FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Carlos Velazquez, Public Information Manager, Office of Economic Development & Cultural Affairs
408-535-8168;
carlos.velazquez@sanjoseca.gov
Photos of the Ambassadors and samples of their work available upon request.
City of San José Announces Five Creative Ambassadors for 2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. (December 17, 2024) – The City of San José Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs has announced five local artists to serve as the City’s
2025 Creative Ambassadors:
- Miguel Ozuna (SJ Shooters), Photographer
- Julie Cardenas, Painter and Comic Book Artist
- Matt Casey (More Más Marami Arts), Theatre Collective
- Steven Rubalcaba, Mixed Media Artist
- Jessica Gutierrez, Educator and Artist
The Creative Ambassadors will champion the power of creative expression and engage residents in finding their creative voice. The Ambassadors will serve a one-year term starting January 2025, during which they will produce a creative project that invites active participation from residents and celebrates the diversity of San José’s cultural communities. Launched in 2019, there have been 24 Creative Ambassadors for the City including this year’s artists.
“San José is a city that welcomes people from around the world to realize their dream of a better life for themselves and their families,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. “I’m thrilled to support our 2025 creative ambassadors as they empower San Joseans to express their dreams and tell their unique stories through art.”
“I am so pleased with the City’s Creative Ambassadors program success as this year it attracted the most artists applying to be part of the program in its history, showing the value of the partnership with the arts community,” said San José City Manager Jennifer Maguire. “This unique program offers our residents with an avenue to interact with some of the most talented artists in San José through participation in a variety of art opportunities throughout the city.”
Miguel Ozuna is a photographer and storyteller who has called San José home since he was six years old. Miguel works with the mediums of digital, film, and drone photography. Through
SJ Shooters, his project
a look thru your lens will enable 75 local photographers to capture the beauty of San José through a shared film camera, producing 75 photos that will be exhibited in a group photography show.
San José native
Julie Cardenas is a painter and comic book artist who uses her experiences as a first generation Mexican-Peruvian American to
inform her practice. Her project,
Stories From Our Neighborhood, will be a series of zine-making workshops that will be hosted at San José public libraries, featuring themes such as memory, food or neighborhood. Participants will have the opportunity to digitize their zines so the wider community can enjoy their work.
More Más Marami, led by Matt Casey, is a
collective of artists who produce performances, events and workshops for and with underserved communities of San José and the South Bay Area. Their project,
The Bay Area Story Archive, will be a community-based, online audio archive that centers San José residents as storytellers, encouraging them to share an aspect of their lives and city. Story collecting will take place at festivals, street fairs, and neighborhood gathering spots, with a website and physical installations.
Steven “Nizzotes” Rubalcaba is an
artist influenced by hip-hop, graffiti, and the vibrant streets of San José whose artwork primarily uses reused materials, giving discarded objects a second life.
Voices of the Community will bring San José residents together to create a collaborative collage using repurposed materials like used paper, magazines, and personal photos. Partnering with libraries, community, and senior centers, participants will contribute individual pieces to form a unified mosaic artwork and reflect residents’ diverse voices.
Educator, artist and mother
Jessica Gutierrez engages people in meaningful creative expression through
event curation, workshops, and collaborations with other creatives.
For the Mamas will be a series of free community art workshops designed for San José mothers and their children. The project will cultivate accessible shared creative spaces where mothers can connect and bring their child. The workshops will culminate with a showcase that features the artwork of mothers and their children.
In addition to producing a creative project involving the community, the Ambassadors’ scope of work includes promoting creative expression through social media, participating in interviews, and helping promote and participate in the
WeCreate408 campaign, a month-long creativity challenge organized by the Office of Cultural Affairs and scheduled for April 2025.
“The Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs is proud to support these artists’ creative projects while offering opportunities for connection with and engagement with our diverse community members,” said Cultural Affairs Director Kerry Adams Hapner. “These Creative Ambassadors will provide an array of opportunities for San José residents to actively express themselves.”
Support for the 2025 Creative Ambassadors is provided in part by the
National Endowment for the Arts.
About the City of San José
With almost 1 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 13th 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.
About the San José Office Cultural Affairs
The Office of Cultural Affairs is a division of the Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs (OEDCA) in the City Manager’s Office and is the City's lead for stewarding a vibrant arts sector. It fosters cultural development through cultural funding programs, cultural workforce development, cultural facilities, special event services, and public art. For more information, visit www.sanjoseculture.org.
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