth across the local arts community. 

“Thank you to the San José Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs and the Center for Cultural Innovation for supporting small businesses. This grant will support us in developing professional development programming that will enhance opportunities for aspiring artists who are interested in transitioning from studio work to public art.” - Quynh-Mai Nguyen, Art Builds Community 

Hicklebee's Bookstore

Located in Willow Glen, Hicklebee’s Bookstore makes literature more accessible, engaging, and inspiring for book lovers of every generation. The grant will support the bookstore’s expansion for new shelving, a broader range of authors and titles, and more comfortable reading spaces at the store for young readers to enjoy.   

"Hicklebee’s is thrilled to be selected as one of this year’s grant recipients! As a small business deeply rooted in literacy and community engagement, we’re truly grateful for the opportunity to expand our offerings in middle grade and young adult literature. This support helps us to continue inspiring young readers and investing in the future of our community.” - Laura Gahrahmat, Hicklebee's Bookstore  

Kooltura Marketing 

Kooltura Marketing is a community driven creative agency committed to uplifting diverse stories and voices through culturally focused marketing and design. The grant will support their bilingual arts and culture publication, EASTSIDE Magazine, helping sustain free print distribution while compensating contributors, translators, photographers, and coordinators, building collective capacity and cultural visibility across communities of color.  

“Thank you to the San José Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs and the Center for Cultural Innovation for making this grant available to continue elevating the stories and livelihoods of East San José through EASTSIDE Magazine.  This funding will enable us to distribute the bilingual publication to more community members, allowing them to see themselves reflected in the stories of our community." - Sendy Tapia, Kooltura Marketing + EASTSIDE Magazine 

Minasan 

Minasan, located in San José’s Japantown is a creative retail and community space dedicated to celebrating local culture, art, and connection. The grant will support renovations to improve the shopping experience, live music events and workshops, and support the production of Japan-made merchandise to sustain the business.   

"San José is super lucky to have support from groups like the OEDCA & CCI. We are truly grateful to have been selected for this grant. This funding is foundational to the future stability and scale of our work, allowing for the organizational growth needed to expand our community workshops, and supporting the curation of more unique, local gifts that reflect our city." - Brendan Boon, Minasan 

Moveable Inc. 

San José Made, a subsidiary of Moveable Inc., supports creative small businesses in the South Bay through craft fairs, maker markets, pop-ups, and retail opportunities. The grant will support the launch of their first large scale illustration festival, ILLO MART (held September 2025), helping illustrators by providing discounted vendor space packages and creating a platform to showcase their work.

"We're grateful to the San José Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs and the Center for Cultural Innovation for their help in making the first ever ILLO MART–with over 17K attendees over two days–a wonderful success. Because of this success, we will be bringing ILLO MART back to San José in 2026 and hopefully for many, many years beyond that, allowing us to further celebrate and support our creative small business community here."- Kevin Biggers, San José Made + Moveable

Two Fish Design  

Two Fish Design provides high- quality design and art services for local artist and galleries. The grant will support their purchase of essential tools and equipment to bring art framing and canvas stretching in-house for exhibiting artists at ANNO DOMINI Gallery, KALEID Gallery, and local collectors.   

“Receiving the Creative Economy Fund grant enabled us to purchase our first set of tools down this path, allowing us to create custom stretcher bars and re-stretch canvases in-house for our latest exhibit—lowering both shipping costs and the need to hire outside framing services. As we make additional tool purchases and build out our gallery workspace, this grant will further support our ability to offer custom framing for our exhibitions and local artists, helping us grow and thrive in challenging times." = Brian Eder, Two Fish Design  

For questions or more information about the Creative Economy Fund program please visit the Office of Cultural Affairs website or contact Danielle Siembieda, Senior Arts Program Manager, at danielle.Siembieda@sanjoseca.gov or (408) 793-4332.