City of San Jose is One of Seven US Cities Selected for International TV Program
Arts Council Silicon Valley Takes the Lead on Week-Long Filming Effort

San Jose, CA, July 18, 2005 – Arts Council Silicon Valley, the largest private nonprofit arts council in California, completed planning and coordination of an effort that will help place the City of San Jose’s arts and cultural institutions on a global stage.

Arts Council Silicon Valley was contacted by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the public television station in Hong Kong, commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, regarding San Jose’s participation in an 8-part documentary TV program on exemplary museums, performance venues and cultural spaces around the world.

One of the eight episodes as part of this program is about "Making a Creative Hub", developing an energetic cultural arts environment and community. RTHK selected San Jose as one of only seven cities in the United States and one of only 12 from around the world.

As part of this particular episode, San Jose’s arts community will be featured alongside those of Seoul, Korea and London, England. The Arts Council provided extensive guidance as well as coordination of five full days of filming during the week of July 5 that included the following individuals, events and activities:

• Children’s Discovery Museum - "Arts to Go" @ Wonder Cabinet and Music Fun Under the Sun at the Outdoor Amphitheater
• Children’s Discovery Museum Executive Director Connie Martinez re: First ACT & CDM
• San Jose Repertory Theatre – "Exceptions to Gravity" along with an interview from actor Avner Eisenberg
• Interview with Nancy Glaze from the Packard Foundation at the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Jose
• West Valley Branch Library for Tim Cain family sing-along concert
• Martin Luther King Jr. Library for "Heroes in your Family" Bilingual story time
• Tech Museum – Interview with Greg Brown, VP of Operations and Technology + filming of three exhibits
• Children’s Musical Theatre San Jose – Filming of COPA Summer Workshop
• Interview with John Kreidler, Executive Director of Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley
• Miller Music in the Park for Junior Reid, Reggae Angels and Kan'nal
• Interview and filming - Visual artist Flo Oy Wong @ her home and studio
• Interview with San Jose Museum of Art Deputy Director of External Affairs Gary Landis and Susan Landauer, Chief Curator along with filming of the museum
• Interview with former Mayor of San Jose Susan Hammer
• Filming of Ballet San Jose /Silicon Valley Summer Advanced Workshop
• Interview with Andy and Virgina Jiang, a family who moved to San Jose from Hong Kong. Currently, they are both instructors at the Chinese Performing Artists of America

"This is really a coup for the City of San Jose as well as the arts and cultural institutions and individuals that help make up the fabric of this city," said Bruce W. Davis, Executive Director of Arts Council Silicon Valley. "The Arts Council is honored to play a role in raising the visibility of the Arts in San Jose."

The six other cities in the US participating in this program are Seattle, WA; Los Angeles, CA; Washington DC; New York City; Milwaukee, WI; and Chicago, IL. Other locations around the world taking part are Beijing, China; Tokyo and Echigo-tsumari district in Japan; Paris, France; Melbourne, Australia; Edinburgh, Scotland; Venice, Italy; Bilbao, Spain; Cornwall, England; and Antwerp, Belgium.

"The cultural diversity and breadth of organizations here is very impressive," said Winnie Ho Wai Ying, Radio Television Hong Kong’s General Programs Producer. "The way in which San Jose nurtures its creative community and attracts new talents to the city is something we know our viewers will want to see."

The full series will air on Sunday nights at 7PM in October on TVB Jade, which broadcasts throughout Hong Kong as well as Southern China.

About Arts Council Silicon Valley
Incorporated in 1983, Arts Council Silicon Valley is an independent, nonprofit arts agency dedicated to providing funding and advocacy support, and fundraising and marketing services to the region’s arts organizations and artists. As the official state/local partner with the California Arts Council and the County of Santa Clara, Arts Council Silicon Valley is now the largest nonprofit arts council in the state. Over the past 13 years, the Arts Council has distributed nearly $8 million to local arts and cultural organizations, individual artists, schools, and community groups.